KC1996

MatsuShinshi raises some of the points I've also been thinking about. I want to be fair to all of my students and excusing one from having to pay their dues raises the question of fairness to all of them. As long as the student in question keeps our arrangement to themselves it's one thing, but it's a different story if they communicate the arrangement to the other members of the club. Then I have to deal with the perception of favoritism towards one member while the others are paying their full dues....even if the dues are low and more than affordable. This is a situation I hate being placed in. Generally though I do try to work with members who find themseleves in a financial crunch.

To me this is bang on. A black belt should mean mastering of the basics....."mastering" being the key word here. Many time I see the interpretation of mastering to be "barely fumbling through" with a lack of a solid basic foundation and consistent performance. I don't expect a new shodan black belt to be super human, but I would expect that they would have a solid knowledge of basic techniques, decent form, have their required kata down pat, and know basic applications. If they are regularly making mistakes in the kata, their basic form is sloppy and their lacking some fundamental skills then this person has not demonstrated that they have master the basics. I don't think we do karate (regardless of style) and flavors by advancing students who are not ready yet.

Thanks Spartacus Maximus, but I'm not looking for an instructor as I am an instructor. I've just been reflecting on my advancement through the ranks and how things seem to have changed a lot since I started karate a couple of decades ago. It's disappointing to see the ranks that you busted your butt to achieve being given away like candy. When I tested for my Godan there were over a dozen other people testing for that rank....only four of us passed. Now it seems like no one is allowed to fail. My own past instructor (who can now give examinations) to my knowledge has never failed anyone who has tested for any black belt rank. I watched someone stumble and fumble through their Nidan test and still passed. Why would an instructor never fail someone? Are they afraid of hurting peoples feelings, having people drop out and potentially lose a revenue stream? I'm not suggesting that achieving a rank should be impossible, but where have the standards gone?

Is it me, or does it seem more and more like black belts and higher ranks are being given out like candy? It used to be that getting a black belt and achieving an advanced rank was something you had to work for and you actually had to have some level of physical ability to achieve....now it seems like any anyone and everyone can get a 4th, 5th and 6th dan. Have standards gone completely out the window?

I've been training for over 20 years and have used both surfaces, hardwood, and mats. I will admit that the majority of my time training has been on hardwood. From my experience I've found positives and negatives for both. Hardwood: Positives - Most traditional, less likely to have your foot 'stick' on hardwood and can slide your feet across it more easily. Negatives - Hard on the joints and feet. Training on hardwood caused me some pretty sever foot problems over the years. Can be subject to environmental changes. In humid weather I've found they can become sticky whereas in dry weather I've found them to be very slippery. This depends somewhat on the finish applied to the hardwood though. It's also hard to find a well installed, sprung, hardwood floors. Mats: Positives: Much easier on the joints and feet. My feet can withstand longer periods of work on the mats whereas they would be very sore/painful from the same training on hardwood. Negatives: You can't slide your feet across them as easily and will tend to catch your toes in them if you're not careful. This has caused me to tear/strain ligaments in my toes on a number of occasions. They have more grip on your feet than hardwood so you have to be careful when turning that you don't twist your knees. I think that once you're used to working on the mats this is reduced. I alternate between mats and hardwood so I don't think that helps. Currently I'm looking into getting some mats for my own dojo. Do any other instructors have any suggestions on a brand name?

It is a tough situation and the dues are already ridiculously cheap. The dojo has very low overhead so we're lucky that way. I'm all for helping out to a certain degree. I'm wondering where, or if, to draw the line on how much to help out. Being helpful vs being taken advantage of. If a member already has their dojo dues reduced, would you also do the same for gradings and clinics for the same member?

How do other instructors approach a situation where a student (or students) are having financial difficulties and can't afford the full tuition for training, grading fees etc? How much wiggle room do you give students like this? Do you allow a break in tuition, grading fees etc? Or do you take a more hard-line approach and if they can't pay they can't participate? What do you do for the students who always seems to be down on their luck?

The Arawaza brand has many different gis types to choose from and they are very fast in responding to questions. If you like the gi but don't want their embroidery branding on it email them and ask if a version is available without the embroidery. I only wash my gis in cold water and air dry. You can't prevent them from shrinking...even Arawaza gis will shrink a small amount. You have to buy a size that takes shrinkage into account. I found that they would shrink the most in the first two washes, but continue to shrink a little for a few washes after that before settling on their permanent size.

I've worn Tokaido, Arawaza, Kamikaze and Satori gis. Right now I prefer the Satori gi I have, but I've had plenty of Arawaza gis too. Here are my thoughts on some of them: For the price Arawaza is good.....but I did find that their gis wore out relatively fast...the neck line started to fray and areas of the gi that creased started to develop holes. The elastic waistband didn't hold up and lost it's elasticity after two years. The other issues I had with them is I fell between sizes, so the larger one was too big and the smaller size was a bit too small. For the price though, hard to beat. ** Note, you can order their gis without embroidery, so don't let that deter you. Tokaido: Good all around gi, but I found it hard to size them because they shrunk so darn much. A gi that was a bit on the large side ended up being too small once it shrunk through the legs and jacket (for my taste anyway). These gis are good if you have a slender build, if you have hips you might find these ones a bit constricting. The construction on the ones I had held up better then the Arawaza ones. Satori: Only had this gi for about 6 months and so far so good. These ones shrink a lot too, but the company calculates for shrinkage in the sizing. I like the 13oz weight of the gi I have.

This will all depend on the person training and their reasons for starting karate the first place. For the people who want karate to fulfill the mind, body and spirit portion of their lives, they will make this happen. This will not be the case for people who started practicing for different reasons. I've seen many high ranking instructors/practitioners preach the philosophies of karate but abuse those same philosophies when it suited their purposes. Most of these purposes revolved around ego, control and power. True humility is rare in the martial arts world. It does exist, but I've found it to be the exception to the rule. Think I'm wrong. Ask yourself a simple question. Do you respect your sensei, or do you fear them? There is a big difference.

My own understanding is very much like others....time at grade represents seniority. There was a recent case where a couple of students were confused about the rank structure in a club. Lets call them ‘Student A’ and ‘Student B’. Student A tested and received his nidan ahead of Student B, but had not been training as long as Student B. Student B had taken many years off from training for various reasons, but had come back to the dojo when his life was not as busy. Student B tested a year later for his nidan and failed the test. When Student B took his test the second time he passed. Student B now felt he is the more senior student than Student A because he started training earlier, which is where the disagreement came in. I don't think Student A really cared a whole lot, but Student B felt more strongly about it. I’m not sure what the final verdict of the disagreement ended up being, but I think Student B was out of line claiming seniority. They may have started sooner, but did not train regularly, tested a year after Student A for the same rank, and even then failed the test and had to try again. Claiming seniority at that point I thought was pretty arrogant….but that’s just my opinion. I’m no longer training with that group.

Thanks ineluki for your opinion on rank structure, but that wasn't what I was asking for. There are a good number of dojos that do indeed obsess (whether one likes it or not) over such things and I was genuinely asking how different dojos view this aspect of their art. I also realize that it's not a standardized format and will differ depending on the organization and style of karate.

Apologies if this is a silly questions, but how does karate rank/seniority structure work once you become a black belt? I understand that the higher rank black belt is senior...a.k.a a nidan is more senior than a shodan, but what about situations where two people are the same rank? How do you determine who is senior?