aurik

Each section is worth a different number of points - I used 8/10 as an example. The key takeaway is that you want to maximize your score in every section, because if you get one of those "Can I see that again", you know you didn't quite pass that section. There are sections that if you don't pass, members of the test board may recommend a fail regardless of your overall score (Sanchin is one of these sections. It's worth 25 or 30 points). However by maximizing your score in other sections, you can pass even if you marginally fail one section. Also, the score you receive on each section is the average score from all of the examiners on the testing board. And no, you generally don't get to know what your score is after your test.

I always look at it as you don't need to score 100% to pass. Tbh if you performed every technique perfectly then you should likely be a LOT higher than whatever grade you are testing for. Everyone has something to work on. I was told that attitude is a big thing for our grading examiner. He puts a lot of store in it and it can swing things when they are borderline. I see his point tbh, someone with the right attitude that is borderline will likely take his feedback on board and work on it really hard before testing again. Worst case you fail and you get independent feedback from an expert on something you need to work on to improve. At the end of the day self improvement is what is important anyway, to be the best martial artist YOU can be. What does your passing / failing a grade mean in the grand scheme of things anyway, it is about your own journey and development. I tell all my classmates the same before we grade and most of them think i am mental! I will try my best and if the examiner thinks that is good enough then i get a grade, if not then they tell me what i need to do to get it next time. I don't want a pity pass, i want to BE a belt not just have one. If not i wouldn't have decided to regrade! I've never graded any student of mine with a 100% because no one deserves that score because no one's perfect. As DarthPenguin has mentioned already, students don't need a 100% to pass at all. Make a mistake, BIG DEAL...KEEP GOING...the Testing Cycle ALWAYS takes care of itself. Like I've always told my students that the Testing Cycle will take care of itself, therefore, stop worrying about the Testing Cycle and just do your best. Either the student will pass or fail. Worrying about the outcome of something that's not even taking place yet fuels the fire which adds to one's poor execution of effective techniques. Regardless to the outcome of any Testing Cycle, feedback is crucial across the board for all concerned. Train hard and train well. For our dan gradings, the test is very structured and formalized. For a passing grade, you need to get 80/100 or better, and you are expected to pass each section. A typical shodan candidate will score 82 to 84 on their exam, partially because they are being evaluated on elements that they aren't expected to know yet. One of the key elements is that if a member of the test board asks, "Can I see that again", and passing on that item is 8/10 or better, then the best you can expect to receive on that section is 7.9/10. In fact, the ONLY section of the test you can expect to get full marks as a shodan is the oral examination, where if you are exceptionally well prepared you can get 5/5. Granted, I did hear several students get the "Can I see that again" during my shodan grading, but everyone did pass . Very few candidates actually fail in a dan grading -- the 3 month prep cycle pretty much sees to that. However, that also doesn't mean you shouldn't do everything you can to maximize your score and increase your chances of passing. To a great degree, I agree with your sentiments - if I go in and do my absolute best on a grading, and I end up failing then I'll just re-test in 6 months. However, I also want to make sure that when I do grade that I am as prepared as I can be and put my best foot forward.

I enjoyed the story, but I did have some issues with it. Keep in mind, I've only read the main trilogy, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. I haven't read any of the vast amount of other material that have been derived from his notes. Based upon the material in The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, my understanding is that the elven smiths first created several lesser Rings of Power before forging the three elven rings. I also assumed that the Seven and the Nine were forged with the assistance of Sauron, and his identity wasn't discovered until after he had forged the One. Likewise, in the LOTR appendices it was announced that the Istari did not appear in Middle-Earth until the Third Age (presumably after Sauron began to exert his influence in Mirkwood). I'm pretty sure that there was no mention of Istari in the Second Age.

So today was the first day I've been back to the dojo since Friday. I taught the youth advanced class from 5-6, and I thought the class went pretty well. We started out with warmups, and one of the students was making whin-ey noises after I announced each of the exercises, so when we finished doing the splits, I had students walk their hands out a few steps, and did 10 push-ups there. I then told them why and pointed out the student in question. I'm getting into the habit of giving students random mini pop-quizzes in class, to make sure they're paying attention. In the advanced class, all of the techniques are announced in Japanese, so every so often I'd announce a technique and quiz a student, "which means what, ?" I feel that this is a way of making sure they're paying attention, and they also will need to know most of these vocabulary words for their black belt tests. We focused on the dan kumite drills for the first half of partner techniques. I had the brown belts/black belts working with purple belts (since purple belts/yonkyu are just learning this drill). Since we had an odd number of students, I'd work with one student, give them some feedback, and then have that student switch with another one. That way I had a chance to work with 4 or 5 different students. I then worked with the junior black belt on the Okikukai dan kumite. We then ran through kata, all the way up to seisan (required for 1st degree).. I didn't give any kata feedback today -- there wasn't enough time. I then was able to attend the advanced adult class. Before class, I saw E (the girl who had talked to me about her partner). I talked to her about Friday a little and her mom had discussed the situation with the CI as well. He said that he had also noticed the issue. For the time being, he didn't want the two of them training with each other. We started off with 2-person hojo undo and rotated partners. After that we ran sanchin kata twice, and then Kyoshi had us start working kote kitae while he evaluated sanchin individually. He loves to talk, and when I noticed that he had been talking with the first student for 5+ minutes, I found the next higher-ranked student and had her go stand where Kyoshi was giving his dissertation. He got the hint and moved on. I then was sending the next higher-ranked student over there to keep things moving. After kotekitae and my sanchin session with Kyoshi, I worked the Okikukai dan kumite drills (aka 10-point) with one of the 2nd degrees, and he was amazed at how well I have it down now (he tells me I've got a mind like a steel trap). Well, one of my obvservations is that when I'm running a class, I get to pick what I work on to a degree. There's a template, but I can pick and choose from within that template. I then ran the 10-point drill with one of the other black belts, and then I started working in with the other students on their dan kumite drills. I took particular note with T (one of my favorite training partners) and G (his partner for his upcoming shodan test). When I checked their drills, I noticed that both of them had gotten into the habit of doing the flying kick NEXT to their partner instead of AT their partner. I had T run the drill again and just stood there (instead of getting out of the way, pointing out that he missed me. When I did the kick back at him, he did NOT get out of the way, and even though he did the prescribed block, I still tagged him in the chest (not hard, but enough for him to know he biffed it). I then talked to both of them about making sure that they are pushing each other to be their best, because if they aren't, they will get called out on it. I also gave them an abbreviated version of the speech I gave on Friday, reiterating that they are each responsible for their partner's safety. I also told them that if something goes wrong on the test KEEP GOING if at all possible. The testing board may miss a mistake if you keep going and don't have that "OMG I screwed up" look on your face. All in all I thought it was a good class. I didn't get to work on all the material I wanted, but I also felt that I helped out the other students quite a bit.

My (hockey) St Louis Blues went 24 straight years of making the playoffs without even getting to the Stanley Cup Finals. It took them 51 years from their inception before they won their first Stanley Cup. I feel your pain.

So last Friday, I taught again (in my normally scheduled hours). The class went very well, up until the end, and then it became a very difficult class. We had a good mix of brown belts/junior black belts, purple belts and one blue belt. The class is generally geared for students that are starting to learn the dan-level yakusoku kumite drills, so the purple belts (yonkyus) were at a point they were just learning it. I changed things up a bit and had our students work their hojo undo techniques on a partner (as opposed to solo). I split them up with one of the junior black belts working with the lower ranks, and I worked with the higher ranks. Most of the students did really well, and I was able to give each of them some constructive criticism as they paired with me, so that was good. We then all worked dan kumite for awhile. I took the junior black belts with me to work with the low ranks in teaching them, while I let Kyoshi supervise the brown belts (since they already know the material). For the last segment of class, I had students work on their bunkai. I paired students off and went around to monitor them. When I got over to Zach, he was alone and his partner wasn't to be found... It turns out that at one point in the drill, Zach had performed a prescribed overhand with a (wooden) knife on his partner, his partner had missed the prescribed defense, and Zach bopped his partner on the head with the knife hard enough to raise a decent sized goose egg. The partner was crying (he is ~10-11 years old, so completely understandable), we got him an ice pack, I checked him to make sure he was still lucid and didn't seem to be acting out of the ordinary. I then line all of the students up to close out class, and then give them the "We love our partner" speech. And how important it is to be very careful when you're using a weapon -- even a rubber or wooden weapon. I talked about how horrible you will feel if you accidentally hurt someone, and how you need to learn to train at your partner's level. Push them a little, but not so hard to hurt them. Kyoshi reinforced what I said with some of his experiences, and then I bowed the class out. As I was walking out to my truck, one of the junior black belts came up to me and told me that her partner has been hitting her a lot harder than he should, in areas that he should not. Since our CI is out of town, she felt she needed to bring it up to me. I told her that I would reach out to our CI, and I would also talk to the person in question. I've noticed that the student in question goes REALLY hard when training against me, but I'm also twice his size and can take getting hit in most places. I'm also not a 13 year old girl either. So, I sent an email to the CI informing him of both incidents -- his wife mentioned that she had noticed the same thing with the student in question. The CI will reach out to the one student's parents about the head contact, and I'll talk to the offending student the next time I see him in case the CI hasn't talked to his parents yet. Definitely not the fun part of being an instructor.

Our neighbor put up a 9 foot tall werewolf. It's pretty awesome...

Impressive, most impressive! Thank you for contributing so much, Zaine!

Training over the past few weeks has been going reasonably well, without any major kerfluffles. Zach occasionally vexes me, but I'm pretty sure that's his job as my son -- to keep me grounded For example, last Tuesday the plan was for us to attend the 5-6pm youth advanced class so I could get in my teaching hours for the week, I was going to take him home, and then I'd return for the 7-8:30pm black belt class. Per the usual arrangement, at 4:30pm I asked him to get ready so we could leave at 4:45. When 4:45 comes around I go find that he is reading a book, and he asks me, "Can we go to the 6pm adult class instead?" At least it wasn't "I don't want to go today, I'll go another day instead". But still... that threw my plans out the window, and I wasn't going to get my teaching in that week because I had an event on Friday night. But I also didn't communicate that with him either so that was on me. So this week we've started having that conversation at Sunday evening dinner, what is going on for the week so we can all understand what the expectations are. Tuesday afternoon Mrs A and I both got our COVID booster and flu shots for the year, so classes on Tuesday were pretty much out the window. We had decided that Zach and I would both attend the Thursday night and Friday night classes, and we are planning on going blacksmithing in Colorado Springs on Saturday. Our CI and his wife are currently in Okinawa for the karate day celebrations, and he just (yesterday) successfully tested for his godan in Kobudo. His local instructor also successfully tested for his 6th degree, so the testing had to be done at the hombu dojo for the organization under Itokazu Sensei. As a result, he has a number of substitute instructors teaching the various classes, with his father supervising.the classes. So we're all lined up for last night's class waiting for things to start, and Kyoshi (our CI's father) comes up and says, "why haven't we started. Ken, you're teaching today. Get them going". So... I have a major deer in the headlights look on me. I hadn't planned on teaching today, but I go with the flow. I get warmups started, and since we've got a mixture of students from white belt through 1st degree I slow the warmups and supplementary exercises down, and I'm also sure to say all the techniques in both Japanese and English. As we;re going through the supplementary exercises, I look for a few teachable moments -- for example we have one technique which is initlally taught as rising block, leopard fist punch, circular block, leopard fist punch. However, advanced students should perform that first block as an intercepting block/strike in a snapping motion. Last week I had been working kotekitae (forearm conditioning) with one of our returning 4th degree students, and he gave me a very interesting piece of advice -- when you strike at your partner's forearm, you aren't just conditioning his forearm, you are also conditioning your own hand. I saw a number of younger students who were barely touching their (older) opponents last night and shared with them this observation as well. We then worked two-person drills as a group, with students rotating partners. I stayed in place so I could watch everyone in turn. This turned out to be a good thing, because I was able to notice a few additional teachable moments. For example, on our kyu kumite drills required for green belt ranks, the final technique ends with you spinning your opponent to face away from you, then you step up behind them, grab them by the shoulder, and do a one-knuckle strike to the base of the skull. Well, if you are much shorter than your opponent, the correct move is to grab them by the belt, and do that strike to the kidney -- because there is no way you're going to get a good angle on the skull from that height difference. When I saw my partner (who is 13-14 I think) make that mistake, I paused the drills, picked the tallest guy there and demonstrated the alternate technique on him. (Turns out he and I started a few months apart -- he's currently in his black belt prep cycle too, testing in the next month or so). When 7pm came around, there were a number of students that didn't get the memo about the combined class and started showing up. I picked this as a good time for a break, and then rearranged the groups by rank. I had the upper ranks working on their advanced 2-person drills, and the lower ranks working kata and/or bunkai. One of my favorite techniques to teach are the throws/takedowns that we do. We have a couple that we do all the time in our dan-level 2-person drills, and a lot of people have a hard time taking people down when they don't give them the throw. I won't ever give someone the throw if they don't have it right -- it's not really fair to them in my opinion. I will however work with them to show them the proper techniques so they CAN get it. Our first throw is all about the principle of kuzushi -- offbalancing. The technique starts with the attacker coming in with a left front kick, which the defender uses a scoop block to sweep to the side. The attacker then commits fully with a right hook. The defender jumps in to intercept that, blocking both at the wrist/forearm and the shoulder/clavicle. If they do it right, they will jam the attacker's shoulder back before they can fully engage it. The NEXT part is what people have the hardest time with -- the defender needs to anchor their forearm against the defender's chest, pull the attacker's right arm down, and then they step forward into a low stance, and use their forearm as a transmission to drop their entire bodyweight on the opponent's shoulder. If they can do this properly, the attacker's weight is all on his right leg and he's already off-balance. Once that happens, the defender drops further into a low stance, places his left hand behind the upper calf, presses outwards on the inner thigh, and the attacker's leg just folds under him, and he goes down. The defender holds onto the foot, slides forward and to quote Master Ken, "re-stomps that groin". With my size and weight, I just don't go down unless they get that off-balancing part right, so that's the part I have them focus on. Once that part is down, they rest is pretty easy. We then ran group kata, starting with kanshiwa (first rank kata) all the way up to seiryu (required for second degree). I performed one with the group and then watched the second go-through -- except for Kanshu -- where I screwed myself up and made some obvious mistakes, so I felt obligated to run through it with them the second time. Kyoshi of course then went on to say how once you learn our second-degree kata (seiryu), it tends to mess your brain up for your earlier kata. In fact, all of our kata do that to a certain degree -- they are all related and have many of the same or similar sequences in them. Which makes it really important to focus on which kata you're actually doing at the time. All in all it was a good class, and I felt really good about the way I ran it. Kyoshi is a wealth of information (and doesn't hesitate to share it), but I was able to keep the class moving forward at a pretty good pace. A couple of the advanced students told me I did really well afterwrards, so that made me happy.

I love it when I have one of those "a-ha" moments, where things you've been learning just all come into focus. It's an awesome feeling. I'm glad to hear it that you're having them too!

To resurrect an old thread... In Uechi-Ryu, we use the sokusen geri -- meaning, the first 3 toes are the striking point. It takes years of practice and conditioning to get it right, but once you do... you'll never want to kick another way again. I've done toe kicks to people, and I've felt them (usually during our conditioning drills), and let me say that they hurt FAR more than any other kind of kick. We are encouraged to kick to sensitive spots with this kick -- the side and front of the thigh, and the head of the calf muscle. Toe kicks to these areas can be debilitating if you haven't trained for it. When we do a front kick, we raise the knee to the striking position and then point our toes at our target. As the lower leg thrusts forward, the toes stay aimed at the target until they strike and penetrate. We flex and brace the toes against each other against the impact. Again, this takes several years to get right. Also, last week I learned that when we do a crescent kick, the toes are supposed to be the striking point for that as well. I have seen it only once, but I wouldn't want to be on the other side of it.

In Uechi-Ryu, there is a saying, "All is in Sanchin". This applies to some degree in everything we do. We perform Sanchin in almost every class. Most of our katas are performed in Sanchin-Dachi, and we also apply Sanchin to our belt system. For adult ranks there is white-yellow-green-brown-black. Three major steps between white and black. At each of those steps, the fundamental requirements for promotion change -- each step has a different rank kata and a different set of yakusoku kumite drills. Within each belt color we have 3 levels, which correspond to the Sanchin fundamentals of "Mind-Body-Spirit". As a student tests at each of those levels they are expected to demonstrate their kata with memorization, power, and technique as they advance. At the body and spirit levels, the student is expected to learn the bunkai for their rank kata as well. It's a rank system with 10 kyu grades still, but we break it down into 3's. Because "Everything is in Sanchin". **Note: I said "adult belt system". For youths (under 13), our CI changed the colors to reflect a traditional color-per-kyu-grade system.

I don't follow baseball except for tangentially, but this year I was hoping the Cards would win it, especially with it being Yadi's and Pujols' final year. Oh, well. The last time the Cards were in the World Series, I was living in Dallas, and got some really upset looks in the sports bar when I was cheering for them...

Welcome to the forums!

In Uechi-Ryu, our higher level yakusoku kumite drills are expected to be performed in Renzoku style - one continuous sequence of attacks and defenses. That is one of the major changes we are expected to incorporate in our training as we move from kyu ranks to shodan.

Thanks for putting things into perspective. I am probably harder on him sometimes than I need to be -- I just see how good he can be when he really tries at it. He has also expressed a desire to start learning Kobudo in addition to karate, so maybe that will help him a bit too. However, his mom laid down the law that he has to show us that he can keep up with his schoolwork without being nagged before he is allowed to add any more extracurricular activities. Honestly, when I'm sparring, I rarely back up either. I'll sidestep or stand my ground and counter. I much prefer stepping off the line of attack than stepping straight back. Stepping at a 45-degree angle TOWARDS the attacker can make for some very nice counterattacks though.

The last couple of weeks have had their share of ups and downs. I'm still battling with that nagging issue in my side. It turns out that it's a rib that is wiggling about a bit and pinching a nerve from time to time. Right now it's stable, but I can't do any falls or it flares up. So, no aikido for awhile. Two weeks ago, Zach tested for (and passed) his nikyu testing board. I watch him in class and get frustrated with him because he spends half his time messing around and not trying his hardest. But then when it's time to demonstrate in front of the CI or for a test board, his puts forth his A-game and looks really good. I just wish he could put forth that effort all of the time. So one interesting thing about post-shodan training is that there is only one specific requirement for your next rank (rank kata), but there is a whole wealth of material that you have access to. Certain pieces are expected at a certain rank, but you don't actually get tested on them. These include the kata bunkai and yakusoku kumite. For our advanced black belt ranks, we are expected to learn and be proficient in the dan-level kumite drills for other Uechi-Ryu organizations. At nidan, we are expected to know the kumite for Okikukai. At sandan we are shown the Kenyukai drills, and at yondan we are expected to know the Kenseikai drills. The nice thing is that these aren't hard and fast requirements, so a couple of weeks ago when we had a good mix of dan grades in class (a few nidans and a yodan), our CI had us work on the Okikukai driills for awhile, and then he started showing us the Kenyukai drills (expected for sandan). These are very different from the other drills we've seen. In some ways they're more visceral and direct, and definitely not something you want to practice with a partner that doesn't have good control. For example, the first drill involves responding to a lunge punch by stepping to the side, pushing across with the far hand, and simultaneously performing a nukite to the side of the neck. Last week was also a pretty good week in general. I was able to make it to the Tuesday black belt class, which is always fun. Then Friday I did my apprentice teaching, where I got to work 1:1 with one of our new junior black belts on his requirements for nidan (and got to work on my material as well). After that, we had our quarterly black belt training, where we worked more of the advanced two-person drills (in this case the Kenseikai drills [expected for sandan]), and then we did some of the throws and takedowns from the Kanchin bunkai (required for sandan). Needless to say, after an hour of teaching and two hours of training I was pretty well exhausted. But it was a good exhaustion. In case you were wondering, here are the different yakusoku kumite drills:

I just finished season 5 as well. I really enjoyed the character arcs, especially for Johnny and Chozen. Daniel had more than his share of cringe-worthy moments, especially the reintroduction with Mike Barnes. Honestly if they chose not to make a Season 6, this would be a pretty good place to end the show. There are only a couple of loose threads, and the final showdown at the end of the last episode had a real sense of finality to it.

Wow, this was a pleasant surprise! Thanks guys!

In Uechi-Ryu we don't have kihons per se, but we have our hojo undo (supplemental exercises). For example, one is "circle-block, straight punch", or "circle block, chop, backfist, one-knuckle strike". These mirror sequences that are commonly found in our kata. We practice these at the outset of almost every class. However, from time to time, we'll practice them "across the floor". Meaning, we'll line up in two opposing lines at one side of the mats. One partner will execute a series of lunge punches, and the other partner will defend using the hojo undo techniques. When we get to the other end of the mats, the partners switch roles and move in the opposite direction. Lower-ranked students are expected to perform the techniques exactly as performed solo. As a student advances, they are encouraged to find new applications for the techniques. For example, one sequence is "circular block to open the opponent up, mawashi-tsuki (hooking punch) to the temple". However, an advanced student can also practice different stepping (step back at an angle), blocking to cross instead of opening, or picking different appropriate striking points (side of the neck, ribs, temple).[/i] In advanced classes, we'll then rotate partners so you can practice with someone else. I find this practice very useful, especially when they rotate partners, because you get used to working your basics against an actual attack, learning what works and what doesn't. For example, with my size and strength I can usually plow right through most people's blocks unless they get them just right. Most of them learn that the best way to deal with a much larger opponent is to get out of the way, or redirect instead of trying to block head-on. This may be specific to Uechi-Ryu, but the principle holds for any discipline -- pick a defense and a counter and practice them on an opponent who is actually trying to hit you. You'll figure out what works and what doesn't.

To be honest, I chose Uechi-Ryu for two reasons: 1) location, (the dojo is about 5 minutes from my house), and 2) the CI -- I had enrolled my son about a year rprior (starting through his after-school care and later through the rec center), and the CI earned my respect, because he still makes a point to train with his instructors several times per year. I hadn't specifically seen a bunkai for the "yoi" stance for any of our katas, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. The more I train, the more new interpretations I learn for our kata. Train hard and train well!.

I'm a Uechi Ryu stylist myself. It's somewhat different from most other forms of karate, but it's a lot of fun and quite effective. If you decide to go that route, keep in mind that it will take about 2-3 months before the basics start to "click" and feel natural. Give it some time and I don't think you'll regret it. Good luck with your journey!

So over the past few months, Zach's training has been up and down. There are days that he's excited to go train, and other days where he doesn't want to. It's to be expected. However, over the past month or so, he's been excited to go train because he has known he is up for the next testing cycle. Last Friday he had a class (where I was teaching), and then right afterwards he had his test for nikyu. I wasn't so sure about him when he was in class, because he tends to goof around and not put his best effort forward all the time. However, when it came time to demonstrate with the CI (basically, the "are you ready to test" demo), he did great. Immediately after the class, they all lined up for testing. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of his friends, Silvio, was also testing for yellow belt (kukyu). I didn't know he was even enrolled -- I don't think I've ever seen him here. When the test came around, he did really well. There were some areas where the CI got pretty harsh with the brown belt candidates (not yelling per se, but getting pretty critical of them when they didn't get things quite right after the second or third attempt). Zach looked realy strong on all of his hojo undo. His sanchin kata looked really strong too, and he didn't get too frazzled when our CI did the shime testing on him (pulling, pushing, striking him to test his focus). For the two-person drills, they all had to perform the dan kumite exercise with one of the instructors, and each of them struggled with the takedown at the end (Zach included). Speaking from experience, most students struggle with that takedown, especially when I'm their opponent. Honestly, of all the techniques required for shodan, that's the technique that I'm still learning better ways to do it the most. In the end, everyone passed. They had their feedback from their instructors, and then everyone got their new diplomas and belts. At this point, it's pretty much up to Zach when he tests -- if he works hard at it and shows that he's ready, he could test for ikkyu in March or April, and shodan-sho next November. So the ball is now in his court. Since I was still in my gi from the previous class, our CI let me award stripes to all the advanced brown belt candidates. It was a pretty cool experience to award my son his stripe. It made me a super proud papa.

Train with whatever materials you have available to you! If you aren't comfortable training in a dojo, then there are a plethora of good YouTube videos and books available. As a brown belt, you should be able to discern which videos have quality content and which ones don't. Another option you may want to consider is private lessons with your previous CI. At the beginning of the pandemic, our CI was offering private lessons at no additional charge to keep things going. One or two private lessons per month from a more senior instructor could certainly help you "tune up" your karate. Something to consider at least. Again, train with whatever options you have available to you. The key word in that statement is train.

Many of our students get their black belts from Kataaro (including me). I got one of their soft 1.75" cotton black belts with metallic blue embroidery (style on one side, name in katakana on the other side). It turned out GREAT, and I'm very happy with it. I've also gotten compliments from a few of the other students at the dojo. They have a wide variety of embroidery options if you decide to go that way, or you can just do a plain black belt if that's what you want. (The pin is a style pin I got from my CI)