SLK59

Congratulations, GS718Trek!

China, North Korea and South Korea all have national karate organizations that are affiliated with the Asian Karate Federation, which is part of the World Karate Federation (WKF): https://www.wkf.net/structure-asian-karate-federation

Congratulations, Mo!

I want my rank to accurately reflect my seniors' assessment of my current physical and mental development in the art. And it wouldn't feel ethical for me to attempt to deceive my fellow karateka, all of whom would be able to determine my level of skill after watching me perform for a few minutes anyway. Cheers, Scott

Congratulation on your 5-year anniversary, Liam!

Congratulations, JR!

Congratulation CTTKDKing, well done!

IMHO, if you're training/learning totally online, without a partner to practice techniques on, you're wasting your time (and money). You learn the moves, but you're not getting the experiences of someone actually attacking you to see how the technique works. Without a qualified teacher to critique you, how do you know your doing techniques flawlessly? You may think you are, but ... IMHO, if you're getting certification from some online course, it's only worth the paper it's printed on. I had a guy come into my dojo years ago claiming he had an 8th Dan in karate. being ever the skeptical person I am I asked a few obvious questions, like "What system?" He didn't know. "Sensei's name?" He didn't know. I said "How can you become an 8th dan and not know the name of the system or your sensei?" He said it was online and took him ALMOST a year to get the rank. I asked him to show me a kata, he had no idea what that was. He did show me some stances and blocks, but they were very, very sad, slow and weak. His punch would have broken his wrist and hand, his kicks lacked any semblance of power or control, and he stood with straight legs. I asked him why he was there and he told me he wanted to be an instructor at my school. (I'm trying really hard not to laugh through all this). I asked him if he knew any of our katas, of course he didn't. Asked him to show me blocks, not even close. Philosophy? Nope. After about 45 minutes I sent him on his way with a little lesson on taking online course. I told him he's going to get himself killed if he started telling everybody he was an 8th dan black belt, because eventually somebody was going to challenge him and he was going to get a severe beating. I did offer to let him into my class as long as he NEVER mentioned his 8th dan or online training again. He left and I never saw him again. To me, it sounds as if you handled the situation with admirable patience and tact.

Sounds like things are moving ahead nicely, Patrick. Many thanks for all of your time and effort put into this project! Cheers, Scott

I feel your pain. In my careers as both a karate and university instructor, I used to field complaints from 'helicopter parents' on a regular basis. One of the hazards with any sort of teaching/grading job, I'm afraid. Hopefully the positives outweigh the negatives for you.

I much prefer the traditional 1 3/4" width, for the reasons mentioned by others above. I have worn Tokaido in the past, but KI International is my belt of choice these days.

KI International High Quality Black Belt, 100% cotton, 1 3/4" width and 12 rows of stitching. Price begins at $23.00, plus $36.00 for stitching on both ends. Excellent belt!

People have written entire books on this subject, but the following quote does a good, succinct job of explaining The Buddhist Eightfold Path, also known as The Middle Way: "The path begins with right view, also called right understanding. We need to see clearly where we are headed before we begin. Right intention means the resolve to follow this path. Right speech and right action refer to what we say and do—to not harming other people or ourselves with our words and behavior. Right livelihood means how we live day to day, making sure our habits and our work don’t cause harm to ourselves and others. Right effort refers to focusing our energy on the task at hand. Right mindfulness means awareness of the mind and body with discernment. With mindfulness, we might pause and consider whether what we are doing is harmful to ourselves or others. Finally, right concentration refers to dedicated practice, whether it is meditation or chanting. In other words, once we have directed our minds and lives toward awakening, we can proceed. Though the eightfold path is always listed in this order, it is not strictly sequential, and does not need to be followed in only this order. The eight steps can be divided into three areas for training: ethical conduct (sila), concentration (samadhi), and wisdom (prajna.) Right speech, right action, and right livelihood concern ethical conduct. Right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration relate to the practice of concentration. Right view and right intention are related to the development of wisdom." Quoted from the Buddhism For Beginners web site: https://tricycle.org/beginners/. As you can see from the quote above, The Buddhist Eightfold Path is not about positive thinking or therapy. It is about striving to live an ethical life and become an enlightened being. These can also be excellent goals for those aiming to better themselves in the martial arts.

Let me echo what bushido_man96 and Questor have said about finding a new school. IMHO it really is your best option. Perhaps there is another, more traditional dojo within driving distance for you?

Congratulations x 2, Zaine!

I train with Shotokan Karate of America, a registered non-profit organization with a trademarked name in the USA. Note that SKA does not make any claim of exclusive rights to the style name Shotokan, just to the full name of the organization and its trademarked logo. This is also the case for the other dozen or so major Shotokan organizations active in the USA - most (if nat all) of them have trademarked their organization's official name, but none of them can legally trademark the generalized words "Shotokan" or "Karate." Here are the names for some of the major Shotokan organizations currently active in the USA: Shotokan Karate of America (SKA) - founded in 1956 by Tsutomu Ohshima American Amateur Karate Federation (AAKF) - founded in 1961 by Hidetaka Nishiyama Japan Karate Association/Shotokan Karate-Do International (JKA/SKDI)* - founded in 1968 by Masataka Mori International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) - founded in 1977 by Teruyuki Okazaki Shotokan Karate-do International Federation/USA (SKIF/USA) - founded in 1978 by Hirokazu Kanazawa Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association (FSKA) - founded in 1987 by Kenneth Funakoshi Japan Shotokan Karate Association/USA (JSKA/USA) - founded in 1999 by Thomas Casale Japan Karate Shoto Federation/USA (JKS/USA) - founded in 2000 by Tetsuhiko Asai World Traditional Karate Organization (WTKO) - founded in 2000 by John Mullin, et al. Japan Karate Association-World Federation America (JKA WF America)* - founded in 2007 by Shojiro Koyama & Shigeru Takashina Japan Karate Association/American Federation (JKA/AF)* - founded in 2008 by Takayuki Mikami *Affiliated with the Japan Karate Association (Nihon Karate Kyokai), founded in 1949 by Masatoshi Nakayama, et al. Different countries may have differing trademark and copyright laws, so be sure to check the applicable laws in your country.

Thirty years ago I trained in Shotokan with the Japan Karate Association, and my favorite kata was Kanku Dai. Now I have begun training again, this time with Shotokan Karate of America, where the same kata is known as Kwanku. After all these years, it is still my favorite one! Cheers, Scott

The main reasons that people tend not to drink tea on an empty stomach or late in the day is due to the caffeine content. While a cup of tea - especially green tea - generally contains less caffeine than an equivalent amount of coffee, it can still upset sensitive stomachs and/or keep some people awake at night. There are numerous tea producers who make excellent organic tea in healthy soil with no metals, pesticides, etc. I prefer to buy my teas whole leaf, from retailers who deal directly with the growers, and provide plenty of information about their growers, the cultivars used, the growing sites and conditions, and the methods used for producing the teas. This is my favorite online retailer for Japanese teas: https://www.the-tea-crane.com And this is my favorite site for Chinese teas: https://www.teavivre.com These are more expensive than your average grocery store teas, but IMHO well worth it. Cheers, Scott P.S. Tea Time in England is generally around 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

"There are two points to always remember in a grading. First, we start with rei [respect] and end with rei. Second, the exam is not our goal; it is only one kind of practice for us. No matter where, no matter what, we have to express our best." ~Tsutomu Ohshima

Welcome to KF, Bob! Best of luck for your renewed journey. Cheers, Scott

Well done, GojuRyu Bahrain! Congratulations! Cheers, Scott

Some very good generalized thoughts and comments by Mr. Dan in this video from his excellent Art of One Dojo site on YouTube:

The wooden name plaques are called nafuda, and the rack in which they are hung is called a nafudakake. Cheers, Scott

Congratulations, Zach!

Welcome to the forum, Questor! It sounds like you have found a very good, solid, positive club in which to renew your karate commitment.