Sibylla

Congratulations! I have (fuming,angry) instructor but he never favorites anyone and he spreads his critisism on everyone. Earlier I've experienced more lax instructors that pick a favorite that they praise all the time and doesn't care about the rest. I know what I prefer..as long as his verbal outbursts are about my performance and not about me as a person.

Thanks!

Actually I just graded, and I was told to work on my stances, especially while turning/changing direction...(I didn't expect to get asked to grade at all so soon, the grading itself was complicated, I had to show a lot of things, even things I've hardly practiced...so that was quite an experience... ) The feet thing, it hurts like doesn't it? The pain under my feet is really bad when we have to stand still in one stance, it is like cramp/fire in the soles of the feet. When I move about, it goes away, so I figure it must be some sort of cramp (?). It has gotten a bit better lately...I've noticed that some higher grades have problems with the stance training, they lift their feet, and look like they are in pain, so it must be hard training for everyone...I figure that it is a matter of conditioning the feet, getting used to the stances. Wearing shoes are not an option in my dojo. I don't think there is much I can do about, expect practicing the stances at home and stretching the legs a lot. My feet are quite flat, could be that that contributes to the problem to... I think I have solved the water thing with hydrating during the day and drinking a bottle of sportsdrink right before class starts.

From what I have understood some sensei's behave like that with students they think have great potential...if they thought you were a lost case they wouldn't bother giving you much attention or instruction at all, thus making you leave. I am sure you'll do a good grading. Try to do the things your sensei mentioned, if the stances are very important, make a big point of doing them right on the grading, I guess he'll be looking for them.

Well, I can only speak from my own experience, and when I took up MA (jujutsu/grappling...now karate) instead of running and lifting weights my overall fitness level improved a lot. The only rational reason for this, is that MA three times a week gives me a better total workout than anything else I've done before. I haven't lifted anything in the last couple of years, and I have muscles all over, I've lost weight, my back problems are more or less gone, my blood cholesterol level went down dramatically in a year...if I had more time I know I would be a better martial artist if I did interval running, core training exercises, plyometrics..etc...but there is no way I am going back to the old health club and 5 k's run again......but that's just me, everyone must find their own path...

Sho-ju: How can you do Shotokan full contact? Isn't Shotokan practised without any protection whatsoever?

Karate isn't an alternative for weight training and working out. If anything, keeping up a good workout routing outside of your karate training will make you a much better martial artist. Karate (and most other MA's) is a physical activity...I sweat a lot when I do it, three times a week. For the sheer physicality of it, I think it can be somewhat compared with aerobics or dancing... I'll probably be a better martial artist with a running/lifting routine as you said, but since I am not interested in competing, I won't use the remaining evenings of the week on training.

For me martial arts has proved itself to be a better alternative than just running and lifting weights, or just sitting at home watching tv or whatever. My general fitness level is much better now when I have a yelling instructor that makes me keep my pace up. I sleep better and have fewer stressrelated problems. I also know how to count to ten in japanese ...and it is much cheaper than the health clubs. Where I train I encounter some guys that have spent enormous amount of time on training and that start regretting it as they get older...but I am not planning to go that route, overdoing things leads to burnout for me.

Drop your bodyweight down (bend your knees) and twist your body hard using the hips, all at the same time...then chop him in the groin. If he doesn't let go of this, or just bends forward, you can throw him, judo style.

This may come back to haunt you later on if you don't do something about it. Bare feet on hard floors is a bad thing. That is a good point, I'll definitly ask him about the shoes. About the water breaks and things, I think this practice is common lot's of karate dojos so I'll try to hydrate as best as I can during the day. The instructor is known for being especially good at kihon, the classes are small and I get a lot of pointers regarding techniques, ways of learning, the principles behind things...it is definitly better than the other MA I've been doing. So I'd like to adjust to the regime some way or another.

He-he..I already have my callouses...it is more of a burning sensation in the muscles under the foot and it makes me do all sort of contortions when the instructor doesn't see me...I hope it passes. So I guess I am in the badass divison of martial arts now...I even have a japanese instructor that is ...he scares me a bit.

One to one and a half hour...it is OK as long as drink a lot before class, but I dread the really hot days... Some sort of lineoleum. And I am used to doing MA on thick mats. I'll ask him about the shoes and present it as some sort as medical problem. If I just say that the soles of my feet are hurting bad, he'll ask me to though it out..

So now that I have started Shotokan, I am being taught all kinds of stuff that I can practise at home. But what is the most important to get right at first? Stances maybe? Movement..? "Hikite"? Blocks? Reverse punch?... The instructor doesn't allow water breaks (or any breaks at all in class) is this common? I get this pain under my feet (it is not the blisters) it is more the kind of feeling when you try to go inline skating for the first time or something (I am a bit flatfooted)...hopefully this will pass...

I already have a thick brushed cotton gi, it feels like an oven even if it doesn't stick to my body...maybe it is that gi in particular, or just me...my thin, cheap poly/cotton thing feels cooler but it looks like sh*t...

I sweat a lot, and get hot, and I don't like the heavy gi's for that reason. I would like to have a nice looking gi that breathes (not the cheap poly/cotton stuff)...I see that Shureido have a expensive gi made out of artificial silk/poly/cotton...do anyone have any experience with it? Do they hold up good, start to smell (like some polyesterthings does), look good etc? I am a short and wide person, will the shureido fit me?

I once paired up with a kumite champion, he is really huge...his face looked neutral but the eyes where like snake eyes or something, totally cold and fixated. He scared the shit out of me, and I got this slowmotion experience, the thing you get when you are about to have a major accient of some sort. He nailed me with a sidekick every time, I could see his foot coming at me but there was no way I could avoid it...so it was like "ouch"..."ouch".."ouch"...I almost... The thing is, he is a nice guy so there was no rational reason for me to feel that way.

That's interesting...the Shotokan instructor seemed to have a bum knee so maybe he shares that way of thinking. I think that is OK as long as it doesn't go "to far"...for instance, if people have weak knees, they should try to do some strengthening exercises on their own, before they adjust their stances to much. When I started in martial arts, I could really feel my knees and had a medical, MRI-scan etc. There was no problem but I needed to do some exercises to get the right muscle balance/flexibility. After that I haven't felt a thing, but I still do my exercises.

About the instructor issue; yes I agree that it is important. But there are a few Shotokan places in my town, but only one JJ place, so if I for some reason don't get along with the instructor, I can go somewhere else. He seems ok though (4th dan, about 50, japanese, not "macho"), the place had a lot older dan graded people and they probably go for quality. shotochem: I felt just like you when I started in jujutsu, but after some time people that hadn't seen me in a while started to ask me why I looked so fit And I don't want to go back to the "old" me.

Some women (including me) are afraid of teenage boys, because they are strong, fast, but don't always know how strong they are compared to others, and if you couple that with lack of experience in the martial arts and a lot of enthusiasm it can be scary for us women. Guys with a lot of experience are much easier to train with, even if they are really big and muscular. It could also be the survival instinct thing, I must admit to getting it in the beginning of my training, but now I know the guys so it is ok. You guys are probably more used to fighting eachother since you were kids, but when a man takes a swing at a woman it triggers some mechanisms. But I don't think you should change your behavior towards the women (don't go easy on them) because they will/should get over it in time.

Thanks for the answers! I had my second Shotokan class today, the instructor assigned me a brown belt to show me some "moves" (which I can't remember the names of..) which I actually managed to do, somewhat. I am not feeling sore either. So far so good

I am wondering whether Shotokan is for me? I am in my thirties, have some experience from jujutsu, medium height, muscular/heavy build, flexibile. I'm looking for: - Something that can better my coordination and balance - Which is not to difficult technically (due to my inability to remember complex moves) - Stressrelease - Not to hard on the body (jujutsu was quite hard, with the locks and throws) - That has enough depth to keep me going at it for a looong time... - Which has things I can do at home (like techs/katas) One of the reasons I am asking particulary about Shotokan, is that I have the opportunity to go at a place with a japanese instructor that from what I have heard is quite good.