Ises

Hi there. We practice Chito Ryu in my dojo and I'm really surprised at the difference in katas we practice in comparason to yours. I know style vary quite a bit but I really hadn't realized they do so much. Our first kata is called "27 movements" then ZenShin Kotia (I have no idea how to spell this one), Kata Niean, Hein Niean, Takiakesundan and Nesansisho so far. Pardon my spelling though! These are the katas I'm working on for my orange belt plus we do juijitsu as well.

Hi Guys. I was just elected "president" of my dojo. I thought what I would do is pop out a message to see what sort of things/ideas you guys might have to share with me in regards to what would be good for me to use to enhance our dojo. What sort of things do you guys do at yours to make it more interesting and maybe even flexible for it's members. I'd really like to bring in visiting sensei's to demonstrate different styles but I'm not sure what the boundaries/guidelines are for this since there is competition between most dojos and we'd hate to lose members but I'd also like us to learn more about other styles and arts. Does anyone have suggestions at all? I'd appreciate your sharing.

I study it to and I love it. I don't have much to compare it to other than Goju Ru which I like too.

I was talking to one of the higher belts in my dojo Tuesday night and they had mentioned something they do to attempt to learn their katas is to try to do them doing only the foot/leg positions and then to do them only doing the hand/arm parts. I tried to do it last nite and you try to use your full kata all the time. I makes you think about it a lot closer becuase you have to analyze it. He told me that it works really well because for the most part you're so busy on concentrating on the moving around and punches, etc that you forget your feet. Doing them this way makes you do the motions much more precisely. Try it! lol

My dojo works with Chito-Ryu. And although it seems like it may be fast but I've been working on these katas since October of last year and he drills up repetitively on them. I go to class twice a week and practice as often as I can as well. Sometimes I feel like I live and breath kata! lol The seminar was just an aside from regular classes and it was nice to learn a kata from the goju style. Does it still seem off that we have learned so many? I really don't have much to compare things to.

It's interesting to hear all the different types of katas that people are learning. So far, being only at the yellow belt level, I've learned what my dojo studies as 1. 27 movements, 2. Zen Chin Chotie (sp?), 3. Kata Ni-Dan 4. Heian Ni-Dan, 5. Taikyuku San-Dan and currently I'm working on Niseisi-Sho. Has anyone else learned these? I find I tend to mix them up with each other on occassion but lately I have been really focusing on learning them over and over before really learning the last one. I attended a seminar a few weeks ago and I learned Gekisai Dai Ichi which is a completely different style but I liked it a lot.

Nightshade side of the family? What is that? Forgive my ignorance. Although I must admit, sometimes I just wish someone would make a solid diet up for me, maybe two weeks or three weeks worth. I'd stick to it perfectly. I'm good that way, it's when I have to make up my own that I can't seem to manage. Odd in a way.

Excellent advice! Thanks so much! Now, if only I could get the mindset to control my diet. I've got the motivation and discipline for the working out end of things but my diet just sucks! Well, no fast food, etc but I don't eat as well rounded as I should.

Actually, since I have nothing to compare them with, I'd say no. I think he's pretty flexible with the depth of them as well. I'm really please with my sensei in how he lets me work around a lot of things. He can tease me on occasion mind you and more or less "force" me to do better with things.

We study Chito-Ryu Karate. Since I'm relatively new to all this I'm really not sure what to compare it to. We also study Jiu Jitsu in the Kawaishi style. I really have to watch that end of it as well when we do the throws, rolls, etc. I find my knee twists easily and it can put me out for a few weeks. I'm really not sure what to compare this style to, whether is milder, rougher, etc. Maybe someone can explain this to me.

I actually get this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomache when anyone mentions changing or leaving my current karate style. I honestly think I'll be okay but I do have to improvise a few things. My sensei is wonderful that way but I do get frustrated when I have to do things differently from the rest of the class. It's actually not from an old injury but, I'm embarrassed to say, it's wear and tear from so many years of not taking care of my health and letting my weight take over. It's frightening to think of the damage I have done to myself without ever considering what future consequences I'd have to deal with. I'm hoping that changing my lifestyle two years ago will help. It's a bit of a wall to overcome but I think I will. I appreciate the advice on the supplements, diet and naturopathic doctors. I do have a friend that has offered me help for a smaller fee than others would charge. I just have to wait until my income can handle it. I think what I'd like to know is what sort of stretches one can do. I find I can be really flexible somedays and other days its just terrible. For example tonight, I decided to stand with a chair and attempt to hold my leg up on my punching bag. I also took a rope and bound my leg to further extend it both for a hamstring stretch and quad stretch. Over the years I've really been gentle with my quads and now I can't quite bring my leg beyond a 90 degree angle. So I've been doing stretches for it as well since although I have no cartilige in my left knee, I'm hoping to compensate for that with muscluar development. I'd really love to hear what sort of other things you do even normally to increase your height and flexibility of kicks. I'm quite determined to continue with this in the hopes that my determination will pay off.

Hi, sorry. The one thing I did forget to mention was that he didn't tell me to stop doing karate. He suggested I be very careful with kicks, avoid running and jumping. I more or less told him that there was no way I was going to find myself in one of those scooter things in ten years and that I was not going sit back and let life pass me by without being able to enjoy it. So basically I'm going to continue biking, swimming, weighlifting and karate. I'll never run, play squash or tennis but thats okay. I can deal with that. I just want to build these kicks up. Thanks though!

I'm 33 and I was recently diagnosed with Stage N (whatever that is) Bone on Bone Osteoarthritis in my left knee. I was pretty devastated when I heard this since I have been involved in getting fit and healthy for the last two years. I joined karate a year ago in the hopes of improving my health, fitness and flexiblity (not to mention self confidence!). With the diagnosis, I was told I'm basically going to have to live the rest of my life avoiding getting knee replacement surgery since I'm so young and that there was nothing that could be done except to help the pain with drugs. Now that's the history but I've decided to fight this and continue with my training since I've discovered a love for karate that I will not give up on. My question, finally is this, although I've only been involved in karate for less than a year, I'm finding my kicks are very stiff and I don't seem to be able to get the height that I'd like to. I am sure that the arthritis is part of it but I strongly feel that I should be able to improve this. Has anyone else had this sort of experience with arthritis? If so, what do you do? There are days when I have a ton of power in my kicks but not the height. It's obvious some days will be worse than others but I'd really like to learn as much of what I can apply to my legs to further improve things. I want that height and continued flexibity. I've got a great number of years of my life to enjoy doing karate and I want to be able to do the best I can.

I'm a plus sized women with smaller legs, huge shoulders and large waist. I'm finding it difficult to find a gi. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm in Canada and would love to find one in this area it it's possible. I am hoping to of lost more weight by the end of the summer but I really do want to get a gi soon. Any suggestions?

Hi there. Fast question. What is the difference between the thrust and lunge punch? I've been having a bit of a debate on this with a higher belt in my class but it hasn't been resolved yet. Any thoughts?