Goju1

How about - No... Really bad idea.... Please not in my lifetime...... Arrrrgh the horror......!

Yes Natural, as others have mentioned, Saifa may be done differently by different organizations. You should really be asking your Sensei and not us The worst thing you could do would be to learn a Saifa kata, perform the heck out of it, and not pass your test because you didn't do it right!

Care to share this? (if its possible to describe in words Well said, and great post!

Back to the original topic, though - I would add that if you have to ask the question, you won't understand the answer.

This has never been proven, and if done properly, Sanchin is an excellent exercise that has many health benefits. If done improperly, like any other exercise, it can lead to injury. Yep! Too bad so few know the proper techniques

Breaking anything for demonstration is not real karate, sorry - do some research. Now if you want modern sports karate, go ahead and break all you want, just don't ever get serious with a real karate-ka.

How 'bout this? - kata is entirely mental/spiritual

There are none, if done correctly.

Being a tall person (6'2") I would agree with the former tactics of getting in close, inside their guard/kicks/reach advantage. Although be careful if they are Goju trained, because you will be playing into their strengths. (you will know really quick) Then, stay back and try to tire them out.

Well said, and the same to Delta 1. Nothing personal at all, Stuey-San, but even myself, being a hard core karate-ka and workout guy in general, had to take off some time between 1st kyu and blackbelt. Our testing is rigorous enough that I knew I couldn't pass given what I was dealing with at the time. So would you have me knocked down a few ranks? I eventually came back, trained for a year, and tested for black belt and passed. I don't believe there are many black belts ou there that don't deserve it (given that they are from a traditional or 'real' style)

I have just been instructed to slow down my kata, after years on all of them (at least 3). As you reach higher ranks, you are usually expected to show more power in your kata, plus slowing them down, as I said, makes them a lot harder. The learning never ceases

Stuey-San: I'm guessing that you're on the younger side (forgive me if I'm wrong) but you will most likely discover as you age that "life gets in the way" as I like to say. Illnesses, death of parents, business/job requirements, kids, etc... can all take priority at times. It sucks, but it is life. That doesn't mean that someone does not want to train, they just really cannot. Now, I'm not saying they should be able to walk back in and grade for their next rank, just that they can come in at their current rank and prove themselves ready to the sensei before they are asked to grade up. I assume most dojos are like ours and you must have a certain amount of time (without lengthy interruption) and a minimum number of classes before they can grade anyway, so it's really a moot point, as I see it

Yeah, it is painful to see some people perform incorrectly or without effort, but as the above posts mentioned, you gotta stay focused on your own karate. Ideally during a class you should only see yourself due to the intensity of your focus (of course that's nearly impossible to do) We would not ask our sensei as to why, though - it is their decision and as long as you are in a 'good' style it is probably the right decision. Everyone has their own stories, their own difficulties, etc.... just stay within yourself. Good question, though!

Yes! Slowing the katas down shows more control, allows you to use more power, get in time with your breathing, etc.. It can also be more difficult holding a tough stance for a bit longer, instead of flying through it. We stress slow, smooth control with a second or two between each move or set of moves. Nothing is more annoying to me than seeing someone speed through a kata - totally ruins it, IMO.

Training light contact or even 3 step drills is a great way to practice technique, but there's no substitute for full contact. If you ever really need to defend yourself, you better be able to take a full power hit and respond in kind. By the way, we pretty much always do full contact. (Depending on your opponent, of course.)

Never had a problem with this, just change your kiai for sparring (the only time we absolutely have to kiai during sparring is for gradings anyway)

Bingo! Dang, Cross - you are always so right-on! I won't bother to answer myself anymore, I'll just copy and paste your posts! Seriously though, that's the only way to look at it. If you attempt a roundhouse and your opponent is ready for it, you're gonna be wide open to his cross . I rarely use a roundhouse punch, unless they are pretty much done and their guard is slipping, then a low roundhouse to the ribs, followed by a jab, then roundhouse to the head, and cross to finish. (Also a good drill)

My feeling is that once you've earned a rank, it is yours, period. Now if you take off for a long period of time, you would be expected to demonstrate the proper ability before being asked to test for the next rank.

Better not chamber in real sparring (As opposed to point or tournament style) you'll get your clock cleaned I would suggest hands close to temples, elbows tucked in to protect the body blows. Of course, I suppose it depends on how hard your dojo spars?

Great article, exactly as it should be - too bad about all the black belt factories churning out under talented and under motivated youngsters, it just lowers the bar for all of us, oh well not my problem

A couple of classes should be ok, but once you make the committment, you should change the patch out of courtesy IMO.

All of our black belt gradings are held in front of a panel of 3-5 higher belts, Sandan and above

Take two equal persons one with 10 years karate experience, the other with 10 years boxing, and I'd say the karate-ka would prevail most every time. Why? Kicks, joint locks, pressure points, superior conditioning. (I'm assuming the karate person has taken a traditional style and not a sports style)

A mixture of both dilutes both IMHO. Sport karate bears little resemblance to the 'real thing' as far as I've seen. Just my 2 cents

You would be very welcome to observe/participate at our Dojo. Anyone can watch from outside as it is all glass, people are discouraged from observing from inside (problems in past from family, cell phones, etc) but I think a good Dojo would love to have a visitor drop in, especially another Sensei with whom they could share ideas. If not, I would be very suspect of that particular Dojo.