SaiFightsMS

It is a tradition in many types of karate for students to pick a kata to specialize in as they become more advanced students. Do you have a specialty kata? Which one is it? I have two that I spend a lot of extra time working with as a sort of specialty. One is tekki shodan, (I know many hate it), and hangetsu.

I usually wear my pants to and from class but that is it. Some places I have trained at had limited changing areas.

Same here. I just fold it. Takes up less space in the bag folded than it does just wadded up.

Ooops no offense delta1. I guess it has something to do with the time period I was coming of age. No one voluntarily shaved their head in the early 70's.

I have a similar problem at times karate_woman. I have done shorin ryu, shito ryu and shotokan. And for the life of me I just don't manage to do the "correct" version of rohai in shorin ryu. I start a shotokan heian shodan and everyone looks at me funny when it comes to shito ryu. whoops.

I think a person of any age should be able to start many martial arts. There are some in their late 80's who have started shorin ryu. The key is to work with an instructor who is willing to let a student work at their own pace. That said tai chi or pa kua would also be an excellant choice. Regarless of choice the key is to start slow and proceed at your own pace. Don't force stances and take things as they come.

I have no problem with someone making a living from teaching the martial arts. I do have a problem with someone who teaches in such a way that their students are mislead or misinformed as to how well they will be able to protect themselves should a situation arise when the need to defend themselves to protect their life should arise.

So do you ever wear your gi on the outside of the dojo? Like on the way to or from class? Does your dojo have a policy on the wearing of the gi outside the dojo?

Some of the post of this thread that pertained to where your belt tips go when you are in sieza where split off into a new thread.

I split this topic off from the do you wash your belt thread. It looked like this might be a different area of discussion. For those who begin/end class in a traditional seated manner in seiza is there an established pattern for where the end of your belt is when you sit down? Ours went to the outside of the legs. It wasn't a set policiy or anything it was just where almost everyones belt tips happened to go when they sat down.

Good topic. Some of what you are seeing karate_woman is the politics of martial arts. Why there are so many different ryu's or schools and so many different factions within a style. While learning the basics all students within a dojo should be concentrating on learning to do each technique the way it was taught to them to the best of their ability. As a student rises in rank and developes more understanding of how the technique works the develope it into their "own" technique. They begin to assess their strenghts and weaknesses and begin to learn how to mold what they have learned to use them to the best of their ability. Specialty kata might be a good topic for a separate thread.

I think 4th kyu is where many begin to slow down in their progress. There are more techniques but more importantly all techniques must look better and better as time goes on. They must be faster and have more power. Stances must be better. Sloppines in forms is not tolerated. In many ways that is the point where one begins to realize how much more work may be in store for them between where they are and the highly coveted black belt.

I added the option as a result of your post. Any other options I missed?

No Martialgirl you are not the only one of that age. There have been many people who began posting here at 14 and have made good contributions to the site. The age range is has always been one of this sites strongest attributes.

No sorry, actually I was in Korea at the time. And I think it was a Mr. Kim.

Personally I prefer a guy to have hair on his head.

Excellant sentiment Tommarker.

This is an often discussed topic one for which there has so far only been presented conjecture and opinions.

It is really kind of interesting how passionate some people are about this topic. The black belt is such a symbol to people in and out of the martial arts I don't think there is any other single thing in the active, ( I wanted to say sporting or athletic), world that has such universal recognition. The only thing I can come up with that is an honor you earn and wear is a varsity letter. When my varsity jacket got dirty it got cleaned letter and all.

Training in shoes on a regular basis gives you a much better feeling for pivoting on the heel of the support leg as the the motion for the kick begins.

How was the incident handled is a question I am suruprised no one else has asked yet. How did the instructor handle the incident? Did the students get an opportunity to learn from the situation. And how is the student doing now?

There is now a poll down in health and fitness that this thread triggered. So go down there and talk about how you divide up your training time.

Something was brought up in another area that suggested this to me. How much of your training time is spent in the dojo or in the gym doing other fitness activities?

hobbitbob we had a similar situation with a young girl one time. What was finally done with her was to make her set out the class. Just to sit in the back of the room and watch. She was warned ahead of time that next time you do this be prepared to sit and watch. She has much more of a reaction to having to sit and watch than she did to any of the other things that were tried. She actually sit and cried a bit. But class went on.

Please keep the discussion civil.