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I think Mr. Miyagi said it best: Daniel: Hey, what kind of belt do you have? Miyagi: Canvas. JC Penny. Three ninety-eight. Wap

Do you mean Shotokan karate? I've never heard of Shudokan. Then again, I'm sure there are tons of styles I've never heard of. Wap

I think what that guy said is totally true. In fact, in our club you have to fight a 10 on 1 battle for 43 minutes while calling out every move you make in the original japanese and then the english translation. After that, you have to jog 74 miles backwards, do 152 backflips in under 3 minutes and perform all 26 shotokan kata underwater. And that's just for yellow belt!! Ok....maybe that guy was full of it. Wap

I'm sure I'll be corrected here, but this is just one man's opinion and observation. I think there are as many styles of martial arts (and even as many styles of TKD or HKD or Shotokan) as there are instructors. Each instructor will interpret what they have learned slightly differently and pass that knowledge on to students, who will in turn interpret that information differently. Fundamentally the art remains the same, but eventually you have an incredible number of variations. Obviously one can say there are a significant number of different karate styles, but there are probably just as many, or more, styles of a specific style (stay with me here), like shotokan. The katas vary slightly, the stances have tiny differences from club to club. We had several new students join our club recently. Although they come from a Shotokan karate club, and our club also teaches Shotokan, there were significant differences in some of the blocks and kata. Just like there are numerous interpretations of the Bible, I think there are numerous interpretations of each "style" of martial art. I think this makes it very difficult to say for sure where each style originated and exactly "how old" each style is. My martial art history is pretty fuzzy, so please correct me if I am way off base. Just my 2 cents. I would go so far as to say there are as many "styles" of martial art as there are people. Each person takes what they learn and applies it slightly differently than the next. Wap

The club I train with also requires that all protective gear for kumite be purchased from the club. They claim the main reason for this is so that they can be assured that the gear being used is approved and safe. I guess I can understand that it is easier for them to be assured that everyone is using proper protective gear if it is all the same, but I am also certain that this is another opportunity for the organization to make a little $$$ on the side. Actually I have never compared the prices to anything to see if they are fair or not. Does anyone know of a good Canadian supplier of martial arts protective gear, perhaps one with a website so I can do some comparison shopping? In a way I can understand why most martial arts clubs try to find other ways to make extra money (grading fees, "revenue rainbow", gear, workshops, etc). Ultimately, the martial arts orgs are a for-profit business. Just like a movie theater expects you to buy your popcorn and soda from them, it's not horrible to expect a martial arts studio to want you to purchase all your gear from them. And just like a movie theater, sometimes those prices are higher than in the "real world". Just my 2 cents. Wap

While stretching before my green belt test I managed to actually pull a groin muscle. Isn't stretching supposed to prevent that sort of thing from happening? Anyway, I managed to grin and bare it and successfully passed the test. Then I went home, took some pain medication and successfully passed out. Wap

Hello all! Welcome to the new and improved KarateForums website!! What's new, you ask? Why, I am! That's what. That makes the website new, doesn't it? Maybe not improved though... Ok, perhaps a lame way to introduce myself. I just discovered this forum this morning and thought I would join. I've been studying Shotokan Karate for the last year with the ACKU in Calgary, Canada. Anyone in the vicinity? Only a green belt so far, but I am absolutely LOVING karate training. I guess I came to the right place. Here's a quick question to get some different opinions: The club I train at does very little contact when teaching kumite. It's classed as "semi-contact". Bascially we learn the 5-step and 1-step required for grading as well as practice our basics against one another, but there is no free-sparring in the dojo. There is a seperate kumite class that you can take, but the required protective gear costs almost $500, so I haven't checked that out yet. So the question is, how important to you feel full free-sparring is when one is first learning karate? I enjoy the method of teaching so far, but I realize how important sparring can be. Obviously karate is a martial art and is designed for combat. Am I jeopardizing myself by not learning to free-spar now, as opposed to waiting until Brown or Red belt level? Anyway, just wanted to get some different opinions, and say hi. Cheers, Wap