joerfe

In our school (Shotokan JKA) it is the instructor that decides if you can test for black belt. You talk to him when you think you are ready or he will ask you. Our instructor wants us to know the 15 first kata before we can test, but the test requires "only" 9. We do have a formal test for the shodan examn and we have to take it at the Honbu-Dojo, not that our instructor is not able to graduate to shodan, but we just do it this way.

In our club we follow these guidelines: http://www.dentokan.dk/howto/belteA4.pdf

Use your common sense. If your clothes are dirty, you wash it. Is your belt dirty, you wash it. Your gi is (hopefully) clean. So is your hands and feet and your nails are not too long. Why would your belt be dirty then? Did you know that sweat consists of very much the same as urin does?

Nonsense. A dirty belt is like wearing a dirty gi. Or like not washing your hands after being on the toilet. Is it dirty, wash it. Does it smell from sweat and/or grass, wash it. Dirty belts and gi's are signs of sloppyness, not a sign of hard work.

If I have the right picture I think that we refer to this stance as "zenkutsu dachi gyaku hanmi". It is the 16th (I think ) stance you would be in in Heian Nidan with your hip twisted.

To the original post: I read it, and read it again... Then I laughed. I hope your, lets call it, lack of knowledge is due to the fact that you are teaching yourself from books and your own fantasy. If not, I would suggest you find another dojo. For the post describing the initial move in Kanku-Dai: I've always learned that it symbolises readiness and the fact that this is indeed emty handed. But anyway, interesting thread. It has really stirred the forum.

By the way... Someone should create a poll on this subject. I know I'm not gonna.

Yep. U can shave your face.......But legs ?? ?? That IS a thing that women do. Men do definately not shave their legs.....

This sounds to me that a Kung fu guy claims that his style is better than Karate. It also sounds like he doesn't know sh.. about Karate. In my humble opinion Get past it. Some people are like that. It's called ignorance.

Well, u could use a makiwara. But be careful. I've heard instructors advising students to take it slow with the hardening thing. You may risk to get some pretty ugly hands for the rest of your life.

Yep. Join a school. Being corrected is the way to go. It's much easier to learn the moves and applications correctly. It's also more fun to do the training with others (IMO).

I think to remember that we pay around 8 to 10$ for kyu gradings and 100$ for shodan. The fee gets higher with the Dan grades. I think its around 120-130$ for nidan.

Some of the guys and I make videorecs of ourselves once a year. I think it is a great tool, 'cause you get a totally different look at your techniques. I highly recommend it.

I've got my name in katakana which is the japanese way of writing western names, and style in kanji in the other end of the belt. Both are red. Actually I didn't really think of a colour, and nobody told me it had to be red. It just turned out to be red.... I guess it is one of these 'secret rules'. hmmm Well, it looks kinda cool anyway, so who cares.

You definately need a cup for free sparring. The first time you get kicked in the groin, you will know why. Don't get a cheap one though, I've seen some broken ones !! When do you get strong ? Well, it depends. In my experience, you get stronger when you really learn to use your body korrekt in techniques. E.g. hiprotation, korrekt tension and relaxation to name a few. Of course, sit ups and push ups helps too.