aefibird

He is.

Well, I have to say that my 'magic person' is my karate instructor, Graham Smith. I can't believe how privelaged I am to learn from him. He is a great karateka and he inspires his students to try and always give 100% effort and to improve all the time. He is always helpful and willing to answer questions and he will even admit when he doesn't really know the answer to anything (not that that happens often!). If he's not sure of something, eg a kata application, then he'll go away and think about it and come back to you with an answer. He's not into flashy techniques without substance, just simple karate and applications and he always says that basics are the key to everything - without good basics you can't build on your techniques and move on to more difficult techniques, such as sweeps or throws. Another inspirational karateka for me is Sensei Ticky Donovan, whom I've had the privelage of training with a couple of times.

Welcome to KarateForums, it's good to have fellow rugby lover here! (can ya say En-ger-land?? )

Best one for me personally is "Can I buy you a drink?" All the others are waaaaay too cheesy for my liking. One of my faves is a regional one from where I live - "Get yer coat, love, yer've pulled!" It cracks me up everytime I hear someone use it or hear of someone who has used it.

I know, but can anyone tell me what to put?? Please?

I've made a couple of makiwaras, but nothing else - yet!

Keep practicing your technique. The better your timing becomes, the more you'll be able to hold your own against a bigger opponent. I'm only small and I found it really hard at first to try to grapple with someone bigger than me, especially males. (we do quite a bit of grappling in my karate class as well as throws, sweeps and trips, BTW) The more I practiced and learned how to time my movements effectively, the easier it became. Work on your elbows!

I'd suggest that you try and find clubs near you for all the arts you're interested in doing. Then go along and have a look and see what you think, maybe try out a couple of lessons at each place before you firmly decide. There's no point in deciding you really really want to train in Krav Maga only to find the nearest school is 100miles away... Some questions you might want to ask the instructor... How long have you been doing martial arts? How long have you been teaching martial arts? What grade are you? (if the system has grades and/or belt rankings) How much does it cost to train? Is there a joining fee? Do I have to sign a contract? Are there gradings/testings? If so, how much do these cost? What about a uniform/gi? Do I have to wear a set uniform? If so, do I have to buy it through the club? What's the average time to get to blackbelt in this club? (if it seems very short then don't touch the club with a bargepole - McDojo!) How many members do you have? Do you have separate adults and childrens classes? Do you have separate beginner classes? If the instructor seems unwilling to talk to you or answer your questions or let you watch a class, then be suspicious. Good martial arts clubs shouldn't have anything to hide.

Well, if the guys are getting pics of ladies butts, which guy here has a nice enough * to volunteer showing us ladies on KF a picture of it??

Wow, Chen, thats incredible! Glad to hear you're NOT paralysed and bed-ridden... I can almost do full side splits - I'm about an inch away now! I have more problems with front splits, I don't seem to be very 'bendy' doing those.

I know what you mean Ramymensa. There are experienced black belts who have held their dan grades for longer than some of these kid blackbelts have actually been alive. It sickens me to hear of 2nd and even 3rd dan 10 and 11 year olds. There's a pair of brothers who attend my beginners shotokan class on a Monday night and their father was chatting to me and my sensei last Monday about his nieces who are 13 and 14 years old. This father was telling us that they'd both just been awarded their 3rd degree blackbelts in TKD. He was really pleased of the fact and thought it was a great achievement that a 13 year old was a 3rd degree... *shakes head sadly in disgust at how the standards in MA are slipping*

Well, even if you do get your * whipped by a higher grade, remember they are a higher grade than you. In other words, they've "been there, done it and bought the t-shirt". Even if you lose, there's no shame in it as long as you have tried hard and done your best. And just think on, in a couple of years, other guys might be saying "I don't want to fight Rich, that Trodai karate guy, he's got sooooo much experience and he's gonnna whip my butt!" Remember, we all started as beginners...

It looks rockin'. I'm hoping to try and get down to it. Are you planning on going, Rich?

I agree with the other posters. Your instructor certainly needs to know that you have previous experience. Anyway, being a black belt in one art means it can be difficult to try and hide your skills when you move to another art. With regards to any possible comparisons... well, just remember that every martial artist thinks that their school is the best, why else would they go there otherwise?? Just because I think that my Shotokan instructor is the greatest in the world doesn't mean that I cant appreciate and learn from other styles and from other instructors. The others in your new school don't need to know your a black belt. They don't even need to know you've done TKD, you could just say you've had a bit of martial arts experience previously. If the school you go to is a good one I can't imagine why anyone would be overly bothered about comparisons and bickering about which style is the best - most true martial artists just wanna get on and train! Good luck with your move to a new club and I hope you enjoy your Shotokan training.

Best MA trick or tip?? PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!

Well, the thing that summed it all up for me today was when I was talking about karate today with one of my non-martial art friends and I said that there's a campaign going to get karate in the Olympics and he said to me "it's already in, isn't it?" I replied that, no, that's TKD and he turned to me and said "well, it's all the same sort of thing, innit? lots of flashy kicking?" If a non martial artist already thinks of karate as flashy kicking even before it's in the Olympics then what's the public view of it all going to be after it's been dumbed down into an Olympic sport? Now, I like small competitions and occasionally competing and I think that small and carefully regulated competitions that preserve the traditional aspect of karate are a good thing. The Olympics, on the other hand, would be the exact opposite of this and would do more to destroy traditional karate than anything else in its history IMO. Just my £0.02...!

Interesting article, Rich. Thanks for sharing.

returning_wave, do you & your 'martial arty friends' (great description BTW!) have your own organisation? If so, what is it called? Thanks.

Aye, there's always something for martial artists to work on!! Just when you think you've got it sorted... along pops another thing for you to try and get right.

Good luck with the tournament!

Try https://www.kata-unlimited.com I've never used it but someone told me it was good!!

That move from Tekki is one of my favourite kata applications.

Yep, try and make sure you've got their hands and arms in your field of vision at all times. Don't JUST concentrate on that, though, or you'll miss that mawashigeri that's gonna smack you in the side of the head... I'm sure with practice you'll get the hand of trying to do 90 things at once (which is what sparring always felt like to me the first few times of doing it).

I agree with delta1 (who always gives sound advice!). I'd say that talking with your Shito Ryu instructor might only make it worse and cause bad feeling. I'd try and carry on just training with your Goju Ryu instructor if I were you and have a look round for another Shito Ryu school, if you really want to carry on with that style. At least you recognise that you've just been taught the kata to get your next belt and you know that you need to take time over a kata to really know it properly. Your instructor in Goju Ryu sounds like a sound instructor; even if he's not got a proper dojo would he consider giving you private lessons at home or in another venue? Keep on practicing yourself and I'm sure you'll come to a good understanding of the kata, without feeling that you're being rushed into learning the next one. Good luck with your training.

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