aefibird

Yeah, we did a kata burn last night too. We started with Kihon (Taikyoku Shodan) and worked our way up through the katas until we got to one that no one knew. We got through 17 kata, each kata was done 3 times, at speed. After the 'killer' kata session we followed it up with a few rounds of press ups, sit ups and squats. We were all about ready to die by the end of the class!

It is a sad fact that wherever an organisation is there will be politics there as well. The best we can hope for is to try and reduce it as much as possible - eg not getting involved!

FSK - Federation of Shotokan Karate, which is a member of the EKGB (English Karate Governing Body). The FSK is a break-away organisation from the SKI. I'm also with the NAF - National Aikido Federation. https://www.ekgb.org.uk https://www.nationalaikidofederation.org.uk

The rule that if an instructor has 3 students who fail BB lose their right to recommend students for testing is a good one if the instructor keeps recommending people for testing who aren't ready. If an instructor keeps trying to promote people who aren't ready for it then it devalues the grading system. Instructors should make sure that their students are ready to grade before allowing them to test. MichiganTKD, if an instructor from your organisation loses the right to recommend students for testing, what happens to his/her students? How do they then get promoted to their next rank?

I see from reading this thread that most people (including myself!) wish that they had started MA earlier than they did. What do you think would have been a good age for YOU to start in MA and, if you had started earlier than you did, do you think you would have stuck with it?

That guy's 4th dan test sounds cool! If your instructor has seen you doing kata or sparring a zillion times before, then seeing a student do something different and watching how they respond to a certain situation would be interesting. Did the guy pass his 4th dan, BTW? Yeah, I've seen people at testings who shouldn't have been there. It wasn't particularly that their martial arts skills were bad, it was more to do with the fact they looked bored and were putting zero effort into it. I'm sure instructors would rather grade and teach students who can't do something but are putting maximum effort into it, rather than have people who can do it but look as if they can't be bothered.

My instructor goes on long walks with his dog (he must have the fittest dog in the whole county!) to think about kata and application. Even though he's been training in martial arts for over 30 years he still likes to look at the base structures of every kata and to try and and consider new bunkai and refine old stuff that he's already taught and developed. Then he tries it all out on his unsuspecting dan grades...

Hi, welcome to the forum!

Sorry, I dunno. The new Golf ad is great, but then again I'm quite tragic 'cos I have a thing about VW cars!! LOL Monkey, have you tried the VW UK website? The ad (and name of the song) might be on there.

Hi Wu, I certainly wouldn't say that you're too old to learn ANY martial art! Martial arts are for all, and there's an art out there that will suit you, I'm sure. However, it is the instructor that is important, so try and find a good one! I'd suggest that you go along and watch a few Aikido or Ju-Jitsu or Judo classes, maybe even try a lesson or two in each before making your mind up. Good luck!

For karate we test in groups of up to 6 for kyu grades and individually for dan grades. Testing in aikido is done in pairs, each person being tori and uke (one who does the technique and the one who recieves it). Lowe grades keep the same partner through the whole test (someone of the same grade as you) but the higher kyu grades and the yudansha swop partners. My last karate test wasn't too bad (apart from forgetting the name of my free-choice kata -D'oh!!). The test before was brutal, though. It was for my 1st kyu and it was definately an ordeal. I wasn't feeling well (sickness & diahorrea and karate gradings don't mix well!), plus I'd been up since 4am, driving almost 400miles back home from south Wales. I drove from Wales without a break and went straight to the testing place, did 2 hours of training then did the test for my 1st kyu. At the end of it I was so exhausted that I just wanted to collapse in a heap ; I didn't even care about knowing if I'd passed or not (thankfully, I did!)

There's a guy I know who is a member of the same karate association that I belong to, although he's from another dojo. He hates having to spar with women, because he thinks that men shouldn't fight women, even with their consent! He's a real old-style gentleman and always apologises to ladies if he does have to spar with them.

I've seen martial arts websites that sell sleeveless gi tops. I should imagine they're great for training in during the summer (although they maybe rub a bit round the arm hole?) but I wouldn't like to see people entering competitions in them. Gi's with sleeves look a lot smarter IMO.

Welcome back Cheeky! Nice to have you back.

Same here. In our advanced classes we do a lot of working on techniques taken from kata.

Hey, good answer, though!! How often do you train with the ESA and the KUGB? Thanks.

I'm really grateful for what my martial arts training has done for me. As well as giving me some nice shiny trophies and medals (I'm not so thankful for them when I have to dust them ) it has also boosted my self confidence and self esteem. Before I started karate I was very shy and suffered from an eating disorder. The training in martial arts that I have done has helped me to overcome this and to be a better person spiritually and emotionally. Plus, being able to kick butt is also an advantage!! lol

Congratulations krunchfrogg!!

I think that full contact tournaments are good because they prepare people for what it feels like to be hit, rather than attacking someone but pulling the punch. That's why I think that a mixture of full-, semi-, and light-contact training is a good thing to have. Training in light- or no-contact is all very well for learning distancing and timing but it doesn't really prepare people for real attacks.

Hi! Welcome to the forums. Good luck in your search for a martial arts club!

I'm a Teaching Assistant working with children with Special Educational Needs. I'm also a part-time university degree student, as well as the assistant instructor at my karate club. Sheesh, better 'busy' than 'bored', I suppose!

ESA-shotokan, I'm just being nosey here, but why are you taking 2 Shotokan shodan tests with 2 different organisations? Not that there's anything wrong with either the KUGB or the ESA, I was just curious as to why you are training and grading with both. On a sperate note, are you going to the KUGB summer camp up in the Lake District? If so, see you there!!

My £0.02 about the styles I do... Shotokan karate is a hard, external striking style. It is a Japanese style of karate, as opposed to Okinawan lineage styles. It encompasses punching and kicking, along with locks, throws and sweeps (grappling stuff), although how much of this you do depends on your instructor. Shotokan also has kata (patterns/forms). It is often seen as a slow and rigid style, although that's usually said by people that have no experience with it... Yes, it has very low stances compared to other MA styles, but this can work as an advantage as it is a good excercise in strength training as well as giving you a good grounded stance for fighting. There generally isn't any weapons training in Shotokan karate. Aikido is an internal, soft style martial art. It uses the concept of Ki (which can be described as internal energy, although I'm not gonna get into a discussion about Ki here!!). However, it isn't necessary to believe in Ki in order to practice Aikido, although it can help. Aikido has been described as a truly defesive style. It uses the energy and momentum of an attacker and blends with it in order to create harmony with the attacker. Training in Aikido is in joint locks, throws and pins, although Atemi (striking) also plays a part. There is also weapons training in Aikido, with the Jo, the Bokken and the Tanto. There are kata in Aikido, although these are two person weapons forms and are used as a training aid. There are several styles of Aikido, including Aikikai, Yoshinkan and Tomiki.

lol, blitzcraig. Maybe you could incorporate French Horn as part of your next belt test?? When I was taking my 1st kyu I was paired in the point sparring section against a guy from another club (we have a centralised regional grading in my association) who was also going for his 1st kyu. He was very cocky in his attitude and you could see from his face and body language that he thought he was going to beat me straight away. When we started he launched into his attack right away with Jodan Mawashi-Geri (head height roundhouse kick). Because I'm only 5'2" I managed to easily duck under his attack and counter with Gyaku-Tsuki (reverse punch) to the jaw. He stopped immediately and went over to the referee to complain that I'd hit him too hard!! You could see from his face that he didn't like the fact he'd been hit by a woman. The referee told him to take it like a man and to continue the sparring. I ended up defeating him and he was making a right fuss about it and kept complaining to the referee (who gave him short shrift and sent him packing!) If a guy can't take being beaten by a woman in sparring, then he needs to think about his whole attitude to martial arts. MA's include respect and honour and it certainly isn't showing respect for their opponents if a guy complains about being beaten by a woman. They wouldn't think about complaining if their opponent was a man, so what difference should it make it their opponent is female?

If you wanna try and stop yourself from getting into fights with other people, away from the dojo, then try and avoid going to the places where 'starting sh**' might happen. As Tal said, it's all very well getting into fights with an unarmed guy but what if that guy (or his bunch of mates) have knives or guns? If you know that everywhere you go you try and "size things up", then at least you recognise you have a problem with your attitiude and need to fix it. You need to try start going to places and stop looking at everyone as though you'd rather kick their a$s than anything else in the world. Maybe you could have a word with your sensei or another respoinsible adult you know? Explain to them your situation and tell them you wanna change your attitude. You're only 16, so you need to start growing up a bit and working on trying to avoid confrontation, rather than looking for it and enjoying it.