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Well, it would certainly have been unique if they'd done that.... Personally, I liked all 3 LOTR films. Still not quite as good as the book, IMO. If you haven't read it already then you should!! Make it a New year Resolution!! lol

Marmite and English mustard rules!! I usually have it in sandwiches though. Marmite and cheese spread on oatcakes is a good combo too. I love tomato ketchup on jacket potatoes. Jacket potatoes with cottage cheese, baked beans, tuna and salad cream (it's a bit like mayonnaise) is also an interesting combination.

Testing for shodan and above is done by the head of my association, with 2 other sandan and above black belts sat with him. The other black belts of the organisation are expected to be there, especially those of nidan and above, as they can be picked as sparring partners for those testing. It's basically wall-to-wall black belts there; even though most of them are not involved with the testing it is still very nerve-wracking!!

Generally, my sensei won't allow anyone to test for their next belt until their ready, although I have seen him allow one boy (aged about 13/14) to test when he clearly wasn't ready. This was because the lad was very cocky and kept pestering to grade because he thought he was far superior to anyone else in the dojo. My sesei allowed him to take his next grade and fail as a 'wake-up' call. It worked... In my association, everyone from the association tests together at regional gradings, rather than grading at your own dojo. My sensei won't let anyone grade who isn't ready (except for the lad I just mentioned) but some of the instructors send their students to grade, just because 3 months has elapsed since last grading and the student has asked to grade. At the last grading I went to, there was a boy there (aged about 11 or so) and he'd failed the test for his brown belt (3rd kyu) four times. IMO, it would have been much better for that kid's instructor to have not let him grade, rather than for the kid to keep failing. At least the kid shows persevereance, though! I think a lot of people would have quit after the 1st failure. As an aside - do most people have a 'pass/temporary grade/ fail' type system for testing, or is it a straight 'pass or fail' with your association?

This is an extract from the latest issue of Shotokan Karate Magazine, about a course with Hirokazu Kanazawa. "Later...I managed to ask him [Kanazawa sensei] a few questions which he was happy to answer. One that 'shocked' all the guys around the table (3rd, 4th, 5th dans) was this one: I asked Kanazawa sensei about Shotokan's idea of contracting all the muscles of the body for one spit second at the moment of impact (physical kime) and whether or not we 'Shotokan' were the 'only' karate style who does this? "YES! we are the only style who does this." This 'kicked-off' a talking point because not one single person knew that. I asked him where this concept originated and who developed it? Again he replied with out hesitation... "It was Nakayama sensei's idea." So, now we know, interesting eh!?" From Shotokan Karate Magazine, January 2004 issue, page 19, article written by John Cheetham. I thought it was an interesting article and I was wondering if Kanazawa was correct. Does any other style of martial art (not just other styles of karate) have that contracting of that the muscles before impact, or, like the article said, is it only 'practiced' in Shotokan? I've never heard before that it was only a 'shotokan thing'; I thought it was common in several styles.

Oh yeah, I've got red & blue competition belts too. They have Shotokan on one end and the name of my club on the other. When we were looking for a main sponsor for our competition team, someone gave some money to buy equipment with, so everyone on the team ended up with a cheap pair of mitts and a set of red & blue embroidered belts. They're a bit naff looking but, hey, they were free!! ^grin^ On a related theme, does anyone have any embroidery on their gi? I mean other than an association or club logo.

Try doing a search on google or similar. There's loads of info out there about the samurai and equally loads of info regarding jiu-jitsu. Good luck in your search!

I think too that some people (especially those from 'belt factories') think that getting a black belt is the end of the road and there's no need to continue with training anymore, which is a pity.

Nope, you're certainly not too old to start training! I started when I was 20. Good luck with it, hope you enjoy training!

I think that wearing the Goju-Ryu patch should be OK for a few classes, especially if you explain to the instructor before hand that you're not being disrespectful. Good luck with the training in Chito-Ryu! I hope everything goes well for you!

My belt is embroidered in red with my name at one end and Shotokan at the other, both in Japanese. I wanted the embroidary in blue, but the place I bought my belt from said I could only have red or yellow/gold.

I have a couple of Blitz 'Silver Tournament' brand gi's, they're very good and value for money too. I also really like my Tokaido gi too. Very expensive, but very worth it! Try https://www.playwell.com , their stuff is always good quality, although I find their own-brand gi's to be a bit short in the jacket length. https://www.karate-kid.co.uk and https://www.meijin.co.uk are good suppliers too, especially Meijin. Their stuff is always shipped very quickly!

I'm 24 and train in Shotokan. Age isn't really a barrier in doing martial arts. I'm sure you'll love training again. As for being a woman in martial arts... don't worry about it! Martial arts aren't exclusively male-dominated these days and there are plenty of dojo's out there that welcome female martial artists. Plus, there's plenty of women MA's who can certainly give the blokes an @ss-whuppin' in any fight!! On a related note, https://www.snappunch.co.uk - for women in martial arts.

My sensei is always open to having visitors watching. It's a very small dojo, so there isn't really room for many spectators (unless you stand on the fire escape!) but he's always happy to have people watch and ask questions before or after a class. He's also fine about students going to train with other instructors or systems, which is a good thing. There's a guy at my dojo who also trains in Wing Chun and my instructor occasionally gets him to demonstrate how certain stuff is different in WC to Shotokan. It helps us to keep an open mind by watching other systems, he says.

Cross-training is a good thing IMO. It can only help to extend your MA knowledge, not hinder it.

I do Shotokan and I complain of knee pain... but that's only because of a previous horse-riding injury! I don't really think that the low stances used in Shotokan would cause anyone any injury, unless performed incorrectly. Personally, I feel that the low stances help to strenghthen the legs, which is an asset for when fighting in a higher stance.

I think wearing street clothing in a karate class can be a real 'eye-opener'. Stuff you can do wearing a gi becomes stuff that is difficult to do wearing jeans or a skirt (and that's just for the men! ). It really helps you to see street application of techniques and to find out what you would and wouldn't be able to do if you got into a situation where self-defence was really needed.

One suggestion for practicing Heian Yondan is to break it up into manageable 'chunks' of 3 or 4 moves and practice it that way. It will give you a feel for the bunkai and will help you to perform the kata seamlessly when you put the 'chunks' back together as one piece. I think that Yondan is (fairly) easy to learn the moves of quickly, because it is quite similar to Heian Shodan, Nidan & Sandan, kata which are usually learned before Yondan. Yondan is one of my favourite kata, which is a good job too, as it is also one of my sensei's favourites and he gets us to practice it a lot!!

I can't see why anyone of any religion shouldn't study martial arts. More often than not studying martial arts is a beneficial thing in a persons life.

In my karate club we hardly ever bow at all anyway, especially not to a photograph. I can't really see anything wrong with bowing to a photograph, though. It's just showing respect, even if the person isn't physically there to 'receive' it. Just because someone can't apprecialte your respect it doesn't mean you should necessarily withhold it. I think that with things like that, though, you should go with what you feel comfortable with. Each person is different and only they really know how they're feeling. If a person has a problem with a certain aspect of martial arts because of their beliefs then they should try and find a system or club that will help them to be a martial artist but without compromising beliefs.

In my karate club we hardly ever bow at all anyway, especially not to a photograph. I can't really see anything wrong with bowing to a photograph, though. It's just showing respect, even if the person isn't physically there to 'receive' it. Just because someone can't apprecialte your respect it doesn't mean you should necessarily withhold it. I think that with things like that, though, you should go with what you feel comfortable with. Each person is different and only they really know how they're feeling. If a person has a problem with a certain aspect of martial arts because of their beliefs then they should try and find a system or club that will help them to be a martial artist but without compromising beliefs.

In my karate club we hardly ever bow at all anyway, especially not to a photograph. I can't really see anything wrong with bowing to a photograph, though. It's just showing respect, even if the person isn't physically there to 'receive' it. Just because someone can't apprecialte your respect it doesn't mean you should necessarily withhold it. I think that with things like that, though, you should go with what you feel comfortable with. Each person is different and only they really know how they're feeling. If a person has a problem with a certain aspect of martial arts because of their beliefs then they should try and find a system or club that will help them to be a martial artist but without compromising beliefs.

There are many techniques that you can use in karate, not just Choku-Tsuki. If you're not too sure about sparring, the best person to ask would be your instructor, I'm sure he or she can help you with what you need to know!

Try also https://www.pckarate.co.uk , https://www.amauk.co.uk , https://www.ukasko.com or https://www.martialartsworld.uk.com

International Open Karate Championships, Harvey Haddon Sports Centre, Nottingham, 21st February. Tel. 0161 797 1077 for details. AMA Karate Northwest Open Champoinships, Darwen, Blackburn, 28th March. Contact Peter on 07939 289711 or the number given above for more details. I can't remember where I read/heard about the competition in Lancaster; when I find out I'll let you know. Unfortunately, that competition in January in Sunderland is invitation only.