aefibird

Well, training at school in a quiet spot would be OK, but I wouldn't recommend that you wear your gi. Firstly, if your club has that rule then they probably won't like it if you wear your gi outside of class. Secondly, you'll probably draw more attention to yourself by wearing your gi in a public place. Also, if you know anyone else at your school who trains in karate then maybe you could train with them? If your school has a small sports hall or gymnasium that you could borrow over lunch time or before or after school then you could train in there. If you've booked the place yourself and no-one else can use it at that time then you're less likely to be disturbed than if you're using a public place.

Alright... another question from the Chinese MA newbie... () What's Sam Bai Fut? Thanks.

CapitalKarate, stick with Shorin Ryu. It is a highly effective system. If you want to do more joint locks or throws or whatever then ask your instructor when he feels you'll be ready to start learning them. If you stick with SR for a few years, at the end of that time you may not even want to learn another art at all. ShorinryuSensei has been training in SR for (I think) over 30 years - send him a Private Message, as he'd be the best person on these forums to advise you about Shorin Ryu.

*cough* that's Britain, actually...

...or should that be "fowl" tome.... *groan*

TKD and Korean Martial Arts magazine. It's a UK magazine. I don't do Korean Arts, but I got a few copies free with a subscription to another MA magazine. It's a very good read and informative too.

I've done quite a bit of competing, although not as much now as I once did. I prefer the traditional karate tournaments, although, I've been in quite a lot of Open tournaments too. I've most recently competed in AMA, FSK, Combat Open, FEKO and USA tourneys. I usually enter traditional empty-hand kata and sparring, but I've started entering traditional weapons kata categories now as well.

Hi! Welcome to Karate Forums. Congratulations on your recent promotion to 4th Dan!

Hi Kurenai, welcome to Karate Forums!

I didn't realise you meant you wanted feedback as well. I just thought that you were trying to become less nervous performing in front of a group of people. Well, how about asking someone who knows nothing about karate? Even though they won't be able to tell if you're performing the kata correctly, then they could tell if you look nervous or if your movements seem weak or whatever. Sometimes an unbiased view can come from a non-martial artist.

Start out by practicing with one or two people watching you - a friend or your parents or whatever. Then, try and progress from there. If possible, ask a few people from your dojo to stay behind after class and watch you. See if starting with a small audience and building up from there works for you. Finally, with competitions start out with really small ones. Practice a lot of relaxation techniques before hand and tell yourself that you are confident and that you CAN perform your kata without making mistakes.

If you wash your belt gently the dye shouldn't run the next time you wear it. If you wash it fairly regularly it will stop it becoming sweaty and smelly too. Handwash it if you're unshure of whether to shove it in the washing machine or not.

I agree. The person who agreed that it was a good film script & plot and comissioned it to be made into a movie should've been shot... repeatedly... ()

lol, yeah, no flying side kicks allowed!

There can be several names for what is essentially the same series of kata. My organisation calles Taikyoku Shodan "Kihon". We don't tend to teach the other Taikyoku katas as standard, although my own Sensei has been known to occasionally teach T. Nidan and T. Sandan. There are also Yondan and Godan versions of taikyoku, although I've only ever seen these kata performed, I've never done them myself.

Training every day - both fitness and karate training. Work out with a partner if possible, as you will be able to help one another with errors. Plus, it can be more motivating training with another person.

Good luck with your test! Try to relax and stay calm. Have a positive attitude - tell yourself that you've trained hard and that you know your stuff. If you go in there with the right mental attitude then you'll do much better than if you're worried or if you think that you'll fail. Don't forget to let us all know how you got on!

lol, delta I knew what you meant.

Hi Sandra. Welcome to Karate Forums!

Well, we do get injuries on a pretty regular basis, as we tend to go at it quite hard when sparring, especially the adults. However, the injuries are usually bumps, bruises, sprains with maybe only one person getting a more serious injury in any lesson. I was just commenting that practically everyone in the class that night had an injury, with several students requiring a visit to A&E. It just seemed 'funny' (funny as in strange, rather than "funny ha ha") that so many people had so many injuries in one night when we'd had a relattively injury free period the previous few weeks.

Yes, going to each of their classes is a good idea. Try and take at least a couple of classes with each instructor if possible - that will give you a better idea of what each club is like. Also, find out who would be teaching you on a regular basis. Would it be the instructor or an assistant? Well, even thought the Shotokan instructor doesn't compete any more doesn't necessarily mean that's a bad thing. My instructor no longer competes, but he has still managed to coach several people to levels where they've won World and European championship trophies. It all depends on how interested you think you'd be in competing. If it isn't much of a priority, then you'd be better off going with the school that is less sports orientated.

Well, good luck with it. Let us know when you're likely to be fighting in K1.

I agree. Martial Arts is a way of life for me too. I'd hate it if I had to give up my MA training.

Hi Claudia! Good to have you on Karate Forums.

Hi libreg, welcome to the wonderful world of martial arts and welcome to Karate Forums!