angelica d

Ooo, I went to the same competition (just watching mind you) and you're right it was amazing! The team kata stood out, especially unsu in the finals which was breathtaking. Unsu seemed to be the favourite kata, along with kanku sho and nijushiho... and a particular wado kata that I didn't know the name of but that I must have seen about twenty times that day! Yeah, it was a great day... I wish I could be as good as those guys are!

Me too, but 18 soon! (Not that it makes any difference to being a teenager but still, can't wait! )

Southend on Sea! Only spent the first five/six years of my life there, but it certainly made an impression! Why, are you from Essex too? I admit the Essex Girl jokes get a bit annoying...but what can I do eh?

I'm told that before I joined my school there was a guy whose gi smelt so bad that every time he graded, and moved up the line, the black belts all hated it cos he got closer to them! It must have made for good competition though! Heavyweight gis are definitely better though...I tend to make better stances when I've got the stiff material to push against. And as for the snapping sound when you make a technique...you just can;t beat it!

Oh, me too please! I'm sick of the English weather...the floor is so cold at the dojo! Plus its awful when I'm walking alond and all of a sudden there's ice everywhere. I must just be unlucky as I always slip and end up looking a complete idiot Well to go back to the title of the thread, I'm from Yorkshire, England (originally from Essex) but I'd love to visit Japan, Canada, India, the Caribbean...everywhere really!

It's the same with us, we don't get to grade until we've gone past the expectations for the next rank. As for me personally, I don't think I'd quit if I failed a grading, but I'd be pretty disheartened! I mean, I already train as hard as I can so if I ever failed it would make me think I was a complete no-hoper. Hope I never have to be in that situation though!

I started learning Japanese a couple of years ago, at an adult ed course - only ten weeks but enough to learn all the kana and the basics! Then the course stopped so I had to carry on by myself which is easier said than done. I recommend 'Japanese For Busy People' as a great textbook. It goes through all the grammar as you go along which is how I learn languages best (as opposed to the secondary school method - pretty much teaching us basic phrases to use). I got a CD ROM thingy as well, which helped. But next year I'm going to do a degree in Japanese next year - I got my letter of acceptance from Leeds Uni today! Woohoo! Good luck in language learning!

I do about 2.5 - 3 hours on Monday, 2 hours on Tuesday and 1.5 hours on Thursday. Mind you, that's only because I do two classes on Monday. It always seems like a good idea at the time but after the first hour or so...

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I was practising all my kata last night and feel a little bit more confident now...have to wait and see how I do!

Hi guys! Your site seems really impressive and I'm going to spend a lot more time here in future! As for me, my name's Angelica and I'm a student in East Yorkshire, England. I've been studying shotokan karate three times a week for about a year now and I'm taking my orange belt in January. I've got my first competition coming up in a few weeks though, and am very nervous! I look forward to hearing from you all!