angelica d

Kumite988, the kata you're thinking of is Kanku Dai. Kanku Sho starts with three reinforced uchi-uki's - one to the left, then right, then centre. I think. I'm slowly picking it up after watching my fiance do it hundreds of times! Aefibird, Kanku Sho and Bassai Sho are the katas I can't wait to learn either (guess you've already learnt them now though). I love the jump in Kanku Sho and that end bit in Bassai Sho - awesome! I also really want to learn Jitte, I think the beginning bit is really cool. But at the moment I'm doing Heian Godan, its quite good really, my favourite kata so far...

Japanese/Okinawan - whatever you choose to class Shotokan as!

Just a suggestion: Buy yourself a mini trampoline (trampette), get some good music on, and jump! Its great fun and really good all-over exercise. Also, you can build up your fitness by measuring how many songs you can jump for - I can do about 8 or 9 before getting really out of breath! Alternatively, swimming is great, as is cycling. Good luck

I agree Beka, people always ask what rank I am - then if I tell them they usually don't understand anyway! But at my dojo its obvious that there are people of the same rank who are in fact at very different levels. For example (not meaning to brag) I train at least three times a week, am athletic, and can pick up new things quickly. Whereas there are some people I know who are the same 'rank' as me who train much less, and have difficulties in remembering combinations and things. We all get the opportunity to grade at the same time, and usually everyone passes (albeit some better than others). It just shows that comparing your rank with other people doesn't always work. Personally, I think that getting a belt promotion is a good challenge, and it means that you're competing against yourself. They indicate that you have been training for a certain amount of time, can remember certain sequences of movements, and can perform various techniques. What most people who don't do MAs realise, is that being a darker coloured belt doesn't necessarily mean you're great at MAs, and being a lighter coloured belt doesn't necessarily you're not very good at it. They're supposed to show experience, not ability IMHO. OK I think I'm talking too much now

French, Art, History and General Studies (the subject we are made to take so that the college gets extra funding). Only 5 exams to go!

Cheers for the advice aefibird - sorry it took me so long to respond, I'm up to my ears in A levels! Yeah, can't wait to start horseriding, it should be great. And if it improves my (at the moment pathetic) kibadachi then all the more reson!

Spiders are ALWAYS different. They are horrible mean yukky creatures designed to scare wimps like me! Beetles are the same. Our cat keeps bringing these giant beetles into the house and dumping them in front of the fridge so I can't go near it. I'm starving!!

Hey, good thread! I did alot of swimming, ballet and jazz dancing some years before starting karate. Although immediately before starting karate I was doing no exercise (recovering from a long illness) I think that the dancing had already taught me how to copy movements and learn sequences. Now I'm planning on starting horseriding lessons. I used to work at a stable and it was fun, so hopefully I'll enjoy riding too. Aefibird, you say you climbed Kilamanjaro? That's awesome! I'm hoping to climb Mount Kenya next year, if I can raise enough money for the trip!

Its quite a coincidence, because since this thread was started, my friend broke her toe - she dropped a bottle of wine on it! Don't worry, the bottle didn't smash though!

Yikes! It sounds like an interesting competition, although in real life I wouldn't try to fight someone who was so big I couldn't reach their head. I'd simply run away!

Last summer I broke a couple of fingers whilst sparring, and I made myself a kind of splint to wear. I was working at a fast food joint and they made me wear these horrible fluorescent catering plasters over it - about 13 were needed to cover the three strapped-up fingers. I looked really daft and got lots of 'jokes' made about my doing karate...

No, I have to disagree. I know one guy who is really that cheesey! Even when we were in high school together he would ask girls out using the above 'conversation openers' *cough* Although I think maybe he's one of a very small population!

It doesn't sound like much, but get someone to give you a really good massage! My fiance has had the same prob as you for a long time, and although he goes to a physio and has all kinds of treatments, he says that a good, vigorous massage is great for short-term relief.

I have klutz weeks almost every week, in fact its rare for me to come out of a lesson feeling satisfied with my performance. But then I get those REALLY bad days, when I can't even do a front stance! (Slight exaggeration). Seriously, last night I felt really awkward doing even the basic drills. Eventually I got into it, but not for ages. Anyway, its not as bad as in my driving lessons - every single lesson is awful! Last Monday I left the handbrake on whilst starting the car at least 50 times!

We learn a kata called Yontikan for fourth kyu - its quite nasty, lots of reverse gedan barais. Then for 1st dan you learn Kan Sho, for second dan you learn Kan Ni, and then there are loads of others that the black belts can choose to learn. Does your organisation have a lot of its own katas. Its a shame that in most competitions they're not allowed, I reckon it'd be interesting. But hard for the judges!

Apparently the average person breaks or fractures a toe about four times a year without knowing it! Well maybe it hurt them at the time but they didn't think it was broken. My theory on broken toes is, if it hurts or looks weird, go to a doctor. If it doesn't, don't worry!

1/ What are your reasons for learning another language? Umm...school made me, and I was good at them so I carried on. I aslo quite enjoy knowing stuff that not many other people can do! 2/ What are the main barriers or difficulties you've had? Finding places that run Japanese courses (There isn't much call for them in East Yorkshire). Otherwise, language learning comes to me pretty easily. Trying to understand different dialects and accents is always hard though. 3/ Which languages have you learnt and why? French and German at school, Japanese for fun. I'm interested in Japan and hope to visit, plus I thought it would be challenging. I was right! I also fancy learning Italian, Arabic and Russian. For novelty value. 4/ Which learning methods have you used? Classes at school and then college were the main method, I like the traditional methods of learning grammer and then progressing. I think that now at school they simply teach basic pjrases to the kids, which doesn't help them understand the structure of the language. I also used books and a CD ROM but nothing worked as well as actually going to class. 5/ Did you learn a language in high school? Yeah, French for 7 years and German for 2. I can honestly only remember the numbers from German, and how to say 'I love watching TV' - which isn't true! As for French, I would say I'm pretty good. I can hold a fluent conversation, although my spelling could do with some improvement.

I like yokogeri keage and mikazuki geri - they're the ones I do best! But when sparring, I just use gyaku zukis, all the time. It normally works!

And have you seen the quality of some kata vids? I got some from a catalogue and the quality is terrible!

hahaha ... keep digging that hole aefibird!

The senseis at my dojo are great, no one is scared of them but everyone respects them. Occasionally if the kids play up, he can really shout though! I think thats the best way to be, IMHO the 'scary' teachers at school were never respected as much as those that acted normal, but could get angry if necessary. Shouting and using threats all the time can be really unproductive, no one can completely focus on their karate if they're being scared of some one else at the same time. Also it can be really demoralising for the students. I admit, I was scared of my sensei for a while, when I started dating his son! Not scared as in frightened, though, but scared that I might lose his respect if he thought I wasn't serious about my karate. But a long time later I've proved that I'm serious about both his son and karate, so its worked out for the best!

Our brown belt katas (Northern Karate Association) : Jion, Jinn, Jitte, Kanku Dai, Bassai Dai Black Belt Katas: Kanku Sho, Meikyo, Ten No s, Bassai Sho, and the organisations own katas (Kan Sho, Yontikan)

I don't think you should feel bad about progressing through the belts, if your instructor feels that you are competant enough then you must have earned it. But I don't believe that its necessary. What I mean is, I've trained loads more than the other people at my kyu level, and it does show. I don't mind not progressing faster though, because although I can pick up new things faster, I like having then extra time to perfect the techniques until they seem like second nature to me. If you rush, you'll miss out on this IMO. I also enjoy the fact that there is a group of us that always grades together, there is a real team spirit and it'll be ace when we all get to 1st dan together! Of course I don't know what your classes are like. If you only learn the stuff required for the next belt, I can understand why you might get impatient to learn new things (no matter what people say, heian shodan IS pretty boring after doing it so much!). However, where I train, we get the opportunity to learn different things as well, such as self defence, bunkai and more advanced techniques. This stuff stops the more able students from getting bored. I know I'm going on a bit now, but what I mean is, you have to think why you're wanting to grade so fast. I don't believe that wanting to have a higher rank is a good reason, but if grading quickly gives you more opportunities to learn new stuff, then by all means go for it! Just don't forget the stuff you learnt at the lower grades, IMHO its the most important stuff.

I hardly ever go running, it really hurts my knees and ankles. If I do, its 2 - 3 km at the gym, but usually I prefer uphill fast walking, its alot kinder on your joints!

This reminded me of the other week at training when a giant moth kept following me whilst doing solo kata practice! I kept jumping mid -kata, and must of looked a complete fool! But the moth was so big and hairy it looked just like a spider I know its irrational but there is no way I am going to go near a huge insect to overcome my fear. Unless maybe I get hypnotised - that sounds like a stress -free way of overcoming a fear! Otherwise I'll have to learn to live with it I guess.