cathal

When I clicked on the URL all that came up for me was a * site.

IMHO point of view is very important. You can take to heart whatever philosophy you choose but don't fool yourself. Knowing Karate forms, blocks, attacks, katas, etc is one thing but "Learning" Karate means that you learn about yourself as well and it just isn't enough to call Karate a sport because it is not. Please don't take that to be a flame. I respect your opinion as I hope you respect mine. But I believe that Karate is a way of life; To demean it by calling it a mere sport is cause for regret. On another point, however, I agree with Sho-ju in that religion does not necessarily need to be applied with Karate in general. Yes there is a factor of spirituality, but that is definitely something I'm not exactly qualified to debate about at this point in my life, especially since I cannot speak for others. Anyway, those are my two pennies.

I tend to agree with the idea that quality is better than quantity.

To me kata symbolize our knowledge and capability of the techniques of our style. Then, yes learning bunkai for these katas does open your eyes to new methods of approaching situations and forcing you to think on your feet. I feel that I keep learning something whenever I do the kata that I know and how it can be applied to real-life situations. If my dojo limited me to only a few kata I'd have to examine that decision to see how it applied to the philosphy and if it was really a good thing. If it wasn't in my own opinion maybe I'd move on to another dojo. Hard to tell really. Regarding removing kata I don't feel I know enough to make a decision. So far my opinion on that is each have something to teach us.

I've felt that through my life I've always wanted to do something in this area. I wanted to centre myself physically and mentally...to learn about myself and my limits as well as to develop my self confidence. I remember going to the dojo and having a great time. After a little while now I feel I'm starting to understand the philosophy involved, and that seems to reinforce what the sensei teaches.