Sico

That's crap, your knees are not designed to move like that - this is bad technique that has been passed down over decades. You shouldn't push your knees out or in when in side stance, you should just 'sit down' in the stance with your knees in a neutral position. If you try to force your knees out or in, you'll put unnecessary strain on them. It's misinformation like this that results in 'shotokan knee' later in life. Whether you put 'tension' towards the inside or outside of the stance is a different matter altogether, but your knees themselves shouldn't be forced outside their normal range of movement (straight hinge joint). Decide yourself what value you place on your knees. Good: http://www.ozwebart.com.au/kua/kihon/Kiba-Dachi.GIF Bad: http://bushido.karateclub.free.fr/Postures/kiba.jpg See the difference?

I've never seen ANYONE fail their first grading. Unless you fall over unconscious during the exam, you'll have nothing to worry about.

AFAIK Funakoshi's son Yoshitaka is suspected to have altered the Pinan kata to include back stances instead of cat stances, and side kicks instead of groin kicks for the modern Heians? I'm not sure about that though.

Hmm, you may prefer Kyokushin if you're more used to heavier contact. Maybe some of the kyokushin fans here might be able to provide more info?

Quite rarely at my level (6th kyu). We have been practicing Asai-sensei's Junro kata a lot recently though - which involve a few double-handed techniques (e.g. jodan barai + gyaku tsuki, double-handed punches) - as they are soon to become standard in the JKS curriculum.

Here's something I came up with (with the 'traditional' application in square brackets to make it easier to keep track of the position): 1. Hidari gedan barai / nagashi uke - gedan tsuki - gedan tetsui / whatever [hidari gedan barai] 2. Left hand grabs opponent's right wrist, step forward to grab opponent's retreating lapel [oi zuki] 3. Throw to the right and down, maybe smashing opponent's chest or face on right knee [migi gedan barai] 4. Still holding on with the left hand, right hand strikes tetsui to the opponent's head/neck/collarbone/right elbow [tetsui uchi] Possible fifth move: right hand brings opponent's weakened right elbow to the hip, left hand wrenches opponent's right wrist in the opposite direction to hyperextend the elbow [oi zuki] - I don't know whether this would actually work.

Heh heh, long time reader, first time poster, but I just had to register for this thread! https://www.budogirls.com