solar_kid

Another thing you might try is performing your katas as fast as you can. Do any slow movements fast, and pause only enough between techniques to deliver the technique with the necessary focus. And try to coordinate the tension in your abdomen, buttocks, arms, and legs at the moment of execution of each technique so that it's all sharp. Done properly, I think it emulates a sparring environment quite well (as it should, given that katas are part of the training for fighting!), and, you'll learn the forms even better than you already have. You can even time yourself to see how fast you can perform the kata. However, be careful that your techniques do not become sloppy. They still must be strong and focused.

nice to meet you

Although no video is any kind of adequate substitute for training under a good instructor, Ray Dalke has some DVDs out that I think are great supplements to shotokan training. I have felt that sometimes he'll put something just the right way so that I understand it more than when my teacher says the same thing.

Angela, what an incredibly concise way to state it. My thanks. I will try to remember your words as I work on my kata. Yeah, I never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense. Thank you!

Yep. You gotta go see a doctor right away. You owe it to yourself, and think of how angry you'll be with yourself if you needlessly cause yourself some permanent injury that impairs your training. So, please go see a doctor.

If you do run a dojo in your garage/house, I would definitely encourage you to make sure you have liability coverage, and make sure that it does not exclude a commercial use. Sometimes, insurance makes a distinction.

Welcome. Always good to see others from Colorado on KF.

I don't know about judges at tournaments, but in practice, I recommend considering the following aspects of your kata performance, assuming your Heian #1 is generally similar to the one I am familiar with (although these items apply to all kata) 1. Spirit! See karatekid1975's post. This is most important. Think as if you are actually fighting. If you make a mistake, just keep going as if you had made no mistake at all! 2. Stance and balance - particularly when you make your 270 degree turns, make sure you're as balanced as you can be, and have good posture -- don't lean forward or to the side. Also, make sure you have a good back stance when the form requires it. Your back stance should be the same length as your front stance, if you can. (This will also help with ending up in the same place.) 3. "Looking" direction - before you turn, turn your head and look in the direction you're about to move, so that you can see where you're going. 4. Rhythm - try to keep a consistent pace throughout the form. Our heian #1 has no slow movements, so the pace is fairly uniform from technique to technique, except we pause a bit less before the third rising block, and before the last stepping punch. In particular, make sure you keep your pace during the knife hand blocks - they should not be any slower, and arguably, depending on how your school teaches this form, might each come just a bit faster. 5. Focus your technique - concentrate on contracting your core muscles to produce a good sharp stop as you execute each technique. Don't wobble after executing the technique. Although you should end up where you started or very close, I would suspect that is less important than good fundamental movements. And don't stress over it, nobody will have it perfect. I hope that helps, and good luck!

Thanks P.A.L., I'll have to see if I can find that at the rental store.

I agree with the previous couple of posts. In a proper side thrust kick as we're taught, the kicking leg does not come around in a circular motion. Rather, the kicking leg simply moves [directly] toward the supporting leg where the body's weight is. (Moving the kicking foot in an arc would only delay the kick and make balance more difficult.) From there, the kick is linear, not circular, in nature.

We always have free sparring on our tests, even for white belts taking the test for the first time. Of course, for the lower belts, you spar against an instructor(s) who approach the exercise with the appropriate level of restraint for the test taker. When I took my recent test for 3rd kyu, though, the examiner paired me with another student testing for the same grade. I didn't expect that! Completely different experience! Our black belt tests properly feature several rounds of free sparring against multiple opponents.

I've never heard of The Best of the Best... what is that about?

I've been having some trouble with jumps as in heian godan... well, more with the landing. I keep landing on the same spot on the ball of my left foot, and it hurts! Is there a trick to landing after jumping as high as you can without killing your foot?

my condolences.

I have both a heavy weight canvas uniform and a standard canvas uniform. While I like them both during training, I find the heavyweight canvas much harder to launder. It's so heavy and stiff that the washing machine can't agitate it properly, and it's a pain to iron. The traditional canvas uniform looks just as good, has been just as durable, but is so much easier to wash and iron.

I used to have a very stiff lower back, and I would get tension headaches from the tightness of the muscles in my shoulders. That's gone away since I've been practicing karate. Although I think karate helps in a lot of ways, there's one stretch that gets my lower back really good that seems to particularly help... we do this in the dojo, but I get the most out of it when I practice it (much) more slowly at home. You sit with your legs in butterfly position, and slowly bend your upper body forward so that your forehead nears your feet. You have to breathe carefully, and I noticed that I didn't start getting the improvement in my lower back until after my hips had loosened up enough to give me the necessary range of motion to allow my back to be stretched properly. There are other back stretches that more directly address the back and might be easier for you, but that's the one that helps me most.

I ordered a gi from them. Took about 6 weeks total. But, they told me it would take 6-8 weeks, so that was pretty good!

Welcome, Steve. I'm from Colorado, too. SE Denver.

It takes me about 35-45 minutes by car to reach my dojo from work. I travel up our I-25 highway during the evening rush, so the time is pretty variable. I generally find it quite worthwhile to commute to what I feel is a very good dojo.

Yep, I've had that happen too!

When I was a white belt, I had the misfortune to face a black belt who was getting ready to compete in a tournament. He'd just finished sparring some other black belts, and I think he was just keyed up. Normally, everyone in the dojo is appropriately gentle with beginners, but my partner forgot for a moment and connected with my ribs enough to break one. Sensei rebuked him to take it easy. Ironically, I was so focused on sparring that I didn't suspect that I'd had my rib broken until after we finished sparring.

Throw him out. At least temporarily. When you teach at a school (martial arts or not), you have a responsibility to create an appropriate learning environment for all of your students. Although there may be reasons why your troublesome student can't meet your behavioral expectations, ultimately, the obligation to the school and the student population as a whole must outweigh your obligation to help any single student. Even for that single student, there must be consequences for his actions. Expulsion or suspension may even get through to him in a way that will help him in the future.

I wouldn't recommend it. Cottons are colored using dye, and black will almost certainly bleed bye into your wash water. After several washes, the blacks will be likely bleed their colors into the wash water a lot less. So, if you need to do this, try to wash the black separately at first. I agree you should use cold if you wash together. You should probably always wash the blacks in cold.

I think anyone would find it funny.

I loved it. I laughed all the way thru it - my sides hurt afterward!