hawkfish

It's tough to pick only five but here goes: Gojushiho Sho Gankaku Bassai Dai Nijushiho Taikyoku Shodan

His videos are excellent and the way he uses his entire body for his techniques is incredible to watch. I haven't met him in person yet but I certainly want to train if he has a seminar in my area. What I found most impressive and something that I think is common with Karate instructors who started training in the early 70's is, many of them say the same things. What they were taught must have been passed down to them. One of my Sensei's who retired a few years ago said almost the same things that I hear Hotton Sensei say in his videos and I know that they never trained together.

If I could only do one kata, it would be Gojushiho Sho.

You have to remember that your Sensei is human and no matter how good of a Martial Artist he is, sometimes life gets in the way and knocks down even the best of us. He is not a god or a superhero and he still bleeds blood and gets hurt like the rest of us. You should also understand that even though he failed before, he came back from it and reopened the dojo. Most people would have just stopped at that first failure, Martial Artist or not. Can he go off the rails again? Sure he can but at least he is making an effort to try again. If you are learning and getting value from him and he is charging you a fair price for classes, you can still learn from him if your mind is open to it. What he did in the past is in the past and you can either continue to learn from him and get some training in or look for other options.

The others gave some great replies above and one other way to look at it is, when you pull the hand back to your hip, you can also strike someone behind you with your elbow. Also, having your hand start from your side helps you learn how to throw your punch from your hip not just using your upper body.

I have more than one but I try to use them as examples for my own training; Naka Sensei is one of my favorites. His speed, body control and posture is something that I am striving for in my own training. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=naka%20sensei&sm=1 Kagawa Sensei is another one who is lightening fast and very strong. He also has some of the best hips around. He can stand nose to chest with someone much taller than him and still kick him in the back of the head with a roundhouse kick. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kagawa%20sensei&sm=1 Yoshimi Sensei is another that I just recently found who has incredible body control and speed. Also, considering that he trained some of the best kata competitors in the world, he knows his stuff. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=inoue%20yoshimi%20sensei&sm=3 Yamazki Sensei is someone who I have trained with and was my Karate instructors' Master. At 72 years old, he moves like a man half his age and hits like a truck. His Karate spirit is so strong most students are drawn to him when he enters a room full of people. He is a true master with many years experience and a heart larger than a house. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kiyoshi+yamazaki+sensei The other thing that I found is that all four of them are willing to share what they have learned and explain it so that almost anyone can learn from them. I agree that there are legends who have demonstrated great things but the ability to share those things with others and show people who to do them is what makes them legends in my mind.

I learned the hard way by moving too fast through the ranks. Even though I was able to reach Shodan in above average time, I am still spending a lot of time cleaning up what I did wrong all those years. Bad habits are very hard to fix and even though getting to the Black Belt is the goal, fixing years of bad habits is harder. I was told by more than one high ranking instructor that good kihon makes good Karate so spend your time making each technique as good as possible and then move to the more advanced moves.

In my club we learn the katas the following order: White belt - taikyoku shodan Red belt - Heian Shodan - We just added the red belt a few years ago Orange belt - Hiean Nidan Yellow belt - Heian Nidan & Heian Shodan Blue belt - Heian Sandan Green belt - Heian Yondan Low Purple belt - Heian Godan Hight Purple belt - Tekki Shodan - we add a white stripe for high purple 3rd Brown - Jion 2nd Brown - Bassai Dai 1st Brown - Bassai Dai plus one or more of all katas above katas before 1st Black - Kanku Dai, Hangestsu, Empi and Bassai Sho plus one or more of the Heian katas and Tekki Shodan - We have four exams to move from Shodan to Nidan 2nd Black - Gojushiho Sho - this might have changed now but I know it was the required kata a few years ago.

One thing that my Sensei shared with me many years ago, in relation to the Heian katas, was to take them out each week and try them on to make sure they still fit. Like clothes in the closet, you try it on and after you see it still fits, you can put it back. I would guess you are wondering what is this crazy guy talking about , right? The idea behind the Heian katas, in particular, is when you share or teach them to other studnets you have to make sure that what you are teaching is correct in order to carry on our art. If we loose the foundation katas that were taught by Funakoshi Sensei, we will not be able to pass on the art to others and it will die or become something else. I know that many would argue that the art needs to grow and change as times change and I agree but that is where the application of the movements of the katas come in to play. The movements of the Heian katas themselves should stay the same but how we apply those movements is where the growth comes in. I have been teaching for over seven years now and I learn something new about the Heian katas almost every time I teach or even do them. If you want to try something fun, use the application of a movement or group of movements as your block and counter in one-step sparring. This will open up a whole new world and really make you understand how useful the basic movements in these katas are in self defense applications. There is a lot hidden inside the Heian katas and if you look at each movement as a separate kata in itself, it might make them more interesting and more relevant.

From what I have found and also after talking to my Sensei about this some years ago, he suggested that I wait until I reached Shodan in my first art before starting a second art. Even though both of the arts that I train are much different, Karate with empty hands and Iaido with a katana, there are parts that are common but fundamentally different. For example, in Karate, we turn on the heels and have long stances where as, in Iaido, we turn on the ball of the foot and have much shorter stances. In Karate we make big, strong movements whereas in Iaido the movements are much smaller and the blade makes the power not the body. I have also found, with most students in my Karate, when they take two arts it does take them longer to reach Shodan then students who study only one art until Shodan. There are exceptions to this but I have found, especially with older students, it does take them longer because they have a tendency to blend the arts which doesn't help on exams, at least in my Karate club.

Just watching them as someone who has never seen a TKD tournament in person, I would go with Kusanku.

Congratulations Patrick! You have a great place here and hopefully the next 500,000 will be as great as the first!

High Kick Girl. Although the story line is a little weak, the action is awesome. Naka Sensei is incredible and there is about 40 minutes of extras on the DVD that explain what kata the moves (bunkai) is from. Like a few others mentioned, Kuro Obi is awesome!

I try to do at least one kata for each of my Arts every day. In 16 months, I have only missed four days. Since the start of 2013, I have done kata every day. I do at least one Shotokan kata and four but often 10 Iaido katas every day.

Is there a specific type of flexibility that you are working for? Do want to do the splits, kick higher, bend over backward or all of the above?