Kane

I passed Shodan after about 6 years. Pretty fast if you ask me. Most people with no prior MA experience take longer.

SKA is a none-profit organization teaching traditional Shotokan karate - SKA dojos are not commercial schools, which is why you will not likely find them in the yellow pages or even in the phone book. You also won't have to pay for gradings, and won't have to sign any contracts. I suggest you go to a few classes and see if you like the style and the people. Good luck!

Which one did you end up trying, novastorm? If you're a beginner it may be hard to judge which one's right for you and what the differences really are. JKA vs. SKA... I started training Shotokan with one of the two groups, then switched to the other and am feeling a lot more at home there. There I found what I had always been missing in the previous flavor of Shotokan - and it wasn't simply about the people, because I have practiced with various clubs from both groups. I am mentioning this not knowing which group you picked, simply because I believe that each of us starts karate for different reasons and with different expectations and needs. Keep an open mind, and if you feel - later on in your training - that you are missing something, don't quit Shotokan, but look around and try the other flavors of Shotokan that are out there. There may be a flavor that's better suited to your needs than the one you are trying now.

Shotokan Karate of America is but one organization teaching shotokan karate. There are many others, and most of those do have color belts for each kyu level. In SKA, there are only three belt colors (white, brown, black), and there are indeed no stripes. The belt of an unranked beginner will look the same as that of a 4th kyu whitebelt, the belt of a new 3rd kyu will look like the belt of a 1st kyu about to test for shodan, and the belt of a shodan (1st dan) is the same as that of a godan (5th dan). You asked how one can tell the difference between an 8th kyu and a 4th kyu whitebelt. The answer is that you cannot tell by the belt, or even by such things as which kata they are working on, as whitebelts in SKA are taught all Heian kata and Tekki Shodan pretty much from the get-go. But you can tell an 8th kyu from a 4th kyu quite easily by the skill level of the people in question.

It depends on which shotokan organization your friend's club is part of. Most organizations and clubs habe colored belts, but some don't. Shotokan Karate of America for instance only have white (8th to 4th kyu), brown (3rd to 1st kyu) and black (1st to 5th dan) belts.

Ouch. I could not disagree more. Unless Tae Kwon Do is an extremely different system from other MAs (and I assume here for the sake of TKD that it is not), then your statement is a curious one indeed. Are you suggesting that the longer it takes to get to BB level, the less decicated the student? Learning is a lifelong process, and someone who tests for and passes their first BB rank after e.g. 7 years of training will not automatically have worked less hard than the expremely talented student who manages the same in 3.5 years (I have not seen anything less, and even this is rare in the system I train in - and btw, we only have white, brown, and black belts, not "15-20 color belt ranks", and no testing fees). Personal ability and potential vary, and dedications, though helpful, cannot change this. As for whether it takes as "long" as 4 years to "master" the basics, I can only say that I am sure that a talented student can learn the fundamentals of all basic techniques, as well as the sequences of all forms within a year or less, but this does not mean that the student has "mastered" anything. Please do me a favour and try each and every one of your basic techniques against a non-co-operative opponent, or another heavy, strong training aid, then honestly ask yourself whether the technique works, not to score a point in competition, but to the full extent the technique was meant for (usually this means completely disabling your opponent from continueing the fight). If it does, every single time, good for you. This is what mastery of basics should mean, to my understanding, and I do not believe that many martial artists can claim this after merely 4 years of training. Feel free to disagree, of course.

Funakoshi Gichin, Egami Shigeru, Ohshima Tsutomu

I used to see this in more sports oriented karate organizations all the time: everyone passes, and if they don't a temporary half-grade is awarded, and a retest a little while later rectifies this into a fell grade. Now that I practice with a traditional organization, testing does not mean passing any longer. There is no testing fee, and for kyu ranks, every student has the right to test (though no-one really tests against the instructor's advice) at every grading. And yes, it happens that people don't get promoted to a new rank. It's part of the process. For shodan, I think about half of the candidates don't pass. The higher the rank, the lower the percentage who pass. I'm really happy with this. I don't need the guaranteed promotion. I don't need to be babied. I would feel insulted if I received a half-rank. Pass me or fail me - but don't try to sweet-talk the failure. If you can fail a test, it makes passing it so much sweeter!

Good point. We have three colors only, and no fees for testing.

Here's another. No pretty colours for us: white - unranked white - 8th kyu white - 7th kyu white - 6th kyu white - 5th kyu white - 4th kyu brown - 3rd kyu brown - 2nd kyu brown - 1st kyu black - shodan black - nidan black - sandan black - yodan black - godan

A thousand kata is a good start, I agree. And practicing your kata every day is a very good idea - I wish you much luck and fun with your new 3-kata-a-day plan . Please understand that I don't want to dampen your spirit, but even after 1000 repetitions the kata will probably not be 'amazing'. I'm aiming for 5000 at the moment, and while I'm almost halfway by numbers, my kata is nowhere near amazing, I'd say it's not even adequate, yet. I still get so frustrated, and then so elated when I 'get' something. But do your 3 kata a day for a few years, and you'll reach 'amazing' eventually And yes, practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. That's why 'bad' kata don't count.

We use: white - 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th kyu brown - 3rd, 2nd, 1st kyu black - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th dan

Congratulations, vertigo! Hopefully this will be the start of a long and fulfilling karate journey . Tips? Hm.. pay attention in class, listen, observe, and enjoy! Oh, and don't be discouraged by the overwhelming novelty of what you'll learn. Remember - even the sensei was once in the position of being a complete novice.

Hehe.. we just did that in class last night. Fun, too! I think so, too. I'm nowhere near comfortable with falling, yet, but am getting loads better. I do hope so, though it still feels far far away. Rolling over one classmate is still scary enough for me

Actually, just FYI, Funakoshi describes 19 kata in Karate-Do Kyohan: Taikyoku Shodan Taikyoku Nidan Taikyoku Sandan Heian Shodan Heian Nidan Heian Sandan Heian Yodan/Yondan Heian Godan Bassai/Bassai Dai Kwanku/Kanku Dai Tekki Shodan Tekki Nidan Tekki Sandan Empi Jion Jitte Gangaku Hangetsu Ten No Kata