Kane

Hi BritNoob, I completely agree with aefibird. Go see a doctor about your knee, just in case. But make sure you go to a sports medicine clinic. That way you'll likely avoid being told to just stop the aggravating activity (MA, in your case). My knees aren't so grand themselves, but I have a great sports doctor and physio, and my MA training has actually improved the state of my knees. It's crucial that you let your instructor know that you have bad knees, though, so that he/she can pay specific attention to correct posture and body alignment. When performed correctly karate should not hurt your body. Best of luck!

BritNoob - there's really nothing wrong with being a whitebelt. In fact, colored belts are a relatively recent development in karate. As far as I know, there used to be only white, brown and black, then later green was added. Even today, not all organizations give out lots of rainbow colored belts. So people were and are whitebelts for years. Don't pay too much attention to belt color - just train hard.

Ten no mon. Gates of Heaven. Yes, I'd like to practice this more, too. Hardly ever get a chance to, though. I was wondering.. is this practice particular to our stile of Shotokan or are there other stiles out there who do this practice, too? Anyone..??

My least favorite kata is the one I work on every day, week upon week, month upon month. At the same time that kata is also my favorite. There's so much to learn from a single kata. It's amazing and wonderful. It can also be really gueling and boring. When that happens I try to make my best kata ever, and suddenly it's my favorite again.

Thanks for the welcome, everyone! Karatekid, I practice Shotokan, SKA style (a rarity on this forum, I gather).

Hi, I'm another newbie here from Eastern Canada. http://www.angelfire.com/nh/jessicakarate/images/bow.gif