AngelaG

I'm sorry but to me (and please don't take this personally it is just an outside view), it seems like you are trying to justify the awarding of this grade. It appears that you are perhaps not entirely comfortable with the idea of gaining a grade which has not been fully earned. Maybe you are partially worried about letting down, or insulting, your instructor by refusing this grade? My own opinion (and bearing in mind that advice on the Internet is usually worth what you pay for it ) is that I would not want a grade purely because it fitted in with the instructor's plans at the time. If he was grading you because he had seen you perform and thought you looked seriously under-graded that is one thing; but it seems to me that his motives are not entirely altruistic. Perhaps he needs you to have a black belt so that he can insure you? I personally don't think I could accept such a garde. It seems that you have worked hard on many other martial arts achievements. Beware that you don't let one dodgy grade sully your reputations.

This is a review I wrote on another forum for "Sword and Brush by Dave Lowry". I love this book. It won't help you fight any better or improve your techniques but if you are interested in looking into your martial art on a deeper level this book is, in my opinion, a must have! Within the book are 42 martial arts words, drawn by Lowry, and then accompanied by a detailed breakdown and explanation of each term. The essays describe the meaning of the term, and what it would have meant to the bugeisha of old, and how that translates into the martial arts of today. What you will gain from this book is a deeper understanding of the Japanese terms we use, and what they mean to us as martial artists. For those that are interested in the "do" of karate-do, you will be fascinated by the meanings within meanings you will find within the simplest of the calligraphy. I keep coming back to it again and again. I use it as a reference book and also I love the beauty contained within some of the drawn words, not just the form but the process of making up the word and how broken down we can reach so much more understanding. Bunkai of the written word! If, on the other hand, all you are interested in is simply fighting or winning trophies you would probably find this a waste of your money. Dave Lowry has a lot of other interesting books out too.

I haven't read MAI, but I can guess who this is. I can't see that naming them as the author of an article they chose to put in the public domain would be in any way libellous. I assume the person is question is Leigh Childs? He is justifying what he has done in order to make himself some bucks. in my opinion he has helped prostitute the MA industry, along with other large McDojo / McDojang franchises. The problem is that money talks. People will abandon all sorts of principles in order to make a buck. They also press the buttons of the uneducated. They give people what they want, without actually supplying anything of substance. It's about instant gratification and pandering to the ego. I truly believe (hope) that it is possible to have a successful dojo that still requires hard training, commitment and knowledge. I don't think that the world is so shallow yet that people don't want to earn what they get.

That would only be true if you practice Kanazawa Ryu. Whilst I hold Kanazawa sensei in the highest regard I do not study his style and as such there are differences in our kata. It is also important to realise that Kanazawa implemented a lot of changes in his kata when he left the JKA. (Of course over time the JKA have also altered some of their kata, to the two styles have become more separate). Each large Organisation is going to perform their kata slightly different. The karateka should follow the kata as the head of the organisation wants it performed (or their own sensei if they are part of an independent dojo). Just my tuppence worth.

I would recommend swimming. It is one of the best forms of exercise there is, with the added bonus that it is no impact. So good exercise and kind to the joints... who could ask for more?

I am not talking about people in the old days who studied purely one art. I am talking about these days when most people cross train. Also I don't think you can especially count the Gracies in the early days, as basically the UFC was a vehicle for BJJ back then.This paradigm here can be likened to what is called "brandnaming" in business/marketing. Take the WeedEater, for example. It was the first brand to make the line trimmers that we all call weedeaters. That was everyone's first exposure to it. Then, when Toro made a "line trimmer," everyone just referred to it as a "weedeater." Kleenex has the same kind of relation with "facial tissue." BJJ made its name at the right time in MMA competitions, and therefore, it gets this kind of recognition. Really, you just can't read too much into it. In fact, why couldn't BJJ be considered a "traditional art?" I have nothing about BJJ, that was not my point. If someone who is primarily trained in BJJ wins it is acknowledged, if someone who is primarily karate wins then they are considered crosstrainers or MMAists.

Unfortunately, although £48 seems like a lot of money for a belt, it is not a lot compared to the real quality black belts. If you want to get a really nice quality, embroidered black belt then you should look at something like Shureido or Tokaido. They embroider the belt before they fold and stitch it, for a much more professional finish. Basically if you wanted it means you could have 4 lots of different embroidery on your belt. (i.e. End 1, side A and B and End 2 side A and B) If I am spending a bit out on a belt I prefer to spend that bit more and get really good quality. With something like Tokaido (which is what I have), it is more likely that the translation will be correct too.

It could just be that you are more aware than other students. Often in the beginning stages students will be shown a technique and there will be the basic explanation, but obviously you don't flood them with detail. There will be some that understand what they are shown but not told; some that see it but don't fully understand it (hence the need for questions); and the majority who will miss it until later in the training when their minds are ready to accept it as they have moved on in the competancy.

I am not talking about people in the old days who studied purely one art. I am talking about these days when most people cross train. Also I don't think you can especially count the Gracies in the early days, as basically the UFC was a vehicle for BJJ back then.

The likelihood is that you would be unlikely to be able to hit your instructor anyway, if he did not want you to. A good instructor will always bring themselves down to a level where they are just slightly ahead of the person they are sparring. After all what would you (or he) gain if he just obliterated you every time he sparred you. I have had to explain to lower grade students on many occasion that when they have got shots in on the higher grades often it is because the higher grade is deliberately leaving themselves open, so that the lower grade can learn how to exploit openings etc.

The people that have used karate as their base art and have done well tend to have still done some cross-training. As such there is a a tendency for anti TMAers to say that it is the other art that stood them in good stead, or alternatively they get called MMAers. Suprisingly if someone uses BJJ as their base art it seems to get acknowledged a lot more.

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The kyokushin people seem to use Osu the most. I went on a kyokushin forum and gave up after 5 minutes as the written use of Osu was extremely annoying after a while.

I would find it very odd if there was absolutely no change between those grades, but to be honest, even if there is no technical change then there should be a change within the practioner themselves in the way they perform it and the knowledge they have about it. Sometimes we will drill our black belts in white belt basics... not because we think they don't know it, but because we are checking how much more advanced than the white belts they are (or should be). It's easier to hide mistakes in advanced techniques and combinations, it is a lot harder to do the same in the most basic moves.

It depends. Our club has been running a long time and we have quite a good retention rate, so within the next year or so we could theoretically have around 15 black belts. This is nothing to do with it being too easy to get the black either, we just make sure that we fully prep them before their grading (train them beyond what they need to show), and only put them forward when we feel they are completely ready.

Sounds to me like you have a limited karate club; perhaps one which concentrates on sports karate. I think a lot of karate is much more than your experience of it.

Well I think Option 1 is a non-starter. You cannot strip a 7 year old boy of his rank because you made a mistake; you know he would be very upset, his parent's would be angry and you run the risk of losing a student. You would probably feel so bad afterwards too. Option 2 involves you lying in order to try and right a perceived wrong. I don't think this is the way to go, if it's ever found out about your mistake then people will get upset about being lied to (even though your intentions are honourable). Option 3 does not involve lying, but it does seem a bit unfair to the girl. How about when the children come back you keep an eye on the young girl and see if she does something really good... then maybe award her a yellow belt because you think that she shows the aptitude for being a yellow belt (as you said she was only a few points off anyway). However, really the girl has not been hard done by. She got exactly what she deserved... it was the boy that achieved something more than he earned. Perhaps you could just see that this time he got a lucky break because you made a mistake (we are but human!). It would be different if you added hers wrong and therefore she was down a grade on what she deserved (IMO).

I would just go there and train hard. If you are proficient to a higher level and your instructor is any good they should pick this up. I have recently had someone new start. Twelve years ago they did goju, and their movement etc. is very good, so he will be testing in the next grading, with a view to double grading him. He did not ask... it was obvious that he skill is beyond white belt, and possibly higher.

We made it a rule in our dojo that all adults stand in front of the children in line (within that rank band), regardless of how long anyone's been in that belt. I have 40+ year old students and personally I think that age is a greater factor in respect than time in belt.

I charge £29 a month for training 4 days a week in my home town, and available 7 days a week if the students are prepared to travel.

I think that this might come down to semantics to a degree. As a martial artist I do not train to "fight", I train to defend myself. If I am in fear of injury or death (or in fear of a loved one's health/life) then I will use whatever I deem necessary to protect myself. I do not want to engage in a brawl... I want to deal with the situation as fast as possible and then run, or get help.

If you are over 18 then I would recommend knuckle push-ups to try and tighten that fist. Below that your body might still be developing and I would not recommend them, as you may do yourself permanent damage.

Most of our students in the last 6 months or so have been recommendations. We are doing a post-Christmas push for students at the moment and have put posters up, dropped leaflets around the area, submitted an article to the local paper, took a couple of PE lessons in local schools... and made sure the website is up to date and submitted to as many sites as possible.

I think I've noticed you say this somewhere before and was always surprised by it. In many systems Red is usually close to black or even a grand master's rank. Do you know if there was a reason it was put so low in the system? Thanks. Red is quite a new addition to the Shotokan syllabus... I suspect it was probably just slotted in somewhere where it fitted in with the other colours around it. I've always found it odd that orange is before yellow, as the belt is supposed to get darker. Again, I suspect that orange was probably there before and yellow was slotted in. (Just my opinion)Interesting Sandokai have red as their first belt, they have to grade up to white, and red is also their 9th and 10th dan belts... so they see themselves going full circle. (Fits in nicely with the idea of Shu Ha Ri)

Tokaido do black uniforms.http://www.tokaidojapan.com/shop/category.asp?catid=3