AngelaG

With something like uchi-uke, kizama-zuki, gyaku-zuki I will do the uchi-uke/kizami-zuki fast, sharing a breath between them, and do a gyaku-zuki on one breath. So it looks like 1-2, 1 As the combinations get longer I may change them, in order to keep my breath and to get the best out of every technique. The best thing is to play with your techniques to work out what is best for you, and to change them depending on the applications you are visualising.

Open Circle Institute I like the fact that the members are from many styles, so there's no snobbery and "my art is better than your art!" syndrome. I also like the fact that they tend to go deeper than the punch / kick type of thing, and they draw the best aspects from other styles to improve one's own technique.

Currently Jion. But ask me again in a couple of weeks and it will probably have changed.

I train at the dojo on average 5 sessions a week. On top of that I instruct 4 sessions a week. Occasionally I will meet up with my buddies and do an out of dojo training session.

Very Sixth Sense!

Oh dear, someone else who believes all the old pseudo-zen * about belt washing! Wash your belt or don't wash it, but don't give me the whole baloney about the belt colour changing with dirt and blood! The Japanese are a fastidious race, do you really believe they'd wander around with some dirty old rag around their waists. My tip of today, if your belt is really old and overly worn... buy a new one!! A belt ties your gi together and gives your instructor an idea of what level you are at, and is a reward for hard work spent at your dojo. It has nothing to do with XMA, your 'spirit' or anything else. If I go to the dojo tomorrow and forget my belt, I'm still the same grade! If you underestimate someone because they choose to wash their gi then be prepared to wipe your blood off the floor afterwards. It's a personal choice and the two are not linked in the slightest. FWIW I am not talking about washing a belt every week, but the occasional wash will not kill your belt, nor make you an XMA specialist!

HAHAHA that made me laugh. What, you are a better martial artist because you don't wash your belt? Would you urinate in your underwear and not wash it ??? I guess not, but you won't wash a belt that has been saturated with sweat which is exactly the same chemical make up .

Errrr how odd. Their lessons seem to last for 45 minutes. How are you supposed to learn anything in 45 minutes, especially when you're not allowed to exceed 2 lessons a week!

I think people worry far too much as to whether they are in a McDojo or not. If you are enjoying what you are doing, go with it.... only you can decide whether it's right for you or not!

We learn Pressure points from day one in our dojo so that they are not some horrible surprise when you get to the 'high grades'. It's a bit like learning a foreign language from a young age, you can become fluent without too much problem!!

Why would you choose to hit TW17 when you have both GB20s glaring at you, just asking to be whacked? TW17 is deep and is much better for a neck wrench/jam fingers in type thing.

As an addendum.. I love the bunkai I have for Heian Nidan. It's a great Kata... and a great start! Should start filming Heian Nidan and Heian Sandan next week!

Yep, I hope to put up the 27 Shotokan Kata, all with some bunkai. You have to excuse the fact that it may be a bit at the time but I work full time, I do freelance web design, I do my karate training and I am an assistant instructor at my club so time is limited. Then working with Martyn Harris Sensei we may work on the RyuKyu Kata/Bunkai. What will eventually happen is that all the kata will be done slow and fast for free download, with some free bunkai as is there. Then we will do a really good quality shoot of each kata, go into real depth with the bunkai, break the kata right down, provide historical information and basically as much as possible and burn it to DVD to sell on as an accompaniment to the website (at a very good price... none of these rip-off prices for a poor quailiy shoot!). But that's a lot more in the future, currently we are working on getting as much free info up as soon as possible, because it's more about sharing the knowledge rather than making a profit... but I need to cover the costs of the server/domain/videos etc.

I understand that. And on my BB testing the head of the organisation will be there, but I'll still know on the day whether I pass or not. Anyway, it's not a criticism... just found it interesting! CONGRATULATIONS on passing!!

Hi I hope this isn't against the rules and I accept if it is that my post may be wiped. Try out my site Karate Resource for some free downloads and eBooks, articles etc. We put new stuff on pretty much every week!

I don't like to see belts crossed over. I think it looks sloppy. ... but not as sloppy as people that have theirs turned over at the back! But I wouldn't say anything to people that did cross it over, it's just a pet peeve. I hate it if my own belt crosses over... and then if we have to do sit-ups - ow!

I hear ya, aefibird, but I have to say that I don't really care about the top coming open thing any more. I used to wear a shirt under my gi top at my old dojo, but have stopped doing this quite a few years ago now. The guys' gis constantly come undone, showing their chests, and since I have to deal with seeing their hairy chests they will just have to deal with seeing my sports bra every now and then. I reveal more at the beach, that's for sure. It's just too hot to wear a heavy gi or an undershirt in the summer. As for the tearing, we don't do a lot of grappling, but if we do and I know about it in advance I just wear a heavy gi. For teaching I always wear at least a medium weight gi.. something about a proper appearance, I guess. It is a requirement at my dojo that all females wear a T-Shirt or vest (white) under their gis. I think it's probably so that the male instructors cannot be accused of any improprieties... especially with the children.

We practice the standard Shotokan Kata, but the ones required to get to black belt are: 10th Kyu - 9th - Kihon Kata 9th Kyu - 8th - Heian Shodan 8th Kyu - 7th - Heian Nidan 7th Kyu - 6th - Heian Sandan 6th Kyu - 5th - Heian Yondan 5th Kyu - 4th - Heian Godan 4th Kyu - 3rd - Tekki Shodan 3rd Kyu - 2nd - Bassai Dai 2nd Kyu - 1st - Bassai Dai 1st - Shodan - Choice of: Jion, Bassai Dai, Hangestsu, Kanku Dai, Empi I train at Keiko Shotokan Karate in Torbay, Devon. Our organisation is affiliated to the Open Circle Insitute. I cross train in Open Circle Fighting Methods. We are very much into the research of Bunkai for Kata, we also do a lot of flow drills etc. as well as the usual Kihon, Kata, Kumite. We are not competition oriented and the only time I have competed in a 'competition' is the Annual in-house Christmas Gala we hold. Cheers Angela

they really believe in keeping you guessing don't they? Does anyone else have to wait this long for results. We know immediately after the gradings!

If you start at our dojo and have previously trained in the same style you are allowed to come in at whatever grade you reached prviously, but you will not be allowed to grade again until you reach the standards needed for the next grade (which would also obviously mean the missing knowledge from earlier grades). If you were from a totally different style I guess it would mean back to white belt again.

Alternate the shower on hot and cold. It causes the muscles to stretch and contract and pushes all the lactic build up out of them. (So I've heard)

My elbow is always going to be better than my fist. You are less likely to injure yourself with an elbow strike. If you hit wrong with your fist you can break the fingers, break the wrist, dislocate the fingers etc. If you hit wrong with the elbow it will still have some affect. We also practice close quarter elbowing, literally a couple of inches from the target. If you use your hips properly you can still generate loads of power!

I am pretty sure that Karate-jutsu is quite different form Karate-do. From one of the centres I visited their Karate-Jutsu was lot more similar to BJJ in style, and nothing like the Karate-do I do. There was lot of grappling, no kata, no marching up and down. It was basically fighting/grappling/submission stuff for the whole lesson. Whether this applies to all karate-jutsu I have no idea, but I would suspect that sometimes it's all down to what the Chief Instructor decided sounds best, and that one karate-jutsu club need not be like another, and one karate-do club need not be like another etc.

I totally agree 100%. While you come in with a slow punch you are training your friend that she does not need to pay attention to avoid getting punched. One day she may come up against a training partner who is not so 'generous' and will get slammed in the face. Perhaps if you come in fast and hard she may actually shut up, as she will have to concentrate to make sure she is not hit. I'm surprised the instructor hasn't said anything. There's nothing worse than someone that won't shut up while you are trying to teach. Also, it's not like it's just affecting her own learning. You are training your body to hit slow, and she must be ruining the class' concentration?

My elbow....... very effective. Yours? Who knows? Everyone is different!