malanovaus

The area I live in does not have a lot to offer for tournaments, but every year there is a big sporting festival where people from all over the state come to compete, the martial arts tournament held at this time is pretty much our only regular tournament, and our school usually has good representation at it.

I feel a quote from "The Karate Kid" coming on. "In Okinawa, belt mean no need rope to hold up pants." I too find their attitude lacking in all senses of the word.

The dojo I train at dues are $55 a month, but with that they can take classes for any of the styles taught within the school as much as they want. There is also a one-time $20 membership fee.

Six within the dojo I train at as well. We do accept children as young as 3 but they go to a special class held once a week. Once they are six they are allowed to enter the regular youth class.

As Miyagi Sensei once said. "It should be known that secret principles of Goju-Ryu exist in the kata." This includes grappling and throwing techniques, which in my experience are very common in Okinawan styles of karate, and especially ones such as Goju-Ryu which are heavily close-in systems.

I came back to the dojo after a leave of absense (academic reasons). I started back up wearing a white obi. After a short time I was given the priviledge of putting my black belt back on. I didn't care if I ever progressed in rank, I just wanted to continue my training.

When I first reached black belt level in the style in which I train my instructor tied a belt around my waist. At that time the belt hung down to my knees. Ten years later that belt now hangs down about mid-thigh level, not bad considering I've grown particularly around the middle.

Yes, give Aikido a try, it couldn't hurt. From what I have observed from studying aikido classes at the dojo I attend, the techniques are literally hidden applications of Goju-Ryu techniques. So I would say it is definately worth a try.

My take on that is that some judges may call you on your technique, or for any spinning technique if you perform it is performed blindly, the judges thought that you performed it blindly (depending on perspective), or it may have something to do with WKF rules.

I find yoga helpful for martial arts for two reasons. 1. Helps one balance (mentally/physically/spiritually). 2. Increases flexibility. I have been replacing some of my pre-class warmup with yoga and meditation.

That is okay, we're only human, we all make mistakes sometimes.

Sho-Rei-Shobu-Kan was actually created my John Roseberry in honor of his teacher Toguchi Seikichi and his sempai Masanobu Shinjo. And had nothing do to with the Shobu-Kan dojo in Okinawa.

I just took at look at that site, it is indeed very nice. Thank you, for the valuable resource. Arigato Gozaimashita.

From my experience, being both a kata competitor and official I like to stick with the koryu forms, most judges and officials are more knowledgeable about these since they appear in other styles at one level or another.

Tests for Dan rankings in the dojo to which I belong are not unlike tests for Kyu gradings. But my instructor has added mental components, he requires from every candidate an essay, he wants to make certain that they are both mentally and physically strong.

Here is a link to the book that I had mentioned. Good luck. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1874250758/qid=1113661881/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-1946443-4187062?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

The day I recieved my Shodan. I was fifteen at the time, and I was the second person under eightteen that he had ever promoted to black belt, and then when I presented my brown belt to a younger student.

I "stumbled" across a book that I thought had a lot of good tips for Kata training. By Dr. Geir Støre. Simply titled "Karate Kata Training." And I agree with Shorinryu Sensei in that asking your instructor is a very helpful thing to do.

I attend the hombu dojo of Sho-Rei-Shobu-Kan, I only wish someone had let me know about the celebration in Roseberry Shihan's honor this week.

True that Goju-Ryu and Shotokan are different styles. But I must say that Goju-Ryu is a balanced art, we train in both hard linear techniques and softer circular techniques. We have elements of both the go and the ju in all techniques it is like the yin and the yang.

I have been studying Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do since 1991. I find it a straight forward and simple style to learn. As you may or may not know Goju-Ryu was created by Chojun Miyagi, Sensei back in the 1930's. Goju-Ryu means Hard-soft style. It's influences are Naha-te (hard) and Chinese Boxing. Goju-Ryu is also a very circular style as opposed to the very linear Shotokan.