ncole_91

I do not think so, it depends on where you live. I think though, for example, a robber came into your house and stole the katana, then injured or killed someone with it, you could get charged...

Hello pepto, As I said in my post, i would not teach it until grade 12, and yes i agree that I should not advertise that I do MA, and I do not either.

6 hours a week at the dojo, everyday traning at home, all the time thinking about Martial Arts

I do Shotokan, and I really don't know anyone else that does Shotokan. I know a few other people that do Martial Arts like Goju-Ryu and TKD, but I am not sure how serious they are. Next year in Grade 11, i will probably start talking to my Shihan and see what he thinks. I am sure i would only need to get teacher approval, and probably make everyone sign a contract saying injuries aren't the schools, or my fault, stuff like that. I don't think they would allow sparring, not sure though, but I would definately have a rule like have to be a yellow belt inorder to spar because I do not want ppl coming just because they want to fight. I still got lots of planning to do, butit seems like a good idea to me

Actually when I got more experienced, I was thinking of doing some Martial Arts classes during lunch or after school. I am in grade 10, got about 1 year exp. and in grade 12 I thought I might start teaching it to get some more experience. I am not sure if it would work though......

Do them every day, twice a day. Add one a day. Before I could only do about 5 okay ones. I did them at least twice a day, added one a week and now I am at 16 GOOD pushups. Get a chart do motivate yourself. Its a good feeling when you can do 5 or 10 good pushups. Also if you have a brother or dad, you kind "challenge them". Kind of have a pushup contest and make someone else watch and make sure you're doing them good.

Nice, good luck, I am sure you will do awesome. Good luck, remember to just relax and have fun

lol, my cousins friend did this to a guy once. Not too sure about my cousins friends situation, except that he did not want to fight, and everyone was in a big circle so there wasn't a way out. He did a palm strike to the nose, broke the guys nose and got expelled.....

When I do like front slips, it is inside the knee, but when I do like a lying V stretch, it is on the inside of the knee and usually it is only one knee, but it alternates the knees

Well my knees only hurt while they are stretching, so I do not want to be stretching a ligament or something. After stretching or the next day, they are fine. Like orion said, for me too, its not really a pain because I do not push it cuz i dont want to screw up my knees.

Okay thank you for the comments everyone oh and my name is Ncole_91 not Nicole lol...

Hey Guys When I stretch, my knees start to hurt and I am kinda a bit scared because I know that if I reck my knees somehow, they are very hard to fix. Anyways, when I do stretches like front splits, side splits, the V Stretch and things like the the side of my knees hurt. Just wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks for me. Thx, ncole_91

I think most dojos dont use it because it almost sounds too much like yeah. I remember a Senior asked me a question, and I said Iie and he thought I said yeah. It would get confusing, but you probably shouldnt be saying yeah in the dojo.

Shotokan, but you can do a search and find ALOT of topics like this one.

I have an Idea: practice, practice, practice. lol Congrads, you must feel pround, keep at it, and good luck for the future

Nice man!! That is awesome, you must feel so proud. Congrads, and keep training hard.

Although there are no written records or documents, Funakoshi belives that Karate did not come from Chinese boxing because it has alot of differences. It was only called Chinese because at the time anything Chinese was good, so this way it would attract more positive attention. In reality it didn't used to mean "Chinese Hands", it still does because it has the same pronouciation as "Empty Hand", but empty hand is used more frequantly now.

I do not think anyone on the board should really teach you advanced moves. I mean they can help you if you are having a problem with a certain strike or kata, but not if you are completly new to a kata or something. This is because at the dojo I attend, Shihan says it is very disrespectful to teach other people without his permission, and plus they might not know it very well and you could pick up bad habits. Anyways, with that said, welcome to the board, and to the huige world of Martial Arts. Like it was said above, never quit training, and well have fun. Good luck, and dont worry about skipping belts or tests because the true value of Martial Arts is not your belt colour, but of you, yourself have become a better person.

That is awesome, keep up the awesome training and of course Congrats!!!!

When your abs hurt, that means they are getting stronger. You just ripped your muscles, and then you need to rest so they repair and become even more stronger. The point of doing any muscle exercise is to actually work then, so they are sore the next day. This is why when you do weights you are not supposed to do weights every day. If your muscles dont get sore, you will not get much stronger.

W00t, I am getting more and more addicted. I just passed my testing so I can get my Yellow Adv. belt (once it is ordered)

Well I am glad that you are enjoying Shotokan, it is an awesome art. It is goos that you have seen an Grandmaster so early in your traning because it might motivate you alot now.

Wow, do not rush the katas. You should just concentrate on Heian Shodan until it is pretty good. Gichin Funakoshi (The Founder of Shotokan) practiced one single kata for 1 year before he perfected it, or even moved on the next on. You should probably concentrate on doing kihon (basics) before attempting Heian Nidan (The Second Kata I am pretty sure you were talking about). This kata uses lots of shuto uke, which is very very hard to pick up correctly. Also there is a side snap kick, which is pretty tricky if you are not taught right. Not to mention the first couple moves, the block where your hands are one, horizontal by your forehead, and two vertical. A lot of this kata introduces new things. It would be best that you learn all of these things in class by your Sensei, not by a student because it is very vital. I mean a student can correct you or give you tips, but you need a foundation. This does not apply to and older student which has a pretty high rank. One piece of advice I would like to give you about katas, is for memorizing them, do not use markers in the dojo. For example, don’t remember that on the first turn, you are turning towards the punching bags (Just an example), because if your Sempai/Sensei tells you to do the kata facing another way, you will be lost. This is also a good exercise, try the kata facing East or South instead of North. You could even try doing it in a 45-degree angle, do like NE, or SW etc. Like I said, don’t worry about Heian Nidan yet. Just drill the heck out of Heian Shodan. If the kata is getting boring, then try this. Put a piece of tape on the ground, or a rock, anything that is a marker. Then do the whole kata, and if you did it correct you should have ended up in the same spot. After that, do it with your eyes closed, it will be tricky. If you find this one boring, then try the kata like a mirror image. For example, (for Heian Shodan) instead of turning left with a low block, turn right with a low block. This will be really confusing at first, and should probably not try until you have totally fully memorized the kata, as it can mix you up a lot. Another exercise, which is very hard, is do the kata backwards. Yes, I said backwards. A student does not know a kata, until he/her can do it backwards. So you would step forward with your left foot NE into Shuto Uke, and then do the rest of the kata. This should take a long time to master. Make sure you are using the right hand, turning the right way, etc… Anyways, this should last a long time and remember if you get bored, practice lol. Here is how you count in Japanese. Again, there are a few numbers that aren’t that same, so ask a Sempai (Senior Student) which is right. Ichi – 1 Ni – 2 San - 3 Yon or Shi (It can be either, most dojos use Shi, but the one I attend uses Yon – 4 Go - 5 Roku or Loku - 6 Shichi - 7 Hachi - 8 Ku or kyu - 9 Ju or jyu – 10 Ju-ichi - 11 Ju-no – 12 Ni-Ju – 20 If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Do a sweet mae tobi geri

Well first of be patient. You are not studying Shotokan for a yellow/blue/black etc.. belt. You are studying to become a better MA, a better person. This is very hard to do, to forget about the belt ranks and concentrate on yourself. Try not to concentrate on other people too much because you either look really good, or really bad. This will be hard to go and I have not fully done it yet just because it is really easier to want to test for your next belt and try to get a better rank than so and so. If it is your first week and you have fully memorized Heian Shodan (your spelling was really close ), then, wow, your are progressing really fast. for now keep working on it. Work alot of your stances, getting them perfect and nice and low lol. For example go into front stance with your hands out on the side, then look at your stance. Is it 1 shoulder length wide? If is approximately 2 shoulder lengths long? Is your back up straight, head high (that’s a big one)? Now practice going forward and backwards. Make sure your feet go in, then out, then check to three things again. You will find there are about a million little details you will have to remember to have good stances. Now once you have practiced the above, add a lunge punch, just to the chest. Go back and forward, and kiai on each punch. Again, make sure you check your front stance. A big problem I had is I was almost leaning over when I punched. You do not want to do this; you want to have your back straight. You should be able to stick a pole from your head, let is go down your spine, and it should come out of your butt, and be totally straight. If your punches are going straight out, then go into a natural position, then just practice punching. Remember to always bring your hand back to chamber, then twist it out. Do not twist your hand to fast, but not too later. Well actually, if you were really punching something, then you would make contact when your hand only turned 90 degrees, then as you push turn it the rest of the 90 degrees. But when you are punching air, you don’t have to worry about it, just keep it in mind. Now you get to work on low block (gedan barai), just go through the whole thing, in a standing position, one side, then the other side. Remember Shotokan uses big movements. Have your hand up at your ear, slide it down your other hand. (Hard to explain, but you know what I mean) Just do not take shortcuts or it will bite you in the behind later. With this you can practice almost the whole kata. Work on the turns, especially the one after the first kiai (third rising block). It is a 270 degree turn, practice it till its perfect. Now, the hardest part of the kata. The last four knifehand blocks (shuto uke). It toke me a long time to get back stance and knifehand block down pat. (Not saying mine is perfect, not even close.) Your legs are going to feel weird and hurt for this one, quite a bit. Remember you have 60-70% of your weight on your back foot, then the rest of your front foot. Your front knee will be bent a little. Your heel of your back foot, and your front foot will be in a line, and keep your back foot straight. This will hurt the ankle a lot, but it will look better. This is a hard stance to describe, but these are key points. Remember, BACK STRAIGHT lol. You are going to look like you are sitting on a chair a bit. If I am confusing you, don’t bother reading this part. Anyways here is a picture of a good back stance. http://www.irimi.it/image9/tachi_kokutsu.gif Here’s a picture of a shuto uke, the devil of this kata and beginners. It is very very hard to get it good. You probably should have learned the process of getting it there like the hand is at your ear, the other one is extending, pulling the extending one back, and they one from your ear goes into the actual block. For the outer hand, it should be a 90 degree angle with the elbow. Also, the hand should be in line with your arm. Like it should make a straight line, and of course your thumb is tucked in. Your other hand will be palm facing up, right against your solar plexus. Imagine you are holding your favourite drink, and you go not want to spill it, so keep is straight, and never, never relax your hands, they should always be straight. http://www.shotokai.com/imagenes/tecnicas/shutouke.gif A lot of this stuff might not make sense if you do not know how the block/strike/punch works/goes. Like I said before practice all of these things, show them to your Sensei and make sure you are going them right so you don’t develop bad habits. There is no time limit for when you can test for yellow belt. It could be next class, or it could be in 3 months. There isn’t even a standard requirements that everyone follows, it will depend on the dojo, and your Sensei. I only needed to do front snap kick, and roundhouse for yellow adv. Practice those kicks a lot, and you should start stretching daily, do some static, active and dynamic stretching for maximum benefits. If you are interested in this, just tell me and I will write another post about them. Also this stuff in my post might not be exactly the same as you Sensei would do in the dojo, so take his word for it, this is just what I have learned so far. You can also just make up combos to practice your memory and to actually practice the moves. Like for example, you could do front snap kick, rising block, reverse punch, lunge punch. And of course, you can never forget to learn as much terminology as you can. I doubt you will pass your yellow belt test unless you know all the names of the moves in Japanese and vice-versa. It would also be good to maybe print out a copy of the kata for reference (the key word is reference, you never really want to learn a kata off the internet). Here is a sort of drawings that you can find easily. http://www.ozwebart.com.au/kua/forms/heian%20shodan.GIF If you have any questions whatsoever, ask and either many Shotokan practitioners on this forum or I will answer. Good Luck with your Training, Ncole_91