belar86

I always sit away in a corner and listen to music, it allows me to focus on my own fight.

As far as the adults (kids have already been covered from what I've seen), many aren't as concerned about ranks as you may think. My friend runs a martial arts class that has no ranks and most people there just want to learn the skills and get fit, without the obligation and cost of being graded. Also as far as tournaments and competing, ranks often mean very little. I've seen black/brown belts who have very little tournament experience, and lower belts who have competed consistently since they began martial arts.

Our dojo has kids classes running from 5:30-6:30pm, which works out well. It gives kids the chance to go home have a snack, get changed and get to the dojo. The adults class is on at 6:30 so there are people there, if the kids aren't picked up on time, but the parents tend to be pretty good in this respect.

Some of the fave phrases - "Everything plus GST." - for every hit you get give it back with an extra 10% "30 more seconds" - said about 3-4 times before its actually true "I was just testing you" - when makes a mistake "you're going to get hit anyway, you may as well hit them back" "you can feel (deal with) pain after we finish" "how you train is how you fight" "if they drop their hands, hit them" - padwork "push it out, empty the tank"

We had a brown belt forget his gi after travelling 4 hours to get to a karate camp. I don't know what he packed because about the only thing you need at a training camp is your gi.

Shomen ni rei = bow to the front Sosai ni rei = bow to the founder of the style Senpai ni rei = bow to the senior grade Sensei ni rei = bow to the teacher Shihan ni rei= bow to the master Otogaini ni rei = bow to each other You bow at the start and end of class as a sign of respect for the different people addressed.

Yeah as in Bathurst Australia.

Any Bathurst people here?

I had no idea where to put this - I'm moving to Bathurst, (NSW Australia) this year for uni and want to continue training....except I have no idea what dojos are there. I'd really like to continue in Kyokushin or at the very least a similar style. If anyone knows what styles are there could you please respond?

Killer exercises from my instructor- Inside the dojo- *30-20-10 (Do 30 push ups, run touch the wall, come back- Do 30 sit ups, run touch the wall, come back - do same with squats, scissors, star jumps- then again except only 20 then again with 10) How many and the exercises can change- eg 50-25-15. *Frog Jumping - (up and down Dojo) *50 kicks of 1 leg while moving up the dojo and 50 off the other leg coming back - (may not sound that bad but try doing it with about 5 different kicks which adds up to about 500 kicks) *Staying Down in Horse Riding Stance *keeping your body straight with only your toes and forearms touching the ground (sort of like push up position except held) - for 2-3 minutes, if done properly you will have sore stomach muscles the next day. Fitness exercises done outside the dojo- *Jogging - (up to 7 km including as many hills as possible) *Sprints - (up the nearest hill) *Running up and down stairs with squats at the top and bottom All probably doing me some sort of good...you get used to them...there are probably more but I can't think of them right now.

The dojo I attend currently is owned and run by a female instructor. The men do not mind being trained by a female instructor and the women get along (in most cases are really good friends). Despite this though there aren't that many women instructors in this same position. I can think of only one other dojo run by a woman in our organisation. In the other martial arts (in my area at least) I think they are all run by men.

I think that competitions are good for the lower grades to have a go at and they should go in a competition while a lower belt to see whether or not they are into competing - but competition should not become a requirement until the higher grades. Different people are in karate for different reasons - this should be acknowledged.

I started because my friend wanted someone to go along with her, she quit and I think I'm in for life.

I train with kyokushin and it is a strong style, the training is good and hard.

I started karate just over 3 years ago - got dragged along by a friend - she quit after about half a year and I think I'll be involved in karate for life.

I think that overall everything that you learn in karate is important - from fighting skills to kata, however different aspects of it are more important to you at different points in your training.