smr

I like the way your brain works, sensei!

Why don't you make one?

I wouldn't recommend it. Like Shorin Ryuu said, take your time. The idea isn't to memorize a kata them move on. The idea is to understand Kata. Personally, I think Kata is introduced too quickly in most schools, including mine. I feel that there should be fewer Katas required to be known in the kyu grades, but the student should actually be able to apply the kata to real situations. Anybody can memorize a kata if they are told to do it enough times.

Isn't the aging process fun? Not only knees, but back, hips, elbows....well...you name it, it pops and makes noises! Indeed. I feel like I'm 23 going on 53...

Go with #2. You're starting again from the beginning anyway, so what shame is it that your belt white? You will find that picking up a different style is infinitely more simple than when you started for the first time. You should know how to learn Karate by now.

I listen with my ears. What I usually hear is popping and snapping noises coming from my knees.

It is difficult because your center of gravity is a good distance from either of your supporting feet. When both feet are on the ground, it's very solid and well balanced. Once you lift one of your feet you are very off balance. In order to step, you will have to either move very quickly, or bring your feet together during the pivot so that your center is above your supporting foot.

I think the value of a martial arts instructor, or any instructor of anything for that matter, should be judged by the abilities of his students. Period. It is a trivial endeavor to prove that a teacher's physique has zero relevance on their ability to teach and the quality of the knowledge they impart.

It's unfortunate that my generation of students will never have this opportunity. I wish I could have learned from Yuichi Kuda. Perhaps I'll meet Kosei Nishihara one day.

I think it's a matter of practicality. If your belt begins to emit a funny odor, wash it! Just don't wash it with your gi lest ye be prepared to wear pink at the next training session...

One of my instructors has had her dan belt for approximately thirteen years. It is still as black as the day she bought it.

Does it matter what gi makes the loudest snap? If you are only worried about the superficial aspects of kata, then you can learn to hit yourself on hikite and dampen the cuffs of your gi to make them heavier (snap). That may impress some judges, but not me.

Amen

If you've ever pulled your belt out of your bag the night after an intense workout, and it's still sopping wet, then you'll understand why you should wash your belt.

It's a rag.

There is no need to tense. Just keep pushing through the target until it stops your fist. Simple as that. There is no need to tense all of the muscles to resist the reactionary force of the impact. You need only tense muscles that resist that reactionary force. It just so happens that these are the same muscles that got your fist to the target in the first place. The kime point happens when you've transfered the maximum amount of force and pull back. Without a properly timed withdrawl, you are just pushing the target and wasting energy, or at least leaving your arm out to be trapped.

However the "pull" of the left hip has nothing to do with the power being generated. It's simply a side effect of rotating your hips around an axis that is located within the hip. It's like turning a wheel. The equal and opposite reaction part comes in when you make contact with the target. The target is enacting the same amount of force on your fist as your fist is making on it. If you were both standing on a frictionless surface, you would both slide away from each other an equal distance. One of the primary reasons why we drill our stances so hard is that when we throw that punch and it makes contact, we are prepared to withold against the force of the strike and stay on our feet. Try striking something about the same weight as yourself with your feet side by side, touching each other. If your hit was solid, you will be forced to step back or you will fall. That is equal and opposite reaction.

It is also worth noting that this is a point of much controversy. I personally don't see the logic in stopping your body at the point of contact to make a more powerful strike. After all, when you tense all of your muscles you are doing exactly that; throwing on the brakes. The optimum situation would be to continue to apply the maximum amount of force possible and let the body you are striking absorb it all. Let your target stop your fist, not your muscles.

Sure you can create your own style. It's your life. Just don't call it karate. Call it something else.

No. How long it requires to acheive rank, especially ranks beyond shodan, are subjective and depend entirely on the practitioner and the standard to which they are held.

Easy huh? Have you ever done it? What about the guy who taught you. Has he done it? Can this be proven to work? No.

It's okay to push students to work harder. That's called coaching. However, some students just don't want to learn. You can't help those kids. Put your time and energy into teaching those who will benefit. I am personally not a disciplinarian at the dojo. A karate instructor is not a babysitter. Students should be expected to cooperate. If they don't, there are plenty of other constructive ways to spend their time that they might be more interested in so that they can stop wasting everybody else's.

Not your problem. Teach the kids who want to be taught. Ask those who prevent others from learning to leave.

Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in the dictionary, monkeyking?

I've been told that the reason why we say "yondon" instead of "shidan" is because to say "shidan," that would be like saying "death rank" or something like that. Is that true?