pers

Well ,there is no question that in a fight situation you may get hit ,but the idea is to minimise your exposer and maximise his exposer to your attack ! As angela said some times all the coditinening for getting hit can not help you ! If the guy has a knife in his hand then you can not afford to get hit or it could be the end of you ! so as my sensie used to tell us : Don't be there (tai sabaki ) !

sorry killer miller for the late reply ,but I just read your post and enjoyed it so much to give you credit .this is very true and great point ,I suppose Nishiyama sensie had some thing to do with it ! May I add to increase the speed in kicking ,practice correct kicking slowley with tension one one leg a few reps ,then do repetitions as fast as you can with each kick with correct breathing as killer has mentioned.

Ericu ,it is normal for your grade to go through those injuries ,people in brown belt level are the most dangerous to do pair work with ! as you go pass that stage your Karate should begin to soften and your body relax more ,that doesen't mean your karate is getting weaker but rather ! stronger !

Kata is very important part of self defence training ! diferrent katas prepare for diferrent situations and one through good instruction can learn a great deal from katas . But each to its own ! basics and Sparring also add to the equation . I agree with Angela g 's answer regarding not getting hit ,inevetibily you get hit in the class by your partner when sparring or doing pair work ,that should condition your body ,but outside the dojo you do your best to minimize your exposer as one hit by your opponent who could be armed with a knife or bottle could be the end of you!!

Here are the three most important things (in order): 1) The instructor 2) The instructor 3) The instructor Find someone you can work with, who you think you can learn from. It won't matter if it is a great style if the instructor is horrible. Go visit schools in your area and see how the instructor interacts with the students. Decide if their teaching methods would work for you. After going to see a few schools you'll start to see the different ways that people teach, and you'll get a better idea of what type of teacher you want. While style is important down the line, the best thing you can do starting out is to find an instructor who you will enjoy working with who can give you good training in the basics. Where do you live? Maybe some other people on this board can suggest some schools for you to check out. Excellent advice !

I was never able to do the split ,infact my body is not very flexible but it never stopped me doing high kicks .if there is one advantage for not being supple ,it is that you have to do the technique correctly otherwise your body and your joints would not allow you ! but a supple person can do a high kick with incorrect body alignment and never feel he is doing it wrong as his supple joints take the pressure , but in time they will for pay it!

[quote="SevenStar kata isn't about fighting multiple opponents as much as it is about mechanics and application. kata teaches you to link your movements together - footwork transitions. It also principles of the style - movement, technques, etc. not fighting multiple opponents.. think about it - who REALLY attacks that way? one at a time, in a preset pattern? nobody. Dear friend , Kata is set senario of fighting techniques ,evasion ,block , punch ,kick ,diferrent kata cater for diferrent senarios and techniques by doing them you condition your mind and body to react to certain moves ,these are designed by masters of the past and go back a long ,long way .Of course doing sparring with a partner has its own advantages ,but doing kata and understanding it and its concepts can prepare you to do partner sparring at another level . After many years of training ,couple of years ago we were doing one of the heian katas which I thought I knew every thing about ,but our instructer showed us a diferrent concept within that kata that I was so shocked to see ! it opened my eye to see that kata from another angle after years of doing that simple beginner's kata ! And yes ! when I do kata ,I do feel that I am being attacked from 4 corners ! it will look practical to you if you see a master demonstration defence against multiple attackers using the application of kata.

Well ,of course you have to bring all that together at one point inside your opponent body for a split second to shock the body but the tension is for a very short instance ,just like stances for example .All the basic training in stances are to allow you to deploy the right stance at a given time and an advance trainer move with fluidity and speed between diferrent stances and his kime will almost be invisible to an untrained eye .when you see two 4th dans sparring ,if they don't wear karate gi's ,you could hardly tell what kind of combat art they are doing ,Infact it would look like a street fight at times!

Well ,this is also my concept of kime and I have only trained in shotokan ! I have seen people in other shotokan groups that emphasise too much in kime ,this gives them a false sense of security and power , therefore lose fluidity and speed , Kime to me is all the above and blending in together all factors of your technique to the right proportion .

They are both important together with basics ,but I suppose by doing kata you are doing your basics too .Kata is the alphabet of karate ,some thing you can do on your own wherever ! and you can never say that I have done enough of this kata because there is no limit to improving it !

Dear freddy ,does the name of your assosiation have any link to Kase sensie 8th dan JKA ?

Dear Sauzin ,I really enjoyed reading your post and I totally agree with you . OSS !

Obviously the first thing we all learn as martial atists is to avoid confrontation ! My reason to start this thread was to find out the concepts of diferrent schools of karate ,how the idea of self defence is practiced and explained to students.

This is my concept of martial art ,the way I learned it ! so with the right mental attitude and good techniques any person of any size could have a chance against any opponent of any size and wieght . If your school of martial art cater this ,you may have a chance to face who ever ! providing you are mentally prepared as well . The idea is as i am sure most of you know anyway is TO HIT AND NOT TO GET HIT ! It is easily said than done ,but this is the ultimate aim ,so when the opponent is about to hit you ,your training should enable you to not be there ! manipulate your opponent in a way to give yourself an advantage to hit him and finish it ideally with one technique . What do you think ? is this the way you have trained ? let me know !

Started shotokan 1984 shodan 1992 nidan 1995 Haven't graded since but still train when I can !

Regardless of style the most important factor is the instructer and the school he runs . There are hundres of karate school of diferrent styles which have poor standards and this does not do the art any favours . I have trained in shotokan only but should I relocate to another place and find out a very good instructer running a Wado or kyokoshin or goju class and the only shotokan school is of poor standard ,I defenitley join the good school . If you find a good instructer who can teach you well then you should not miss that chance what ever his style .

I fully agree!

Good luck ! and enjoy your training ,who is your sensie ?

The first kata containing "full" grappling techniques would acutally be in heian nidan. Although there are some grappling elements in heian shodan as well. We practice the moves you are reffering in hein nidan as block and punch because of the speed they are performed.but never the less there is nothing wrong to have that concept as they will work but at slower speed.

Not saying you are wrong but we learned that these movement as block and punch ,because of the speed this aplication in hein nidan ,we have learned that the slow movement in the kata where you apply tention are the grappling ones ,like the opening move of sochin .

You need to look in deeply into your basics ,you will find your answer there .bending the supporting knee to a degree is the key . One good way of improving is to stand on one leg with the knee bend just as much to cover your toes and then slowely practice diferrent techniques (kicks,punches ,blocks ) this should improve your balance providing that you observe all points i.e back staight ,relax shoulders ,correct hip movement ,doing it in front of mirror help you identify problems.

Who is your sensie ? is it frank brennan ,if so you are very lucky !