pers

I base my opinion from my 30 years experience in shotokan karate , I have no experience in other schools of karate . shotokan karate is based on building a strong foundation from start , hian katas are part of that building block that take a novice student step by step further up the ladder ,it is a long and slow process as there are no short cuts in achieving a higher level . Now if there are schools that don't do it this way and skip hian katas and go straight into brown belt katas like kankudai ,Basai dai and so on then so be it . I don't agree with it but good luck to those who do it that way . I don't think they can understand or perform it the way a student who has gone through rigorous training in hian katas for two or three years before doing brown belt katas .

Even people who started in their teens or twenties will start to kick lower once they get to their late forties, why do you need to kick jodan mawashi at this stage?! There's so much to learn and develop In your training and kicking head high should be the least of your priorities, develop your chudan mawashi to good effect or similar kicks and they will serve you better if need be. A lower kick to the ribs area is more self defense wise realistic than a risky jodan mawashi. the reson I am saying this as a fellow martial artist I don't want you te be disappointed for not being flexible enough to kick jodan now that you are at this stage of life ,being in mid 50s myself I know where your coming from . I used to kick jodan mawashi and score with it , looking back it was never a kick to use in self defence because of risk factors .

In my club the first 12 years of my training there was beginner and advance classes, I attended beginner classes which was up to fourth kyu and after I got my brown third kyu I was able to attend the advance class. I carried doing both classes for 10 years before they were merged into one. It was very valuable to do the basic class even when I was a Dan grade. You can never have enough of basic class, it is great conditioning and for perfecting technique. I eventually got in better condition than many of my senior grades because of this, as a new brown belt I found myself way behind their ability and finding myself constantly losing or panicking running away from them but after few years of double classes tables were turned.

Some very good advice here posted. I would practice this very slowly paying full attention to detail, breath in as you chamber and breath out as your kick is going out slow with little tension. If you do it enough times, meaning a lot! then speed will come naturally. It is very important where and how you deploy your supporting foot,it always have to move first even if a few inches to give your kicking leg the right support and transmit power to your kicking leg. Slow is the king in practice time to perfecting technique in any field.

I want to name one kata but then I am sure someone would comeup and say but we do it as well ! The difference is in the way each school performs it acoarding to the way they perform their techniques ,kanku dai done in shotokan school is dffrent to kyokoshin or wadoryu .

When I started off in karate the gap between my left and right side techniques were huge ,being right handed my left hand and foot techniques were very weak comparing to the right side ( mind you my right hand techniques weren't that good either !) but now apart from mawash geri which my left one still not as good as right I don't even contiousely think about left and right hand and feet or if my opponent is right handed or left handed . I would automatically adjust acoarding to their stance , it doesn't mean I will always get it right ,if my opponent is better than me then he will have the edge ,if I am better than him or more experienced then I would try and dictate and get the advantage , but intersting this thread was brought up ,got me thinking about it . Interestingly after few years of training in karate I found myself very capable of playing soccer with my left foot , I could pass and cross and shoot and score goals with my left foot ,something I never could do in the 20 years of playing football before I started karate ! the only thing I could not do with my left foot like I could with my right was to shoot the ball with the top of my foot powerfully from behind the box ,which was something I did on regular bases and score with my right .

Jion was not one of my most favourite katas although I never disliked it as such but prefared other katas like Kanku dai and kanku sho and Enpi and Hangetsu more ,this one never got my attention like others ,but it is a great kata . I particulary like the last two moves , in general whenever I do those big 4 I try to them as dynamic and fast as possible .

I have to clarify myself here , I don't know why I automatically thought the first move was the stepping forward , but yes the first move could be interpreted as a release and then a strike ,that video is a good demonstration of what is possible , what we mainly concentrated on was to intercept an oncoming attack and striking the midsection knocking the opponent off balance , of course the key is in timing it right and catching them just as they launch their attack , it is a good exercise to practice timing .

Basai dai meaning to storm the castle. The opening move is exactly that... moving in and intercepting an oncoming attack and blowing them off their feet. I have seen an experienced girl of small built knock a big bloke off his feet!

Hi Pers! I like your comment and it seems like we have very similar kata practices. The Heians, then Tekki Shodan and then Kanku Dai. Interestingly, I have taught Kanku Dai and Tekki Shodan to students who I have limited time with (due to their locations overseas). I have noticed that they have not in any way suffered from not knowing the Heian Kata first. In some ways it is easier for them to learn one longer kata (Kanku Dai) than the 5 smaller forms. Hi ! good to read your post , you have picked the right aproach if you have limited time with some students of yours , ideally though learning and mastering hian katas is very important , apart from set of moves they help develop the student's mind level by level . I think it would be ideal for a good progression in reaching shodan level to go through the process of spending 3 to 6 months on each hian katas going through the grading , they are very important to building a solid foundation to karate . karate is learned with emphasis on strong foundation ,first like building power and focus , gradually getting softer and softer going pass brown belt . it is mostly from shodan and above that their kime would get shorter and shorter ... a fraction of what it used to be , meaning their body is soft and thus very fast ! the faster you are the more powerful you are . but the process in getting there is to first learn to make kime with each technique and as most of us did it the hard way and spend too much time since it is a learning process and would not happen over night for most normal people .

Kata bunkai is application of set of techniques and strategy for a particular situation that the particular kata is addressing , it is like a blue print for certain situations . I have been learning to play guitar for the last 18 months ,it has been very challenging but perhaps becuase I had the experience of karate training and having gone through very rough rides since I found karate very challenging to learn ( perhaps it was my lack of aptitude but I think I was not any less able than avarage joe ) I used karate aproach to train in guitar ! , there are no short cuts in aquairing skills like playing the guitar or learning karate ,just correct aproach and dedicated hard work and practice , they say you need to spend 10,000 hours to master any skill . skill is gained by hard work and correct procedure to learning , kata is like a piece of music and how you interpret it acoarding to your level of skill . after 18 months of putting good number of hours of playing guitar I can play and sing one of Eric clapton's songs but can I play it like him or even half as good as people who can play half as good as Clapton ? of course not ! but I give a bit of the interpretation of the song meaning you know what song it is . same priciple with kata , what my sensei does when he performs kanku dai and then show you possible application of what he was doing is much above what I can do or someone with 10 years less training than me but once you can have that master piece in front of you then you can aim to get as close as possible to it as you can . kata is like possible scenarios that can happen in a fight , the more you do it and contiousely think of what and why you are doing it then you incrase your chances in kumite or the real thing . the level of success depends on us and who has been teaching us.

kata to me is a set of techniques and movements within a concept of a particular situation , each kata has a different approach and tackles different situations . when I do kata I treat it like a scene of a fight in a movie and I pretend to be the hero fighting multiple adversaries and beating them all ! kata is not on its own the whole answer but part of a healthy training in karate ,or as they say one of the three ,kihon ,kata ,and kumite ...all complimenting one another . I disagree with Davies on the role of kata and what it does for you . there is no time to think in a real fight or in competition kumite , but if you have practiced karate or any other martial arts effectively and put in the hard work of training then it should become like second nature and one should be able to do it automaticaaly like second nature . just like and experienced driver or any other skill you acquire and do it subconsciously .

in my opinion Kankudai is the one kata that demonstrates the core of my style which is shotokan since it contains many moves from other katas such as heian katas and so on . But in order to do kankudai well one needs to learn the hian katas and tekki shodan first . kanku dai is one of my favourite katas along with Hangetsu and kanku sho .

As you are new to karate it is very important to have supervision and a proper dojo and instructor to learn from and to get corrected so you don't set in bad habits. It is very good to practice at home to compliment what you have learned in the class , you can go over what you have been doing in the class and practice parts that you have trouble with , practice them slow and correct , doing it slow with some kime but concentrating on correct body movement and technique will improve your technique and speed will follow soon after . Once you have done enough repetitions (100s ,1000s hopefully !) then you have sharpened your technique and speed will come with relaxation of the body once the technique become like second nature . but you have to learn to mould your karate form the correct way from a good instructor to teach you , otherwise if you spend the next 10 years practicing at home and doing it the wrong way after 10 years you will master doing a technique incorrectly and therefore inefective or not efficient. Body movement ,moving from A to B ,learning when to relax your muscles and when to expand and contract them ,weight distribution ,strategy ,pair work are some of the things you need to learn if you are not a born genius fighter like the rest of us .

I think those are lovely symbolic interpretations, but I stopped valuing such interpretations about 7 years ago. Usually, the people who told me those kinds of interpretations seemed to use them for movements they couldn't explain from a practical standpoint. I have since learned practical combative applications for them, so I feel no desire to fill in gaps with pretty imagery. All that said, I do think that, sometimes, the initial and final hand position in kata can be symbolic. Usually, your hands are in some form of "hands-ready position" (http://cryptome.org/info/usss-hands/usss-hands.htm) at the beginning and end of kata. This provides you a useful, practical starting point. Some people have been known to use Buddhist hand positions for this, as well. This also fits with Chibana Chosin's teachings; "There is no kamae in a karate kata, except for the beginning and end of the kata. Everything else is transition and application. Well said , I agree . The version of kankudai that I trained in was close to the one from Osaka ,simply because my sensei teach us that way and he performed it like what Osaka is doing with tremendous speed and power and precision . I love this kata as it contains the concept of many katas rolled in one , you can not master this kata without mastering those other ones first .

Karate is a skill that takes years of dedication ,perseverance and hard work to master or reach mastery and to be able to teach it to others , surely they must be rewarded for it not ? why would anyone expect to get it for free or next to nothing ? by the way I am not a master or a sensei but just a student who has been training for about 29 years , every penny I have spent has been more than well worth it . if you really want to excell in martial arts such as karate or any art like even music you have to pay for it and sweat for it , otherwise it will be waste of time . learn it from the best you can find and even pay for it twice as much as the other club down the road if you have to , it will be money well spent !

IMHO this impedes progression. Whatever field you are studying, be it science, maths, or martial arts, you learn from your predecessors and build upon their knowledge. Else you just repeat what they had to discover and never go on to anything new. You honestly would prefer an instructor who is still fit in his mid 30s say over someone in their 60s or 70s who had trained twice as long and had done things Mr Young & Fit could only dream about? well said ...if the teacher is good and knowledgeable and has one through the ranks and has reached old age and can not do a high kick like he used to do or his physical condition had deteriorated with age or illness it does not mean he can't pass on the knowledge , he could have vast amoint of skill to pass on ,sometimes correcting small details or adjusting a minor movement in the student's technique can make a big difference . Like saying john Toshack should have never coached Wales becuase he couldn't score goals or play like he used to when he was playing for Liverpool ! I throw this one in to raise your Welsh spirit !

It is the same principle for both kicks really , just like a front kick you can step forward and kick or kick on the same spot without stepping forward ...depending on how your opponent react and ends up . His roundhouse kick is almost identical to shotokan's mawashi geri ,turning the support foot with hips fully involved .

I tend to agree with what you say here regarding the basic forms where the heel is low , we were told to imagine having a sheet of paper between our hills and the floor , in other words your hill should not be touching the floor as such . reason being that when you are on the ball of your foot your muscles are supporting your body weight but when your weight is on the hills it is your bones and joints that are taking your mass , making your movement and energy transition slower and less efficient . the way I was taught hills must not take the weight of your body , ball of your foot should , but that doesn't mean your hills should be way off the floor , just off the floor like having a sheet of paper between them in traditional basic and slightly higher in free flow.

If I was you I would look to find the best teacher I can learn from regardless of what style he is teaching. I am biased becsuse I trained in shotokan and prefare it but that is becuase I trained with one of the best in the world . but he could have been teaching wado or kyukoshin or shorin ryu and I would have followed that tradition . They are all good but seek the knowledge from the best teacher you can find within your reach . If you are planning to start this life long journey choose the best coach you can find to direct you and show you the way ....

Against an experienced grappler or wrestler your chances are limited , I am speaking with 30 years of karate training , I never trained in wrestling myself but I come from a family of strong wrestling tradition . You have one chance before he grabs you and 99 percent of the time he will win unless you are a very accomplished karateka and can use the small gaps in time to strike a decisive blow with your elbows or kness to his vital areas and knock him out . Before he grabs you if you have the experience and skill to strike him with a front kick or hiza geri ... maybe when he lowers himself to luanch himself to grab your legs or maybe a powerfull punch to his jaw or if he is too close an elbow strike to jaw ..... but your technique better be good cause if survives them you are in big trouble !

Practice ...practice and practice ! there are no short cuts and no magic formula ...like any skill you need to put the offort in. One tip that I use doing any kata is I imagine I am in a fight against multiple opponents and I am the star and eventually beat them all ! in kata your imaginary opponents are always in perfect distance and you always win . You are the John Wayne and they are the Indians in a Hollywood western ! kata is like that , you act and the better you are in acting and giving that impression the better ...but do not sacrifise correct technique.

Not at home but playing soccer I mistakingly put a a roundhouse to the temple of opposing player and knocked him out ! I waa trying to bring down the ball but my touch was not great and the ball went behind me up in a spinn so I turned round judging the path of the ball and tried to hit it with a jodan mawashi but the player had already headed the ball and I caught his temple with my kick ...aouuch ! he didnt know what hit him ! I also scored a goal with an ushiro geri and scored one with kukutsu dachi !

First of all thankyou all for your kind words ! I feel like an idiot replying so late ! I just saw my message box ...but never to late to appreciate your kindness

Hi I have been in shotokan since 1984 and I was a brown belt for 5 years ! and did Basaidai for a very long time , so much that I was really bored of it , one of the posters kindly posted a diagram of the kata which is very correct . no 26 is the only gdan barai when yiu land with speed and power into a kiba dachi .. those two mid section blocks soto uke and uchi uke are the only blocks in the basai.