supernix

I now have my orange belt and hopefully soon will have my green belt. Sensei Whiteside always tells us that you can practice kata anywhere and in fact he says you could do every kata you learn in 3 foot of space. Gichin Funakoshi in his book stated that everywhere can be a dojo.

At that time I lived by a code that fear kills. So fear was not an option I was 20-21 yrs old. I have never been fearful but I have grown more cautious and careful in my old age. At that time the actual outcome of having a bullet in my stomache or lungs and bleeding profusely never come to my mind. The only thought was how to defeat the person with or without killing them. I was determined to go out fighting. Nah it was not all that random. Me and a fiancee were walking home and the guys decided to follow us in a car for a short time then yell obscene things about my fiancee. She was very cute and had a lovely figure but was modestly dressed. So it was sort of random as it could have happened to any guy. But at the same time I helped to provoke the situation by yelling back as I was not going to let something like that go unchallenged. Had I left well enough alone and just kept quiet the whole incident would not have went down and would have ended with fools doing something stupid. I just would have had to live with one more incident of a situation where I did the right thing but still wished I could have taken them apart for thier actions. I am sure everyone has had that feeling before of wishing they could have knocked someones block off for the wrong they have done to you.

In combat training can greatly increase the odds of survival but nothing guarantees that you will survive. You never know for sure when your opponent might get lucky and accidentally hit a vital spot. Fully armored police die from gunshot wounds just because the bullet happened to find a spot that was uncovered and then the officer dies. So even under the best circumstances something can go wrong. That said. I will tell you how I personally dealt with a person armed with a gun from 10” or greater. Keep in mind this all occurred on a side walk in a city during the day time. They were in an automobile and I was walking with a loved one. Running is an option but you stand just as much chance getting shot in the back as you do just standing there. My decision was just to face them and work with whatever comes my way. My first option which may or may not have worked was just to dive at the hint of them pulling the trigger and then work my way in closer to the gun. But at the same time I began to yell as loud as I could daring him to get out and do something. This sent the message loud and clear there was no fear in my at all and drew much attention from around the area of onlookers as I faced this person. Eventually the person drove off without firing a shot. I could have easily just as well tried smiling at the attacker to gain distance and close the gap. A smile can be effective to disarm an attackers will to do harm until you get close enough to take them out. Another tactic would have been to beg and grovel profusely as if completely overcome with fear so as to make the attacker over confident to the point that I could have gained enough distance and then taken him out. There are definitely other tactics but the best one is “don’t be there to be attacked” that is lesson number one that takes much time to master. I can’t really credit my survival to training but it helped. It was more a act of God that kept me from dying that day as it can always go either way.

I to am working on Heian Nidan as well.

I am not sure if this is relevant but I was reading on one site that their black belt certificates have a half moon or something of that nature and that one half is on the students certificate and the other half is maintained in a central registry and that the two symbols can be compared to tell if the certificate is fake or not.

As I recall there was a certain amount of throws and grappling techniques. But it has been a long time since I studied that style so not completely sure.

I just started taking Shotokan it is nice so far. I started in Shuri Ryu and currently hold a green belt in that style. I have not studied in over 10 years but I keep getting flash backs of what we did back then. I don't know the Shotokan katas yet but I similarity in movements. Which is not surpising as I have read that Shotokan came from Shuri-Te From my studying sad to say I have noticed that there was no grappling in Shotokan that I can see so far. My Sensei however has training in Hapkido so we do get to practice grappling as well so I get a well rounded work out. I try to go everyday but so far I have only made it 4-5 times a week. I just recently passed the test for Yellow And this time I don't think I will ever stop training again.

dublicate sorry

It is a rule at our dojo and as well as in Shotokan Karate that Karate begins and ends with respect. It does not sound like a decent teacher at all that would entice you into a fight. If he wanted to test you skills he could have simply done that through a nice sparring match. Another thing to note is that Karate training is supposed to help you to learn how to avoid fights all together. Not that you wont eventually end up in one sooner or later. I actually heard the saying one time that the best lesson the grandmaster ever taught was how not to fight. The issue sounds it is best to just find another teacher.