Sandan

I thnk that all referees suffer from this problem! Well the proud ones that walk around with their blazers on!

Yea, I don't like fighting beginners, as anything could happen and if you're supposed to be going lightly they have no idea what that is and they go hell for leather. Also they see a black belt and in their head it's too much of a challenge for them to stay calm.

Easily solved, I'm going to try this with my class and we can see the effects!

Yea, humour works for me... but it has to be subtle, not to be seen as a rebuttal!

Very good, I may yet bring that into class!! Many thanks!

I use kicks and my front hand to change the distance of my opponent and get them confused, then I use my kicks in combination so that I can deliver a punch!

I would love to have the time to do all that. I do train everyday and I average more than 2 hours... I also am trying to have a career...

If I can book the hall, I have training on Friday Saturday and Sundays. The idea is also that they get out of the dojo and so I have outdoor training and there is a beach nearby so we take them there also. There are a few issues with people only able to come one or two days but for the most part people are delighted to be along. It's really a case of having something to do with them for the time you have them. I don't charge a huge amount for this generally it's €10 so that they have to make some sort of commitment to the day. I also get a bouncing castle for them and we have a barbie on the last day... it's a great way of getting the parents involved as well. Of course they do all the work for the barbie I would suggest having more than one instructor if at all possible as it does make life easier!

My instructor recently returned to Japan for a visit and he came home with a suit for me that was embroidered.. I am afraid to wear it just in case!

I would kinda like to see who turns up to the funeral and what they whisper between themselves but then I'm bold

I find left handed people who fight with the right leg in front are easier to sweep!

I was delihgted to read this. I plan to do this kata in my next grading and I've been spending a lot of time with it lately. I agree that the ranking system has been around only a short while, whilst people were doing Karate and such like for many years beforehand. However wasn't it still the instructor who decided when to pass on a kata...

lots of people standing in front of me doing mad circular things with their hands and making whaooo sounding noises!

It does depend on the levels of training of both arts. I'm all for getting as much as possible by way of information, however if one starts to cloud the other then you certainly will have issues. Your instructor may also find himself having to correct techniques you have picked up from the other art... my advice, prioritise, make one your key MA and the other should be a subsidy...

Higher grades are always safer to sparr with... more control, at least the ones with no egos! Hate fighting total beginners and brown belts... beginners anything can happen, brown belts, all the technique and something to prove. Then again I am the instructor...

Yea, I'm a bit like this myself. For beginners, 2/3 classes per week, for those coming up to black belt 4/5 and personal training. After black belt well it depends what you want to do. I hate instructors who only put on their dogi to teach!

I kind of have a balance of kids v's adults. It's great when I get them to train together as it means that they are putting the other under pressure. Now the kids are pushing the adults.. it's great!

try to relax more. whilst you should feel that your muscles are sore from being stretched and yes certainly under pressure in certain exercises/stances. Don't do what most people do and tense up, depriving your body of oxygen and incurring even more post training pain.

flexibility focus

Yea, I've learned that it's good to stick in there and that you make your own success. There are times when I bring this through to my work and to my non-dojo life.

Keep at it! Above all don't lose hope 'cause if you have a few students who are very comitted the rest will follow.

I try and make things like kumite more fun. I regularly get my class to play a tiping game where they have a piece of pipe insulation about a foot long and they have to strike their opponent on the head or leg. It makes them move very quickly and gets them focused on kumite without them being scared.

I do try and run a summer camp, which is particularly for kids, although the adults can come along also if they wish! I also try and do it outside of the dojo so that they see it as something new!

Yes, short sharp is the best way to go. I'd be dubious of the long kai even in Jion (which is supposed to have a longer one at the end) Also I think that if you kai short and sharp you move faster!

To be honest with you a black belt grading can be a bit of an anticlimax. Most instructrs make it out to be really difficult and challenging. It is in fact not much more difficult than a kyu grading, only they add in mental aspects to the grading to test to see if you 'really want the grade'. I know many who came away from a Black Belt grading wondering what all the hype was about. I really think that if you prepare well and go in confident and poised this will come across and they will start looking at someone else. As for grading with a board, this is in someways better than just with one sensei. They will discuss your points both good and bad from different angles and you will get some very valuable pointers going forward. One thing that I say to my students... Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.