Rateh

Ive always been taught that an extra kiah is better then a missing kiah so if ur not sure, do one just in case

wish i woulda known about orange juice long ago ive been taking perscription pills for years used to have a lot more trouble swallowing them eventually id put a lil bit of water in my mouth, add the pill, and then drink some water to make it go down... mostly though that was because otherwise the powder type pill gets stuck to ur tongue if u put it in first, as well as tastes nasty(at least my biggest one) orange juice does sound like a nice idea though

sorry for the double post, but i just hadda thought i teach a lot of young students their first form, so there are a few ways that help them one, is i teach them the pattern of it, you might want to ask your instructor or anotehr student if there is a pattern, and to tell u it, or maybe try and see it yourself... second, i say the name of everything as i do it, because some people learn bettey by hearing it, and that way they both see it, say it, and do it so for the beginning of our first form, its... crescent step backwards, pivot, lowblock crescent step, center punch, scissors turn low block, crescent step center punch...etc another way is to break it up into sections, like someone else mentioned i find with the youngest of the students, this is the only way i can teach them do the first few moves, then begin again, and continue doing that till u have that part memorized very well, at least three times then add hte next few moves, etc eventually (over the course of like 45 mins for the young ones :S), you will have the whole thing another thing to always do, is as soon as u know a form, do it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over....need i go on? it doesnt matter how good the technique is, it only matters that u do the correct moves in the right order another thing to make sure u remember it well is speed running you run the form as fast as you can (so there is no pause at all, just continual flow from one move to the next), once again this does not need good technique...anyways run it that fast, and if u can make it through from beginning to end without messing up, then u know it well, if u mess up, u need to practice it more thats all i can think of for the moment, hopefully at least one thing i or someone else said will help...sorry again for the double post

all beginner forms ive seen have a basic pattern/flow learn that and the rest is easy to remember when i was first learning kata, i remember doing musical notes... like one move would be a lower "do" and then the next move would be a higher "do" sound stupid, but it actually helped me so for instance...kehon1/taekioku(yes i cant spell for my life)... low blocks are low sound, punches are high sound, and when u turn there is a longer pause between the sounds, because it takes a moment to do the turn... so it comes out to... low do, high do, pause, low do, high do, shorter pause, low do, high do high do high do, pause, low do....etc like i said, sounds stupid, but it really helped me remember the patterns for my first two or three forms, after that it gets much easier and i didnt need to do that... good luck

a blowgun not great for close in but perfect for anyone who looks like they might possibly think of comeing close to attacking u... seriously though, i think carrying guns and stuff is crazy i do like manabimasho's talk about everything as a weapon though i should put some thought into waht kind of things i encounter on a daily basis, that can be weapons

Correct me if im wrong, but im assuming most of you are not small females. Im 5' 3" and not much over 100 lbs, it would be pure stupidity for me to try and stop any sort of rush at me. I dont care how hard of a kick i deliver, ill do next to no damage and get bowled over. My immediate responce would be to side step and send him on his way. Either trip him, grab the top of his shirt n pull him downwards, a knee to the gut, whatever... Either way, standing in his direct line would be the absolute last thing to do.

The youngest black belt in my school is 14, she is far more mature then the average 14 year old, she holds a junior rank Junior black belts have the exact same requirements as older blackbelts, i believe you have to be 13 for a junior, and 18 for a full, though i may be mistaken we have a student who is 8 year's old, he earned his brown belt about 6 months ago, he is remarkable for his age, and will be ready in some ways to test for his black long before he is 13 however, he will not be able to test until that age instead though, the instructor has decided to name a belt after him, a black belt with a brown stripe through it, he will be above brown belt rank, but just below black

ask your instructor if he/she feels that belts should not be washed, then washing it would be a sign of disrespect if on the other hand, he/she feels that wearing a dirty belt is disrespectful, then by all means wash it asap not all dojo's have the same rules and guidelines for their training, just as you would follow the rules of your dojo in other aspects, you should follow the guidelines of your dojo in this situation

fee's are $25 for stripe testings belt testings start at $25 and go up 5 dollars for each test (until brown and black) i think blackbelt was around $200 dollars, and a lot of the money went towards the ceramony, belt(a nice embroydered one), cirtificate, and a katana the fee's for the school are $85/month (the cheapest in the area) testing fee's go straight towards keeping the school open we do have a lot of ranks though also, we double test on occasion for stripes, double test's are full price for the first test, and half for the second on a side note, adults only test for brown and black belts, other belts are rewarded when the instructor decides they are ready

I once took a grappling class for females. The upper rank guys would have to take it to be our attackers. Rules were no bitting and no eye gouging, so u could hit, kick, use pressure points and holds, etc. Guys werent allowed to do much though, it was more of us learning to escape. I loved that class because we got to beat up on them, and go full out as well. As a 15 year old, i also was set to be the attacker against the younger females. Got my arms scratched up pretty good from one of them . Its too bad i moved to another state, i learned a lot in that class.

There was a slightly similar situation a few weeks ago during sparring. One of our more advanced students was sparring one of our newest sparrers (he just got his orange belt, and that is the rank you must be to spar). He was 12 but very short for his age, and she 8. The fighting was fairly hard, and the 8 year old girl was crying a bit, but thats not unusual for her, she often gets emotional during fights. Well all of the sudden her dad jumped up and yelled angrily at her daughter "You hit him in the face!!!, Hit him in the face!!" and then to the rest of us "Thats the 4th time hes hit her in the face!!" Imediately afterwards, the son's father yelled out "Thats not your decision, thats up to the Sensei!!" They started going at it verbally, and the Sensei told them three or four times to hush before they stopped and sat down. Then he stood still for a moment, everyone looking at him wondering what he was going to do, took a breath, and started the fight again while he thought of a proper responce. When the fight ended, everyone waited expectantly and he addressed the issue. He explained how face contact was not allowed, but that it was understood if it happend accidentally. But that if it happend repeatedly he would take action. Then he stated that for personal reasons, sometimes he did not call face contact. (Because she was a high rank, he wanted her to experiance it and see her keep trying regardless). This seemed to staisfy both sides, he didnt outright say "its my decision" because then that would be taking sides with the second parent, but he also made it clear that generally face contact was not allowed at the dojo. I think its important to let the parents know that YOU are in charge. You are the instructor, you are the one who makes the calls, you are the one who coaches, and no one else. As parents, they need to respect your experiance and expertise. I was told the other week something that made a lot of sence to me. "Would they [the parents] appreciate you comming to where they've worked for many years, and telling them how to do their job?" The answer is of course no, and they need to have the respect towards you to be quiet and let you do the instructing.

we have three sparring classes a week now 1 for all adults 1 for all kids who are more advanced (and at least 8 years old) 1 for all less advanced students, and all students under 8 ppl are paired up based on a combination of skill, size, age, and rank if a student is sparring in a tournament soon, then often the sensei pairs them up with someone who is slightly harder then the hardest competition the person is going to face for contintuous fighting the person always gets beat around a bit, but the generally idea is that no one in their devision will be harder on them, and if they can stand up to that person, they can stand up to anyone at the tournament

generally in my dojo, if u fight someone who is particularly a lower rank, or weaker, then the rule of thumb is, u hit them as hard as they hit u we fight fairly hard, but this makes it a bit more even, bigger students and higher ranks cant pick on younger then... (and if they do, then sensei fights em hard to teach em a lesson ) all of the girls in my school are also as serious as the boys, so we dont have a problem with giggling or anything like that luckily id say what everyone else is, just keep working hard and ull reap the benifits, and always aim to fight someone a little bigger/stronger/more advanced then u, thats how u learn

i very much disagree, an instructor can only do so much... Yes of course you should put in time and effort towards your students, but you cannot FORCE a student to be ready to test. Some students for one reason or another, just are not able to learn the material at the same rate as their peers. So yes, put time and effort into them and do what you can to teach and prepare them, but in the end if they still are not ready, it is NOT your fault.

we keep our classes small, 15 is considered a very large class size, actually we just redevided the classes because a class was that size... the kids classes are beginner (they average about 6 months in that class), intermediate (average oh...8 months in that class, not really sure since that class was recently changed), and advanced class adult class is white - black, aged 12 and up we also have a beginner class that runs three times a week, for very young kids so for the kids, the classes are greatly devided by rank, but for the adults it is an all belts class

3 is the youngest they go to a separate class for ages 3-6, some students aged 5 go to the regular kids class. I know three sounds really young, and i would have never considered teaching them. But my head instructor signed up a three year old shortly after i started the class for our 4-6 year olds, because these students were having difficulty keeping up in the kids class, for obvious reasons shockingly enough, the three and four year olds go through an amazing change. They are completly different kids between starting and say 4 months of training twice a week. Stand still in a ready stance, follow directions, yes ma'am, raise their hand, can do pushups, jumping jacks, situps, etc... but of course, they dont learn all that much material in their class front and roundhouse kicks, four basic blocks, a few strikes, front and horse stance, how to fall correctly, and a few takedowns

Have you gotten your Black Belt? Yes, about a year ago, but my test was modified, do to my heart condition I have times where i get out of breath just doing a kata so for my test i was allowed rests in between, i had to run a lot less then 5 miles, and i got breathing breaks during sparring. The test is ment to push you as far as you can go, and so my test was just as hard for me as others for them, even though i did a lot less running etc. I actually havent trained much since my test, because my condition still hasnt been fully diagnosed. By the time i got to my black belt test, i spent more time catching my breath in class sometimes then actually practicing. I didnt know until around the same time as my test that it was actually a heart condition. I had been being treated for asthma for 6 years, basically since i started karate, but i was just getting worse and worse faster and faster. I get my training through teaching classes now, because of course you always learn a lot when you teach. I do really want to continue physical training some day, but i also dont want to kill myself. long story short, yes i took the test, but with some modifications, do to my physical condition sorry for the long story there, i thought it was necesary to answer the question properly

Starts at 5 am 5 mile run all kata, basics, kicks kata performed backwards, with a cup full of water, another way the tester decides... (our school doesnt just do karate) takedowns off of fullpower strikes and kicks, a test of reaction get in a horse stance with your hands out, close your eyes, and be hit with a stick on your arms and legs and stomach...other things of that nature... sparring (being beaten up) for however long it takes till you colapse, and then slightly longer a few other things i cant think of... yah, its a bit brutal, very few ppl ever achieve blackbelt in my school

well, the style(s) ive trained in, were all mixtures of numorous styles... in my current school, we generally dont distinguish which things come from which style two styles i specifically want to increase my training in are shotokan and jujitsu shotokan because i really want to learn some very traditional karate jujitsu, because im a natural groundfighter, but i dont know that many specific techniques i also want to spend some time learning akido, what few things ive learned in that area, i really like

weve had some problems at the dojo with a red belt kid. He is arrogant and speaks down to the other students. Recently (i dont know the entire situation), the head instructor made him and an orange belt girl trade belts. Orange belt is just above beginner level, and red belt is just before brown, in our dojo. This happend at the end of last week, on saturday they were still wearing eachothers color, i dont know how long it is ment to last. Maybe, this will help him to learn to respect all the students, maybe not, its not the first thing thats been tried.

at work our managers are on a first name basis and at karate the instructors are sensei "first name" so i always have to catch myself from calling my managers sensei when i address them, and even then, it feels so wrong to address them without it. Like im making a grave error

I dont have to pay anymore. But we charge $85/month for 3 classes a week, as well as testing fees...and we are barely keeping our doors open...Rent and such is very high it seems, at least compared to the rest of you... and we charge one of, if not the lowest rates around

Lo, Im Jennifer, been practicing for 8 years now and teaching for 4. Teaching is very much a passion for me, so i had to include that in there As far as what style...a mixture of karate, taekwondo, jujitsu, judo, some others... Been to five different schools in my short training time, thats what happens when ur parents like to move Um...donno what else to say...Just turned 21 in March

I guess they decided to apply the whole "throw a baby in the water and see if it swims" method with me. My "training" consisted of assisting in a few classes, haivng an instructor give me a basic rundown of class time structure one day, and then throwing me out in front of a beginner class and basically saying "teach!" very shortly after that, they assigned me to teach every monday class. I would get extremely nurvous before the class, because id had 6 days since i last taught. At first i spoke so quietly that the students had a difficult time hearing me. To see me now, you'd think i was a different person. Now i have total confidence in my teaching ability, and 4 years of experiance. For me, the method worked, but i dont think its a good idea. Chances of it failing are pretty high id say, not to mention the students that were under me. I'd never dream of putting someone out there like that, but i guess they knew what they were doing...

Give each child specific attention and encouragement I expect a lot from my students, but they know its because i beleive they can live up to the expectations. Push them to do their best, dont let them give you anything less. Give the children constant feedback on their techniques, correct their mistakes, but focus on only one mistake at a time. Praise any improvements they make, but be honest. If they are doing better, but not as well as you think they can, let them know that. Praise their improvement, and ask that they do even better. Dont ever lie to them when you are praising them. This defeats the purpose. The students will quickly learn that they are praised for effort, and they will know that you are truely proud of them. Not just feeding them praise. On the note of pushups. Pushups are a constant in my classes. They are used as punishment, but are not considered a major one. For instance, leaning on the wall will get you 10 pushups as a beginner, 15 for the more advanced student. This isnt done negatively, but to wake the student up. They know that im not doing it because i dislike them, but because they were being lazy in class, and they know better.