rivergirl

I am a white belt, in Shito Ryu style karate.

Thank you for all the good advice, I guess I'll just have to be patient until I've done this enough times that it won't bother me much anymore...notice I said MUCH...

I have alot of questions about testing...our sensei does not test us, we have to fly someone else in from quite a distance away so we are only able to test 2x per year. I have heard of testing by video, is it good/bad? What level of black belt does someone have to be in order to be able to test people themselves? It is a little frustrating to not be able to move up more quickly from a white belt, but in other ways it's best not to rush it either as the katas get more and more complex as you go on...just wondering how things are done in other dojos.

Just wondering how often people get tested in other dojos...I know that for the higher belts, you can only test every 6-9 months, but for white and yellow belts it is every 3 months if I"m not mistaken...I'm new at all of this so I don't know how things are usually run, wondering if being tested only twice a year is normal...(I'm a white belt)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- remember we are all nervous beginers once. the other beginer belts will be just as nervous as you, although they may not show it. and the more experianced karateka will understand. __________________________________________________ I think that's part of the trouble...I AM the beginner belt...our club is small and my dh and I, and one other are the only ones who haven't tested yet, ever. I've only been doing this for 2 months. I guess time will take care of my nerves. You'd think after being in a tournament I wouldn't get nervous anymore...but this is a new kata! I'll just practice more...

Everyone in the dojo! I have such trouble with being nervous when our sensei asks everyone to line up against the wall and then one by one we have to get up in front of everyone and do our kata...Just last week we learned Matsamura Rohai, (I haven't tested for my first belt yet) I'm pretty proud of myself that I can even remember all the moves, let alone do them in front of everyone else all by myself...anyways, I get so nervous when we have to do this, how can I control my nervousness? It affects the way I perform. It sounds really dumb, but we always practice facing one wall in the dojo, and tonight when we had to do this we had to turn around and face the opposite wall, which totally screwed me up. Anyways, I'm rambling, I know, but any tips on conquering your nerves when performing in front of other people? I hate it that I get so physched out by this, I want to conquer my fears. I am not a person who likes to be the center of attention like that. Can anyone give me any tips?

I did end up competing today, I ended up with a silver medal for Kata and one for Kumite. (There were 3 ladies in the first division and only my sil and me in kumite so it was pretty much a given that I'd get a medal but it still felt great!) I was so nervous all morning, waiting for all the kids to compete, my 11 yo dd got a silver in kata, my 10 yo dd got a gold in kumite and a bronze in kata, and dh got a silver in kumite. I did something really taboo though, because of nerves, I didn't take out my gum before doing my kata...I kept it way back in my mouth but one of the judges saw it and approached me later to admonish me. I was pretty embarrassed...big no no!! I will definately remember next time! My ribs didnt' b other me a bit, my sil knew they were bruised and avoided hitting me there during our match. I didn't do so hot on the match, I kept blocking her hand out of the way and then forgot to counter with a reverse punch, leaving myself wide open. REally dumb...so I didn't feel like I really earned that silver medal... Just wanted to share!

I'm planning on bringing snacks, sandwiches, etc. WATER, bandaids and some ice packs, what else should I be bringing? It's our first tournament and our 3 kids are competing also so I want to be prepared...

I'm really torn with what to do...what you guys have said really makes sense, although the tourney is tomorrow and I'm worried I'll screw the schedule up if I back out at this late date...my sensei seems to think it's ok for me to compete but I guess I'm the only one who can really tell how I'm feeling...

Just wondering if it's normal for the women to spar with men, I've only been in karate for a few months, and the only other woman in the dojo is my sil. We were practicing last week and I ended up going against a male black belt and a male green belt and being injured in the process. I just wanted to know if it's an accepted thing for women to spar with men in most clubs.

I was injured last week during practice, and ended up having x-rays for possibly fractured ribs. They turned out negative, but I am living on Advil right now and we have a tourney this weekend. I went to practice last night and did pretty good but it hurt like crazy to kia. I'm doing kata and kumite in the tourney and there is a huge likelihood I'll get punched in the same spot as my injury (as i'm just a white belt and haven't had much practice in kumite yet) I was just wondering on other people's opinions, am I crazy to go to the tourney? Our club is very small and I feel like I should participate because there's other people who can;t be there, what would you do?

My nephew's kia sounds just like a raven...kind of AAWWWKKKKK!!! Cracks me and sil up all the time...mine is "HHIIIIIIH" I'm thinking of changing it so I can make it louder...I think some kias you can make louder than others...

thanks for the advice! I hope I make it out of this alive...

We don't train in a traditional dojo, we train in our Community Centre on cement floors.. I have trouble when doing my kata, if I get nervous, hot etc. my feet get sweaty and then when I try to do my kata my feet stick to the floor, making me wobble and generally look like an idiot..is there anything you can put on your feet so they won't do this? HOw can you overcome this?

We are going to our first tournament ever, this Saturday. (me, my dh and 3 of our children will be participating) Just wondering what to expect? What should we bring? I'm assuming you bring your own water, snacks, etc. I'm pretty nervous about it, I've never done this before. It is so out of my comfort zone to be in front of a bunch of people...do they have several sparring matches/kata going on at the same time? Any help would be appreciated...