SyracuseJundokan

I love the stance you described - makes it easy to sweep you Plus you have very few responses if I can get around your kicks which usually isn't so hard...

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery... I'm getting MRIs done on both knees next week and there is a good chance that I will need surgeries... I'm very worried about how it will impact my training...

Good to know... do you have your own club or if not, where do you train?

Does anyone in here live/train near Syracuse, NY? I'm interested in developing some training partner relationships...

Yes, a blackbelt is just a good student. Shodan means first rank,so you could say that before that you had no rank. Actually Shodan does not mean first "rank". Karate levels are not ranks they are grades... There is a difference with one implying hierarchy and status and the other implying ability level...

I see a lot of threads here about "starting over" and giving up rank, etc. The smartest thing I ever did when joining Jundokan was to walk into the dojo with a white belt on. I didn't see it as "starting over", I saw it as recognizing that I had an opportunity to be a beginner again and to set my mind to learning everything through a beginner's eyes. Additionally, the dojo seniors took me under their wing in a way that they may not have done had I worn my black belt. Within a (relatively) short amount of time, I had earned a Jundokan dan grade and it continues to mean much more to me than when I see others who simply walked in with high dan grades and were "recertified" in their new style. The problem is that people consider their belt color a rank and not a grade. A rank indicates position and hierarchy and other things that are painful to give up. A grade indicates your ability level in karate and is specific to the style and school you are attending. To wear a grade belt that does not match this ability level is presumptious and will only get in the way of your progress. So my advice is: let it go and let others see you for who you are and not what color your belt is. You are not starting over, you are adding to your experience. $.02 for you!!

I wouldn't worry about what belt you're wearing. And don't see it as being disrespectful to Yasuda Sensei...

Check out https://www.tokeyhill.com for a book called kumite concepts that Tokey Hill (former WKF world champion) coauthored with Eric Hill (no relation). Good luck...

Hi Everyone, I'm starting a new dojo in August and was surfing the web for MA related places... Nice to meet you all! Dave

Actually, AAU has not adopted the new WKF rules and they are quite different in terms of scoring. I would recommend that you check out https://www.usankf.org (the US governing body for WKF competition). You can no longer expect to win WKF tournaments with basic karate (reverse punch, etc.). I would put a lot of emphasis into kicking practice and take-downs. Keep working on explosive movement and watch as much expert video as possible. Check out Christophe Pinna and Junior Lefevre as some great examples. I have links to their site on my web page as well as an awesome video of Lefevre. Dave