G95champ

Understood and none taken My point is teaching kids you need punishment to teach them good behavior. Im by no means saying beat the kid or anything but many kids are unable to understand or listen to words. I am very much against group punishment. Meaning one person screws up the entire class does stuff. I don;t thank that is right and have been on the end of that myself many times. However kids IMO need to learn that their actions good or bad have results. Good actions are rewarded with praise and pats on the back and bad behavior is punhished by physical pain (exercise). Bottom line they will stop or they will go home Both for me are acceptable. I guess Im a bit hardcore on this issue but I belive in the old saying spar the rod spoil the child.

Sorry I got us off on that rant about young BB I just really dislike it. I have saw many skilled children who looked very good in kata, sparring, basics, etc. However IMO holding a black belt has a more to do with your mind and ability think and understand and NO child is able to do that. This takes me back to my point. I think young kids need reps on the basics as we all do. Over and over and over, Gichin Funakoshi IN shotokan realized this when he tried to teach middle school children the Heian Kata. They had troulbe with them. So he develope 3 simpler kata just for that reason. As far as kids who are out of hand. The first thing I would do is make their mom or dad not stay for class. Many times kids act up in frot of mom and dad because they want to go home but won't if they are out of sight. If that don't work simply meet bad behavior with punishment. *Push Ups, Set Ups, Wall Sets, Squat Kicks, Kneeling in the corner, etc) One bad apple can drestory the class. Pain is a great teacher so is fear and yes their is a fine line of how much to use but use them. Give the student one waringing. Bend down look them in the eye and say this behavior is not acceptable in Karate Class the next time you act out badly you have to do __________. As soon as they misact take them to the side look them in the eye again and make them go though their given punishment. When the punishment is over bring them back in the group like nothing happend. ONLY if they misact again do you repeat the treatment.

Not a fan of youngage blackbelts (sorry guys) Teaching is a bit differant if your doing some of the class with your Sensei helping but doing a class alone is IMO wrong. But back to the point. Which does lead to my point. You have kids 6=8 doing the second kata? WOW. Sorry They can't do that mentally. No way. Yeah I know someone has a great student who can but more of them can NOT. Our youth classes we focus on the first kata over and over and over and work basic drills that develope motor skills. Keep young kids to the basics their minds confuse the kata and your wasting their time and yours. IMO arroud the age of 12 you can start most on more than one kata and expect quality. Point Im making in both cases age means a lot. I respect the rank but I will NEVER give a child a high rank. Never a black belt under 16 just my 2 cents....

Does he want you to teach MT for rank? As you said there are no belts so in reality no one has more certification than the next person. However, you have trained with some pretty good fighters so IMO that goes a long way. Fact is I have never trained in boxing but I did train a guy for a local Tough Man who won. So it can be done. Not all great coaches were great players or even players at all. Is there a class you would rather teach or would like to teach first instead at the dojo? If it were me I would tell the Sensei just what you told us and see what he says. My guess is since your school is so big he has a lot of guys teaching things he don't know himself like MT or whatever? You may just ask to teach a KickBoxing class where you use MT, TKD, Karate, etc moves and ideas instead.

The first karate kid film as far as the ideas behind the art. Fighting is a bit fake but I think it does a great job in showing why you train and when you should and should not use karate. I don't recall the name but the film where the US TKD teams fights the North Korean TKD team. I think the fighting is very realistic and Im not sure but I think it is based on a trus story. Someone else may know for sure.

Shotokan karate - G. Funakoshis book karate do kyohan is very good to learn kata by.

Nope But I did kick someone though a wall one time. Same deal you are talking about. I caught the guy with a spinning back kick and it lifted him up, as he went back and hit the wall (between two 2x4's and went right though) LOL Bad part was we had to pay for the wall lol. Still a good story.

Your not ready 1. Making a post like that 2. Going back tomarrow 3. Let you let rage and anger win If your a martial artist thats three things you would not have given into. My advise is one don't make post about your conflicts unless they are to set an example for others to follow. 2 martial arts tries to avoid fights not go to where one is about to happen much less bring one about. Finally take a lesson from star wars lol when your at peace and calm is the only time you can effectively defend yourself. When you allow anger and fear to take over you have already lost no matter who walks away bloody. Stay home and train....

Amen to that

Second Dan (Black Belt Shotokan)

General rule of thumb the lighter the color of the belt the lower the rank. The darker the higher the rank. Red is the only belt that usually beaks this general rule. Red is some styles is located very early in others its pre black or even post black. Don't get bent out of shape over belt color and order it really does not make much differance if your a blue or a green. The problem I have is when black belts are only at blue or green leval.

Agreed 100% Big time believe in age limits for Dan ranks Ive traiend for just over 12 years and been black belt for since May of 96 and I just have a few lose strands. lol. Im lazy.

I do shotokan as well and we teach at least one new kata for each belt. I do know of one school close to my area that teaches the way you are talking about. They do a set of moves that they call (move sets) Then after they learn several move sets they put them all together and preform it as a kata. For us Shotokan guys it would be like doing down block lunge punch, turn down block, escape, lunge punch and then on the next belt test add the middle sequence for Heian Shodan. Personally Im not a fan of doing move sets but I did not train that way so I guess I am closed minded. However I can see the advantages. 1. Focus on SD over memorized moves 2. Helps young kids learn because its shorter. 3. Some people teach to fast and IMO slower is better. There are many differant ways to train and we each must find what works best for us.

Dont recall being neverous for my Dan test but for one of my brown belts test I had a time wariming up lol I could not remember Tekki Shodan. Then when the test started I was ok and nailed everything. Funny how your reactions just take over when you let them.

In a perfect world no but I can see and have made exceptions. 1. A person has a background in another MA that allows him to develope faster. 2. Mental Age. Althought it should not sometimes you get an adult in a kids class or a kid in a adults class and they are above or below the rest of the pack. 3. Time. Lets say this person had not tested in like a year but has been training the entire time. Im not a fan of skipping ranks but I did skip one. I was so upset. I have skipped two students both had previous training in other styles.

Because my teacher is in another state now I have learned several of my black belt kata from tape and book. I think the higher in rank you are the better you are at doing this. I would not recomend it for any beginner but once you have a general understanding I think its possible. However its not the best way.

We do one on two and one on three sparring but never tag team lol

After Black Belt you really start learing karate.

differance in the two kicks is the striking point. snap kick is the blade of the foot thrust kick is the bottom of the foot how your leg gets to that kicking postion can change. side stance stepping in, chamber from a previous kick, piviot in place, front leg or rear leg. you have not invented anything new here you have just found a new way to deliver the side thrust kick. this is part of becoming a better martial artist. congrats on your enlightenment.

two things one you have been hit and know what its going to be like. however the biggest thing imo is that you have some faith in your opponent that he or she wont hurt you and if they do its by mistake. yes you do become more focused but i think the bigger key is trust and faith in your and their skills.

sadly you will see more of it but Im not a fan by any means.

Shotokan - speaking the draw arm or reaction hand as you call it works like that in basic moves to help us build speed and power. However no one ever said do that in a real fight. We do it when working basics to build our techinqe and as we get up in rank into sparring you see that hand stay up. Think of it like ridding a tricycle then a bicycle with training wheels then a bicycle and finally a motor cycle. Its just a tool that should be used early and done away with as you become better in your techinqes but a tool none the less you should have in your box to practice with.

Weapn training is like this if you know a little IMO its as good as knowing a lot. Truth is someone has a gun your prob. dead if they want you to be dead. If they have a knife your prob. stabbed if they really want to stab you. You can train years and still not protect yourself vs a weapon. Sticks and Clubs are differant but you dont need to know tons of def. moves just one or two vs. common attacks. In the end all you have is your hands and feet. I say take the MT class and learn stand up sills espcially if you don't like going down. NOTE if your fighting as much as your post leads me to think you are best art you can take is prob. to join the track team and learn to run away. Fighting is not a safe thing to do espcially when your talking about weapon def.

good job

Biggest differance is the Kyokushin trains sparring a bit more hard core than most shotokan schools do today. Not to say you wont get a traditional shotokan teacher that does it but from what I understand Kyokshin is pretty hard core when it comes to sparring.