G95champ

I use a lot of MT in my shotokan I was a black belt before I got into other styles so it may have came simpler for me. However I teach my kids certin moves from other styles and they pick it up. So I really don't see the problem. Make Shotokan your base and you will be fine. Work other styles off it.

Finding a style 1. Find a teacher not a style any style will work if you are taught the how and they why behind it. 2. With that said look for traditional styles. Shotokan, Kempo, Gojo Ruy, Judo, Tand Soo Doo, etc. With these styles there is a lot of text and stuff you can cross check and train yourself. When you learn JIM BOB's Karate you can't refere to anything for the truth. Traditional styles are still taught because they work. 3. Bang for you buck. As many classes as you can get for the least amount of money. However the classes have to be quality. Chuck Norris may be teaching but you can't pay 1000 bucks a month ya know. But you dont want 10 bucks for one class either. So find the best combo for you. 4. Always look at the high belts. Brown and Blacks. If they looks sharp your ok. If you think you can take them go elsewhere lol. Don't judge this by the bench press either. You will know if they look like they know whats going on or not.

Gichin Funakoshi the founder of Shotkan never said fight in a low stance this is a great miscoception about our art. When you work a bag work it in a freestyle stance unless you are just wanting to focus on a techinque like the reverse punch then of course you want to be in a good stance. Its an ART there is no right and wrong. In shotokan the basics will come just spend time on your kata and things will work out.

I am not a fan of contracts only because you can't get out of them. Say you get in wreck and can't train. Say he closes down. Your out money. With that said 5 days a week 2 classes a day is a good deal. However I would look to pay only a month or two at a time. There are a lot of McDojos arround that are after money and dont do a good job teaching. The schools you went to before may be that. However they may also be good schools and you came across a kids class with a asst. sensei teaching. I would check all options. 90 bucks a month for what would be 25 classes is a good deal. However its still a lot. I teach in WV and only charge 30 a month if that because our people have less money. Just depends on the areas economic status. Remember he has to keep the dojo open so sometimes the price is not his dowing as much as it a fact he must go by.

This is a growing problem that I have seen. A brown belt walks in class a few weeks back and says hey Im a brown belt. I say ok show me your kata. He does the kata he is testing on. I say ok show me your early kata. He can't! What this tells me is that this person is not worried about the art. They are after a belt to look cool and nothing else. Before you take a test you should do your kata thousands of times. To the point you will not forget it. Upon completion of that test you will study a new kata but should always warm up with each kata you know before you get there. Kata are very alike at times a person who does not know them well will forget them. You can tell a good martial artist from a poor one by watching them do their kata and espically when you aske them questions about it.

In most schools Master level is 5th Dan. This is the case in our shotokan school as well. I am not sure what other groups or styles do as far as limitations on this title because I see a lot of 20 and 30 something's claiming to be masters. 5th Dan in our club has age and testing requirments. Basic Black Belt ID 1st - You know the basics 2nd - You can teach and test up to Black Belt 3rd - You can test black Belts and your can beat anyone up lol 4th - Age limit of 45 develope deep understaning for your art. 5th - I want to say an age limit of 52 and spiritual development of the style Other dan ranks are just age and knowlege issues. In all reality the avg. person will get to 2nd, 3rd or 4th and not much more. Because IMO to be a Master is something special and its not a term to be thrown arround by anyone.

Shotokan is a good base style that will allow you to grow in other styles because its so well rounded. Actually the more cross training you do the better your shotokan will become because you will start to see where shotokan teaches those same moves that people usually don't pul lout until much later in their training.

I have done shotokan for 12 years now and I durring that time I have played high school, and college football and coached high school football. So I have been apart of some weight programs that builds size. You will hear talk that muscle mass hurts your karate I am here to say that is false. I would work a bit more on my hamstrings to keep flexability and prevent injury. Things such as leg curls, lunges, etc.... Key to lifting and training is you need to make sure you keep your legs stretched. Espically your hamstrings because thats where most people lose there flexability when the lift heavy.

Simple your hitting the guy in the groin and face at the same time. I find myself using this move a lot in saprring and usually it works pretty well espically vs younger or lower ranks. Yet another application is you can be grabbing the persons inner leg and side of head. As you pull back you are lifting the leg and pushing the head working a throw on the guy. But again Im a fan of the U punch and use it a lot.

Agreed with some post above. SHOTOKAN trains in deep stance but I have never seen any of us fight in one. Why because we don't. Funakoshi points this out in his 20 precepts. If you fought somone in a deep stance it was not shotokan because no true shotokan student would do so. Yes we train deep to build muscle and speed but NEVER EVER fight that way.

The art don't win the person does. Take care of yourself first. Now being a shotokan person myself. The best advice I can give you is be ready to be hit. We may lose but you will know SHOTOKAN was there after the fight.

Funakoshi said there are 3 parts to karate. Basics, kata, and sparring. He said the 3 made a pyrmaid of training. The base was basics and you had to practice them the most because they made the foundation of your art. Second was kata. This was most of the pyrmaid because Funakoshi said you did it more than any. You could do kata alone and you got basics pluse sparring at the same time. It also allowed you to grow and understand your style. Finally sparring was the tip. Funakoshi said we sparred very little but to reach the top we had to do it. We spar little because of its danger and only those who are skilled at kata and basics should attempt it. Thats why you do 5 step and 3 step and semi free sparring before the real thing.

Shotokan is a power style but has a huge focus on speed and techinque to make that power. Breakdown its about 60 punching to 40 kicking with a lot put on blocking and shifting. The reverse punch and side thrust kicks are prob the 2 most noticable moves of a shotokan student. HUGE imporanct placed on kata and its practice. tons of hidden moves like throws, sweeps, pressure points, grappeling that is in it but not taught on the surface and espically to beginners.

In truth anyone at any age can train. However my take on it is young kids are wasting there time and the time of others because there is just so much mental things they dont understand. I personally don't like teaching kids under 12 but I have. Many dojo's take in 4 and 5 year olds because its eaisy money and you need money to stay open.

Assuming the person was ready to test when each testing date came up the quickest one could do it would be 2 1/2 years. With that said most of our people usually drag it out to about 3 or 4 years. We also put age limits on it that no one under 15 will get a Black Belt so in that case longer. NOTE Times change from style to style based more so on the number of belts. We use 8 color belts and or degrees of those belts. Some styles use as few and one or 4 while ive seen some people who use as many and 14 ranks levels before Shodan.

Agreed that kata is the meat that makes one good at karate. Looks like you put a lot of work into it. I think most of us do that in some fashion or another. I try to focus on 2 or 3 kata durring a few month stretch. But then I need a change lol.

I have had the pleasue of teaching some pretty radical christians before in class. I myself and a christian and here are some of the prob.'s they brought up and here is how I answered them. The Bow - The bow is not submission to a king or god but its respect from one person to another. Turning the Other Cheek - There is no first attack in karate but God does expect us to be strong in our faith when it is challenged. To protect yourself or another is a JUST cause. I can't see a JUST God holding that against you.

Turning the other cheek is a nice thing to do but at some point and not always in our control things may reach that time when you have to fight. Fighting is never the right thing to do. But like they say in the movie if you have to fight you better know how to. Nice Job.

Just a few reasons 1. The chance of a KO is good but you also leave yourself in a bad place. If you miss you will be taken down. Usually very hard and thats a risk not many are willing to take. 2. Because of the nature of the UFC it favors grapplers. Rules like you can't kick the down opponent make it difficult for ture strikers to enter it. If you watch Pride or K1 you see much more kicking. 3. TKD kicks are for points not power. TKD was started as a sport not for self defense or combat. Thus many of their kicks are just that they are fast and land but do little dammage. Thats why you see more the MT or low karate style kicks used. 4. Those in the UFC are grapplers more so than strikers. Gracie, Shamrock, Couture, Frye, even Belfore and Ortiz are grapplers first always. They are the best in the world at it and not many strickers much less kickers want to try and beat them at their own game. They would rather fight in the K1 or Pride where they are the top dog.

NO question true learing starts at Shodan. They way I explain Dan's to our students is: 1st means you understand the basics 2nd means you can teach 3rd your a bad man lol 4th you start to develope other styles into ours but study of kata 5th your a master anything higher most of us cant reach unless you want to get political.

Well Shotokan is not differant than any style when it comes to what moves we use. Bottom line we use or can use any kick the human body will let us do. However with that said there are certin kicks we favor and use more often. Front Snap Side Snap and Side Thrust Roundhouse Back Spinning Back Thats the meat now we thorw cresants, axe, doubles, sweeping, scissors, jumping, hooks, stomps, knees, etc but we like the KISS idea. Keep It Simple Stupid.

We keep the same Black Belt no stipes...

I disagree.... kata moves can be used very effectively in free sparring. Espcially if you have a deep understanding of them. I often use preset moves when working with new students on sparring to help show them part of their kata. My guess is your friend did better than you not becaue he knows more but prob becaue he is a bit better of an athlete. Nothing wrong there its just a fact of life. Thats why some low ranks can beat up high ranks. Just simple athleticism. Thats when understaning your kata and other moves comes in so the non athlete can hold his or her own.

Ok you can check out the following 2 sites. https://www.angelfire.com/wv2/wvka thats the way we do it. each style may be differant but usually the Heian series is always done first in any shotokan style.

3 differant ideas 1. Nature - The hops are symbolic of the ocean tide and one must hop over the waves to return home. 2. Weapons - The person you are facing is using a weapon such as a whip or chain and they swing it at your feet. Which you must dodge. 3. Finishing move - You have knocked the person down and to finish them you jump on their chest with both feet. (think of the Bruce Lee movie)