G95champ

I don't know if its where Im older or just pay attention to it now but my balance sucks anymore. Never was my strong suit but its bad now lol. If I have a target its ok but just doing combos in place Im all over the place. Im chalking this up to lack of focus for now but in the meantime does anyone have any balance drills they do outside of class.

Shoes are really only a part of everyday dress in America or the West over the past 50 years. Many eastern nations espically the poor people don't wear shoes today.

Ive been in MA for 12 years now and I think you are mostly correct. You react not think however. You have worked certin basic moves so many times it just happens. I will disagree that you will use knife hands and other odd strikes without knowing. You don't do Martial Art, Martial does you its just happens or comes out when it is needed.

Yes Shotokan the Tekki Kata series works the guard.

shotokan karate

Depends on the location. Im in Southren WV a poor state we usully do 30.00 a month. But Big Cities like Philly may run you a few hundred a week.

Only if you want to break it....

welcome

hello

hello

Not an age limit but Im really anit kids in karate. 1. I don't think they understand the techinque enough to appy it. 2. Sure there are exceptions but in general they disrupt class or slow class down. Sorry I hate doing rising blocks for 2 hrs when Ive been at it 12 years. 3. As a teacher you end up being a babysitter more so than a teacher. 4. NEVER should a person below the age of 15 IMO be given a black belt. IMO a black belt means you can take care of yourself in a fight vs any person one on one and not may 6 year olds can do that. BUT to answer you question your never to old just to young.

Gehrig Justice 2nd Dan 12 years of training Have taught still help teach but love to train. Member of the FSKA present and accounted for

Once again I am back for how long who knows lol. I've been a member of the site for prob. almost 3 years now even was on the staff at one time. Because of work and other things I have had to pull away from my internet time but this is a time of the year I get some free time so I look forward to talking to some of you new members. Patrick looks like everything has been running well withut me. Figures lol Glad to see everything is ok. You guys will see me in the karate sections talking about kata lol and ragging on young kids and mcdojos lol. So to everyone in KF this is G bowing in again.

Thanks for the compliments and other posts lol. I have been away from KF for sometime. Not by choice lol just tied down with other things. I really enjoy the site and look forward to meeting this new group of posters. Kata is the key....

We use them for power development. Bottom line kicking and punching air don't get the job done. You need to know what its like to hit something. When I train with a bag we do roundhouse kicks, side thrust kicks, and spinning thrust kicks. Other kicks are hard to hit a bag with and or could hurt your knee. As far as hands I usually focus on things like backfists, hammerfist, knifehands, palm, and elbows. Again hitting a bag without wraps and gloves could hurt your wrist. When we do it in class we will do like 30 seconds all hands, 30 seconds all feet, 30 seconds both. Another drill is ti put you back to the bag and walk backwards into it and then let it swing. Allow yourslef to dodge it a few times then counter. Works shifting and body movement. Good lucks bags are a lot of fun just keep it differant because it is eaisy to burn out on.

The jump in Unsu is something not many can ever get down. I have stayed away from learing the kata for that reason alone lol. I would say to do the jump on mats so the landing did not kill you until you got it down anyhow which could take some time. LOL Good Luck

I have found if I have a size advantage that yes offense is better you get the small guy on the ropes and running. However I guess a good counter fighter can work off that. I am prob. more a counter or reaction fighter myself but I do like to go on offense and take the fight to a person. However even when I do this Im really reacting. Because the offense is just me moving forward not really me attacking.

I've been in shotokan karate for almost 12 years now and have never heard of those 2 kata. Prehaps your teacher pulled them from another style and added them to the shotokan list. As far as Heian Nidan being taught at black I have troulbe with that for 2 reasons. 1. Heian Nidan was originally the first kata taught until Gichin Funakoshi changed them arround and put Heian Shodan first. 2. The Heian Kata's in general are broken up parts of Kanku Dai which sometimes is the black belt kata one may do. I don't want to take a shot at your teacher but be careful if he is teaching 2 katas none of US shotokan people have heard of early thats prob. not good. Also if he is teaching Heian Nidan and a Dan leval kata it sends me a message he don't know a lot. Im sorry if that stepped on any toes just trying to be helpful.

You will never have a NHB fight in any event because some moves are just for real life. I mean if you take me down on the street and I can get my fingers in your eyes you bet that you wont be able to see before long. But in a ring in a event Im not going to blind someone. You can never simulate real fights and yes the situation does impact the appliactions you use. This is one of the important aspects of kata in your traditional arts. As much as we would like to see don't look for t he UFC or K1 to start holding fights in subways, football fields, and stair walks. Its no a video game its a sport and all sport has rules fighting does not...

Try this one. Getting your fingers strong to apply pressure point strikes. What about working your mouse with your other hand just to make you mind work more. You can apply training to anything and back to the main point. I felt KK took real karate and showed us other ways to do it. No super amazing moves or fire balls just karate and what karate is about.

Some people train better when mad or upset. Its a way to release there stress and anger. Other need to be calm or relaxed. Bottom line to each his own but IMO Martial Arts should teach you to rise to the situation you train no matter how you feel because when your done you will feel better. As far as this person being mad all you can do is say your sorry. If they accept great if they don't well thats there prob. not yours you offered a deal but if there unwilling to take it theres not much you can do or say. Life goes on dont live in the past make up for it in the present.

I thought KK was a very good training film. I use it a lot. Wax on and wax off yeah I have to wash my car from time to time when I do so I work wax on wax off in big circles. Thus Im working my outside blocks. I don't do much floor sanding or fence painting but I understood the point the film was making. That point is that karate is not what we do in the DOJO its what we do in our EVERYDAY lives. Karate is a way of LIVING. We are always training not just when we walk in the dojo and put on a gi. I think KK was huge in teaching that lesson. As far as movies go most are crap but all the KK series IMO teaches more about TRUE martial arts than any other. just my 2 cents.

Every Shotokan class we start with our basic blocks and kicks. Prob. do between a 100 and 500 reps of each. Then we get into training.

Really thats hard to say. 1. Fist thing that pops to mind is lack of knowledge but at the same time I know a lot of High School teachers that are very smart but are bad teachers because they cant get their point across to their class so thats not it. 2. My second thought was to be a good PR guy but again I though of the classic guy who talks a good game but knows little. 3. The one truth I know is a bad teacher made or makes other bad teachers. I have never seen a student who made a quality rank under a good teacher be a bad teacher. So to answer you question thats it. Teach good and those you teach will be good. There is an old saying that 2 wrongs don't make a right and I think this may apply here.

Greatest thing about shotokan is the fact it is so basic but at the same time so deep that it allows you to move to other styles and apply them to your shotokan background. I have done Shotokan for 11 years in that time I have played with Hapikido, Jujitsu, and other styles but I can always relate it to my shotokan base and have been able to find how that is part of my style that I did not know about. Good luck the one thing I have came to realize over the years is the answer for new moves is in my stlye I just got to rethink some traditional applications and moves.