G95champ

Yeah prob. right its just not real big where I am from. I was trying to think of the styles you see on TV and stuff.

We do a lot of blind kata espcially before the student tests. We also do the kata backwards and the mirror immage as well lots of fun but they getter pretty hard. We do the drunk kata too like the guy said above spin 25 times stop and do your kata.

Shotokan Karate since 1993 from 1996-2000 while in college I did a style the teacher called American TAO Karate it was basically Hapikido with some TKD and Kung Fu mixed in. 1998 did a little BJJ and MT not much But the entire time I did Shotokan jsut played with the other stuff.

Kata with your eyes closed.

Each test has a certin move, kata, sparring, knowledge base you have to know. Black Belt test not much changes except for the sparring is full contact and we expect to see your ability to teach some in the weks up to the test. But we do not use a written exam I do ask a lot of questions on the test about history, application, etc that I expect you to know but that is one every test not just Black Belt.

As I stated many times before it just depends on where you are. I teach in a small town in West Virginia and needless to say its not a very wealthy place. We only charge 30.00 a month and 5.00 for each extra family member. We will have anywhere from 2 - 4 2hr classes a week. Just depends on the time of they year. However I know people in Philly and in Cincy that will paly 100.00 a week for 2 classes. So......

Without a doubt I would go to the head Sensei. I would also see if other class members had the same opinion of these asst. teachers. You don't even have to say I think so and so sucks as a teacher just say I have a hard time understanding what they are doing could you expalin it to me. If several go to him he may get the picture. Their is nothing worse than any school haveing high ransk who are not that good it runs off many young quality students. Are any of the Asst. Teachers his family?

All Im saying is if you were to define black belt it measn basic understanding. Your training should always cover everything you know. When we go up in rank and pass a kata we still do it. Everything in MA builds upon something else. I understand you have been out but if learing the other kata you have forgot means going to the beginners class then go.

part of being a black belt is knowing the kata.... sorry... To many people think its about how often you train and how long you have been in a style. No disrespect ment but if you don't know the kata you don't need a black belt no matter how skilled you are.

Fear can never win. If its fear of the attacker or in your case fear of failing hte test. Fear is the hardest enemy to defeat but at the same time its the one we all can deal with. When I grade my students I tell them over and over I don't care if you screw up the combo on the test because I have seen you do it right but I do NOT uner any circumstance want to see you freeze up. IMHO any reaction is good you may be right you may be wrong but if you don't freeze you got a chance. As fara s nerves and a tests go I can speak for everyoen here we were all excited, nervous, jumpy, etc before any of our tests thats human nature. No matter how cool or calm we acted. The one thing karate should teach you is to control the emotions and not let fear win. When you do that you will be ready for you Black Belt reguardless of the kata you know, the combos you can trhow or the knowledge ou have.

Its all about the voice. I teach public High School as well as Coach HS sports and teach karate the thing is if you use your voice and show that you have confidence in what your teaching those things take care of themselves. If you are slow and not sure of yourself then they see it as weakness. Best way to build that self confidence in teaching is jsut teach the basics. You can't go wrong with basicis. When I break in new peopel to teach I give them exactly what I want them to cover. You can't build rome in one day. Teach it loud and proud and be clear and you little prob. will disappear.

Little King of the Hill (Judo) style would be fun. Not striking just thorws and takedowns. Tug of War is always one of my favs. Dodge Ball. Kids must play dodge ball its great and fun and teaches MA. You may put a spin on it and say if you prefomr a good block your not out. Im all about games and I don't think you can go wrong with races or comps either one one one or let them pick teams. You can have relays and have them run, or walk in a certin stance or piggy back,etc. Get a Really big Gi. (well 2) have each team line up. Have them run down say 25 yards put the gi on over their clothers tie the belt run back take it off. The next kid puts the gi on and so on until all have went the team that wins don't have to do pushups.

did anyone see Frank Shamrock beat the snot out of Baroni (Sp) on Showetime last week? Back when he beat Tito Ortiz in the UFC I told people he may be the best ever at the time. Then he stopped fighting. I don't know how good this Baroni was or was supposed to be but it was not close. If Frank had not toyed with him it could have been over in One. I hope White is trying to get him back in the UFC he would add to the light heavy class which is already loaded with Rampage, Chuck, Tito, etc.

Severn had a background in wrestling which gave him a leg up on a lot of early peopel when it came to fighting BJJ. You also have to look at the size. BIG differance in Dan and Royce. For a person Royce's size to beat Severn in 15mins is pretty impressive. Severn would not last long today because he could not strike All he did was lay on people and thow an occasional forarm. I liked some of the old UFC's better. I really dislike the rule that you can't kick a down opponent. Yes I understand a person is flat but if a person shoots and their knee hits the ground and you kick them in the teeth I don't think that is fair. Lets give White credit he did get Garcie back to fight Matt Hughes a year ago or so.

Jaymac You guys do Kanku Sho before Kanku Dai. Intresting....

Cant hurt.

You won't see a Gracie vs Severan again because the BJJ secret is out. In the early 90's when the UFC started most MMA ment kickboxing / TKD and no one knew how to go to the ground much less WANTED to go to the ground. Gracie got out of the UFC not because the rule change but because other athletes like Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Bas Rutton etc at the time learned how to defend the gound game. I think BJJ is great would love to know more of it but when it was new no one knew how to defend agaist it. Think of it like the Shotgun in football or the Press in basketball.

I would guess the avg for most is about 10.

I don't know any instructor that would tell you to spar or fight in anything but a freestyle stance. Yes we all work low stances is basics and kata but its just for that. You may at times shift and drop into a lower stance for a certin moves but Funaksohi said himself low stances for beginner and higher natural stances for advanced.

Prob. Like most I was not taught very advanced bunkai at first. I sort of found out more about it as I started to cross train in other sytles. Shotokan kata has LOTS of meanings other thant he traditional block and punch most of us are taught from day one. Basically we teach now each and every move is offensive, defesnive, a throw, lock, takedown, etc. We ask our students to look at it from all sides. Standing, Laying, In thight places in open spaces. We ask them to think of it in reguards to weapson even O shotokan does not teach weapons. Then fianlly we ask them to think of it in reguards to naturea and the name of the kata how does this apply. There are a lot of great books and web sites out there that goes into Bunkai. When one studies shotokan very well they will find a lot of judo, jujitsu, and other styles in it.

I think you know you had a good one the first time you get a bad one lol.

1. Who did you train under and how long? (always check that out) If they can show you proof and tell about it but if its hit and miss your talking to a fake. 2. Ask what makes their style special? Ask them to compare it to another style? If you find a person who is like my style is the best be careful because they are closed minded. Its ok to think your style and ways are the best but look for them to be open in comparing it to others. 3. If its a style that does kata ask them to show you one. Then ask what certin moves are used for and expalin it. If its not a style that uses kata and is more fighting based as if you can watch some of their better students spar and see how they look. (you want to see what your going to learn like test driving a new car). 4. General oddsand end like.... How long have you taught. What is the cost.. Is there any specail deals or rates..... Is there a contract or not..... What about insurance.... Do I need any other grear like gloves, Gi's, etc..... 5. Talk about them. Ask about his or her family fidn out what type of person they are.

I can see both sides to it. When asked I do one but in general I would rather not. I think they can be dangerous because you show a lot of people things they can hurt each other with if they don't know what they are doing. So when I do Demo's I turn it into a history lesson and do a lot of talking. I may do a quck move but I never try and teach it in them. As far as breaking we have done it in demos but what I usually do is let someone in the crowd come up and do it. Because truth is its not hard. Anyone who has the guts to hit the board wil break it. No more no less. Has nothing to do with karate or MA. Like Mr. Migi said when asked if he could break wood. "Don't know never been attacked by tree."

I don't know that I would call Hughes or Chuck a great athlete. Great fighters yes but could you see them playing basketball or football or golf. Not saying they can't but both of those guys worked hard to get what they got. Randy is a good pic because we have saw him change from heavy to light and back to heavy and he won before there was weight classes. The best athlete in the UFC is Tito Ortiz and I was not a Titio fan for a long time. I gained a lot of respect for him after UFIII. Back to the point. If I had to pick a ATHLETE (a fighter who could do any sport with little or not time to adjust) I would take Tito no question.

If your just taking it for the first time you won't be able to teach him. Yeah you can do what you do in class but you won't be able to teach him.