Zaine

I don't really care to set goals or resolutions. I can feel the weight of them bearing down upon me as the year goes on. The last goal that I set was to read 24 books in a year and even though I read much more than that I still stressed incessantly about it until I hit that number and it made reading worse for me. As my life grows increasingly busy, with places to take my child, work, finishing my M.A. in Counseling, etc. I find that setting goals that seem arbitrary to an ideal that I have does more harm than good. Similar to you, I instead prefer to review, find things that I liked and didn't and grow from that. Are there things that I would like to accomplish in 2022? Yes, but I stay away from setting timelines and goals because I want to enjoy the time I spend accomplishing them.

Are you old fashioned? Maybe, but I think that this is more common than you might think. In general, I find that it's difficult for people going through the ranks for the first time to understand decisions like this. They've worked hard for their rank and they don't understand why anyone would eschew theirs for any reason. In reality, the color of my belt doesn't really matter. As long as I am learning, then I am happy. It does not mean that I have not earned a rank previously, just that I am acknowledging the need to start clean and learn from the bottom.

Welcome to KF! I disagree heavily with the statement that "good health" necessitates a life free of mental illness. Those with mental illness can be and are in good health, they just sometimes need to take a few extra steps to get there. I feel that you're also confusing overall health with situational health. Does receiving an injury mean that my overall health is poor? Of course not, it just means that I've been injured. Think more broadly in this case. Good health is the pursuit of health and the results therein. One off moments like injury or a bad mental health day do not doom a person, and someone focused on health will approach the hurdle as needed. Largely what this means is that healthy people do not have to worry about health. This is a misnomer, a person who is healthy generally worries about health and therefore do experience stress over it. However, they're not bogged down by necessary doctor visits and going to a specialist. Their physical health needs routine check-ups and that saves a lot of money.

On the one hand, as a life long comic reader, it's comics. On the other hand, if pressured about it, I imagine that DC would say reason that choice in some way similar to this: "There are only so many ways that a body can move. Bruce has spent a large amount of time in training and has, in fact, touched 127 different martial arts. Did he spend years with each? Perhaps not, but he got enough out of it that he was able to come to the correct conclusions about stylistic ends for each of these arts. Bio-mechanics being as they are, and Bruce being the genius that he is, we can see how he has master his body and therefore these martial arts." DC, if you're reading this, I do have a Masters in Creative Writing and I AM available for hire.

So I was talking to a friend who is outside of the realm of karate because I've been thinking about using my Instagram to post karate content (much like Noah, you may have heard of him he's pretty big in some forum I can't remember the name of ). They said that one of the things that they look for when they are getting in to a thing is a brief explanation of the common terms and practices of the thing. Nothing in depth, just a high-level overview so that they feel a little less lost as they begin their journey. That got me thinking about how to tailor an experience for beginners that would make their first few classes a little less awkward. I thought about the people that I've trained with in the past and, by large, they are very accommodating. When they use a Japanese term it is usually explained immediately. No one really expects you to understand and remember everything. A good school is filled with people who are excited to do karate and excited that you are there to do it with them regardless of your level. Anyway, it got me thinking about how intimidating the breadth of terminology can be, especially with the tendency we find to have more than one name for similar (or the same) techniques. Would you say that, in the experiences y'all have had, that you find beginners frustrated trying to remember everything. If so, what do you think we can do, as seniors in the field, to help that. Would it look like having a rank requirement where at each level the student scaffolds what they have with more information? Do we move towards leaving behind the requirement of remembering them at all? What are your thoughts?

That sounds really lonely. What experiences have lead you to that conclusion?

I cannot donate right now, but I can share on social media. I hope this helps.

Congrats Tatsujin! Well deserved!

The short version? I have only ever known just one version, which is pretty short. Does your system have multiple?

Whoa! Thank you everyone who voted for me! This is a cool community and I'm so honored to be recognized. Y'all rock, and I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

I forgot to update! Wednesday was fine so maybe 5 days is the sweet spot? I will say that I didn't get a flu shot last Saturday, but when I did receive one the month before I was fine. I have heard a few people say that the 3rd shot wasn't anything bad for them so maybe I just drew the short straw this go around.

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

I think this really nails it. If you are worried about it, invest in some good elbow or knee pads. If the instructor doesn't let you wear them, invest in a new instructor.

In my original dojo, we exclusively did English. Our CI didn't want to use any Japanese terminology so that he could "dispel the mysticism around karate," whatever that meant. As such, now that I'm going through the ranks again, I find myself struggling to remember the names of different techniques. I literally have flash cards on my desk to help me memorize the information. Now, when I assist with teaching the beginners in the dojo, I take care to do like you suggest here. I say the English name, and then the Japanese name. So, for example, if we're doing stuff in Horse, I will say "go to horse stance, kiba-dachi," with the Japanese name acting as the command.

I have 1 friend who is in to karate, but we don't really speak much anymore. In my day-to-day life, I don't have anyone to talk about martial arts in person with. That's part of the reason that I like this community so much! There are so many awesome people here to nerd out with! Otherwise, I am friendly with the people in my dojo, and I would consider them my friends, but much like work friends we only gather in one place (COVID certainly doesn't help there, though). I do have some friends who, in the past, have taken karate and made it, at most, to 5th kyu before waning. They sometimes "talk shop" with me about it but can't go as deep into the conversation because I've stuck with it and have a much broader scope of knowledge. Maybe one day!

To this point, my current dojo makes a distinction between jodan uke and age uke. Jodan uke is a technique that meets the strike with force. Age uke is a technique that meets the strike with redirection.

On Saturday, I got my 2nd COVID vaccine booster. The first 2 were really nothing, and I was able to take part in intense workouts the day after. As a point of fact (and to be a little braggy) the day after my second shot I ran a 5k. Super casual. No big deal. Felt a little more winded than I might have normally, but altogether not so winded that it was worrisome. Anyway, the pharmacist who administered my 3rd shot this Saturday mentioned that she, too, had very little issues with the previous 2 shots, but the 3rd really knocked her on her butt. On Saturday, after the shot, I was quite taken out and ended up sleeping for 4 hours, waking up for a quick bite, and then slept the night through. Sunday I a little tired, but fine. Yesterday, I felt fine and was exciting for Monday night karate. I noticed some lethargy, but overall was fine. Until I got to class. Monday's are particularly intense when it comes to cardio. We really earn our lumps these days, as it were, and I do 2 classes. Within the first 10 minutes, I know that I had made a mistake. I was entirely more winded than I normally would be. Doing kata was borderline nausea inducing as well. The rapid movements and twisting was a lot. I stuck it out for the whole 2 hours, but I maybe should not have. Long story short, take it from me: do as I say and not as I did. 2 days after the 2nd booster, if you get it, is not enough recovery time for exercise. Maybe by tomorrow I will be tip-top, I'll let y'all know if 5 days is sufficient. Sufficed to say, today is a rest day.

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

I totally forgot about the Tekken series! I love playing Tekken but I don't often play the karate-style fighters so I guess it just slipped my mind!

This is a great question! There aren't many specific karateka in fictional stories, it feels like. It's either that they do "martial arts" or they do kung fu. I think for my it's probably Ryu from the Street Fighter franchise. Although he isn't my go to character in the games, I do enjoy that it looks like he's doing karate when you use him.

I recently did a good amount of research into the history of Korean Martial Arts because of another thread on the forum and my understanding is also that by-and-large we have lost Taekkyeon and what we have no is a reconstruction based of what material we have that survived Japanese occupation in an attempt to reclaim lost cultural practices. I live in DFW, which is huge, and as such I have access to just about every MA style you could think of, but when I looked around I couldn't find a dojang that does Taekkyeon. Being that Taekyyeon is largely a reconstruction, you might have better luck finding a place where techniques and information is posted freely (or for a price if you can swing it) and work with a group to practice it.

Another movie that I introduced my kiddo to over the pandemic was the Ghostbusters franchise. She is super excited to see the new one!

This sums it up really nicely. The first sentence affirms, I think, what any good teacher would tell any student. We're not giving you a test that we don't think that you will pass with flying colors. Tests are largely a formality. Can you fail tests that you would otherwise pass? Absolutely! But in general, I have found that these people didn't lack the skill necessary to rank up, but rather showed a lack of the proper attitude during the test to be considered for the rank. Here's an example. Matsumura-Seito has a Nunchaku Training Kata that you learn at Ikkyu (1st kyu). I dislike this kata greatly. There is nothing about it that I enjoy, therefore, I practiced it daily. I wanted to do a good job on it for my test. During my test, 5 moves in, the kata just leaves my brain. I had forgotten it completely. TO THIS DAY, I could not do the kata for you. I practiced it until I wanted to throw my nunchaku out of the window, but during the test? Gone. So I improvised. I did something that was close to the kata without missing a beat. At the end, my testing board gave me compliments on the kata, said that my technique looked good. Then my Sensei, with a grin on his face, asked if I would be able to do that again. I smiled back and said "No, Sensei, I forgot the kata 5 moves in. I think nerves got to me and I lost the movements." When I passed this test, this moment was cited as one of the reasons. It was not only my ability to improvise effectively without giving away my mistake in the moment, but the humility that I had to admit that I failed on an aspect of my overall training. All of that to say, tests are tests. They are nerve wracking and anxiety inducing. However, a good teacher isn't going to set up students for failure. They know you know the material. If you want to stay at a certain level, great, but an effective teacher will continue to push you forward because it reflects positively on them to have students who meet the expectations of a certain rank. Will they also respect wishes to stay at Shodan? Certainly! You're paying them to learn and at the end of the day if the customer wants something that is easily achievable by the business then why not?

Well as we all know assailants as notoriously kind when confronting you in the street. There's always going to be that one guy who takes it too far, but what are they going to do, ACTUALLY hurt you?!

Keep an open mind, my suspicion is that by the time you get to Shodan that you will feel differently. An adage that we like to repeat, both here and as Karateka in general, is that Shodan is just the beginning. Testing anxiety does suck, but we all feel it. I've been doing Martial Arts for 19 years and a I just tested for gokyu (green belt) and I was anxious. I've been a gokyu before, I've been a Shodan for over a decade, I practiced, and I new I had nothing worry about; but I was still worried. A good sensei does not test students who they don't know aren't ready to move up.