Zaine

That's a hard question to answer if we don't consider the prospective student's wants. However, I would imagine that they would go towards the kumite champion.

I tend to spar kyokushin unless I want to focus on something lighter.

To answer an earlier question, wisdom is not a part of knowledge. The knowledgeable aren't necessarily wise but the wise are knowledgeable. It's not necessarily the tenure that decides who has better discernment. I've seen white belts with better discernment than their teacher. Rank generally is, however, a very good indicator of who is going to be better but it really depends on the person. For some people it doesn't click, and you'll find that, more often than not, the people who are purely physical about their martial arts are awful at discernment, whereas those who take time to focus on the spiritual and intellectual side of martial arts excel at it.

First let me welcome you to KF Rodders. The Bill Wallace suggestion is a good one. After attending a seminar of his my flexibility improved greatly.

Welcome to KF and congrats on your re-emergence in karate!

As far as kung fu goes though, Shaolin is probably an easier transition than most.

It is possible that you aren't using the name bunkai, which would explain your orange belt being ignorant to the term. "Self-Defense Applications" is a common western phrase for the bunkai, and it may be the case that they mean the same thing. Again, ask your instructor, I can't emphasis that enough. He/She is going to have the answer that you need.

Agreed, you need to have the application to legitimize the work. Without it you are basically dancing. If he doesn't do bunkai, try using some online resource or just try to break it down yourself. Usually beginning katas have the lovely trait of being rather straight forward in their application.

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!

This last point brings up an interesting topic. I'm not sure I agree with the idea of being able to demote a student. What would the criteria be? When age means that he can't physically do the things he did to earn that rank do you take it away? What if he gets an injury that has to vastly change the way he does things, is this a demotion? Most people would say "no" most likely. But how is any of those different, in the end result, than the guy who can't train for 6-8 months due to work or family requirements? For me, once someone has earned that rank, it's theirs. They did what they were required and deserve to keep it. Now, it's on them to keep up. If they leave they might have quite a long time on their return to get back to that level, but they still earned it. I don't think it's fair to demote them AFTER they've attained their rank. I haven't used the bachelors degree I earned in years, but no one has come to take it off my wall yet. By a similar token, I had to spar for an hour straight with heavy contact to earn my black belt. I probably can't do that anymore, at least not with the ferocity that I did at 23. My coaches haven't deemed it necessary to come take my first Dan grade back. Nor have they deemed it necessary to do so despite the fact that 95-99% of my martial training time now revolves around BJJ. It's not an indictment of what I've done before, just where my interest and passion is right now. However, depending on the criteria, one could make an argument that demotion is in order since I don't spend a great deal of time training in my base are these days. It goes back to the trick bag I think we get into if we start into the idea of demoting people. I infered something that I did not mean to infer. I wouldn't strip a rank because of physical skill but because of misconduct and abuse of power. I agree with you on the point that if they physically earn it they have it. However, if they abuse it, or start picking fights to practice, that for me is grounds for demotion. I don't want a student that I would have to represent me in a way that showed a ugly light on my school.

I am just not a fan of hooks, one of those prejudices that my teacher had. A straight punch just always gets in there faster. As far as power you're right, there isn't much diffence in how your fist is positioned. It's all about technique and whether or not you want to break your wrist. Vertical goes to the face , but not to the body because it's too easy to collapse your wrist back.

Some schools don't teach bunkai, and whereas I don't agree with that it's perfectly acceptable. However, Ryu schools usually have a good habit of doing so. That being said, you've been to six classes, it's not unusual to not hear about bunkai at this point. If you are curious about it, ask your instructor. They'll be able to answer all of your questions.

When I had a dojo to go to we never really did anything like that, although I do make use of isometric training in my personal workouts. When it comes to something that I think I want to apply to karate though I generally try to stick to something like Plyometrics, as Wastelander suggests, because it is incredibly physical and really drills control of your body.

It always was just when we were ready for my school. Sometimes when you have set times you only work hard on the last stretch of the six months, whereas when you are tested when the instructor feels you're ready you tend to constantly work hard. I agree with Still Kicking, it only becomes odd when tests become a formality. I hate seeing a test where the practitioners receiving the test don't earn it. For me a student needs to constantly earn things, including their ranks and as an instructor you can't hesitate to demote someone if they need to be demoted.

Just conditioning.

Like MasterPain says, don't worry about it. I find that people who want to go to the gym often don't because they don't want to be embarrassed by those who are doing better than them, but everybody has to start somewhere. Don't worry about those who benching more than you. Just workout and enjoy yourself.

No I meant ballistic. It's not dangerous if you're smart about it. I'm not a fan of the jerking motion stretches, but there are some strong stretches in there that are safe. Dynamic stretches also work very well, especially for flexibility.

Welcome to KF!

All of those systems are going to have weapons in them. All of those are good systems. Your best bet is to go and check out each for yourself and see what you think for yourself.

In Okinawan systems this is called a shiringi, whereas a horizontal punch is called a matsumura. For us, (and like liver punch, I'm not trying to start a debate on whether or not this is the correct way. Surely there are many ways in which these two variations are correct), the vertical fist wasn't for speed, both punches were trained to be just as fast but it was a difference in where we were going to hit someone. The vertical punch was for the face and the horizontal was for the body. This was because the vertical punch has a better ability to get better accuracy to the face and the horizontal had the ability to get between the ribs. Also when you throw a vertical punch to the body you run the risk of tweaking your wrist.

Nothing to do with weight. I know the machine you're talking about and I wouldn't use it as an accurate reading at all. It's just something fun that you do as you pass by. If you want your punches to be strong, work on technique, not brute force. Someone who has good technique will beat someone who relies on brute force almost every time. I never bother with how hard of a reading my strike can get, it's just not worth the worry.

Instead of doing static stretching (like what you do or what you would with those machines), do ballistic warm ups. Not only are they better for you in the long run, it gets your body warm and you'll be more prepared for your kicks.

Welcome to KF!

I don't think he meant it the way you seem to have taken it. He was just trying to get more information on him. As for the original post: It's absolutely normal to experience this. With a situation like that it's really easy to imagine all the things that could have gone wrong so it's natural to play it out in your head for awhile because, to be perfectly honest, it's a scary moment. Since it has been so long you might want to go talk to a professional about it.