Tengu22

Joints are probably the worst place for a martial artist to get injured, simply because we use them so much and being that as it is, they take forever to heal! Good luck with the recovery!

Techincally, when you say "Karate" only systems from Japan/Okinawa can truely be considered. True Kara-te has nothing to do with TKD, BJJ, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, ect. In my opinion even "American Karate" systems are not Karate at all, and it kind of pains me when I see signs at TKD schools or "freestyle" schools calling themselves Karate... but that's just me. The term Karate is being used to broadly nowadays.

In the Shotokan school I am with it's: White Yellow Orange Green Blue Purple 3rd Brown 2nd Brown 1st Brown Black

I trained Itosu-Kai Shito Ryu under David Jones (Yondan under Demura Shihan) for about a year and a half in college and I found it VERY similar to Shotokan. They use Pinan Katas instead of Heian, and it's a little bit more of an old school style of Karate. By that I mean they use Neko-ashi Dachi's in place of most Kokutsu Dachi's in Kata and they use an "Okinawan" backstance, whereas Shotokan uses the "Japanese" backstance. Other then that, minus a few minor technique differences it went hand in hand with Shotokan.

Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon is my favorite. It was one of the movies that got me into Karate in the first place, and I still like to watch it once in a while.

When I did Judo, maybe once a month we would go no Gi, just to add a bit of flavor to the class. It really does help you learn to rely on technique more then strength, because you have nothing to just throw someone down by. Not to mention it is a lot easier to slip out of throws/submissions. I think it should be done more then is, just adds another dimension to your training.

http://www.koketsudojo.com/terminology.htm Here is some Japanese terminology. Hope some of it helps.

How many of you actually practice grappling techniques in your Karate training and/or bunkai? In most schools I have trained with the amount of grappling done in Karate classes is very limited. What amount of grappling (and how in-depth)is consistent with Karate training, and why do many schools not teach it? What are you thoughts on this topic?

Judo will be great for helping learn how to manipulate balance and will help you build a ground game. The in-depths throwns/pins/locks/submissions of Judo will greatly inhance and supplement what you learn from Krav Maga, and Krav Maga will help you visualize how to use them in real life situations, whereas Judo is mostly just for sport.

I really think learning the guard and a couple of moves from that guard would be a must. Most fights end on the ground, and knowing what to do if someone is on you is a great thing to know. I work in a closed-security prison and every fight I have ever seen has ended on the ground with someone on top pounding (or trying to pound) the other guy. Fights in real life are not like fights on TV, and no matter how good your striking is, you will probably end up on the gound.

In my opinion it is nothing more then a scam to make money. Don't waste your time. If you want to train, learn from a real person.

Shotokan for me, as well as Judo. Glad to see so many Shotokan practitioners here!

For favorite tournament kata, i'd have to say Unsu. To watch, Nijushiho. Favorite kata(s) of all time would be the Tekki series. As a poster said before, there are so many applications to them.