srv

I have no problem with Junior black belts, but in our dojo it is very clear that it is only an honourary black belt. All junior black belts have to retake their shodan test at 16 in order to be a full black belt. There are some juniors who fully deserve their belt (sounds like your friend is one of them) and some who don't, and most (not all) could not compete in free sparring with most adults of say green belt and above, not necessarily because of their skills, but their size and strength. This is why in our dojo, junior shodan tests are not done with adult shodan tests and the test needs to be retaken when you have turned 16. In addition, the junior shodan belts are distinguished from the adult ones by a red stripe on the end of the belt which is removed once the student completes their adult shodan grading. However, I believe all students deserve the same respect and I would certainly respect the rank that was awarded to you by your instructor.

Everyone needs to work out their strengths and weaknesses in training. Reality is us shorter females are never going to be as strong as the big guys. Our techniques won't pack the same sort of punch. And when you're sparring a taller opponent you can't afford to stand back and trade punches and kick at a distance cause they will outreach you everytime. I agree that what you need to work on is your speed, footwork and movement. Learn to move in and out as you attack and defend. Tuck up, move in quick, quick combo and move out. Use the angles as well. always keep on your toes. You will need to get quite fit to keep this up for a prolonged period of time sparring but that is your best bet as a smaller opponent. I know it's hard for females - particularly the ones who weren't tormented by older brothers!!, I was! - to get that agression going and get over the fear of being hit. You need to work with someone bigger than you who you feel comfortable with and let them go a little bit harder than normal to give you the feeling of being hit. Try tucking up in your stance and getting someone to hit you with focus mits, they are soft but will also get used to what it's like to cop a hit to the body or head. Reality is, the only way you'll get over it is to have a go. Get in there and spar. It might however be worth doing it for the first time with someone being controlled - maybe one of the black belts or other higher ranks - rather than on a fight night - I'm not sure exactly what that involves in your dojo, but if it's competition based, then your opponent will be going pretty hard trying to win. May not be the best time to have a first go in order to get your confidence up. Good luck. I promise, soon you'll be enjoying getting hit! It's weird I know, but very true.

Yes, most definitely.

Congratulations! Sounds like a tough test. For my Nidan we had to do 30 x 2 minute rounds of sparring. Was very tough. We didn't have to beat a certain number of opponents though. It's more about mental toughness - keeping going through exhaustion.

By the way, can't understand the concept of wanting to "beat up" a black belt as a kyu rank. Just seems like the wrong way to go about training. Sure, test yourself against a higher rank, but sizing up higher ranks to prove how good you are is just stupid IMO. Especially since most blcak belts sparring lower ranks are not going as hard as they can do.

This debate always seems to come up every now and then. For what it's worth you can get Junior black belts in our dojo but they are not recognised in the same way as an adult rank. If they do get a Juniour dan rank they have to retest for the adult dan rank when they are old enough. In our dojo you have to be at least 16 to do an adult shodan grading and at least 18 to do an adult nidan grading. There are occasionally exceptions - I have only seen this once. We have a 17 year old in our dojo who is an adult nidan. He has the size, physique and maturity of an adult male. He can EASILY match it with adult dan ranks and he is an outstanding assistant instructor. And no adult in our dojo feels uncomfartable or weird taking "orders" from him because he proves it on the floor with his maturity and his abilities. I can't see any good reason depriving him of a rank he definitely deserves. He is as good as / if not better than many other nidans who have reached the sacred age of maturity so to speak, myself included. I agree with the issue re 10 year old nidans etc but surely it is up to the Instructor to determine the truly deserving "kids" like the guy I mentioned and the 10 year olds playing at karate. Personally I think all that should bother you is what goes on in your own dojo as that's the only place where your rank, whatever it is, is comparable. If there are 10 yr old full nidans walking around trying to teach adults, then have a think about if that's where you want to train. If it happens elsewhere - then it doesn't really affect the quality of your own training.

We are only allowed to emboider our belts when we reach nidan and we can't choose what we want on it. It's pretty much your name on 1 side and name of the style on the other. You can do it in English or kanji - most do it in kanji. If you can choose what you want - why not talk to your sensei about it. Personally I would go for style rather than your sensei's name. Obviously our instructors are hugely important to us as students and you naturally want to credit him with what you've achieved. However if you talk to him or the other higher ranked instructors - the style is always more important than the individual. When we line up our first bow is always to our style, followed by the instructors. Just a thought.

Sounds very dodgy to me. Apart from the high fees and the grading and fees for "Ho" ranks, the fact that if you grade for a ho rank and then don't do the full dan grading you go back to nidan. Another excuse to take another $400 for a grading for Sandan-Ho. What happens if you get injured or get ill. What if something untoward happens in your life that affects you training? Are there any provisions for these circumstances or is it just bad luck - back to nidan and retest and repay for the recommended rank. By the way, our $100 test fees are Aussie dollars so thats more like $60 US. That covers everything - no extra fees for certificates or anything like that.

Definitely sounds like a lot. All our adult dan ranks are about $100 for each dan rank. Is 3rd dan recommended like Sandan-Ho? We don't have to grade or pay for ho ranks - they are awarded as an indicator that you are ready to prepare for the next dan grading. I've never seen anyone double grade in dan ranks. Anyway, yes $800 for a full dan rank, let alone having a $400 fee for a Sandan-Ho rank seems ridiculous to me.

It probably is growing pains but I agree with a previous post that said if you're getting pains in joints then juvenile rheumatiod arthritis may be a possibility. The reason you get growing pains is that your bones - especially the ends of the bones called growth plates are not fully formed until you are older. The growth plates basically allow the bones to grow as a child grows into adult size. Different bones growth plates fully form at different times. So while some will form at an earlier stage some will form later. Also at your age, hormones can play a part as well. However lots of pain in joints may point to something else like JRA but I can't get a good feel over the forum where exactly the pain is and what it is like so if you have further concerns - see another doctor. If it is just growing pains there isn't anything you can do to make them go away. Repeated use of pain killers is a bad idea - especially ibuprofen and other anti - inflammatories - they can cause stomach ulcers and bleeding in \side your gastrointestinal tract. To improve your flexibilty - as people have mentioned - get into a regular stretching regime. This will help with flexibilty and help ease the pains a little.

Brokenswordx - Does the fact that the black belts train for free bug you as well? At our dojo black belts who regularly assist in the dojo get significantly reduced fees but remember that they are usually putting in a lot more time in the dojo than you are. They may not do every pushup that you are doing but teaching is a lot harder than just concetrating on your own training - and as i said - they have spent many more years than you have sweating on the floor already. Do you respect the black belts at your dojo? do you aspire to be like them one day? Or do you just resent the fact that they are not out there doing every minute of training with you and that they train for free?

With all due respect, you are only 14 years old. You are nowhere near at your peak in terms of physicality and certainly not at your peak from a maturity point of view. Most 14 year old guys are yet to have their growth spurt and to devlop the adult male physique. You have been training for 7 years which means you started when you were 7. From intructing children I think that most martial arts taught before that age is really just about fun and games. What evryone is saying is that you have your whole life in martial arts ahead of you and quite frankly, I am yet to see a 14 year old do kata or kumite anywhere near the same level as an adult with the same experience. You have the foundation of training to be a great martial artist but most people who have trained for a while realise that the martial arts has little to do with winning competitions, being special or being some sort of child prodigy. Even a kid of your age in Japan who has trained their whole life and who you seem so impressed with have still only scratched the surface of martial arts. Only when you stop worrying about being too old to be thought of as special and winning comps and how slow or quick it takes you to advance belt ranks, will you truly understand what it takes to be a great martial artist - which in part is humility and a hell of a lot of hard work. I can see you have the desire to be a great practitioner in the arts, just make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. Good luck. I'm sure your dedication to training will pay off.

It certainly varies from class to class but at our dojo it is expected that black belts are involved in teaching. The black belts who are regular assistant instructors are usually there for kids class before the adults even start and are then there till well after the end of adults helping the Instructor tidy up the equipment / dojo etc. For some classes that don't involve too much one on one instruction we join in with evryone else. With other classes working katas or doing more complex stuff we are expected to walk around and help people out. During any given class we are expected to keep any eye out on other students and if we see something to stop what we're doing and help them out. We're certainly not slacking off - it is often a requirement of the rank. And as a result we are required and expected to do a lot more training outside of regular class times and have our own classes for more advanced ranks. And remember, we all did the same exercises and lost as much sweat along the way as you have. "We only ask of you, what those before you have already done"

You probably should have done your fitness and endurance work for your grading already. When we lead up to a grading we're builing up fitness over at least a couple of months. Over the last 2 weeks we usually pull back with our fitness work and as Jiffy said, just polish things up. I'm not sure if there's anything you can do in 2 weeks to really build up your fitness. I would however make sure you can do the 8 rounds of sparring in advance. Just be careful - the last thing you need is an injury 2 weeks before a grading. Good luck, hope it goes well.

Picking a dojo is not only about the style but also the instructors. Different instructors have different styles and methods of teaching. Some dojos are very formal and traditional especially with regards to etiquette in the dojo and during taining while some are more laid back. One type of method is not necessarily better than the other, it just depends on your personality and the type of dojo and instructor you wish attend and learn from. Any decent dojo should give you some free introductory trial lessons or let you sit at the back and watch a training. From that you'll get an idea of what the dojo and thye instructors are like. Also if you know a lot of people who do MA of some kind, why not go and check out some of your friends MA schools and see what you think of them. Basically look around and see whats available, go visit the dojos, don't commit to anything too early until you have seen what's around and find a place that fits your personality and what you want to get out of MA. And good luck. MArtial Arts are an incredible thing to get involved in, you will work hard, you will get stronger and into shape, but you will achieve more than you would have ever imagined you could if you put your heart and soul into it.