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Good luck. Remember you've done the work already, it's just time to show your grader what you know. Let us know how it went.

Congratulations. Great effort.

Mate, it totally depends on what you want out of martial arts. Whether it's a traditional style or mixed MA. Do you want to do stand up fighting, or more throws and grappling. What have you done so far and what aspects have you enjoyed? Give us more info and I'm sure people will be able to guide you better. I don't live anywher near your area, but I'm sure, lots of people here do.

Just did Nidan grading

It depends on your schools rules. We are technically non contact. However at higher rank level, you can go as hard as your partner agrees to. We wher hand and feet/shin pads and mouthgaurds, but no ther protection. I personally love going hard with sparring but not everyone feels that way. If you have the control to land a punch 1mm from your opponents body, then you are certainly are testing them, just demonstrtaing excellent control. Just see what feels right for you, and don't go harder than you want to.

My 2 cents. I wouldn't have cared if someone had said that about my intructor. Well I guess I would have, but I would know it was not true. The guy was just running his mouth off. You could have talked to your sensei about it straight away. Instead you made your own decision to challenge the guy and then when he didn't reply you made a special effort of fighting him at a tournemant. Good on you for beating him but there was no need to fight (physically) in the first place. walk away. All that matters in your own faith in your sensei. It is not up to you to defend his honour. If he's anything like my instructor, and the scenario is how you said it was, he would have laughed it off and really not cared. He is more than confident in his own abilities, and does not feel the need to prove them in competetion.

Hey there, well you're only slightly crazy. I'm a chick so I come at this from a different perspective. My hubby used to do MA as a teenager (to shodan-ho level) amd his brother is a 4th Dan intructor in my style so he is hugely supportive of my MA. In fact , if I have a down day at work and not feeling like going to training, he talks me through it and manages to get me there every time. (I'm a doctor so down days can be real down)However, I've seen a heap of guys who are great MA's stop training because of new relationships. So my advice as a chick is, get her out to training and let her see how great it is, or let her know early on your passion for MA...Or if she does pottery when you do MA...perfect soultion!! And most of all, hope the romance goes well - keep us posted.

Hey all. I just passed my Nidan grading this weekend and I'm absolutely stoked and thought I would share it with all of you, even though I'm new to this forum. I am aching all over, I'm absolutely buggered and I think I broke my toe but I've never felt better.

What I don't get about this thread is people having lots of students in the dojo who don't know how to tie their belts properly. And that no-one has shown them. The whit belt kids sometimes come along with belts tied all sorts of ways but we will always correct them and show them and their parents how to do it. Other than that we always show new students when they first get their gi and belt how to tie it step by step. It is a grading requirement for a white belt to know how to tie their belt properly before going to the next rank. I think a belt that is tied incorrectly looks pretty sloppy. It doesn't matter which method you use to tie your belt in your dojo, but surely all students should know how to tie it correctly according to that schools method.

I agree with most of the other posts. Start slow. Work on footwork as a drill. Then slowly add in jabs. Then crosses etc. Also doing the pair up drills of 1 throwing a punch, the other learning to block. Show them different ways to block. Working through defence of different techniques in this way will be helpful. When actually getting them to spar atart off with one attacking, one defending and taking turns like that. Another really good thing which was of great benefit to the higher ranks as well was sparring at sort of half speed and power which allows you more time to see the techniques coming. See the split second moment when hands may drop slightly. Just gives you a better idea as a higher rank of when, in terms of timing, you're more likely to get a technique in. You're also not worried about getting hit so you can really focus on those things eg someone does a spinning axe kick, instead of worrying about defending and being focussed on survival so to speak, you can watch at a slower speed and see when you can get that shot in. Then you speed it up and you just seem to have better drilled reflexes. For a beginner this just allows them to spar without concern of getting hit and just concentrate on their techniques and combinations.

You always need to be training to the best of your abilities so dumbing down your techniques is not a good idea. I think that being honest with your instructor about your previous experience is extremely important. They need to know what to expect of you and they can then correct / alter any techniques that differ a bit in their style. They may pair you up with slightly more experienced people in training if they know of your previous experience. However always be humble, behave like a white belt in this new dojo and be ready to learn anything you are thought. Oh and on another note, I personally believe you "learn" way more sparring higher ranks than the same rank - in our dojo, when sparring a lower rank it is not your role to go too hard, beat them up and prove that you're a higher rank, but to go easy, to give advice about sparring tachniques, combinations, help with little things they may be doing wrong or help you learn new tachniques. Sparring your own rank will give you an idea of your own abilities compared to someone of the same rank, but in terms of learning, I'd go for the higher rank evry time. Their knowledge is huge, even just to watch their footwork, you will learn an immense amount.

I've been playing guitar for about 15 years. Started learning classical at school. Bought myself a cheap electric and amp. I just love sitting around playing rhythm / chords and attempting to sing!! Love pulling out the guitar around the campfire and having a jam. I now have a Gibson epiphone electric and an acoustic electric (Epiphone as well.) I play anything really that I'm into at the time. Mostly rock - love playing a lot of acoustic rock - Counting Crows, U2, Crowded House, as well as stuff like Nirvana, Radiohead, Pearl Jam. Also attempt to write and record a bit. Music was my 1st passion before I found martial arts, now it's my 2nd.

oops, sorry. Didn't see that forum. Will do.

Hi everyone, just registered today. I train in a style of karate based on Goju-Ryu but we also incorporate aspects of judo, jujitsu, aikido, kickboxing and traditional weaponry. I'm currently Nidan-Ho and doing myNidan grading this weekend! Very nervous. I'm 29, I'm a girl and work as a Paediatrician.

Hey Disarm. I'm 29 and I thought I still was reasonably young!! Glad to hear things are going well now. Looks like you're addicted like the rest of us now. I started in my early 20's. I can dance, can do martial arts but I can still trip over my feet just walking around. My husband often asks how someone so unco-ordinated can have a black belt Co-ordination will come over time as you develop balance and flexibility as you train. No-one feels comfortable when they first start, you've just got to stick with it. Some decide it's all too hard and leave while others persevere. "A black belt is just a white belt that never quit."

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and just wanted to say Hi before posting anything.