RichardHangHong

It depends, boxing does have its benefits. I had been training in karate for about 8 years when our chief instructor at the time took us through some boxing training. It really opened my eyes up to how different things are when you're right up close and personal. It also depends on what style you're from. Shotokan kumite tends to be more point sparring, therefore you get in, and get out. Whereas Goju kumite is more jiyu kumite based so you are in close with your partner a lot of the time and therefore have more opportunities to use hook punches and other similar strikes. So in short my answer would be yes, if you train in a style that is more point sparring based as it will get you comfortable being up close with someone.

I really enjoy doing team kata. Depending on how seriously you take it you can use some of these guidelines for a team: 1) Make sure all 3 of you are about the same height and build, as this will make your techniques will look more symmetrical and easier to time together. (I had a team where two of us were short and stocky and the 3rd guy was really tall and lanky. It looked a little odd performing together and made it harder to time our techniques together) 2) Remember the 6 P's. Persistant Practice Prevents Pitifully Poor Performance! Get together as often as you can to practice. Work on getting your timing together, this is one of the most important things with team kata. It's good to practise a set of moves at a time so you can make sure you're all timed right throughout 3) The lead person is whoever cannot see the other 2 during the kata. In katas that have lots of turns the lead person will change several times. Know who it is going to be and when. 4) Choose a kata that looks impressive/complex and has some big moves in it. When you do it well as a team it will look amazing. My preferences are Empi, Kanku Dai, Nijushiho, Unsu, Gojushiho Sho, Gankaku, Seipai, Kurarunfa, Seisan, and Suparinpei Hope that helps

TigerDude! I can only imagine how many slapped faces there would be when someone goes up to a female competitor and says "I just need to check out your chest guard....."

I just watched the Hoff's video, I'm going to have that playing in my head all day now!

Very amusing.

I've never worn a Shureido but a few of my friends have them. I wear Tokaido and they fit me fine. I have to say I prefer the medium weight tournament cuts best though.

Cotton, definitely cotton. Silk/satin belts just wear out really fast and give a false impression that you've been a black belt longer than you have. My first BB was a satin tokaido and within a year it was wearing so much I felt embarrased. So I got myself a cotton one and 5 years on it's still good. It's worn in quite well now and has a few more years left in it but at least I know myself that it's worn through hard work and not because the material has a lifespan of 5 minutes.

Funnily enough I was in a tournament on Saturday and one of the judges was always marking down people who weren't his and marking up people that were just so they could stay in a get a trophy. It was so blatantly obvious but nobody said anything to him. I ended up getting 5th in the kata just because he was trying to keep his guys in the event. I was told I probably would have got 2nd or 3rd place. Oh well, I'll kick his butt next time. LOL! There was even an incident where 3 teams had tied in the team kata and he was watching me and the other judge to see what score we were giving on his team and increasing his to make sure they stayed in. Not just once, but 4 times as we had to repeat the finals that many times just to get a winner. There's a word that descibes him but I know my post will be deleted if I say it. Damn!

I seriously doubt that this is true. How on earth do you think they would be able to enforce that? Would they honestly go up to every competitor and check their gi, pads, mitts, mouth guard, groin guards and chest guards to make sure they are in compliance? Yeah right! Even if it was sponsored by adidas I don't think they'd be able to do it. Imagine 100, 200, 500 or 1000 competitors waiting in queue to enter the hall getting everything checked before being allowed to go it. It's laughable! The only feasable thing that it could be is if there is an Adidas sponsored team entering a tournament. A group of 10 or 20 they could do something like that....possibly.

Ouch! Sounds painful. Hope you recover soon.

In my club we charge £15 for all kyu gradings, which includes the belt. Black belt gradings are £15, but this is only to cover the cost of registering the grading with our governing body and to get a black belt certificate from them. We don't include the belt with the grading fee, they order it seperately through the club, either a plain belt at £3 or a tokaido embroidered belt at £70. Students order the tokaido belt through us to make sure that they get the correct club kanji on it.

I've got a good relationship with all of my students but it's only in my seniors intensive class that I really open up as I am closer to them. We always go for a drink to wind down after training too. In my other classes I tend to end up listening more as the students are always telling me things that are happening in their lives. I don't share much of my personal life with them, mostly I talk to them about club related news and events and the seniors class which makes them work hard so they can get an invite to the class.

It's a risky venture for all concerned but I think it depends on the maturity of the people involved. Many years ago I dated a student and we remained friends afterwards. Also, when I started working full time with my club I flirted a lot with one of my co-workers for about a year. She stopped working due to a death in the family, 6 months later she walked into my dojo to start training again. After a couple of months we hooked up and 3.5 years later we're still together and are engaged to get married next summer. One of my students had a similar experience. He met his (now) fiancee through training together in classes and being paired up at seminars. So there ARE some positive stories/results out there, provided you're looking for a proper relationship and have a mature attitude, but if all you're interested in is dipping your wick around the club then it's a REALLY bad idea!!!!

Sochin is a lovely kata. I always get a buzz when doing it. Maybe it has something to do with using fudo dachi and the rooting down every time you step in the kata that makes it feel so powerful.

It was wobbling because the handle wasn't fitted properly. When I went to Mano Sensei's seminar in Crawley last year Dave Ansell was kind enough to take a look at it for me. He took the whole thing apart, stuck some wedges in it and hey presto! It was all fixed and no more wobble!

It's good to train with a bokken at first. Better to have bruises on the back of your head instead of cuts and gashes. I used one for the first 4-5 months of my training then a fellow student lent me his old one which I used for the next 6 months, it worried me a bit because it always wobbled at the handle when I performed noto. Now I have my own iaito which feels much better.

Tokaido for sure. You can have every part of the gi made to measure. I'm still waiting til I can afford to get one made to measure and am trying to decide what weight to get, medium or heavy...

...there is. Try Shureido's new NW-series. They don't shrink much (3% tops in the hot cycle), won't need conditioner (which should be avoided anyway - won't do good to the cloth in a long run) and can be ironed to be soft enough. Tokaido (NST) and Hirota (Pinack) also have similar materials. Shureido has three different weights, Tokaido and Hirota have the lightweight fabric only. Kamikaze has their Sovereign, which is also one of these new style karatedo-gi - lighter than cotton, still durable and staying off the skin (i.e. all the good sides of a heavyweight uniform in a lighter package). I've just ordered a Tokaido TAW medium weight last week which should be arriving any day now. I don't think I could go any lighter than that. I really like the medium and heavyweight uniforms but could never go back to lightweight.I'll try the Shureido gi some time though as I've seen a few people with them at my Goju Ryu class.

All gi's shrink a bit. Especially when they are hot washed. I find it's the only way to get all the crap out of it and I won't bleach it as it'll kill the gi. If only there was another way...... As for them turning into cardboard, just use plenty of conditioner in the wash. That'll soften it right up. I tried a kamikaze one and yes you're right, they're a good fit for westerners but apparently according to my instructors I have more of a japanese build, and there I was thinking I was just short! LOL!

IMHO if you are able to spend the money Tokaido gi's are the best ones around. They do white and black gis in 4 different weights. I prefer medium weight no. 11 myself as I'm only a little fella but the heavyweights are just as good. You also have a choice of traditional cut (full length sleeves and trousers) and tournament cut (3/4 length sleeves & ankle length trousers). Check them out at https://www.tokaidojapan.com For sparring gear it really depends on what your main method of sparring is. I use T-Sport's elasticated shin/instep protectors for my legs and my own custom made mitts (similar to the WUKO open hand mitts but with a single pad and elasticated instead of pvc) for jiyu kumite for in class and PU competition mitts for tournaments. Oh yeah, and I use a PU groin guard and Shock Doctor mouth guard. I don't think there's any difference in quality when it comes to mitts and pads. PU ones are the same whatever the brand name, as are the elasticated ones and dipped foam although I've never used the latter, they seem the same anyway. Hope that helps. Richard

Ah yes! I remember us working on gyaku tsuki together, keeping the elbow tucked in, twisting the hips, etc. Is it improving?

Ha ha! Cheers HR, I heard it was a good class, my girlfriend Caroline (the curly haired blonde black belt) was there as well as some of my students (2 green belts and a blue belt) and she was also at the private class, she told me all about it. I can't go to Shihan's seminar this weekend either because I am moving to Wickford on Saturday. Which dojo do you train at? I'm at Basildon on Wednesday nights. It's easy to recognise me, I'm the only one with a badge that's not Tokon Kai.

I agree with you there Hidden_Ronin,It's the "get more money-money-money" aspect and focus on quantity over quality amongst hundreds of other similar things that gives gkr such a bad reputation. I see you practice Shotokan and live in Essex. Do you by any chance train under Sensei Steve Roberts? I've been training with him for the last 8 months. I didn't get to his class with Shihan Funakoshi last night as I've been ill with flu the last 3 days. Urgh!

I've heard a couple of different explanations but thought I'd ask the question here. Some styles respond to commands with Hai, whilst others use Osu. What's the difference between Hai and Osu?

We have a 10 kyu system which goes like this 10th - White 9th - White + yellow tip 8th - Yellow 7th - Orange 6th - Green 5th - Blue 4th - Red 3rd - Brown 2nd - Brown + black tip 1st - Brown + 2 black tips 1st Dan + up - Black