NidaninNJ

Yeah...Moving Zen is a great book. Another great one is a similar book by Stan Schmidt.

Probably too late by now but... https://www.jks-sanjose.com https://www.jkasv.com Instructors from both these dojos where teaching at the Hoitsugan seminars that I attended over there a couple months ago. Absolutely awesome experience by the way. A few of us flew over from the east coast and were very happy we did.

I've never seen a good embroidery job done in the US. They all look really ugly, cheap or show through the back. Shureido and Hirota do good embroidery - maybe as good as Tokaido now. But Tokaido was the first and almost all my black belts have been Tokaidos. I've got some Chinese friends who have ordered their names and they said Tokaido did a good job on those. They can also mix and match English and Japanese. I even heard they can do more than one color on the same belt! I want to try that next time I get a new belt.

I don't think this is right. When I was doing aikido 'shomen' was simply 'the front'. I am pretty sure that's what it means almost universally whether talking about the position of the hips or whatever. Sometimes it means 'to the front' and sometimes it means 'from the front' but I don't think a height is ever explicitly implied when using the term. In aikido, with the use of the overhead strike that is so commonly used for an opening attack in drills, the hand of course strikes down toward the head instead of the body because the head is closer!

And have you tried using bicycle inner-tubes or surgical tubing? I agree that jumping is one of the best things you can do to help your drive when stepping. But maybe too much jumping can make you JUMP when you should STEP... That's why I really recommend trying a type of resistance training that you can do while using good form, such as inner tubes.

Killer Miller, You really seem to know your stuff. Where do you teach? Are you going to be at the Hoitsugan seminars out your way in March?

I've trained with this guy before. I don't really believe in all the ki mumbo-jumbo. But after seeing what this guy can do and trying it myself, I was really impressed. I have been at a few of his sessions. He just came to NY late last year. I'm looking forward to seeing him again at the Hoitsugan Seminars out on the west coast in March.

Who else is going to the seminars in California in March? I've been to seminars that some of those instructors have taught at and I can't believe so many will all be in the same place at the same time. I'll be going and a few others who train with Richard Amos in NY will be going too. I really can't imagine a better camp. It's gonna be awesome I'm sure. If anybody else on karateforums is gonna be there let me know and we can meet up there.

You're getting ripped off. I can get them for half that price. And they aren't worth more than $70 or so anyway.

Why are all the camps in the summer? Sometimes there are little 3-day mini-camps but they are usually small and just have one instructor. Why don't you ever hear about bigger camps in other times of the year? Oh. I'm in the US - I hear there are more camps in Europe and other places in other times of the year. Here in the US you never have camps except in the summer. If anyone hears of any good ones in north america - ideally Shotokan - please post info here. Ive got some vacation time saved up at work and would like to make use of it!

This article is very good and well written. In Japan, you'd be made fun of for wearing dirty clothes. http://www.24fightingchickens.com/2005/09/09/urban-legends-of-karate-belts/ Hey! Great stories! I think their all true because Ive heard a lot of them before. I like Rob Redmond's stuff. He is straight to the point and usually correct. I myself don't wash my belt often. But if it gets really dirty I will.

Tokaido and Hirota make the best belts. They are expensive but worth it especially if you want your name written in Japanese on it. You can get them directly from Japan through a couple places like tokaidojapan.com and kuroobiya.com

Are you training with the UCONN guys? They should know that stuff...

I don't own one but I know a few people who do. I have heard only 1 negative comment and all the rest say it's great. The only thing that compares is the Tokaido NST. I hear their basically the same thing. If you get one let us know how it is. I might want to get one too.

I've ordered through the Tokaido site too https://www.tokaidojapan.com and I think the ONLY bad thing about their service is that you either have to spend a lot on shipping to get it sooner or you just have to deal with getting it later. If you can plan 6 or 8 weeks in advance, I think you really can't beat them if you want the highest quality uniforms and belts.