NidaninNJ

I think that's called 'Daniel-san you must have balance!' (Mr Miyagi in KarateKid movie)

Can you identify the pro's for not turning the foot in by 2 or 3 degrees? I would like to hear your take on this. Cheers... I would too.

I pretty much agree with JayMac. If you don't have much experience yet in TangSooDo, I don't think you should try something else yet. After you have all the basics down and can keep straight what your supposed to be doing where then it should be fine. I've done a little of other stuff besides Shotokan but I didn't start until I was already a black belt.

Does anybody here know if Mr Keeling is still on KarateForums? I've heard lots of good things about him from people I have trained with or under. It would be great to have him here. If anybody here is friends with him maybe you could convince him to come back? If not I'll write to him directly but I figured that it would be better coming from somebody who already knows him personally.

??? How old are you? Why would communicating with someone from class be a requisite for the judgement of technique? Do these requiremetns hold to everyone in your dojo? Support systems come in all shapes and sizes. That was my first thought too. I was surprised to read that JimmyNewton is 28. I thought he was a high school student for sure. This seems like a sick joke to me. Are you sure the instructor isn't kidding?

I've heard of this sort of thing for the non-traditional schools. But you list yourself as 'Shotokan' and I don't know of any Shotokan organization that works this way. ??? I see the point of making sure the students feel they 'earned' the rank and therefore go through more than just karate. But I think you need to draw the line somewhere. Like I know of one place - NOT traditional at ALL - where they have a weekend camping trip as part of the exam. I don't get it. That's just way too much, I think. Maybe we should do more than just 20 minutes of basics, sparring and kata. I like the written exam idea and wish we had that at any of the places I train. But I don't know about the rest. It just seems like too much to me. Is this stuff now considered normal??? Maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist?

I don't really understand the point of this. First, you say the makiwara is just a target, then you say the (i)dea was to develop impact and correct distance. Which is it? If it's to develop distance, how is a makiwara gonna help? It doesn't move. The heavy bag doesn't move much. But at least the swinging does help develop distance a little. More than with the makiwara anyway. Maybe I'm missing something. But I don't understand the point you were trying to make, Shreeka. Ok, you are still thinking that a makiwara is a long piece of wood stuck in the ground. A makiwara (target) is a training partner, whether it be a person, punching bag, moving kick bag, focus pads etc. A moving target helps you to understand distance, control, speed and power. Does that clear it up? If not, please let me help you understand more. Shrekka I think I understand what you mean now. You are not using the real definition of makiwara.

I think the relevant question is how often your school conducts tests. If your school has a belt test once a month whether you've got people ready to test or not, then yeah, you've got a valid point. In that case a certain percentage should fail because nobody is always ready to test every month. And if you pass a test when you're not ready, that doesn't say much about your school. But, however, if you only test a student when you know he is ready, the testing becomes almost a formality. They probably won't fail because they are truly ready. That doesn't guarantee anything, but it makes the ratio from pass to fail much higher. I agree. It really depends on how often the tests are and if the instructor is filtering the students so the people taking the tests are all the ones most likely to pass.

What is that saying about skiing? Something like 'if you aren't falling, you aren't really skiing'? I think it's the same with karate tests. If nobody is failing, maybe the standards aren't high enough to call it real karate.

Hmm, not really. Think about it...a good jogging outfit & shoes costs easily $200. It's about the same price that you'll pay for an uniform & belt made by Tokaido, Shureido, Hirota etc. If you think about how long the uniforms last (my oldest Shureido uniform is ~8 years old now and still looks decent), the price isn't too much. Sure, if one is a student or has a low income, the price may take a while to rake up. Still, it's quite a wise thing to do. I agree with Jussi. Pay the price for a high quality uniform and belt. It's worth it. The oldest uniform I have now that I wear is a Tokaido about 20 years old. It was given to me by one of my instructors. It's still in great shape. Let's see on this list who has the oldest uniform and what brand it is. That should tell us something about which uniforms hold up the best. I think belts can last for a lot longer but how about them too?

What is the 'speech' about? Was this just a really long workout or was there an actual test in there somewhere? I've always been with the JKA and its offshoots so I've only ever seen the short tests that are just basics, sparring and kata...20 minutes floor time, max, for each person. What is the point of all the rest?

What do you mean by saying Heian Shodan has "all the basics"? It's very good for practicing some things but doesn't have any kicks, only 2 stances... It's definitely not a kata that "helps you in everything". Which is the best for helping you in everything? I don't think that 1 kata can give you everything but most of them are good for practicing many things. I think that all you really need is 1 kata but knowing more is definitely good as long as you don't get confused. For me, I like all the Heian kata. I think with just those 5 kata you have almost all the points of Shotokan. I like lots of the blackbelt kata too but I don't think they really give you all that much new.

OK. I'll admit I didn't really get everything in your previous post, Hobbes, but I am looking forward to that 'next installment' you mentioned.

I don't really understand the point of this. First, you say the makiwara is just a target, then you say the (i)dea was to develop impact and correct distance. Which is it? If it's to develop distance, how is a makiwara gonna help? It doesn't move. The heavy bag doesn't move much. But at least the swinging does help develop distance a little. More than with the makiwara anyway. Maybe I'm missing something. But I don't understand the point you were trying to make, Shreeka.

I wear Tokaido and the best place to get them with embroidery is probably https://www.tokaidojapan.com There are other places where you can get embroidered belts but I have always worn Tokaido and haven't seen any look as good as them. You could try Hirota, Shureido, Kamikaze...Anybody have any suggestions for other places?

What is 'sun salutation'?

If we keep the load on the muscle as a constant, then strength has a significant impact. I'm not in anyway suggesting that by using "constant" I'm satying static. what many people think of as "stances" are really snap shots in a secquence of transitions. I agree completely.

I heard that the best place to order real Tokaido's (I know there's lots of fakes out there) is at https://www.tokaidojapan.com. But I heard it takes a long time to get the stuff you order with them. I guess these uniforms and belts are all coming from Japan(?) Has anyone here ordered from them? I think Tokaido is still the best for uniforms but I want to make sure I'm getting a good price and they get my order right and don't take 6 months to get it to me. Thanks.

In my opinion, stances are an over-exaggeration of the transfer of weight and direction of movement. There are much better ways to condition your legs than using stances. In my last message I commented about the conditioning part of the comment above. I forgot to comment about the other part. I think Cross has a great point about transfer of weight and direction of movement. Stances aren't meant to be trained just to stand there and not always in the basic positions. We are training to move. The stances are great for that but I think we need to remember that the stances aren't meant to just be standing positions all the time.

In my opinion, stances are an over-exaggeration of the transfer of weight and direction of movement. There are much better ways to condition your legs than using stances. There are better ways to strengthen the legs if you have just 15 minutes a couple times a week and all you want to do is strengthen them. Go to the gym and pump iron for that! But by using stances we are conditioning them in the activity we are trying to make better. So it is more than just strengthening. And also we are doing karate for an hour or more which is a lot more than we can usually do the iron-pumping. I guess this means we are doing more aerobic workout but this means it is something that we can use more directly...I mean if we just strengthen by pumping iron will that transfer to strong techniques? I don't think it's as good for you as the stances. Pumping iron can definintely help with strengthening but if I have to choose I choose karate training for conditioning.

KillerMiller- That's a Killer web site you have! Table Tennis and karate... I never realized that there was such a connection. Lots of other sports and activities can use the same main points as karate...balance, timing, rythym, endurance... Maybe the biggest thing is the idea of 'centering'? I guess balance is a big one also and maybe centering is more about balance than anything else. Great thread, Killer.

That front stance is good but the back foot could be turned a little more forward. Other than that it's pretty good! The other links all don't work.

Just do it! Like somebody else already wrote, just keep practicing and it'll get better. If you want extra practice, just stand on one foot whenever you have a chance during the day.

If you're doing Shotokan your front foot should be slightly turned in. I was taught that the outside of the foot should be straight so the toes are a little in. Check out pictures in Dynamic Karate, Best Karate or some of the Shotokan Karate Magazine issues.

I think karate and aikido are very good together. Yoga is good for stretching and relaxing but it isn't a martial art. Tai chi is one step closer to a 'real' MA but aikido is a good fit with karate esp when you look at some of the kata apps. I don't think there are many yoga apps in the kata! lol