SlowHands

hi matt71, i think everyone has pretty much answered your question, but here is a video to help supplement the idea - Iain Abernethy is known to provide exceptional explanations of kata bunkai. i hope this helps!

actually... i've never worn a cup, whether in class or at tournaments. i've always felt that if i got tagged in the goodies, i probably deserved it and should've done better to protect myself. the way i look at it is - i'm not going to be walking around the street wearing a cup, right? (and i'm not saying wearing a cup makes you complacent when you train) so i try and spar as realistically as possible in class. however, that sort of mentality isn't for anyone and its just my 2c..

i trained with Kancho Kanazawa sensei and his son back in 2011. the seminar was suppose to be 3 hours, but soon became close to 5 hahah.... it was a good seminar to emphasize how important kihon is to the karateka. i distinctly remember him saying the hardest part of karate is lining up when it came to large groups. he's still a fabulous instructor as well as his son, but he's definitely more frail since his skiing accident a few years back.

well done i doubt i'd ever be able to do many of those moves. not sure if you've seen these videos, but White Lotus Kung Fu academy has tricking nights http://www.youtube.com/user/WhiteLotusVideos

my sympathy and condolences to both Suzuki Sensei's family, both inside and outside the dojo.

here are a couple of matches at a recent local tournament I competed in, not the best technique so go easy on me guys hahah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqIj4XRVb8Y&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWPJFVO9pFE

the escrima stick, imo, is the most intuitive weapon you could learn. there are no moving parts like a nunchaku, the length does not prohibit you in narrow areas like a bo, and its easy to find something similar to it on the street than either of those weapons.

Hakua-Kai Shodan 3x classes & 2 self practices/ week

Not a problem. Do each Kata 20 times per day. ^ quoted for truthiness a lost voice should never prevent you from practicing. and just because you're not at the dojo doesn't mean you can't practice at home

-shadowboxing -jump roping for better foot work -simple combinations that you can pull off easily the object of kumite in the dojo is apply the stuff you've learned in class so that goes with out saying that you should do just that. however, you have to learn what works best for you in terms of your body type and your mentality. are you a defensive fighter? practice your counters, block + punch/kick, switch it up a little shift, parry, counter, counter, counter, etc whatever your imagination comes up with are you more on the offensive? practice entering at different ankles from the left or the right of your targer, and try putting together combinations that flow together and target different planes (high, middle, low)

i believe fight quest is available for streaming on netflix

welcome to the boards! i would advise stretching, lots and lots of stretching it'll pay dividends in the long run

i had a similar pain in the hip joint area and originally i thought it could be something like tennis elbow where i over-trained.. 6 months later i was still in pain, and at times it was even sharp, much like pins and needles. another month later and i was having throbbing sensations course up and down my leg. i would soon find out that i had strained an abductor muscle along the inside of the thigh/groin. because of my mindset (to just train through it), i wound up exacerbating the injury. go see a sports medicine specialist when you get a chance. i've been going for nearly 2 months now and the hip is markedly better.

there are a couple of different ways you can combine/chain the two techniques together. 1.using lead leg only: sweep with the lead foot, at the end of its arc you continue the motion and hook kick to the head. 2. using back leg: sweep with your rear foot, when it lands you spin and hook-kick with other foot. its really all about setting up your opponent. the ashi barai is really used to misdirect their attention.

oooo yah, was just talking about this with my sensei a few weekends ago. i thought kanazawa might've been at fault, as they sometimes make him seem like the rebel since he "broke away" from the JKA

if by out-toed you mean my feet are as such> \ / then yes, i stand as such. i have practically no arch on bottom of my feet

that was a great vid, thanks for sharing it!

I've been practicing for 7yrs now, and I am about to turn 30. I practice roughly 4x a week, and I work out at the gym every other day with resistance bands and weight training. i also use to do sprints. I've tried practicing in a corner with my back against tone wall, and the side of foot along the other and i just can't turn it in without some serious pain. i think i have fairly weak ankles, i can't stand on one foot for very long without wobbling too.

it seems impossible for me to turn and point my feet forward for kibadachi. if i try to transition from shikodachi to kibadachi my ankles and shins cry bloody murder and won't even budge. when i try with my feet parallel first and sink in, my knees cave in (and its very painful for me to try and push them outwards) meanwhile my weight shifts to the balls of my feet/ and naturally my butt sticks out. biomechanically... this feels impossible for me. could it be because i'm flatfooted? not limber enough? this stance frustrates me to no end...

My sensei has taught me that to be able to teach karate effectively in the future, i should go to competitions and experience using my techniques against other people. which, i believe is true as well..i've only recently begun sparring again. I also compete as its a place to try what I've learned and build confidence in my skills. you see, my nerves get to me very easily... I still haven't been able to perform my kata very well in front of judges as I try to to rush through them resulting in a very sloppy kata. As for kumite, i'm trying to build my self-confidence and not be afraid of whomever is standing in front of me.. before i would get a huge surge of adrenaline and my arms would feel like lead. At least now instead of freezing up (and making a very easy target), I begin to move around the ring as soon as the ref says hajime.

I instantly thought of this article which talks about sensen no sen and providing an interesting view on "the first strike"- http://karatejutsu.blogspot.com/2006/05/making-sense-of-sen.html

the way we learned was to twist right before impact, and i don't know if this falls under biomechanical like todome mentioned, but if you were extend your hand out from a chambered position your wrist will turn on its on as it nears full extension.

i've always found the mirror to be a very useful tool. at first i'll stand facing it while in yoi, and then step into my initial stance, we'll say zenkutsu dachin/forward stance for now. I'll check if my shoulders and hips are squared up (I use to lean/favor one side). Afterwards, I'll return to yoi and repeat the same steps with my other side. Once that is done, I'll stand with my side facing the mirror and again step into my forward stance. This time I check to make sure my knee is bent deep enough and the positioning of my feet is correct. Again, repeat on the other side. If you need pictures of foot positioning, Google Images is your friend . Just type the stance and style ie - http://images.google.com/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hl=en&source=hp&q=forward+stance+shotokan&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

I don't know much about the dojo itself... but I do know that they throw an annual competition, the Ozawa Cup, which attracts hundreds of competitors nationwide.

killer, you wouldn't happen to be able to copy a couple of those fights from VHS onto your computer would you??