hurricane

Getting my black belt marked the beginning of a long but exciting journey.

Thanks all! I know about the pivoting supporting foot and do that. My problem is chambering the kicking leg up. This is the mawashigeri we do: The one where you chamber your kicking leg on your side, preferably so that it's parallel to the floor, and then extend the leg. Not the one where you chamber your leg like for a maegeri and then turn your hip over. So my problem is more like to get the flexibility to get that leg up high enough. So I will try the stretches some of you guys mentioned and also lift my leg up without extending it first. Thanks a lot for all your advice!!

Menjo, I think that sometimes when you slow down you do your technique more conscious. And if you were as sick as it sounds, you were probably slowing down a LOT! Another thing that comes to my mind is the fact that whenever you try and push through feeling tired and weak in your regular training (meaning: when you are healthy but are just having a really tough class) this is when your body learns how to do the technique automatically, without so much thinking. This is when you improve. So I think that there are two components coming into play here: slowing down and increased muscle memory. I experienced the same thing once in a kyu exam, I was really sick with fever and aching body but I was able to perform well and (although I thought I was dying) passed the test.

Thanks everybody!! I'll try out your different suggestions and see how it goes! Killer, I have never thought of a mawashi geri as a relaxation issue..... maybe I have had the wrong approach here entirely... Anyway, I'll try it all out! Thanks!!

What is an ax kick??

Hi everybody! I have a flexibility problem with my roundhouse kicks. Somehow, when I try to bring my leg up to my side before kicking, I can't move my hip up and out enough for the leg to come up enough. The result is more like a crescent kick. Does anyone have a good stretch or some other exercise that might help getting my hip joint more flexible? Anything is very much appreciated!

Good luck! I too think you put in enough time to deserve to go to your test. I agree with the other people who said if your sensei thinks you can test, you can. Also, you will still have to take the test, so in case you are not really ready yet, you won't pass and do it again. Hopefully though, you will pass and then you have proven worthy of wearing your black belt. But it sounds like you have been training long and consistently enough to be ready. So again, good luck! GO FOR IT!

Try stretching with a partner. Have him or her GENTLY push your torso down with your legs spread apart or stretched out in front of you. Have him push you to the point at which you absolutely can't go any further (tap the floor so he'll know) and hold you down for like 30 secs. Try to breeathe in a slow and relaxed manner. Breathe into your muscles. As you do this, after some time you will feel that your partner can push you down some more. Let him know this. Tap the floor again to let him know how far, hold the stretch and breathe. This way you can go way further than by yourself and also hold it longer. It is important that once your partner releases the stretch, this has to be done gently and slowly too, otherwise your muscles snap back like a rubber band.

This is a bit exaggerated. Okinawans didn't really fight against the Japanese (invasion took 2 weeks, mainly due to logistics) and was relatively peaceful. There's no evidence about underground movement against Japanese after the invasion. The weapon ban has been exaggerated as well - there are reports about Okinawans taking their family swords (yes, swords) to mainland Japan for maintaining purposes (polishing). Karate and Okinawan kobudo do not have many applications that would be meant to be used against the armed opponent - at least armed in a military way, as the Satsuma-clan was. Training martial arts in secrecy didn't happen, either. The teachers and students of martial arts were relatively well known (we know the names of masters of 1700's now, so they weren't secret) and the travels to China are well recorded. Training was for nobles and officers, so the story about peasants training martial arts doesn't hold water, either (typically, family styles were taught for oldest son of a noble family only - a great example about this was Choki Motobu who didn't learn the style, Motobu Udunti, of his family and had to go to the different teachers to learn martial arts). And well, Okinawans did not gain the freedom from the Japanese invaders. Okinawa did stay invaded and still is - it's a part of Japan, although there is a large US airbase in Kadena. Very interesting and insightful post, Jussi! But where does "how does kata improve your fighting skills" in?? Perhaps your knowledge would be of better use in different thread, maybe even a thread about the history of Japan and Okinawa?? Just a thought!

We sometimes do ippon kumite or semi-free and have to use only defense techniques from a certain kata. This is the application part that others have already written about. I would like to add that it makes you really think about what you are doing in kata. After we do this, we do the kata again and it is a whole different story! Suddenly, you are able to see imaginary opponents. It makes you think about your technique more. I mean technique not only in context of kata but also what you can actually DO with it. This is why I think it does improve your fighting skills. Because you analyize your technique.

Isn't the Shotokan claim to fame pulling the punch and kick at the last minute so as not to make contact and thus demonstrate control? If so, isn't the lack of pads a recognition of this control?. Yes, this is correct, Meguro. We're all about control, at least that's what they are trying to teach us! Doesn't always work though! Hence the gloves and mouthpiece in tournaments. In the dojo, if hit, you just gotta take it. Which is fine with most people.

I too think it depends on the dojo. I do Shotokan and we don't spar with padding. In tournaments, we use gloves and a mouthpiece, both mandatory. But at the dojo, we fight without the stuff. But I've been to other Shotokan dojos where they used gloves in class. But I think in general, Shotokan uses little padding apart from the gloves.

Yup! And there is no better incentive to learn how to block this than to get the wind knocked out of you a couple of times. Good luck Smitty!

And take it easy on the makiwara in the beginning. It takes some time to toughen your knuckles up on it - if you overdo it, you may break them again.

This, Smitty, sounds like a shot in the solar plexus to me. There is not much muscle protection in that area, so the layer of fat may have protecteed it before you started loosing it. The only real good protection for this is a good block!

I do five to six classes a week, depending on time, somtimes two classes a day. I did start out with 2 a week though and worked my way up. Our Shotokan classes are physically demanding, but as was stated in a different post, any class may be only as demanding as you permit them to be. I also think that you can get burnt out though but this is easy to avoid if you listen to your body. If you get all sore and tired, it may be time to back off a little. Take a day or two off. It won't hurt your training as much as getting a serious injury through overtraining which renders you unable to train for more than two weeks.

Sorry foofies! I guess we were straying away from the topic here...

Yes I am. I have been training under Okazaki Sensei for 4.5 years. Katrin Very good I've never met or trained with him but back in 1988 I took an instructors course at Long Island University in NY that I believe he co-designed along with Milorad Stricevic. It was closely based on his book "Modern Karate". Tommy Interesting! Have you read that book? Who are you training with? Or do you have your own dojo?

Yes I am. I have been training under Okazaki Sensei for 4.5 years. Katrin

[Thanks Tommy! I do Shotokan and in my dojo you become eligible for kyu exams every three months, provided you train regularly (3-4 times a week) and the instructor doesn't make a face when you are trying to sign up. Once you are first kyu, you'll have to wait a year. So I would say, on the average, from white to black it's about 4 years. And then you still do basics! It doens't necessarily stop just because you become a black belt! That's why I don't think it's a big problem with all the rankings: Because Shotokan is a LOT about kihon anyway, white belt or black belt, and I think it works. Cheers, Katrin