jh5638

Quick background on me: 13years of Goju training under two instructors This hard soft thing - hard to see what you mean. As i hope you gathered GoJu itself means Hard Soft and i think studying it for long enough you find that hard and soft applies to every aspect of the style from attack defense, style to breathing tho without clarification I can't see what you mean? Cheers

Some advice from a different style (goju ryu) firstly agree massively with what someone previously said, in a nut shell less haste more speed. Think about the natural rhythm of the kata, fast and slow at different types, if not sure just focus on what the movements mean. Then maybe this is just a goju thing but i its all about your hips, i spotted at least a few stances where they were in the wrong shape for the stance (this is hard to explain) To try and understand go through the kata with no hand movements focusing on locking your hips as you complete each stance, thinking about feet, where your hands would be and head position. Hope this helps Otherwise very good Jon

Well without saying more this seems to be the fault of the instructor. Now either he has justified the kids grades as them being "kids grades" i.e not comparable to adult grades. Or you have found yourself a boneified McDojo, i.e belts for money (from the sounds of the kids technique). Either way i would say this doesn't seem right. Shop around, do you want to be in a class full of kids anyway (this is my belief) hope this helps.

Also think about training smart, your storing up problems if you do 40mins on your abs but nothing on your back. If your going to do one weights workout a week at best you can hope to keep your current physique! So think about maybe stetching with 15min pulse raiser, then a cardio session of another 20min to 1hr, vary this runnning, swimming, cycling etc then a weight session, combine muscle groups into pairs (biceps+back, triceps and chest etc) only doing one group (properly) each time. make sure to start with you have 2 rest days between each work out day, then as recovery improves 1 rest day between each work out day. Lastly stretch after weights or you'll take weeks to recover. Train with a partner and motivate/spot each other. Can't help any more without knowing goals. Think about finding a physio/personal trainer to write a program for you. Hope this helps Jon

See the whole carbs problem is that when people drop fats they tend not to realise the amount of carbs ure eating. I.e toast sandwiches pasta for dinner or chips or rice. I mean carbs are good for you and (complex) carbs are the best fuel around. However white bread bad (salt additives etc v bad!) same way crisps chips etc are bad. Mainly common sense is all that is needed. Also the other big factor that any processed (by the body) carbs that aren't used are converted to fat! To make things all the more complicated you need a certain amount of fat a)to digest properly b)to release energy from carbs c)healthy skin, nails etc. So cutting out all fats is pointless and ill informed, however reducing fat intake (especially saturated fats) is key! Hope this helps Jon

Not trying to be sarcastic but there is only one fool proof way to lose weight without somehow harming your body - Eat less, exercise more! You lose weight when you on average give your body less calories than it needs in a day so it has to burn fat. This is by no means telling you to starve yourself, but change at least one of the two variables. Certainly doesn't mean you can't treat yourself either! As to whether to start TKD yet, personally i feel as a beginner the weight would not make much difference to start and the added exercise would certainly help. In the end it must be your decision, and it must be sustainable. Hope this helps Jon

Heya guys quick question what is the law (in the UK) about carrying weapons to class in public? Have heard things like Sai are only legal if theyre in a case, at the bottom of a closed gym bag (so not easily accesible!) Mainly thinking about Jo and Sai but will be using other weapons so those as well. Cheers Jon

Brilliant! i also try to train in boxing, thai boxing, judo, kali, wrestling, kickboxing etc i know i am very lucky to have a sensei with such an open mind and wide knowledge. Basically starting those other styles has proved to be the biggest and best challenge so far!

Ah i love it, weird really how much i love them all. Have recently moved to a new club where the emphasis is much different, still practice 2 hours a day though and have yet to get bored! When you sort the breathing out a lot will fall into place. Also you'll realise it is a great recovery kata and if done well its the best and cheapest high you can get (quoting my sensei) Enjoy!

Yeh i love it but think its impossible to ever perfect it (though would you want to?) Though must confess my big love is saunchin kata(spelt right?) Lol do have a life out of karate as well tho (somewhere....)

Lol spent 11 years tweaking geki sai dai knee so far:) Surely you mean sanchin and tensho are everything. How can you have one without the other, thats the same as having hard without soft? Or is that GoJu specific? Have always been taught tensho is the soft to sanchins hard? Discuss Jon

Heya guys just a quick question have been reading through a few posts and having quite a bit of difficulty with names of strikes. Can anyone explain (maybe people from the uk will understand where i'm coming from) what an X block is and a thrust kick etc are. theres loads i don't know. oo and also (showing a complete foolishness) what is a sucker punch hear so much about them but have never had the name associated to the movement! just a front snap punch? Many thanks Jon

Im my club White:Uki Wasa Red: Uki Ski Wasa Yellow: Kihon kata Orange: Geki Sai dai Ichi Green: Geki Sai dai Knee? Blue: Saifer Purple: Kushan Ku and Sanchin Brown (1): Nifanchi Brown (2): Sae unchin Brown (3): Tensho Sorry about spelling really not sure, have tried to spell phonetically. Though you must remember i still after twelve years am improving even my white belt kata, and a lot of practice is needed to keep at my standard. Certainly not like some styles who half learn a kata, grade then throw away. (sorry rant over) Jon

But WHY????

yeh well i was talking mainly about teaching methods and the results they produce in students. I do accept that even the best teacher in the world could never get throught to some students so really it is up to us/them as well (learning methods?) Also i don't really think belts should ever be used as a reward. In this case i do prefer the thinking that they are merely some indicator to ability. Using a psychological argument involving self motivation then when they get older and the mystical draw of the next belt reduces then what now is the "intrinsic motivation"?(can quote studies if need be) In my class theyre may only have been a grading every few years, whenever our sensei deemed fit. In fact occasionally we were failed to test spirit, so yes many friends got there black belts in different styles many years ago (wheras i am happily still working to mine) does that make them better though? Thanks Jon

Hmm well i don't quite agree, in both clubs i can see students who will never really get anywhere is this a lack of motivation or concentration? I don't really think the method of teaching changes the subject matter so all i can think of is that you must get out what you put in. We have all seen those students who turn up more for the social side and seem to have a complete revulsion to learning something new. There are also many students in my new class who may be ultra fit and know all the standard bunkai perfectly but put them to sparring and all technique flys out of the window. Yet i believe this goes further to saying because of this stick teaching method there are some things that they will never learn and so subsequently never be able to apply. Worse still i feel in a lot of cases it is giving a lot of false confidence which if we look at karate for self defense is pretty much the worst thing you could have. However i am really not putting this new class down, it is really nice to see another side to my style (however i am very glad to have some firm basis with my old club first) i am also loving the elements that my new sensei is bringing in from so many other styles. Jon

I see your point but (and partly for arguments sake) i don't believe this is complete. Looking at my old class i will admit that this was quite a "carrot" class, but without going into specifics it would be wrong to say that he was in it for the money, to please us and especially to say his teaching was ineffective. If you want to look at competitions (which personally i think aren't at all worthwile in showing true effectiveness - that being another debate) Our class did very well in all competitions. But my main reason for bringing this up is that at my new class it is a very "stick" kind of class. Maybe it is just bias but even though this is a very good class i do feel in having taken this approach they have lost some aspects into what karate is and should be. To fully get my whole thougts across i believe i would be here typing all night but to give examples, it is true they do kata (of which i am a great fan) but i feel they don't gain as much as they should do, they practice and learn the bunkai but shouldn't the point be to understand yourself and the moves and realise and be able to use the combinations. Even with that point i am struggling to make clear what i mean but what i guess my point is boiling down to is that i feel only so much can be gained from hard (stick classes) they are very good and in themselves a very valuable tool but i don't believe they can deliver everythng by themeselves. I believe that they do train the body very well but without trying to sound cliched i feel that maybe theyre not training the mind in the best way. I'm not saying as in your point that the meanings of moves aren't explained but i feel that doing things like rote learning the "official bunkai" can only teach so much, and as in this example would it not be better at times to relax the setting and lets students discover the whole wealth of other meanings between every kata. I feel in this way that every grade can learn so much from even a beginner. What do you think? Jon

Oh sorry i mean't some classes that you go to the philosophy is "train hard fight easy" that students are in effect beaten and conditioned and trained very hard.(stick) Wheras the opposite is the carrot method where the students train hard, but as my sensei taught, mindless violence to prove a point is in itself futile. I'm finding it a bit hard to define what i mean but i hope your getting the point. I think of the stick method as the style taught by the very old fashioned instructors. Hope this clears it up? Can go into more detail if neccessary. Thanks Jon

Heya guys and gals, first post so far, so thought i would open up a debate ive been thinking of recently. In the last few months i have left my home dojo to go to a new one in a different city (due to starting uni). Having trained at my home dojo for 11 years (so maybe a bit biased) i find this new dojo to be in many ways the opposite do what i am used to. So what i wanted to ask is peoples opinions on whether the carrot or stick method is better/produces better results in students? What are peoples views/experiences? Many thanks Jon