GOM

Alsey, you are right on the button there. I agree with what you say. Someone posted before about circular blocks, and this can be applied to any of the "blocks" you see in modern day karate.

It is a useless kick, and my advice is to not even bother with it.

Thanks for the link.....the performance was interesing.

The kata performance was pretty good. It wouldn't win the world champs, but still it was pretty good. Some advice - Keep your fist on your hip. To do this, try and feel your forearm touching your body rather than just your fist. Slow down the slow parts, and quicken the fast parts. The first move for example, should be a slow movement, moving slowly and purposefully into Soichin Dachi. 2nd move, slow as well. Open up your chest and twist your hips, and then fire out those two punches. Make them strong and powerful. Some advice, take it or leave it, I don't mind.

Again I preface this by saying I've never seen this bunkai before. That said, moving closer to the ground moves the horizon to eye level. This allows you to identify sillouettes (targets). This is used all the time in the military. It also makes you less likely to be a target of projectile weapons (arrows, and nowadays...bullets). Additionally, for an opponent who is standing in a low light environment, it's more difficult to find an opponent that is in a low profile. It seems to me that anyone who's ever served in a war time environment should be able to respect that. Self-defense is not war. As I said in my previous post, applications of kata are for self preservation, not fighting. Uhh...Yeah. They certianly come from the ancient warriors of Japan (among others). They are taught to militaries all over the world. The word Martial translates to "of or pertaining to war." Why would you think it's only for self defense for your average person? We are talking about karate and kata applications. The kata applications found in every kata are to be used for self-defense, not war.

Again I preface this by saying I've never seen this bunkai before. That said, moving closer to the ground moves the horizon to eye level. This allows you to identify sillouettes (targets). This is used all the time in the military. It also makes you less likely to be a target of projectile weapons (arrows, and nowadays...bullets). Additionally, for an opponent who is standing in a low light environment, it's more difficult to find an opponent that is in a low profile. It seems to me that anyone who's ever served in a war time environment should be able to respect that. Self-defense is not war. As I said in my previous post, applications of kata are for self preservation, not fighting.

In many applications the drop is to avoid a bo or edged weapon attack, assuming you didn't have enough time to shift out of range, or parry. Ok, when would someone attack you with a bo or an edged weapon? Applications (bunkai, oyo) of kata are for self-defense, when there is no other alternative than to defend yourself or our loved one/s. Applications are meant for the street, in street situations, not against trained fighters or kobudo practitioners.

Does anyone have a link so someone outside of America can have gander?

Isn't New Zealand part of Australia??

I agree with alsey, I too find the whole "night kata" to be somewhat interesting, to say the least. Why would you want to get on the ground in the first place? Surely that is an easy way for your attacker to take advantage of you....

Another variation, something we do in our dojo, is to get everyone in the centre with the instructor on the outside. The instructor throws a soft ball (maybe the size of a football) in, and when someone gets hit, they come on the outside and help throw the ball. This happens until there is one person left in the centre, and they are the winner. It is a pretty fun game, and for the kids, we aim at below the knee. We call it 'poison ball'.

Instead of starting up a rival club, why not talk to your instructor about opening another branch of the dojo? He will be able to help you set up, and you can continue to learn from him. There are also benefits for your future students - a structured syllabus, gradings to a higher grade, tournaments, seminars etc. The training fees for the students can go to you, the grading fees to you/your instructor, seminar fees to your instructor. This way, it can be a win-win situation. If you do break away from your current instructor, there can be a lot of animosity between you two. I have seen this many, many, many times and can only lead to stress.

I have a senior student who has a kiai like a donkey.....'eeeooohhhh'.

There are no "styles" of Karate. Karate is Karate. There are, however, many styles of Martial Arts, but technically, there are no styles of "Karate".

Same here. Patsui - What makes you think you can use the "kata" in low light? Why can't you use the applications from any kata in any light?

What is a night kata? A kata which can be used in low light situations. Errrr.....and what kata would that be? Which move do you think can be used when it is "low light"?

What is a night kata?

It is nothing more than a jump. It has no practical application. The original versions of the "jump" is an arm bar. The left hand blocks an attack, kick behind the knee with your right foot and take the person down with an arm bar. If you want to go even further, you can hold the person down with your knee on the elbow joint and pull the arm up.

Any dojo that offers XMA I sould stay away from, but each to their own I guess. If you are after Traditional Karate, then I wouldn't choose any of them.

I don't really agree with you hear. Even if someone leaves your dojo, there is still a commaradarie you have with former students/classmates. If they left on good terms, then there is no way you would be able to determine their motives in sparring. Maybe they would just want to work out together for old times sake. Once the bad things start happening, then it has to be dealt with. Look, for safety sake, a responsible instructor should be looking after the safety of their students. It isn't safe for someone to come in who trains at a different school, especially another MA, to come in and spar with the students. In my dojo, I don't allow students from different schools to spar with my students. They can train, yes, but not spar. Look what happened at parkerlineage's dojo.

Why would the instructor let them spar in the first place? They train in a different MA, have different techniques and a different sense of control. What they did was stupid and immature, but the instructor out the front, if he had any brains, wouldn't have let them spar after such a long break from your dojo. Especially if they are training in a different MA.

I agree with ps1. If your instructor believes you have the knowledge and skill to attain an orange belt, then just accept it and move on. Maybe you show potential and your instructor sees this and would like to reward you for your effort and time.

Kyokushin was founded by Mas Oyama, a Korean immigrant to Japan. His Korean name was Choi Yeong-Eui, but decided to call himself Oyama Masutatsu. There was a Korean movie made of him called "Fighter in the wind" in 2004. This is why Kyokushin is becoming popular in Korea.

I trained (and taught karate) in Ilsan, not far out of Seoul. But I am living in Seoul at the moment and it is too far for me to train. There are two federations for Karate, the KKA (Korean Karate Assoc) and the KKF (Korean Karate Federation). At the moment I believe that the KKF is in the WKF, but that could be changing because of money problems. If you want more info, send me a PM and I can answer any of your questions.

Where are you going in Australia?