armanox

I mean this respectfully, but you do NOT need somebody's permission to video or photograph people as long as it's in a public place. Also, I have never heard a complaint when I have done it. I mean, if I'm taking a picture and 70 people are in the photo, you can't insist I get permission from 70 people right? If you are saying that taking them is fine, but posting them is not, again I can't imagine getting 70 people to ok a video I make to put online. I also can't imagine having great video of something but I can't post it because 3 people out of 70 left before I got through them all for approval, now I'm stuck. Something a good deal of people don't probably think about is that when you use things like YouTube, Google owns this and it is almost certain to show up in the first page of a search on Google. Part of the advertising isn't just the video, but getting your name/school out there. I have had issues with people in the past. Not all of the karate photos/videos that I have taken were done in public places, and I at one point received a complaint from the owner of a school that I took video at asking (well, demanding) me to take down video that was taken at his school. Side note: I've seen tournament and seminar forms that specifically outline that by being there you consent to photography and video recording.

Maybe, maybe not. Many schools do not push students to compete or to spar (I was the only student out of the three (five depending on how you look at it) schools in this area for my organization that competed in tournaments in 10+ years (and I haven't competed since 2013). To be perfectly honest with you, this is why you are a beginner - because you are still learning. This is one of those things that comes with time, and your next test will become more important because of this. Knowing that you need to work more on certain things and putting the effort into improving is what you should doing. And generally, for your next test, they'll want to see improvement. Not always perfection, but improvement.

As a rule of thumb, if you are posting video you should have the approval of all of those involved in the video (same goes for photographs - it's the law in the US). The biggest problem with trying to use online video is indeed quality control. Make sure you trust the source of the video. Also, trolls are plentiful (although my videos seem to be mostly troll free, with one exception that I thought was absurd (even if the video did suck). The user said "malo pero muy malo es el peor kusanku sho que he visto te doy un 10% de aprovacion, debes ser degradado a kyu 9,por no saber ni la esencia del shorin ryu ni menos del padre que es el shuri- te pues de este linaje biene el kusanku sho y claro tampoco sabes del tomri- te ,adios"

Back on topic - we simply require a white gi. School/style embroidery on the left chest is allowed. Our cousin schools, under Sensei Iha, do not have a brand/cut requirement, but do require the style on the left chest and the orgainizational logo on the left arm

Ah the Gi of my friend the KarateNerd, Jesse Enkamp - they are good Gis, I own 3 myself. I would recommend one. Can you compare it's cut to anything else - ie Shureido or Tokaido? I looked into it, but I'm so limited in what fits right. Traditional cut gis cut like a Shureido are the only ones. They are similar to Shureido, good snap effect, look extra thick but are like wearing a super light weight, thats why I love them. You can pick them up new for less than some Shureido's. Viper is also of a similarity but not near the quality of the finishing. They are traditional, shorter bottoms and elongated top endings. I was looking at that as an option for me just last weekend when I was picking out a new gi to order. However, since up to that point I hadn't seen any remarks about it from someone outside of the creator's circle, I went with one that I'm familiar with ($200 is not the smallest pill to swallow, but at least it's not just markup like Shureido USA does (the main reason I don't buy Shuriedo!))

Martial arts and fitness goals for 2016 (which I try to begin after Christmas, so that by the beginning of the year I'm able to just do it) 1 - Return to training. I've been in dojo limbo for a bit now, and one way or another I'm going to get moving again 2 - Gain about 20-25lbs 3 - Avoid injuires 4 - Work towards (and hopefully achieve) the rank of Nidan

Different ideas about how training should go I guess. Some of our cousin schools overseas (from what I've heard) just do kata and conditioning until shodan, after which point the focus changes to bunkai and oyo. I've heard that Katsuya Miyahira didn't teach sparring until Yondan. Perhaps they felt that the students needed a certain level of physical and mental training first. Perhaps they didn't want to just give away their "secrets" to anyone and you have to earn their trust first. Just different philosophies. (Then again, the idea that shodan is a high rank is more a western thing in my experience too. The whole "Now you're ready to start training" at shodan saying means a whole different thing in some schools).

I like it!

Why not both? We have a set of 'official' bunkai for all of our kata, but they are by no means meant to be the only use of them.

It does annoy me, but then again a lot of things annoy me. I once had a student (I at one point taught Sunday School for 6th graders) tell me I was too old for karate. I think their head started spinning when I looked at them and said I was the youngest person in the karate school.

My first tournament was as a white belt, after I had been in for about 8 months and with my instructor's okay to compete (that particular tournament kata was all underbelts grouped together. I took third). Generally for kata based competition you want to be comfortable in enough kata that you do not need to repeat if you end up doing multiple rounds. In NASKA (used to be true in SKF and MASMAL, but I don't know if they still exist) you are allowed to repeat the same kata, but I have never seen someone score well who did. Remember that rank advances differently in different styles. You may have a tournament that says no underbelts, etc; and some are open to all. You have some styles that have 10+ colored belts (the kyu system kinda leans towards ten in theory), and some that go white => black or white => brown => black, so that's not really a good metric to go by.

I agree. Seems that the landscape has been altered over quick results, no matter the quality of those results, it's for the quantity instead. Imho!! Why learn and try to perfect one kata, when you can learn the movements of 10 kata Why exercise and change your diet to reduce blood pressure when you can take a pill for it Note: I'm not stupid enough to believe that exercise and diet alone are enough for every single person. No, but it is the over all additude of "I want it now" that prevails in today's world.

While we might not do as much as some schools do, I see plenty of people in their 50s-70s still pounding the makiwara and bags without issue to their hands.

Depends on how you define the system For Shorin Ryu schools there is a common set of kata that says "We're Shorin Ryu" - they tend to be Naihanchi, Pinan, Passai, Kusanku and Gojushiho. There are quite a few other kata that commonly appear in Shorin Ryu schools, such as Seisan, (some sort of) Kihon, Unsu, Wansu, Jion, etc. That makes breaking it down sorta hard. Outside of the Shorin kata, we teach Seisan (doesn't appear to be a Shuri version), Fukyu (Matsubayashi Ryu), and Tensho (Goju Ryu)

Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan is a pretty large system, as far as the number of practitioners worldwide. Our style originates from Chibana Chosin, but the Shorinkan, itself, was founded by Nakazato Shugoro, one of Chibana's senior students. We practice all of the kata that Chibana learned from Itosu Anko, except for Itosu's Passai Sho. Chibana learned the Passai that was passed down from Matsumura Sokon through the Tawada family, and Itosu told him to pass it on to his students, instead. We also practice the three Kihon Kata that Chibana created, the Fukyu no Kata and Gorin no Kata that Nakazato created, and Gojushiho, which Nakazato learned from his first teacher, before he became a student of Chibana. Shorin Ryu Shidokan - an organization equally as large as the Shorinkan, the Shidokan schools decended from another one of Chibana's senior students, Katsuya Miyahira. The group I am part of (seperate from most of the Shidokan schools in the US) is under Takeshi Miyagi, who is over in Okinawa. Kata wise we practice Chibana's Kihon kata (plus two more that Miyagi created), Fukyu, Naihanchi, Seisan, Pinan, Passai (Itosu no, Matsumura no, and Kopassai sho), Kusanku (Sho, Dai, Chatanyara no), Gojushiho, Jion, Unsu, Tetsho (Miyahira's kata), and Tensho (Goju Ryu kata), as well as include kobudo (bo, sai, nunchaku, and tonfa) in our curriculum.

I do like that idea--we could use this thread, since it's already here, if anyone wants to kick things off? But however could we hope to compete against that beautiful desert scape? Actually, I started thinking about doing a video when I saw you throw this up on Facebook. Working on some small issues first (finding someone to record video since my phone is much better then my old camera....

That's an individuals choice, imho, because it's a personal choice!! Having said that, hopefully, one didn't learn the MA just to teach MA; that's limiting, imho!! I know countless MAists that don't teach, yet they're Senior Dan's in their respective MA...teaching just isn't their bag. Depends on the organization - in the organization that my school is part of when you reach the upper dan ranks (7th and up) you are graded on teaching/your school. At one point it was explained to me along the lines of "the first 5 dan ranks are what you get from the style [graded on your ability]. The next 5 are what you give back." At 4th dan a individual is allowed to teach on their own. By 7th they should have their own school. All the 9th and 10th dans that I know of in the org are overseeing multiple schools (and 10th dans are few and far between)

Also, slowly build up the number of reps you use. When I started Makiwara training, I only did five punches per hand. Five good, solid punches, that I made extra sure my technique was correct on. Then I did five hammer fists, five knife hands, five ridge hands, and five elbow smashes. When I have access to a makiwara again (or finally build my own) I'll be starting back at 10 since it's been a while since I've done it. Sensei does 50 of each every time he is there. I've seen him do more but it eats up a lot of time....

Some schools will start you off as a 'no-belt' and after a set amount of time you become a white belt. But Majority of schools you start as a white belt immediately upon joining the dojo. I've always seen white belts as no belts. It's a uniform piece, not a rank. What would you then say if there was a rank prior to white belt where you physically have no belt? For martial arts that utilize a gi I'd say that they are missing a part, and that the top won't stay shut

In my experience, the way the throws are taught has more to do with who trained in what more so then karate throws are more 'x' - most of the throws we do are more like Judo throws, but a cousin school of ours (same style/organization, but separate by two generations) you can very much see Aikido in their throws.

We had quite a bit of equipment in the Baltimore school - in the main room we had an old wrestling mat on the floor, weapons racks, punch/kick shields, and various things on the walls (flags, the instructor's teaching license, lineage chart, and a few photos from various events). We had a secondary room with makiwara board, weight lifting equipment, heavy bags, etc. The secondary room was not normally utilized as a part of class - students could make use of the equipment before class if they wished. You can see some pictures of the school: Flags Rack 1 Rack 3 Bags Certs Old tournament flyers The other location I attend (Columbia School) is a bit more Spartan - we practice on a tile floor that is in a church basement as well, but is utilized by other programs so we are unable to leave anything there.

None of the above. Don't get me wrong - I've been on plenty of seminars around the world, but whilst you may see lots of new stuff, you don't really learn much (or at least internalise it). That comes from your dojo, your sensei. At best, I see seminars as not so much a way to acquire new skills (or certificates (that's the bottom of the pile)), but as a way to help you crystallise what you already know (or are starting to understand). Just my thoughts. K. I always try to walk away from a seminar with at least one thing. As long as at least one thing sticks it was worth going.

Styles training in: Shorin Ryu (Shidokan) - 10 years and going Styles trained in the past: Aikido (~6 months) Hapkido Iaido Shorin Ryu: It is my first style, and training location was cheap and convenient compared to other schools around. Aikdo - because throwing people is cool. Probably can't do anymore due to injuries Hapkido - done with a friend of mine that I met in college. I don't train in it reguarly due to distance between us. Probably can't do it anymore due to injuries Iaido - Because swords are cool. I can't currently do kneeling techniques, but I still practice sword now and then.

We have a couple of heavy bags at class (and a usually neglected speed bag). Personally I do use the heavy bag for technique practice (both upper and lower body strikes).

Used to. wonder-okinawa is not quite the same site it used to be.