Shotokan-kez

I agree Brian! Thats the thing with my sensei he may be 60 and very strict, he has also trained under some awesome masters, he is good to approach and gives off some sound advice, he can also have a giggle too at us girls when we are trying to put these lock techniques on we sometimes have to do. I like that but sometimes he can be scary too, which i also like (in a strange way) because i know i'm going to get a good work-out done and there will be no messing around from the kids.

Yeah i agree here with you azmyth it does depend on the school. In ours we have a white stripe on our purple belt and white stripes on the brown, yet in other shotokan clubs they have stripes on other colours too.

Thanks samurai i do understand where you are coming from, starting and ending in the same position, the stances and turns ect. Difficult but like you say everntually you get it. And yes like you right now i hate it, and i dont like that because i love kata.

This is true Brian...thats cool!

We don't have private lessons, he does 4 sessions a week and no more. Sometimes i wish he would though so i could concentrate on my up-coming comp.

This is a good one, i did chose skill but i think both are a major factor. I'm not sure what the requirements are for us to be able to run our own dojo, but one thing i know for sure is that i wouldn't want to be taught by an 18 year old kid that just got his BB. Sometimes this happens in our dojo, teaching the beginners ect but that is completely different to owning and running your own club and teaching the class every single night. I agree with a point Brian made before about having the 'ability' to teach. My sensei is 60 years old and in training for his 6th dan and i have nothing but total respect for him he is awesome. But once i was in a club that was being taught by a 20 year old 2nd dan and the atmosphere was totally different. I'm not saying the younger guy wasn't a good sesnei i'm saying that he was more laid back and it often felt like a social gathering.

Cheers for the clip danielle, it's great he is awesome. Yes i agree with both of you. At times i just keep concentrating on the arms and hands twists, finally get it right, go through the whole kata and forget it again lol it's like grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! But i think how you have descibed Brian is the best, i'll let you know how i get on.

Well done Brian! Sorry i didn't wish you good luck before i didn't notice the post! But hey that's so cool hun. How long has it taken you to get this far? I hope the second part goes just as well for you!

Hey guys. Since getting my bb i am having to learn Nijushiho. I have been doing it since may and i just cannot grasp it! The part after the two thrust kicks to the left and right where you have to twist your arms and hands and step forward, and the part at the very end where you do that turn and again the arms and hands twists. Sensei does this kata at least twice in each session, i'm sure he's doing it for my benefit because i am struggling with it, yet despite this i still find it hard. I am entering my first comp next month and i'm dreading that they may ask me to perform this kata. I think i'm the only bb in our club that struggles so much with this kata . I am also learning Jitte but i don't find that half as difficult. I think i lot of it now is that i know so many kata's and they are all running around in my head and i'm feeling bogged down with them all. Does or did anyone ever struggle getting this kata right? I have a great demonstration of it on my pc but the guy who performs it does it slightly different to us, which is very annoying. I know there aint a lot you guys can do but i just thought i would vent my frustration on you all because you are all such good listeners. Kez

i'm adding two more now to my original list, not that i know them properly i am just learning them now after getting Shodan. Nijushiho and Jitte

Hey Brian, sounds great, you got a real good deal there (not that i know much about American dollars) Personally i only own one martial arts book and thats martial arts of the world, not very imformative because it only has a small section on each art.

Like Brian i have never had this problem either, but for a different reason. There are many, many different styles and clubs in my area but i have never really been able to afford to try other arts, to be honest i think i'm far to dedicated to my sensei and my shotokan to try anything else. Also i think i would be too concerned that i wouldn't be progressing properly in a certain art if i was always shifting about from different one's.

Thank you so much guys for your well wishes and thoughts. He has been allowed home today and has put on some weight, he was a mere 10pounds when he went into hospital and now he weighs over 12 pounds. The doctors have said thought that he needs to put weight on gradually so to much pressure isn't put on the heart. He still has a tube in his nose for feeding and a line is still in his chest for drawing blood. The doctors have told her we will never know how long he will live but to cherish every single moment. He is so gorgeous and has no idea what is happening, he has a smile for everyone. Thank you for sharing that dano, it gives some hope, i'm glad your little fella is doing well.

Congratulations!

Ok thanks, really not looking forward to wearing one, but i guess i have to!

I just got my black belt in may and my training is just the same, however the time coming up to my black belt grading i trained harder than i ever had before because i really needed to build up some stamina. Now, though i am finding my training hard, the combinations are more tricky and i am finding them quite tireing. Also the new kata's i am learning are hard to grasp too. As for training i train just hard, put in just as much effort and still twice a week, just as i did before....i'm just finding this black belt thing a challenge lol

we don't use them but the ladies are welcome to wear breast protectors if they wish.

Thanks guys lots of helpful information. So do they make you gag then? Lots of people have mentioned that.

I was born there! Don't remember it very well though lol

That looks really nice..cool!

Hi guys. I'm hoping to enter a tournament in september and obviously i will need to purchase a mouth guard. My problem is this, i have large prominent front teeth which unfortunatly stick out farther than the normal persons teeth. Do mouth guards come as a standard size and would i have to have one specially made? Also if i did have to have one specially made how do i go about doing this? Cheers guys. Kez x

Thanks Jeet!

We practise both ball of the foot and instep. To be honest i much prefere the instep i can get much more power from the kick that way, i find it difficult to kick with the ball of the foot.

Since i have started teaching occasionally, i tend to forget the terms in Japanese, so i am currently trying to learn them....i'm forever getting them mixed up and then i get funny looks from the students lol

A good thread, that no-one seems to have an answer to lol I too am proud of bruises, i don't know why. Sometimes i think it's because i know i have had a good fighting and fitness session. The only time i don't like my bruises is when i go training a day or so later and they hurt like mad when they get knocked again.