Dobbersky

I've got just shy of 100 books in my personal collection, around 15 of them are in regards to Kumite/Sparring It depends on what type of sparring you wish to do! Specify the Rules and we'll try and assist I remember seeing a book on Amazon for Goju Kumite not so long ago!!!

I was wondering why do different schools have different coloured belts and in different sequences. I love reading the Ethos behind the colours too. I'm not too sure if they acturally put some real thought process into it or whether it was just hype to "Sell" the grades My Sequence is: White - Red - Purple - Blue - Yellow - Orange - Green - Brown - Brown/Black1 (Brown/white1 - kids) - Brown/Black2 (Brown/white2 - kids) - (Black/white1 - kids) - (Black/white2 - kids) - Black - Black/Red My reasoning White - comes with the Gi Red - I'm a Man City Fan so bottom of the Pile Purple - is a Mix or Red & Blue Blue - as it was the lowest grade in Ashihara karate Yellow - next highest grade Orange - its a nice colour and its close to Yellow Green - it was the next closest to Brown Brown - always the highest Karate Kyu Grade Brown/Black1 - Its a brown belt with a black stripe through its because these days people winge if they dont get anything more that a bit of electrical tape Brown/Black2 - Its a brown black split belt again its because these days people winge if they dont get anything more that a bit of electrical tape and after 12 months or failing Dan grade the belt is reverse so black on top instead of brown on top. (If Stocks depleated, this would become Black/White1 belt) Brown/white1, Brown/white2 - kids - Same as above but didn't want to have any black in a junior Grade. Black/white1, Black/white2 - kids - Didn't want a FULL Black belt for a Junior Grade) Black - its a Universal colour for Dan grades, No Dan Bars at all to be shown as the user should be able to portray their grade without the need to label their belts with it Black/Red Block Belt - a Master's Belt - to distinguish between technical grades and Time served Grades. Only compulsary to be worn on Gradings and Seminars, otherwise Black belt may be worn. Choice of Colour(s) - same as the Retro Man City Away Stripe top As you can see not pretty reasoning for the belt sequence and yes some of the grades "seem" mixed up but hey, its my school lol What are your thoughts and reasoning behind your belts and what colours would you have if you had a choice?

I'm the same, I've never actually "failed" any of my students because I will not test them until they can pass!!! I have a 1st Kyu who has been a 1st Kyu for 2 years, until he is at a standard I expect for 1st Dan. Although it is a Junior Dan Grade it is still a Dan Grade 9he will however have to grade for Adult 1st Dan when he is 16. I have also had a 3rd Kyu who waited 9 months before I passed him for 2nd Kyu. I have seen students failed and I know that the failed students left shortly after they failed. This was at a different School to mine! I think Failure is not a good thing as my personal view is that if a student fails a grading then the Instructors who were responsible for their training ALSO failed. Unless of course they just completely messed up on the day!!!

As this is a more Traditional karate base I will not impose Only to say that in my style we do turn the standing for slightly outward to open the hips up. A lot of Old school Karateka suffer from bad joints etc. why 1 reason could be the incorrect positioning of their bodies when performing techniques etc! I know the knowledge on here you WILL find an answer to your quest Welcome to the Forum

I would agree to a point, so I would add that I would strategically retreat. Turning your back on a knife attacker could involve being stabbed in the back as you run away!!!! There's loads of Dojo based knife defences but I would have to say the ONLY ones I would trust to use are the Filipino methods.

I ALWAYS spar with my students, I use it to instructor guide and inform them of the short comings and of their strengths. It is a custom in my Dojo, not too sure if this is a knock-down thing but when a possible knockout strike is applied the receiver congratulated the striker with an "OSU" I always advise that they can make mistakes in the dojo but should do their best to make the same mistakes on the street! "Subete no ningenwa, umarenagara ni shitejiyū de ari, katsu, songentokenrito ni tsuitebyōdō de aru. Ningenwa, riseitoryōshinto o sazukerareteori, tagai ni dōhō no seishinn o mottekōdōshinakerebanaranai." Translation: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Precisely - I agree. Your there to train mutually with someone, not to knock out every other student in the dojo. Everyone is (or should be) there for the same reason - to better themselves. It comes down to how hard people want to go. If you want to fight at 100% and really cause some damage, enter a full-contact or bare-knuckle tournament. Excellent, this is exactly what its about. In our resepctive dojos we are there to help and assist each other. It doesn't make any sense to knock someone out in our own Dojo as it doesn't help that person learn anything. I watched a Dan Grading and I was disappointed in the levels of Sparring that was happening amongst other things. The Candidate grading was "knocked out" 3 or 4 times during the 30 min onslaught or opponnents. I can't believe someone can be knocked out cold and then within seconds of getting to their feet be ready to rumble again so quickly. Personally, I would have failed the candidate for that particular grading but it wasn't my Dojo.

Strange that either Knock-Down KarateKa (Kyokushin, Ashihara or Enshin) have responded with the Full Contact Levels of continuous Sparring or the Hard Sparring of the Okinawan styles like Shuri Ryu or Goju Ryu (Note GoKanRyu are NON-Contact and not to be mistaken for GOJU Ryu/Kai). In my school it goes from Shadow Sparring up to Full on for Dan Grades. And my one rule: "THE LOWER GRADE CONTROLS THE PACE" In other words if the lower grade wants light contact then the higher grade will spar light contact. But if the lower grade wants full contact the higher grade gives full contact. If same grade them its a "gentleman's agreement".

I believe, correct me if I am wrong that there are "levels" of bowing, the Junior level should ALWAYS bow lower than the more senior level, to the fact that a Kaicho/Kancho/Soke (to me these are of the same level they are all head of the style/organisation) would just give a 'nod' of the head.

What are we bowing to? We're bowing to the ethos of what is a sub-culture, as the martial arts we study are predominately of Asian Origin, Bowing is something that is a part of everyday life, so its the same as Saluting in the Armed Forces or Shaking someones hand etc Who are we bowing to? To each other as a mark of respect! Are we bowing to the person? Yes, Respect is earned not dictated Are we bowing to the rank? Yes, but out of respect for our seniors Are we bowing to an object? No, never, I am a Christian and bowing to an object is not for me to do. I know that some styles like Aikido bow to a Photo of "O Sensei" but this to me is just honouring a "Passed" teacher

My Best friend was doing a Demo with a guy from another club and got his Cheekbone broken from a round kick to the head. (my only issue was my friend was told to take it easy because the other guy was "injured" I bet you can guess what we both thought of that!!! We're not doing any more "InterClubs" with them anyways

Its easy to say that rank is not important once you got it but how many of you would give up your current grade and start again at White Belt? I am sure a few would say they but how many would actually do it!!! I have many times worn a white belt and coloured belts in styles when I hold Black belts in others!!! I've 'begun again' so many times but in my school I graded for my Dan grades wearing my 'original' white belt!!! I challenge you all to wear a white belt for the next month and then tell me its not important. Its a humbling experience and please don't use the "My Sensei won't allow it" excuse

How many kata in your style and what are they? Do you question its reasoning for being within the syllabus. Do you wish other Kata were within your syllabus? Do you wish that some Kata weren't in your syllabus? And any other questions you may have? I was looking at another thread and was wondering, in the original Classical Karate probably around 4 - 5 kata were practice and these Kata are considered as complete fighting styles not just 'empty' Forms In my style we have 18 kata. Sometimes I think it is too many. Sometimes I think I'm Ashihara Karate why do I practice Traditional Kata, I don't know I feel it gives my Karate strong roots. A base from where to grow from. Should I give up some of my traditional kata and if I did which ones do I keep? Ashihara "Based" Kata are: Taikyoku Kata 1-3 (my creations) Shoshin Sho & Dai Kihon Sho Kumite Sho & Dai Nage Sho & Dai Goshin Dai Jissen Dai Traditional Kata are: Naihanchi Kata Bassai Kata Niseishi Kata Shichi Hoochi Kata (Chil Sung Ee Ro Hyung) Koryo Kata (WTF Poomsae) Goshin Jutsu Kata (Kodokan Judo)

Very true! Totally agree, I always presume that this is as important as the warm up exercises!!! And that it is always done in every class, OSU!!!

SOLID POST Never a true phrase written. I always tell my students that their match maybe just around the next corner!!!

I'm not too sure about Enshin Kata but Ashihara kata only have Round Kicks depicted in them. My favourite "round" kick is Jikuashi Geri. I know Kyokushin, Ashihara and Enshin Karateka use this kick

You will find that a majority of kicks in Clasiscal Karate and Okinawan Kata etc were original taught to delivered no higher than Gedan level, Chudan was a "rare" technique in Kata/Karate. I believe, please correct me if I am wrong, that it wasn't until the popularity of Tae Kwon Do did Japanese Karate start to add Chudan and Jodan Kicks to its arsenal. I also believe that Tobo Geri Waza (jumping Kicks) again was a quite recent development within Traditional/Modern Karate

Most Competitions are regulated by governing bodies such as the JKA, JKF, WKO, WKA and WUKO etc. It does stipulate the use of mats etc in the terms and conditions of their Kumite Rules including sizes etc. Also I believe that it is a general requirement from an insurance point of view that mats of some discription are used. For Kata it is a different issue. I have seen in Videos on You Tube that local competitions being held I think in a hotel or conference centre being performed on carpets with the "areas" taped out. I would suggest contacting the above Karate Bodies to see if they would be able to provide the info, unless of course someone of here knows

Well its been a long an hard search but I've managed to find one school that practices the "Non Sine Wave" ITF. So I'm going for my free lesson ASAP. Will let you know how it goes!!! All going well, I should get my long awaited BB in TKD after all

Brilliant, LMAO. PMSL I spat my coffee all over my keyboard LOL Yes Agreed the Later is slightly different but could be considered as A Japanese method of serving various types of noodles, in particular udon.

I would go direct to Honbu in Japan/Okinawa and see if anyone there would recommend an Organisation you could become a member of.

Most people wear Jeans or formal pants, now these are rather restrictive in the "high" of any possible kicks etc that "could" be done. Also if your are one of these youths that likes to wear there pants "below" the waist (PANTS ON THE GROUND), you got more chance of tripping up than landing a descent kick to someone's head I can understand your quest but you'll find that knowledge and experience leads to kicking low as there is more balance and less chance of the kick being caught. What you need to look at is that in the movies anyone can look good and of course they'll use all the fantastice methods of kicking and aoerobic but this is all choreographed for the scene. In a real situation you haven't got a clue what your attacker is going to do until they start doing it.

You dont need to be a Nth Degree Black Belt with Championships left right and centre to have confidence!!! Infact you don't need to be trained in martial arts either!!! I've know middle Kyu (Gup/Kup) grades with more confidence in Sparring etc than some lower grade Dan Grades. MR Judobrah, I'm not too sure if you are mixing up Ego with Confidence. Martial arts is NOT about EGO we are not CobraKai (from KarateKid) for most of us Mr Miyagi is more of a role model than any other characters from Cobrakai

Wish you lived near me, I practice Knockdown Karate! FreeStyle is OK for most as its ethos is it doesn't draw loyalty to any of the styles although some clubs the Instructor trained themselves in a Traditional style upto varying levels. Freestylers tend to not have to worry about Kata etc and tend to look at WKA & WUKO rules for their sparring etc. If the Instructor's good they will draw what you need and assist you with it!

The Characters were not On my Blackberry no, but after seeing them on my Computer I can see them now. I thank you Sojobo for you assistance. looking forward to training with you this year at your Dojo, it would be an honour