Abraham_lincoln

So, I've wanted very much to watch the blackbelt graduation for the juniors of the dojo for about a month now. it's the kind of thing that I think "That was the one of the best days of my life." I guess it was only 4 years ago, but that's a lot to me. I forgot to mark it on my calendar or something to help me remember. So, when I go for the arnis class tonight, I find out that it was cancelled, because the blackbelt graduation just finished! Not only that, but my brother's friend, Erik, was one of the 3 juniors who just graduated! I feel especially connected to him, because he was my brother's best friend for a few years, and his progress in the dojo parallels mine when I was his age. What probably threw me off was the mid-term elections, because we had off from school yesterday, so my friends and I went out, which is more of a saturday or sunday thing, so today felt like a monday. I'm mainly just disappoited in myself for letting such a simple thing stop me from seeing something I was so intent on. It's just so frustrating!

I have a set of similar situations. Not many people I know outside the dojo take karate anymore. Inside the dojo, I'm very formal, and pretty aloof. I don't know a lot of people more than I know them in the dojo itself. First, I saw a man I usually pair up with for practice, since we're pretty close in belt rank. I see him around town sometimes, and usually, it's after karate, so I sometimes am still in my gi. I just don't know what to say. This one's a bit less awkward. Another guy in the dojo, Lavar, is my age. We're actually pretty similar, personality wise. He's close friends with a lot of my aquaintances, so we always end up talking to the same person, and we also take the same bus. But for the first few weeks that we realized that we knew each other, we called each other "karate kid". Also, I have a friend on swim team, Bryn, who I only see in summer. By a bizarre coincidence, her boyfriend, Cedric, was the coolest kid in the dojo, when we were 11 or 12. As I remember it, when I was a little kid in the dojo, that was half of my social life. Most of my friendships and crushes were in some way related to karate.

It's actually a strength in arnis, though. Because if you have a good striking opportunity, then you usually should go for the legs, neck or head.

That does sound cool. If only I cold do that with tetsu geta. I could probably make wooden geta, but only tetsu geta if I took a metal shop elective. And I don't like metal shop.

I came in on halloween when I was about 9 or so. I was the only one in class that night. It was really strange, especially because there were 2 instructors and one student. It was actually a pretty good experience, because I could get more personal training. Still, I was pretty freaked out at first, because it was so different and I was only 9.

Back when I was a little kid (about 10 or 11) at the dojo, the dojo "popular kids" said that the coolest was to have a white gi top and black gi pants. Or maybe it was the other way around.

I'm not completely sure, because the requirement changed from when I became a shodan to when I went back to the dojo. But here's my shodan requirement, as far as I know: Taekyoku 1-5, Saishan, Pasai. I think nihanchi 1-3 are required for nidan, but I could be wrong.

There are, as usual, a physical explaination and a mental explaination. In this case, it's some of each. Physically, because you're 3 kyu ahead of him, you have A) Studied more techniques and know more kata, so you have a lot more moves at your disposal. Being stuck with little more than just the basics is obviously a problem. B) You've probably gotten not only your more advanced moves down, but the basics would be more engrained into your muscle memory. Mentally, also because you're 3 kyu ahead of him, you A) Are more used to those sort of situations, even if you both had your first fight yesterday, you would obviously do better, because you would be less frightened by something like that. B) You would be more confident. With a difference like that in your ranks, you would be more confident in your physical shape, as well as your ability to handle yourself.

Talk to your sensei about the situation. See if you can reach a more flexible payment plan. If nothing else works, you can just arrange to come back once you're back on your feet, so to speak. I'm sure they'll understand.

There are actually sort of "designated" types of training equipment for martial arts. Tsubo (Clay pots) Tetsu geta (Iron geta clogs) chi-ishi and ishi zashi are the ones that I know of. Here's one site I found: https://www.bushifitness.com/equipment.htm

To the best of my knowledge: White, orange, yellow, blue and green learn kata Taikiyoku 1-5, one at each belt level. Purple, seishan. Brown: pasai. Shodan: Nihanchi 1-3. Past that, I'm not quite sure. I think then it goes seisan and shinto. Nidan or sandan learn kusanku.

I'm a little embarrassed to say it, but that's why I stopped. People saying things like that is what made me go back.

That depends on a few things. First, age. I started as a 6 year old, and earned my black belt when I was 12. 4 to 6 years, as stated earlier, is normal for an adult, maybe a little closer to 6 for a teen. Also, if you make class a lot, and how hard you work. I go 3 days a week, for an hour a day. And, of course, I work hard. One thing to keep in mind is that the black belt is almost metaphorical, in that it's the goal for martial artists. If you focus on it too much, then it becomes impossible to achieve, because you won't be learning properly, and for the right reason.

i think your style is Ryu-te which goes under shuri-te. what katas do you practice? Taikiyoku 1-5, nihanchi 1-3, Pasai, seishan, seisan, shinto. Those are all of the ones that I see on a regular basis, most of which I know. Also, there are other pictures I forgot, of Nakamura Shigeru, and Motobu Chokki.

In our black belt exams, we drill the basics a lot, then go to kata. I recall mine being physically gruelling and relentless. I even quit the first time, being only 12. Basically, we do about 80 push ups and 400 bicycle sit ups as a warm up. We get a night to rest, before the second part in the morning. Each part is about 2 hours long. For the basics, we do a rediculous amount of punches and kicks, as well as testing the more obscure kicks, like a moon kick (keep your leg straight, and swing it around in a circle.) Kata is pretty much how you would expect it to be. A lot of emphasis on focus, power, and precise movements. What do your black belt exams require of you?

I do. I'm not quite sure what you mean by branch. If it helps, there are pictures in the wall of our dojo of Oyata Seiyu. he was like the grandfather of our dojo, in the way that our o-sensei studied under George Dillman, who studied under Oyata Seiyu.

I do shorin ryu too. I don't hear of many other people who do, so it's always nice to have someone else who studies it.

I sort of like that feeling of a new belt. It lets you savor a new belt rank for a while. We all know how long it can be before you move up in belt rank again. Especially once you reach the dan level. Maybe I'm just a bit too sentimental about this though.

Correct. We sometimes have seminars. Most of the time, it's an arnis seminar of some sort. On occasion, we have a seminar like what you described, about learning kata from different styles. Ironically, we usually do at least a bit of the things we learned at the seminar in class, sort of defeating the point of having a seminar in the first place.

Yeah, this one is one I've wondered about too. I'm usually the sempai in question, or it's another shodan. Back when I was a little kid, half the little dragons (the little kids) I knew went to my school, or I saw them a lot. Now, the teen/adult classes have maybe 5 teenagers. (I don't really know, just a guess.) I keep seeing a person I know from the dojo around school. We usually just wave, but it feels sort of awkward.

Our classes are mostly mixed rank. (Except arnis, that's usually black belts. In our dojo, arnis starts around 3rd kyu.) Usually, about half 9th-6th kyu students, and then the other half is 2nd kyu - 2nd dan. The higher belts usually partner with the lower belts for most of the class, and then the lower belts split off to work on basic techniques and the higher belts practice whatever kata they're on.

I hope I can help, considering that I actually practice shorin ryu. I usually focus more on the distribution of my weight between both legs, rather than focusing on how much to bend. The front leg should have only the toes and the balls of your feet touching the ground, and the back foot should be perpindicular to the front foot. So that if you were to put your front foot down, they would form a right angle. Kata wise, I'm working on kata pasai, which uses a cat stance at two different points in the kata (Here's a video- ) First, there's a cat stance about 23 seconds in, after the punches from a scissor stance. Then, the second time is about 50 seconds in, after the blocks from a scissor stance.

I don't really have any suggestions, but you could just play the karate kid soundtrack, if it exists. Good luck in the tournament.

After 3 pages, someone is bound to have posted something like this somewhere, but I'll say it anyway. Kata contain so many moves and stance combinations that are somewhat obscure, and true, some of them might be useless, at least in most practical applications. Kata, as I see it, is there to teach these obscure move and stance combinations. If there were no kata to learn, martial arts would just be a plateau, limited by conventional moves and maneuvers. Kata are there so that you commit these moves to memory, and eventually, muscle memory. You then don't even have to think about the kata, as you do it. Likewise, in a practical scenario, if you can use kata, your movements and attacks would be less predictable, and for the most part, more powerful. I see a lot of other students in the dojo talking to the sensei about kata. Telling them how they see a certain move, and asks what the sensei's view of the move can be. If you just practice kata, and don't study it, only then does it become useless.

Most or all of those things, but some more than others. Respect, for one. Focus and perseverence, those were another big thing. Most of all, physical fitness, and reflexes. After leaving and before starting again, I noticed a big lag in both of those.