wagnerk

Congrats on the Shodan What style/art did you receive it in?

Congrats on the pass, now the real work begins

I've posted my answer in your previous thread, if those two styles are the only ones available to you, then I would suggest going for Chitō-ryū.

Great clips of karate, shows a lot of moves that are in the kata's but (in some clubs and associations) aren't being taught. I don't believe that all of video is purely Shotokan though due to the patches on the Gi's, think that is are some Wado practitioners in there too.

I would say (without getting into the debate of certain karate styles), go for Chito-Ryu. GKR is advertised as non-contact and may not be as effective as a self-defence art.

Agreed In addition to this, I also believe that it doesn't help that alot (not all mind you) "traditional" martial arts clubs and associations only teach the "primary" skill sets of that art, eg with Karate (that includes arts like Tang Soo Do, etc) the primary physical skill set would be punching (strikes) and kicks. Yet there are locks, throws, pins, etc (the "secondary" skills)... that aren't being taught. Just like in Judo there are strikes and kicks, but in some more of the sport oriented clubs/associations they are only taught at the higher levels. Then there are "non-contact" karate associations, that aren't evolved karate, rather de-evolved karate - where the ancient art of origami is more effective. Apart from that there are McDojos/McDojangs - cash for belts... And the list goes on...

Thanks guys, yeah it's an awesome feeing

Martial art goals... 1. To assist in expanding our association (we'll be starting up a new class in January) 2. To continue my journey to 2nd Dan in TSD (but will not be grading for it next year) Non-MA goals... 1. Complete my Post Graduate Certificate (this is 1/3 of a Masters) 2. Complete my Microsoft Certified Educator cert 3. Complete a Project Management cert

Glad you found what you're looking for (I know I'm a bit late add this) but if in the future you want to look around, our TSD association is a member of this: WDSDU.

Just wanted to pass on the good news, I achieved my last goal of the year which was to gain my 1st Dan in Tang Soo Do. About a decade ago, I achieved my Shodan in Shotokan and 2nd Dan in Freestyle karate, however since then (apart from time and life), I've been diagnosed with Sjogren's (pronounced Show-grin's) syndrome and the symptoms have been getting more prevalent. Hence why I'm more pleased with this result. Just glad that I can still do this, not sure what the future holds, but here's to hopefully getting my 2nd dan in about 2 years time

Good luck mate, let us know how you get on

Done

Depends on the individual kata itself, if you practice with bunkai (application) in mind against another person, even an imaginary one you'll develop your own sense of how much power, speed, etc you need to use to deliver those techniques. E.g. Learning the kata at first; I do the kata slowly (to make sure that I use the proper techniques), then with power, then add the timing/speed. Following that, learning the bunkai increases the above

Depends, I've trained with a few different Shotokan clubs and associations and from what I've gleemed from them it really is due to costs and politics. Eg. One association that I trained with decided to move from one governing body to another due to the membership dues that he had to pay. With another association a whole group of senior (now ex) JKA karate-ka's left due to the way the JKA was managed after the death of Enoeda Sensei. The question is can you live & train with something you don't believe in (or afford) or not. If not, then you have to do something about it. NAKMAS, while they server a purpose, isn't a pure shotokan governing body or association - they are a generic martial arts governing body; offering things like insurance, policies, a black belt register, certificate templates, etc. To my knowledge, individual clubs are left to run how they want to run. It would be unfair to label all clubs that are associated to non-specific MA governing bodies as McDojo's, however there are quiet a few McDojo's out there (yes, I've seen a few). There are good and bad things from both yesteryear and today. I do not believe that running a club like it was 30 odd years ago would survive today - there has to have/be a happy medium that focuses on quality, yet allows the instructor to earn from his/her trade (after all while a part-time instructor may teach for the love - there are bills to pay and the full-time instructor needs to eat).

I have to say that I don't have a favorite combination... I do have techniques that I prefer (eg side kick off front leg, reverse punch, backfist strike, etc) though

When I was studying Shotokan as my main art, these are the two books that I used: The Shotokan Karate Handbook: Beginner to Black Belt Shotokan Karate Handbook: Advanced Both written by my sensei at the time and Karate Kata Applications for the bunkai. I also have and use the following DVD: Kancho Hirokazu Kanazawa -Shotokan Karate Kata One thing that I would recommend is getting the book/DVD that is more inline with your "branch" of shotokan, as there are slight variations in the kata's (comparing the main two: "JKA" branch and the "skkif" branch), while I've been to and studied with "both" branches, my main stream as it was, was the SKKIF (as Sensei Kanazawa was one of the instructors that my sensei studied under.)

I agree

While our association does all 3; patterns, sparring, basics. We tend to concentrate on practical self defense and pattern/form applications.

Since there are no Kyokusin karate school's in your area, are there no Shotokan school's in your area? As Shotokan is one of the styles that Kyokusin has history with. Masutatsu "Mas" Oyama (the founder of Kyokusin karate) studied Okinawan Karate under Gichin Funakoshi (the founder of Shotokan karate), and reached the level of 2nd Dan in this style. Added to that the kata's are similar, the work outs can be similar - depending on the school, sparring in the majority of Shotokan schools are semi-contact, but there are also some that do full contact. If there are no other school's in your area, then I would say go for the Goju-Ryu school that is close to you, as something is better than nothing (however please do not think that all Goju-Ryu schools are like this)

IMO, it's basically what's already been said (however there are variations between schools). I did freestyle karate for a little while, but preferred the TMA.

Personally I believe that your rank is not just for life... 1. The martial arts is not just about katas, strikes and throws. It's about self development and improvement. After a break you may not remember some things or may not be able to perform to a certain level, but would your resolve or will be any weaker than someone else who hasn't had a break? Also 2. If it was the case that rank was only for a certain period, why haven't we stripped all the martial artists who have passed already? Eg Funakoshi who was a 5th dan (highest rank at the time), is still regarded as that rank.

When I received my first black belt over 10 years ago it is was Shodan (1st Dan), I never heard of a "provisional" black belt. However within the last 5 years it seems like more and more clubs (reputable and not so reputable) are doing this. TBH, I can't see why - as the grade before (whether it's 1st kyu, 1st Gup, etc) is what prepares you for that grade, imo.

That sounds like a good plan, if you want to start to cross-train. However the main question that you have to ask is: 1. Do you want to cross train or swap arts? As it can be confusing at time, added to the extra hard work

RIP He was one of the greats and pioneers of karate and kickboxing in the "West", plus he was one of the ones that actually earned his black belt in under a year. The karate and kickboxing world has lost a giant among men.

These were/are the prices that I pay/paid Currently: Tang Soo Do: £20 per month for all classes (the first 6 months it was £10pm) as the association is a non-profit one. The price also includes all gradings, membership, insurance, a tee-shirt, etc. In the past (all within the last 15 years): Ex-JKA Shotokan: £5 per lesson (1 1/2 hour lesson) JKA Shotokan: £3.50 per lesson (1 hour lesson) Shotokan (based on skkif): £3.50 per lesson (1 hour lesson, but if you're a higher grade you can participate in the lower classes for free as you'd also be helping out). Shotokan (independent club): £3.50 per lesson (1 1/2 hours lesson). Judo: £3.50 per lesson (1 hour lesson) GKR karate: £6 per lesson (1 1/2 - 2 hours lesson) Ninpo: £3.50 per lesson (1 hours lesson) JKD: £5 per lesson (1 1/2 hour lesson) Kick boxing (American): £5 per lesson (1 hour lesson) Kick Boxing (English): £5 per lesson (1 hour lesson) Kung Fu (Lee Family): £3.50 per lesson (I hour lesson) Kung Fu (Lau Gar): £3.50 (I hour lesson) Tai Chi: £30 for a block of X amount of weeks - forget how many though. Ni-Sen (Ishinryu) karate: £3.50 per lesson (1 hour lesson) Though are the ones that I can remember. Membership, gradings, etc were extra. What I've learnt over the years with the martial arts is that you don't always get what you pay for (alot of people think that the higher the price, the better the art or teaching - not true!). While I don't mind the instructor/sensei earning, I do expect good quality teaching and practice