ashworth

Thanks! Slowly getting used to the new forum, and it is growing on me! great work Patrick! the time and dedication that you put into this community continues to amaze me!

Definitely!! I have always been good at knowing my left from my right, and it surprises me when someone doesn't... Makes me laugh every time when my wife has to hold up her index finger with her thumb sticking out to see which one is her left hand!

Finally! been able to change my Avatar! The old one was very outdated! Getting used to the new look! was a shock when I just signed in for the first time in a while!

Congrats on the award for the 3rd time!

Good luck for the up-coming grading!!

Welcome to the Forum!

Congrats!

Huge congrats Noah! I saw your post on social media about this already and wondered if you would post about it on here I keep tabs on videos that you post and agree that all of these awards are well deserved and your late sensei would be very proud!

In my eyes 10th Dan was usually reserved for heads of organisation so for me I would never expect to see two 10th Dan in the same club!

Congrats on your Nidan!!

I also find that your knowledge and understanding of techniques will grow as your students encounter issues that you haven't come across before. Being a karate-ka that started from the age of 5, when it came to start thinking about what I was actually doing the techniques just seems to come naturally, and because of this when I started teaching, students would hit speed bumps where something doesn't quite seem right and I struggled to identify some of these, as for me it just felt natural. I feel like you almost have to learn the mistakes and how to solve them. Overtime you learn all the common mistakes and have tricks up your sleeve to help solve them, then every now and then someone will come along with a new mistake you haven't encountered yet, just to give you something to think about...

All of my martial art certificates are just kept in a plastic wallet folder, keeps them all in one place. Including my dan grade certificates, I don't discriminate, grading certificates from when I was a child are kept in the same folder as Dan grades

Congrats!

Already 11 days in... but happy New Year everyone!!

Hello, we are fast approaching the end of this year, I was looking for some kind of new year goal post, but didn't find one (Apologies if I simply missed it!) I used to be quite enthusiastic about setting goals for the new year, but to be honest, since becoming a family man and then when the covid pandemic hit, my simple goal has just been to survive... Which I am please to report I have been achieving! But now since I have returned to an old dojo about 4/5 months ago this have revived my views towards my training and goals... So my main goal within the new/old club is to keep up the attendance that I have maintained for the past 4/5 months but I would also like to learn the rest of their kata (I currently know 9 out of their 11 kata, but I am half way through learning the 10th one already. Within my own karate I would like to simply maintain practise of the syllabus and kata to ensure I don't forget them. and to also keep up visiting the dojo once a month with select members to keep my karate alive (some black belts from the new/old club have expressed interest in training with me and learning from my style, so wish to make sure I can still deliver for those individuals). Also with my revival of training enthusiasm, I have been focusing more on Kobudo training and have learnt some kata there that and I simply wish to maintain and study further. Aside from the martial art side of things, in my everyday life I have the simple goal of just trying to keep up! we have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. My wife makes the majority of the plans, and it can be very difficult to try and keep up with what we are doing! a lot of the times I just feel like I'm along for the ride! So this year I want to try and focus more there so I know whats going on! What about yourselves? any goals or thoughts on the upcoming year?

Congrats!!

Good to know... I'm having a better week than last week. despite being full of a cold for the whole weekend

Yeah I am like that. To be honest my class has been running at a lose for a little while, never wanted to put pressure on my passion by trying to make an income from it. I'm just happy doing karate and passing it onto others. I'm friendly with an Aikido group in the area and they rent us their dojo for a decent rate. I have also used space at my work to run a session for someone, (but this is a small space and only big enough for 1 on 1 sessions. The space was an empty office at our company, which they allowed me to turn into a gym, have various equipment in there but have recently moved a few things around to provide more floor space, mainly for myself and my own training, but I do have the option to run a private session there if needed.

Thanks for all of your input and for sharing your own stories. Zaine, I know it's strange but I'm glad I'm not alone, I completely understand what you mean about just seeing the word gave you panic attacks. That's how I have been feeling, I have been avoiding it. Finally found the courage to visit a friends class last night, being meaning to for ages, but kept making excuses. The lead up to the class was so intense for me, at home before leaving I was so nervous and my anxiety levels were through the roof! heavy breathing, legs feeling heavy, took a lot of effort just leaving the house! right up until I walked through the doors to the dojo I just kept thinking about getting back into my car and going home... But I didn't! I made it into the class, saw a couple of instructor friends that I have know for ages, met some new ones, took part in the class and everything was fine! was a very friendly group and I'm hoping to go again next week! Also another further development since I started this post. I had an appointment at my GP surgery with a mental health practitioner, talked a bit more about the anti-depressants that I'm on and that I need to be aiming for 90mins of exercise a week to aid their effectiveness. To be honest I'm not far from that anyway. Also talked about my sleep and my sleep Apnea (something that hasn't been confirmed yet) he has suggested I get an appointment with my doctor for testing that, I also have another appointment with the mental health practitioner in a months time for a follow up and to decide the next step. Glad that I am taking the steps to improve the current situation, feeling more positive today...

I have been thinking about writing this post for a while, but it has proven difficult. I wasn't completely sure where to post this, as I saw this as a general MA topic, but then an instructor topic, but the overall subject of it is mental health so figured it could fit here... Nowadays you will find that most people have suffered with mental health issues in some way or another in various different forms, so I expect many of you may be able to relate to this post in someway. I have had a recurring on-going battle with depression for a little over 10 years, I have seen a therapist, and gone through different CBTs (cognitive behavioural therapy) but it's something that has kept coming back. Had a few big time issues that potentially contributed to this, an unpleasant family split when I was 7 which lead to a scary childhood with an angry father until I was able to leave him after countless family court hearings. Then later in life losing twins in a miscarriage that my other half went through. Whilst all of this was in the past, and I felt relatively over it all. I have found myself slipping back further into my depression than I ever was before, despite my life being significantly better. Now I am in a happy marriage and have two gorgeous girls, one 3 and then other will be 1 in September. But I have felt a change in my identity, I suppose I may be going through an identity crisis? Obviously becoming a father is a big life changing event and changes are expected. My Karate and martial arts in general has always been a big part of who I am, but for the past couple of years I haven't been able to put the time and effort into my club that I should have, and it has definitely suffered. A couple of months ago I made a difficult decision to stop running my weekly class and just run a class once a month for those students interested, this is more for myself really because I hate the idea of my club not being there... but with money being tight, there not being enough students to break even and finding it difficult to make it every week due to home life with little ones, this was something I had to do. Since this decision I have found that I don't regret it, my personal and family life must come first, but I don't feel like myself sometimes and my depression kicks in, I have thought about attending a normal class with other instructors that I know who have always said that I'm welcome, but I have found myself making excuses and struggling to get round to doing it. With my own training I'm having the same motivational issues, but when I do get around to training it feels very emotional, especially when I go through Kata. I can't figure out if it's a good or bad emotion though. Sometimes the voice in my head says that karate has failed me (this is during my depression episodes, my rational head knows that this isn't the case) Anyway, I feel happy that I have managed to get this off of my chest, especially after wanting to post about it for so long, I think I have explained myself, I feel like I'm missing something but I can't think what, if I remember I'll add it at a later date. But for now, this will do. Has anyone else been through this kind of issue with running their club or just your own training in general?

When I was a younger I was seeing the instructors daughter, then I ended up starting my own club, she came with me and help me run the classes. It did work well for a while but just wasn't meant to be and I had to move away. Fast forward a fair few years and I had a girlfriend become a student, then we decided to have a baby... and then another one... so she hasn't been able to return to the dojo yet... We are married now too

Big congratulations on your Grading!

Welcome back!

I second Nidan's comment, as I also do both depending on what I'm using the kick for. Something that I do which may or may not help, is have all my toes pointing pointing down while my big toe points up, I feel this just helps give me the right foot shape and engage the right muscles, but if you issue is flexibility in those muscles then this comment may not help!

Happy New Year everyone!!