Oli

I have that. i have a few students that sometimes, i feel like dropkicking them, johnny wilkinson style, out of the window because they test my patience so much but i stick at them. Alot of parents send their children to my class because they want them to have discipline, if i send them back to the parents saying i won't teach them cos they're not disciplined enough, isn't that my failing. I also reckon that its the real nightmare children that give the most rewards at the end. I like a challenge and i see them as my challenge. I've been trying to think up ways to instill a little more discipline in my more difficult students and have been watching 'Supernanny', on channel 4 for some idea's. I've not tried it yet, but the woman in the program, raves about her 'naughty step'. Would a naughty stance work? Set the rules out, make sure all the children know the bounderies, what they can and can't do, and if they cross it, they go in the naughty stance for two minutes. Maybe shiko dachi cos it's painful. What do you think?? If it works on the telly, surely it must be right

Hey there Ashworth (Jean). Thanks for mentioning https://www.gkrkarate.net. It's a great site, full of loads of information and tips, i'll check it as soon as and have a look for you. gkrkarate.org is also a great site for information, as is the new site, Gkrkarate.com, which has the MyGkr site (Just made) on it. They're all great if you want to have a look. I look forward to seeing you again on Thursday, don't forget, we're sparring from the start of the lesson and i fully intend to score as many ippon's on you as i can. Stay Safe Oli (Your sensei)

I know something that definately shouldn't be said to sensei that was said to me a little while back. I told the child to Yame He told me to shut up. he spent a long time in the corner of the dojo and will never train with me again.

True, i have never used a move that i've learned for a kata during Kumite. I've never caught someones heel with my one hand and struck it with the other like in Seiunchin and i've never thrown someone they way you would in Empi. But while i haven't taken the specific moves into Kumite, there are other things i have taken. Through learning Kata, i've gained a better understanding of my stances, i've learned how to move my body better, developing flow and speed. Through learning explosive Kata's, i've gained more power in my techniques, through learning the slower kata's, i've developed timing and movement. And because i practice my Kata endlessly, going over each move time and time again until i can perfect them and get them to the best of my ability, i've improved my coordination, my patience, my stamina, my endurance and my tolerance. And while i can get all these things by working on my Kumite endlessly, it's nice to have more than one way of getting the same goal.

I think it's possible you've taken my post in a light it wasn't intended for. I was simply referring to 'My story' and the fact that as yet, i've never needed to hit anyone. The post asked for us to explain times when we've needed to use MA and how effective it has been. That was my answer. God knows i agree with you. Some situations do demand more than an arm lock. I would be much happier with one of my students coming in to class and telling me how he had broken the knee of a mugger rather than having to visit him in hospital. We don't learn these techniques to never use them, there is a time and a place. As for the second point The second you have to hit someone, you've lost. edit: unless you're a female being assaulted down a dark alley, then hit them till they stop bleeding i firmly believe the first line, in that no-one wins a fight, that was my point there, sorry if it sounded like a double standard. As for the second line. It's not that i'm giving one the rights to use lethal techniques and not the other. Males have just as much need to use them in dangerous situations and in my class i do teach it. It's just that I have a very real hatred for anyone that hurts a female and it stems from personal reasons. In my own opinion, if someone attacked me, i'd first try to talk my way out of it, if it wasn't possible, i'd end it as quickly as possible, stopping the threat, then walking away, having caused as little damage as possible before called the police. But i strongly believe that any man that attacks a woman deserves to get their face ripped off. And i never said, getting stabbed is 'manly'.

I have 3 white heavyweight Gi's. The first one i washed in a hotter wash and over time it went yellow. I later found out that the hot wash 'fixes' the sweat to it and basically paints it with the stuff. (I thought it was fabric softener as well but it turned out not to be) The other two i wash at 30 and they're both fine, I just use your standard washing powder and conditioner. I tumble dry them as well and never had any problems.

I suppose it depends how flexible your calf is. I know people that can't strike with the heel cos their foot doesn't go back easily enough, especially for higher targets. I've always kicked with the ball of the foot, it's closer to the target and you're putting the power into a smaller surface area with the ball than with the heel or the whole foot. The down side to kicking with the ball i find is that if you don't pull your toes back far enough, ouch, especially bare footed. And in my opinion, the downside to kicking with the heel is it takes me longer to prepare and prepares at a later stage of the kick (The higher the kick, the later the heel gets to the right angle) which means that if someone moves onto the kick to smother it, my foot isn't in the right shape. Thats not the general opinion, just my own.

I do a couple of games for kids in my class. The first is 'The Mitts game' which they love. It's easy, all you do is ball up a couple of soft sparring mitts and you've got everything you need. the rules are as follows 1) If the mitt hits you below the belt, you're out 2) No running with the Mitt (Without the mitt you can do what you like) 3) No over arm throws (From experience, some twelve year olds have one heck of a throw on them and if they spank a seven year old in the face, even with a soft mitt, it hurts!), underarm only (it keeps the mitt low) 4) If you want to move with the mitt, you have to drop it and push it across the floor. Thats it! I use it as a reward, if they work hard, they play the mitts game, for the special few that work very hard, they start with a mitt. They LOVE it and they don't realise that it's good for them. i use it as a warm down at the end, also it promotes awareness and helps reflexes. Game 2. Submarines and Airoplanes. It's got NOTHING to do with Karate but its a nice reward. Number the walls 1 to 4 (cept if you have mirrors, don't use those walls). If you shout 1, they run to wall one, two to wall two e.t.c. Shout submarines, they all lie on their backs with one arm in the air 'being' submarines. Shout Aeroplanes, they all lie on their front with their arms outstretched 'being' airoplanes. last one to complete the instruction i.e. last one to a wall or last to sub or aeroplane position is out. You can be imaginative as well, subs, areoplanes, cars, animals, anything you like including stances. Game 3 Back hand tag Put your left hand behind your back, keep it there. If anyone taps your hand(Be firm on the word Tap, kids get overexcited and that tapping the hand quickly becomes annihilating the hand without proper supervision) you're out. If you move your hand away from your back, you're out. No lying on the floor or putting your back to a wall, basically no hiding your hand. It's a great one, they love it and it encourages them to be aware of their personal space and keep their wits about them, all the while, running like nutters and having a great time. Game 4 Races Loads of variations on this one and it gets them competitive. Split them into even teams and get them in lines on one side of the dojo. When the game starts, the person at the front of each line has to run to a mark opposite (About 15foot is fine), turn around and perform a certain amount of a technique (e.g. 10 mai Geri or 15 mawashi empi), kiai on the last technique, then run back to their line at which point the next person goes. First team to have all their people back and standing in a certain stance wins. I also do stance races. I get them into rows again facing the same way, same as before. The person in front must move to a specific point ahead of them and then come back in whilst in stance and balancing a mitt on their head (Stops them coming up in stance or leaning too far in any one direction). When they get back (again 15 feet is a good distance from the start to the mark), it's the next persons turn, so they get to mitt, balance it and then go. If the mitt falls off or if the stance isn't up to par, they go back to the start. First team back wins! (i find Zenkutsu Dachi and neko Ashi Dachi work best, but any stance where they move backwards and forwards in drills will work fine) Both games have loads of variations if you're imaginative, i've had courses and twists and turns rather than straight lines. I've even had people standing on the side throwing mitts at the runners during the first game, so if they get hit, they go back to the start (No throwing the mitts at them whilst they performing their techniques though. I create a danger area in the running section that the kids have to cross, so they know when they're safe and when they have to watch for the mitts. I've even involved the parents watching at the sidelines, employing them to throw mitts at their own children (Not at other children, they don't like it! lol) and watching their child's stance. Hope these are of some use

There's some rather unpleasant attacks in there. Admittedly, dependant on the situation, i teach some not particularly nice techniques (Anyone that attacks a woman deserves all the eye gouges he gets) but the punching to the throat? You have to be very careful who you teach that one to. This is my story Although never being in a street fight (I'm a very confident 6'7, i find it's a real deterrent for most people, my confidence more than my size) i've had to use MA many times having been employed as security for various companies. Saying this, i've never thrown a punch or a kick at anyone outside of my Dojo. I've only ever need to use the most basic of blocks and simple restraints and i've never been hit. My philosophy is simple, winning the fight isn't about smearing the other person across the concrete, it's about stopping it without getting hurt. If i can do that by applying a basic finger or arm lock on someone till the anger is diffused then i've won in the best way possible. This has even worked when there have been multiple attackers by locking up the one and keeping him in the way of the others while talking to them. The second you have to hit someone, you've lost. edit: unless you're a female being assaulted down a dark alley, then hit them till they stop bleeding

Hi all. I've just stumbled across the site so i thought i'd pay a visit. I've been training in GKR for a number of years and been teaching for 1 and a half. As a style, it's straightforward and from working in security for a while, has proven its effectiveness time and again. (i know they say that if you find yourself in a fight that your martial arts has failed you already , this was part of the job though). Anyways, i look forward to some interesting chats. (For Tigerdude - GKR is Go Kan Ryu, it's a blending of Shotokan And Go Ju. It contains many of the same Kata e.g. Bassai Dai and Saifa, and the same Kumite style as Shotokan [short and to the point]. It was created by Kancho Robert Sullivan 23 years ago and has dojo's through the Britain, Oz, New Zealand and parts of America.