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The dojo I train at takes what I am told is the traditional approach. Bunkai is revealed for the direct simple moves but in the more elaborate ones it is not for the most part. At Brown/BB level focus becomes the practical application.

Ooops... should have been an option for "all about the bunkai" but I did not create the poll correctly. Sorry

I was talking with Shihan Dai at my dojo today and he mentioned that some schools (non traditional) teach pretty much all Bunkai, while schools like I go to show a bit of the Bunkai but leave most of it for at or near black belt level. I was wondering if people here reveive a lot of bunkai (practical application of the moves) in their training? Al

I can't say I have seen many that I know shave. I myself have been shaving my entire body for several years now. Not for MA reasons but because I don't like being as hairy as I am (pretty much as shaggy as Robin Williams). I think shaving looks better as well. Helps show off the defined muscles you get with intense MA training IMO.

I think all forms of training help you be a better fighter on the street, but this does not mean you will be good at it. One person might find it immensely useful while another will not. Competing in Tournaments helps a MA with focus and giving them a goal for many hours of training. IE it is one thing to pass your belt test with many, it is another to compete with many and be awarded 1st place.

Great! Do keep us posted.

Recently I was talking to Kyoshi at our Dojo about this. He wondered why people think they have to be in shape before they join Karate. His thinking was that one should not use their "shape" as an excuse not to join. MA will help get a person into shape for sure. Any of the bigger people I have seen that are seriously committed to doing MA have lost weight in the course of their training and I think had a lot more fun than spending time in a gym.

I have been learning a new kata Shiho Hai. It starts off with four Shiko Dashi stances facing in four directions. I have a hard time holding these stances low enough with my back not leaning forward. If I keep the tops of my thighs parallel with the ground while in the stance I have to lean forward to keep me from going over backwards. Sensei that is teaching me it says I should be able to do this. Keep my back straight and 90 degrees in relationship to the ground and also have my thighs parallel to the ground while doing the squat. Any thoughts or tips? My thigh muscles are very strong and I have often been told that I do my low stances very well by senior students BTW.

Yes you better find out what type of competition you are going into. Kata is quite different than Kumite, but I am sure your Sensei knows what you are ready for. Good luck!

I have two tattoos. A tribal pattern on my lower back and a smaller complimenting one in the middle of my back near the base of my neck. When I reach black belt status I plan on adding some Japaneese writing on my shoulder blade. Not sure if I will get more tattoos. I love tribal patterns myself.

I just read in a book that soaking the stains in warm diluted vinegar will remove them. Next wash I will try this and see.

It was fun. Not sure about next one. Late April there is a Sihi (sp) but likely no novice belts for me to really compete against so I am thinking about going into a bigger one in early May.

Yes I am not sure what the exact restrictions are but rank Gi's come later on. For now I must wear white

Congrats Pro!

I found some liquid stuff called Zout that I used on the underarms and followed this up with som rubbing in of pure sunlight bar soap. Well it helped a lot but not completely gone, but this combo had done the best job of anything I have tried so far. Thanks

My brother in law (Ninjitsu Sensei I will refer to him as BIL) witnessed two MA experts doing full contact sparing. They started off doing less devastating contact then one of them tried repeated axe kicks. After some warnings not to use this technique the guy being attacked unleashed a lightning fast spin kick. Made full contact with the guy's face and broke his jaw and nose. BIL does not recommend most people use either in a real fight due to how easily telegraphed the techniques are, but the spin kick guy had the fastest spin kick he had ever seen. The first guy's axe kick was pretty good too but BIL feels it is ineffective unless the person you are using it on is dazed or already on down and cannot defend against it easily. I have not seen it ever used. I am new to MA and as I said it is an illegal technique in sparing.

Errr ummm the thought crossed my mind but my expertise is in windows device driver writing and not applications. I also seem to never have enough time these days.... say my time got short since I started studing Karate. Not that I am complaining or anything. Al

Well it can't be the dryer as my Gi has never seen the inside of a dryer. It is always hung to dry. But thanks for the info. Al

Thank you very much KickChick! I have passed the info on to Kyoshi.

Yes that is what I am referring to. I have only been in Karate for about 7 months now and already the underarms have yellow crusty spots on them. Especially not good as I do tournements. Thanks for the info. I have some generic stain remover but it has never helped.

I would like to buy a book for reference that deals mostly with Okinawian Shorin-ryu Karate. Does anyone have a specific recomendation of what is the best one they have hear of or come across? Al

This is kind of gross but thought someone here might have the answer I need. I sweat a lot when I am training. Because of this I don't wear an undershirt to keep me cooler. This means that the underarms of my Gi get build up and discoloured. I wash my Gi frequently due to my sweating to keep it fresh but this does not remove this "build up" in the underarm area. Does anyone have any tips on how to remove this and keept it clean? Al

The Dojo I train at allows in most cases the belt colour you came in with to be worn and respected as you come up to speed in our style of Karate. This seems to be somewhat unusual from what the students that have taken advantage of this have said to me.

Willis Karate Studio (formerly known as Royal City Martial Arts) in Guelph. Ontario Canada.

I cannot speak for everyone here but here are my thoughts. I worked out in a gym for years and got bored of it. I like involving fitness as part of my life due to my desk job not providing me enough exercise to be healthy IMO. I decided to take MA to get exercise but it comes with a secondary benefit of learning effective fighting techniques if needed. That being said, learning fighting skill taught in Karate helps me be more confident in a argument situation that if it escalates to a physical fight, I am ready (eventually). Now that I am into MA I like fact it helps teach focus and attention to small details as well. Is the fact that I am taught techniques to kill or maim an attacker in one or two blows a bit of a power trip… for me yes it is. Do I plan on ever using this? No I don’t. Just nice to be perhaps a bit better off if it comes to this than I would be without these skills.