my dojo any good?

[XxStormxX]

in my dojo dis is basically d routine:

warmup

bow in

kata or basics or yakute

sparring or work out or stretching

but i hear other ppl dat do karate actually break tiles and stuff like dat, im wondering if ur karate style break tiles?

[XxStormxX]

o yea and i also hear dat ppl learn self defence techniques( real life applications) but my karate doesnt teach

[TeaL]

Every dojo is diffrent, and it just depends what you want out of it.

most places "break tiles" and things during belt tests, at lest mine did.

[karate_woman]

Things you may wish to consider:

1. How long have you trained at this dojo?

2. Are you in an advanced or beginner class?

3.The initial self defense techniques could be as simple as punching correctly, blocking correctly, having a stable stance, learning to breakfall; more advanced techniques come later.

4. The same kata you learn as a white belt has techniques in it you may not appreciate until later; you may revisit those kata from a self defense standpoint later.

5. Do you do any partner work?

6.Have you asked your Sensei about whether you will learn self defense? Bear in mind that your definition of self defense training may be different from theirs.

7. Not all styles use board breaking.

[Sam]

Different approaches to training emphasise different skill sets.... i.e. breaking tiles is good for ensuring you have the correct technique [of the striking tool], good focus, and power - but wouldnt necessarily help you with stances (other than having a good base) or technique of the strike itself.

with self defense techniques it may be that you learn them later on in training [best to think about KarateWomans questions on that matter] - some styles wait until they believe students are at a good level on control over their techniques before teaching "self defense" as injuries are more likely to occur if there is a lack of control.

Also, some schools dont advocate destruction; and likewise some dont advocate self defense per se - they i imagine would argue that learning techniques themselves [punches kicks, etc.] show you how to defend your self.

Again - id repeat what KarateWomans said - ask your Sensei / Teacher about this.

[italian_guy]

I think that bunkai (kata application) should contain some self defence applications. Regarding board breaking I would not bother, here in italy most places don't do that any more. In my dojo we do some conditioning time to time but board breking is not practiced.

[hajimekyu]

In my style we don't break things.We do learn a lot of self defense applications.Some things are especially geared toward kids,ie stranger awareness and techniques for getting away safely.We also have some Grace Under Pressure classes for women.But everything learned in the open classes has the potential for self defense applications regardless of age,gender or size.Contact is kept pretty light until you get into upper ranks and have demonstrated an understanding of control.But we partner up for practice of techniques and that's pretty important.I think some things can only be learned through hands on experience.For example,I never really understood the "dump" from our form of Wansu until I put it into practice with a brown belt partner.Then I got it.I had to get the feeling of coming right into my partner's space with an open L or an Iron Horse stance,striking the upper thigh muscle with the knee to upset her balance before making the turn and directing her fall with the heel palm and open shuto.Of course,there are other ways of applying those techniques,but the point is that I had to try it on a live person in order to understand it.And I had to attain some skills before I got to the point of being able to apply it to someone in practice.

[Sam]

As you can probably tell by the variation in what everyone says they do at there local dojo / dojang / whatever - there isnt an easy way to tell if a school is good by what they do, if you enjoy it stick with it, else find something you enjoy.

[Killer7]

At my dojo, anyone over 16 is allowed to attend night adult classes. They are great because to a degree we get to do what we want to. I go four times a week to the dojo for about an hour on average. We stretch out on our own first and then salute in (we don't bow, we cross our arms in a downward motion with a loud kiai). Then depending on what we want to do and who is teaching the class we work on katas, sparring, breaking, judo/jujitsu teqniques, weapons, groundfighting etc.

[SANCHIN31]

Things you may wish to consider:

1. How long have you trained at this dojo?

2. Are you in an advanced or beginner class?

3.The initial self defense techniques could be as simple as punching correctly, blocking correctly, having a stable stance, learning to breakfall; more advanced techniques come later.

4. The same kata you learn as a white belt has techniques in it you may not appreciate until later; you may revisit those kata from a self defense standpoint later.

5. Do you do any partner work?

6.Have you asked your Sensei about whether you will learn self defense? Bear in mind that your definition of self defense training may be different from theirs.

7. Not all styles use board breaking.

This summed things up very nicely!

Board breaking doesn't have self defense value,but can give you confidence.