Hey, I'm new to this forum!

Am currently a 1st Dan black belt with kugb (shotokan style).

I am taking my nidan grading next weekend and am doing tekki nidan as my choice kata, although I'm scared about this cos I'll probably be doing this kata on my own.

So, what kata did you choose for your nidan grading? It appears that most people go with nijushiho, maybe as it's Frank Brennan's favourite kata.

Kt xx

I did Kusanku Dai for my Nidan, so I put Kanku Sho (closest). If I could do it all over again, I would do Naihanchi Shodan (Tekki Shodan).

four:

Bassai

Kushanku

Pinan of my choice

Pinan of panel choice

Welcome to KF, karate_kat. Good luck with your grading.

Patrick

Welcome to the forums! Good Luck!!!!

I picked Bassai Sho...along with many others.

Thanks everyone for the luck.

Unfortunately I didn't pass the kumite section - he said mostly cos I didn't have enough contact. I was quite surprised cos I was doing most of the attacking, the girl I was against was just waiting for me to attack, then countering a few times with gyaka tsuki.

I'll probably be attempting the kumite again next april, cos I'm at uni and I'll be too busy with work to train for a grading.

Unfortunately I didn't pass the kumite section - he said mostly cos I didn't have enough contact. I was quite surprised cos I was doing most of the attacking....

Yeah, you may need to find out what he meant by that. -MY- first guess would be that it wasn't so much a lack of initiative as an issue with technique choice.

In my art, we use a variety of evasive body shifts to defend against attacks. One of the basic ones of those (which doubles as the entry to several basic kicks) irritates me to no end; I have no problem if it is leading into something, or only used occasionally, but many students overuse it to a massive degree. It is psychologically friendly to do because it moves away from the attack; the problem is that it moves away from the attack, and if not chained into something, it is merely a slightly more technically correct variation of running around the ring trying to stay away from the opponent.

I have been known to tell a student that their performance, though otherwise technically excellent, was unacceptable merely because they overused that escape; in one case, a student it as her only escape technique during the entire round, which she played defensively. She probably wouldn't have needed to be so defensive had she been advancing her position with her defenses rather than merely ceding the space with a rear body shift, but she wasn't exactly trying hard to drive the other player out of the circle either. Technically fine, but when taken as a whole, not so much.

In your case, "not enough contact" might have meant that even though you weren't being attacked, you were playing defensively and sniping from long range, rather than entering with close in throws and such. But you should probably ask what he meant by it specifically, if you are confused.

Thanks everyone for the luck.

Unfortunately I didn't pass the kumite section - he said mostly cos I didn't have enough contact. I was quite surprised cos I was doing most of the attacking, the girl I was against was just waiting for me to attack, then countering a few times with gyaka tsuki.

I'll probably be attempting the kumite again next april, cos I'm at uni and I'll be too busy with work to train for a grading.

It could be that although you were doing all the attacking, they were wasted attacks. So the contact issue could be that you were throwing your kicks and punches but that they weren't getting anywhere near or weren't on target whereas the girl you sparred wasn't doing a lot but what she was doing was working. Make sure you ask your sensei though because he will be able to tell you exactly what he means. Good Luck for April

Sorry to hear that, karate_kat. But, the experience just makes you better for next time.