What should I be knowing?

[conrad665]

Hi,

I was just wondering if I'm behind of a normal green belt rank.I mean,

which techniques should I have learned so far?I'm not good at ura mawashi geri and I can't do ushiro geri.In which belt are they taught? Or should I

study myself?When sensei tells us to spar freely, all I can do(without thinking)are mawashi geri and mae geri. I also have problems with

punching.They don't come naturally.Is this normal?Thanks in advance.

[Toptomcat]

There's really no such thing as a 'normal' green belt- it varies hugely from style to style, school to school.

With that said- yes, study independently! If you're not satisfied with a certain kick, train it until you get better. If you find yourself limiting yourself to too few techniques in sparring, find a sparring partner you can work with outside of class and practice working a wider variety of combinations. Work on punching by itself, punching after a kick, punching before a kick, counterpunching, the timing and distance of punching. There's nothing a good instructor likes better than a student who keeps thinking about karate even after they leave class.

[sensei8]

I couldn't have said it any better than Toptomcat, and in that, I agree wholeheartedly with Toptomcat. Train hard until the wheels fall off...then continue to train hard...never let up and never give up!

[quinteros1963]

Repeat, Repeat,Repeat!

[joesteph]

When sensei tells us to spar freely, all I can do(without thinking)are mawashi geri and mae geri.

Do you feel you've fallen into a pattern, Conrad? Say to do mae geri with the right foot, then mawashi geri with the left, as a matter of routine? Perhaps your sensei can suggest practicing comos of punching and kicking. BTW, are you permitted to kick to the thighs? If so, you can vary the target (ribs or thigh) as a start. For punches, have you switch orthodox and southpaw? The change might give you a differerent perspective and more satisfactory punching.

[Sibylla]

If it doesn't come naturally decide to do it anyway. Think through it before sparring and decide for instance to do one or two ushiro geri, and/or this or that punches.

I'm not sure if sparring ever is natural, to get something out of it you need a plan. If you just go with it tends to fall in quality.

[conrad665]

I don't know how to quote,joesteph..We are not allowed to hit gedan except ashi barai. I also try to punch with my left hand, but usually forget after a while.Senpais are saying I should connect the techniques, but I know too few of them, which means I need to study hard.I just wondered if I should study myself on different techniques or wait for sensei to teach us.(I got the answer now!).As for punching, it is actually harder than kicking for me, because you have to get closer to the partner to do it, which makes me a little scared.I can start studying punching with my left hand against the majority of right handed. And deciding to use some techniques certainly is a very good way to study, because if I not decide firmly and make it a habit, I forget other techniques and just spar.

Thanks for your invaluable advices.I'm looking forward to my karate lesson to try new techniques.

[KarateGeorge]

As everybody else has said: train, train, train. All the advice has been exactly on target.

One other thing I'd add is if you're having trouble doing more than just one or two different moves when sparring, start thinking of developing combos. Think of ways you can start piecing the techniques together. Rather than thinking of each technique as a separate component that stands alone, start thinking about the bigger picture...what works well together and what doesn't? Different things apply to different situations as well, start to look at where and when different techniques are most applicable. Then, practice, practice, practice.

[JAKEHE3078]

Awkwardness will always be a part of training, you will never feel like you fully know what you are doing, or you are not doing whatever good enough. You're martial art will never feel spot on. That’s just part of the fun always trying to push yourself to do better.