What's it like learning karate in English?

[pacman]

Hi guys, I'm a native English speaker with minimal Japanese ability and I live and work in the inaka/countryside of Japan. That means there isn't an English speaking dojo for miles around.

I have been practicing kyokushin karate for about five months now, and I'm certain it's something I want to stick with, but as you can imagine there are a few things holding me back.

First I'd like to take you through what a typical session is like for me, and then I'll list a few things that I could use some help on (if you don't mind!)

6:45 I arrive at the dojo 15 minutes early to talk (I use the term loosely) with the other guys, change, and do a bit of running. I get on great with pretty much everyone. There is one guy who goes a bit hard on me, I imagine he's trying to show me how strong Japanese are, but it's not a problem.

7:00 We all get into seiza (I'm still struggling with this, I'm not so flexible so my butt doesn't rest on my legs but rather hovers above them) and listen to the master. At the end of his talk, we put our fists to the ground, bow, and shout "OSU ONEGAISHIMASU". We then immediately stand up and start jumping ("ICH' NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH, NI NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH"), reaching to the side ("ICH' NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH, NI NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH"), touching our toes ("ICH' NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH, NI NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH"), etc, etc.

7:30 Fully stretched, either one of two things will happen for the warm-up.

* We will all move to one side of the dojo and partner up for various races in our pairs. Wheelbarrow, piggy back, running backwards, that sort of thing. Or,

* We will stay standing where we are and practice punching air, kicking air, blocking air, that sort of thing.

8:00 At this point we usually get into a "circle" (oval?) facing the person opposite us and take turns kicking each other, punching each other, etc. One thing we sometimes do is take turns standing and gently bouncing up and down on each other's stomachs. This worried me when I saw it in my first lesson but now my stomach is my strongest point. We also occasionally just do push ups, sit ups, etc.

8:30 We put on leg pads, gloves, and start sparring. People will fall down, bleed, injure themselves or take an accidental hit somewhere painful every week or so but it's all very civil and, I'm sure, not a world apart from how it would be done in the West.

9:00 One last activity is the group race. Occasionally it will be a different game but it's usually just a straight out team relay race. Then we get back into seiza, listen to some announcements, shout "OSU, ARIGATOUGOZAIMASHITA!" and I'm cycling home by 9:20.

This is the most common lesson format. We do also do moving techniques/exercises and practice on a punchbags or with pads. Last week we even learned a kata (it was pretty long though and not understanding the language I could only follow the basic movements).

Anyway, the reason I am posting here is because I could really use help on a few things!!

<<>>

When we line up and take turns kicking each other, the way to "take" the kick seems to be to bend your legs slightly. What's going on here? How does it help? I am not sure I'm doing it correctly because I occasionally have trouble walking the next day and once I needed to go to the doctors for an injection and was out of action for 3 weeks.

Do you stand on each others stomachs over there? Is there any danger involved in this? I think my stomach is strong enough to take this and I never have any problems there but it does seem kinda crazy.

How do you remember the kata? Any mnemonics or memory techniques out there or is it just doing them so many times until you remember? Could you guys recommend any Youtube tutorial videos or anything? I saw the poll on here that said practicing at home without a teacher was counter productive but I do need to do something in English language I think.

Aside from these points, I am also interested in how kyokushin practice is... er... practiced... in dojos back in the West. It will vary from dojo to dojo, of course, but I'd be interested to hear your stories.

Finally, I may have more questions I want to append here, I hope that's okay? For now I can't think of anything.

OSU!

[Drew]

Well first off howdy,welcome to the forum! Second, your class sounds like a hoot and a holler.

To answer your first question, bending your leg when taking a kick is to prevent the knee from becoming hyperextended. Lifting the leg and taking it on the shin instead of the thigh is a common practice as well. How come you needed a shot in your leg? What kind of injury did you sustain?

Stomach standing isn't dangerous unless you go crazy with it. Don't let anyone push you into going any farther with it than you feel comfortable with. Medicine ball belly slams are a close cousin of this practice. Personally, I feel that once you've learned to get hit in the stomach there isn't much of a point to practicing it outside of hard sparring, but we all know how k-shin people are

As for kata, I've never been a fan, so I can't help you much there.

Overall, your class format is pretty similar to the karate classes that I've had, but with a more physical edge like judo class. As I understand it, this is common for k-shin.

Good luck in Japan pal, sounds like you are having a blast.

[pacman]

Cheers for the reply!

We do lift the leg and take it on the shin during sparring, that reminds me of another confusion actually. Am I supposed to be keeping my shin parallel to my body or am I supposed to angle it so that the incoming kick doesn't connect so powerfully? I find it hard to judge which side the kick is going to come from sometimes too, and end up using my left shin to block a kick coming in from my right side. I imagine this is really bad form? I try to look straight ahead and stay light on my feet but beyond that are there any tips? It will come in time I'm sure!

Medicine ball belly slams! Haha, I always wondered what I should call that crazy activity!

As for the shot, I'm not sure what was it in because the doctor just said to me "medicine" (in Japanese) and I wouldn't have understood anything in more detail. I'm guessing steroids or something anti-inflammatory? I took quite a hard kick to the outside of the leg just above the kneecap where the tendon that runs up to the butt meets. "Out of action" is possibly an exaggeration though, I was limping about and doing the day job just fine, I just couldn't go to the dojo.

Good to hear the class formats are similar. I should enjoy keeping this up long term when I'm back home in that case.

[cheesefrysamurai]

Wow - welcome to the forum

I for 1 am jealous as heck.

Remembering Kata comes with repetition for me. Done people notate in books, others buy books, and others look at YouTube.

As far as the stomach thing, it's something we may not do in the west, but your there and you know what they say....when in Rome

Good luck and please keep us updated

[sensei8]

Welcome to KarateFourms!!

You, being a foreigner, you're going to find some of your dojo-mates quite a bit harsh, and as you've said, it's possible that your dojo-mates want to show you the power of the Japanese...or...there just being harsh because you're a foreigner. Still...hang in there and in time, you'll have earned their respect one way or another.

You've received some pretty good advice thus far here, so allow me to just throw in my two-cents in agreement.

Drew spoke quite well about why your leg is bent. Having your leg ever so slightly bent also serves as a shock absorber, thus protecting you from being injured one way or another. As far as the attitude of you shin during spar, let me first say, ask your Sensei exactly how you're suppose to do this, and I know that the language is a problem at times, still, ask your Sensei. Having said that, I do BOTH when I use my shin to absorb/deflect another kick because, for me, a lot depends on the kick that I'm blocking/deflecting as well as if I'm setting up a transitional counter-attack right from a deflection because in Shindokan, we do not block, we only deflect, but here, I've used "block" because it's a more understood methodology. Again, please ask your Sensei or your Sempai how you're suppose to do that particular technique.

We don't stand and jump on each others stomachs but if it's done properly, I can see their reasons for the way they do it. The medicine ball training is a great tool, but, like anything else, care must be adhered to in order to avoid any potential injuries. Speak with a doctor that you trust for their advise. There are so many other ways to condition ones abdomen and taking shots to the stomach while working on proper breathing techniques is a way I'm the most familiar with but care must be taken as well as proper supervision is needed to ensure that ones conditioning and not being abused.

The only way, imho, to remember kata is to execute them over and over and over and over and..., well, you get the point. Take the kata in segments, one at a time, to learn it piece by piece; then put it together until your brain can remember the whole thing. Once you're more familiar with said kata, do said kata backwards, and this is a little more tricky at first because forward is one thing, but to remember backwards is, well, evil at first, but, it'll bring into your kata training a new understanding. Again, practice makes perfect, so, practice said kata a billion times plus one.

Practicing your kata's at home is only counter productive if you don't first follow the instructions of your Sensei AND if you do it "your way". "Your way" is for another time and another place, for now, just practice said kata over and over. Be careful with any Video from wherever especially if said kata your Sensei has taught you isn't done the way you've been taught. Kata's have slight variations based on Sensei and/or governing bodies. If the video you find is exactly like you're being taught, then rock on and practice and practice along with the video.

Imho!!

Good luck, hang in there, and train HARD!!

[pacman]

Thanks for the reply, cheesefrysamurai! (That totally rhymes).

Welcome to KarateFourms!!

Drew spoke quite well about why your leg is bent. Having your leg ever so slightly bent also serves as a shock absorber, thus protecting you from being injured one way or another. As far as the attitude of you shin during spar, let me first say, ask your Sensei exactly how you're suppose to do this, and I know that the language is a problem at times, still, ask your Sensei. Having said that, I do BOTH when I use my shin to absorb/deflect another kick because, for me, a lot depends on the kick that I'm blocking/deflecting as well as if I'm setting up a transitional counter-attack right from a deflection because in Shindokan, we do not block, we only deflect, but here, I've used "block" because it's a more understood methodology. Again, please ask your Sensei or your Sempai how you're suppose to do that particular technique.

The thing with the leg deflection is that each time I ask my Sensei he can show me a seemingly different way. The fact that you now say both are acceptable is a huge block falling into place for me! Maybe I should stop worrying about every little micromovement and just be fluid and do what feels best. ((That said, deflecting kicks to my right side with my left shin is still probably unacceptable?)) Arigatou!

[sensei8]

You're more than welcome; glad to have been of some help.

And yes...forget about the little things, and just TRAIN!!

[Drew]

Thanks for the reply, cheesefrysamurai! (That totally rhymes).

Welcome to KarateFourms!!

Drew spoke quite well about why your leg is bent. Having your leg ever so slightly bent also serves as a shock absorber, thus protecting you from being injured one way or another. As far as the attitude of you shin during spar, let me first say, ask your Sensei exactly how you're suppose to do this, and I know that the language is a problem at times, still, ask your Sensei. Having said that, I do BOTH when I use my shin to absorb/deflect another kick because, for me, a lot depends on the kick that I'm blocking/deflecting as well as if I'm setting up a transitional counter-attack right from a deflection because in Shindokan, we do not block, we only deflect, but here, I've used "block" because it's a more understood methodology. Again, please ask your Sensei or your Sempai how you're suppose to do that particular technique.

The thing with the leg deflection is that each time I ask my Sensei he can show me a seemingly different way. The fact that you now say both are acceptable is a huge block falling into place for me! Maybe I should stop worrying about every little micromovement and just be fluid and do what feels best. ((That said, deflecting kicks to my right side with my left shin is still probably unacceptable?)) Arigatou!

I know just the part of the leg you must have hurt, pac. That happens when you don't turn you shin out to take it on the tibia and instead take it more in the fibula area.

You might look up some Muay Thai videos to help with this. Mas himself studied Muay Thai when working on k-shin.

[Drew]

On blocking a kick on your right side with your left (in this case lead) leg: If you chamber the leg for a side kick when you do it, they are very unbalanced and easy to knock over with said kick. Fun to play with but can be tricky to pull off at speed.

[pacman]

Will give that a try Drew thanks!! My injury though was just above the kneecap, not just below, so perhaps it was a case of not bending my legs enough to avoid hyperextension as you mentioned the other day. A few drinks the next day and running for the last train also could have aggravated it if I'm honest