[Closed] Karate: Just got my 4th kyu today (purple/white belt)...

Well done!

3rd Kyu in Shukokai before I had to jack due to moving.

Trained in several other styles too but probably enjoyed Shukokai the most.

Congratulations 🙂

Brown in traditional Wado Ryu
Green in Tang Soo Do

Well done 🙂

I always find day 2 is the worst, when the pain really kicks in...

DBN (black belt candidate) in Kuk Sool.

My 9 year old got her purple belt last week too (Wado) 😉 she started at six and loves it, she is no rush with the belts tbh, loves to compete more and her confidence has improved so much in the last year.

I so wish all the different styles could call a truce and come up with a agreed standard to compete at the Olympics, such a shame it's not an Olympic sport.

Edit - well done btw

Well done!

Third dan in goju Ryu. Sadly that was ten years ago.

Brazilian jiu jitsu for me.( you'd never of guessed, looking at my forum name ) Been doing it for five years now and I'm a blue belt, four stripes. Before bjj I did traditional Japanese jiu jitsu for three years and attained brown belt status.

I see BJ Andy..

🙄 😆

Congrats, still remember exact moment I got enough points for my 1st Dan in Judo. Still doing it but lack of time means stranded on 2nd Dan.

Got my 1st Dan Shito-ryu karate belt in 2008. Then marriage and two kids came along and the time to train vanished. Miss it now.

Shotokan 2nd Dan.

And please NO to Olympic sport.

A long way to go to catch Samantha:

http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/11/kids-bedrooms-james-mollison

supercyril - Member

Shotokan 2nd Dan.

And please NO to Olympic sport.

Why?

Another Judo 2nd Dan here, got it earlier this year. Along with a 3rd Dan in Shotokan Karate (going back a bit) and more recently sporting a shiny white BJJ belt.

Congrats, still remember exact moment I got enough points for my 1st Dan in Judo. Still doing it but lack of time means stranded on 2nd Dan.

That sounds familiar!

Keep on planning on entering some Masters events but I guess lack of time to properly train and fear of hurting myself do raise their ugly heads.

Started when I was about 6 and still love it. I am now the old git who knows all the nasty tricks and mutters about these new bluddy rule changes at the club.

Been doing Shotokan for 9 months - started with my 4 year old son and my 7 year old daughter started a month ago. We're grading tomorrow for our orange belts and my daughter for her blue.

Really enjoying it and fully intend to keep it up long term. My son wants to get his black belt by the time he's 10 which is a good thing for him to be aiming for I think.

It's been easy enough for him up until now but at just 5 his concentration span is still quite short so I think the gap between belts will start getting much longer from now on.

How long had you lot been at it before you got whatever the equivalent of first dan is?

Got my 1st Dan at 21. In Judo it isn't possible to get a Black belt as a Junior (below 16) as a significant part of it is demonstrating knowledge of all the techniques including strangles armlocks and chokes.

Different rules across lots of martial arts but most important thing is that you enjoy it and dont believe it makes you invincible

Karate - can't remember, it seems so long ago. 3 or 4 years it took to get 1st Dan, probably.
Judo - I blazed my way up through the Kyu grades and got 1st Dan (via a lineup) in about 2 and a half years. Kind of wish I'd taken a bit more time about it now though. I waited about 4 years before trying out for 2nd. Got it on the day via another lineup!

What's a lineup?

At a dan grading, if you've won a couple of fights, they give you the opportunity to win your next grade outright by getting you to fight 3 opponents in a row, hence a lineup. You need to beat them all and theres no break between matches.
The usual method is to gradually gain points from wins at competitions and gradings. I think you needed 100 points to get 1st dan. With you gettng 10 points for a win, against someone of the same grade.

Sounds fun and painful in equal measures!!

At a dan grading, if you've won a couple of fights, they give you the opportunity to win your next grade outright by getting you to fight 3 opponents in a row, hence a lineup. You need to beat them all and theres no break between matches.

Last year, While at a karate comp in one side of a split sports hall, the other side had Judo going on, remember watching what you describe above going on, it looked very intense and the guy competing against the other three looked exhausted physically and mentally, it was very impressive to watch, top respect.

Sounds fun and painful in equal measures!!

I was also thinking of getting into some Masters stuff myself, but my 2nd Dan lineup has left me with a permanent hand injury, which although minor, could have been much worse. This freaked me out somewhat and is partly what led to me giving BJJ a more serious try. It looks a bit less ruinous on the ageing body.

giving BJJ a more serious try. It looks a bit less ruinous on the ageing body.

It's really not. I get injured more through BJJ than I do through my boxing and Muay Thai. I roll with a lot of high level BJJ guys and it's brutal on the joints and body generally.

I got my black belt in karate back in my teens but got disillusioned with the fact that most dojos are run as money making enterprises and nothing else. Fast tracking people to black belts that are pretty irrelevant.

I took a long time out of combat sports but I've been back into it heavily for the last couple of years. My stand up is pretty high level and now I'm focussing on my ground game.

6th kup tae kwon do (going for 5th next saturday) and 1st kyu shotokan. I'm intending to take up judo in the near future also. They are great things to do, but by hell you get injured a fair bit.

Little ninjas

I roll with a lot of high level BJJ guys and it's brutal on the joints and body generally.

I find its the lower level belts who end up injuring people. To much ego who just want to smash you just because your a higher belt than them.

Well done. Passed my 1st dan karate in November last year at 40.
Got nailed of a 14 year old!

Why?

Why don't we want Karate in the Olympics? Look at the state of Tiggy Kwon Do as an Olympic event (I can't even bring myself to say sport). It's a joke. Completely a joke. Makes a mockery of what was once a robust system of martial art.

Even the guys who train in TKD in the non-olympic variant think it's a joke and are embarrased by it.

It's the constant being smashed into the mat, not to mention the grip fighting that's taking it's toll on me.
Hoping there'll be less of that in BJJ.
I learned to tap early a long time ago!

Why don't we want Karate in the Olympics? Look at the state of Tiggy Kwon Do as an Olympic event (I can't even bring myself to say sport). It's a joke. Completely a joke. Makes a mockery of what was once a robust system of martial art.

Even the guys who train in TKD in the non-olympic variant think it's a joke and are embarrased by it.

I agree with your comments geetee1972, not knowing anything about taekwondo, I was actually looking forward to watching some at the Olympics, but in the end it anoyed me so much, found myself shouting at the TV, why are they not using their arms?

😉

No disrespect to anyone here who does taekwondo btw, just an obversation.

I still think Karate could be an exciting Olympic sport to watch, if done correctly, like Judo has been.

ski - Member
My 9 year old got her purple belt last week too

Our 9yo triplets are purple belts too.
My wife goes with them, not me (I'm out riding) so I'm not entirely sure but 'Shotokan' rings a bell.

Recovering today, arms are killing me. Forgot to say I am shotokan based, but definitely not sport karate or a mcdojo. We focus on kata and bunkai, but real bunkai for self defence today against realistic attacks. Far to much karate bunkai is based unrealistic attacks ( in karate stances) and unrealistic scenarios.

Can't wait to get started on tekki shodan and its applications this week, which we've covered before but want to get fully stuck in!! Hoping to get 1st dan by the time I am 38, 2 years from now, which should be doable....
But yeah I know it's not about the belt, it's about the journey 🙂

But yeah I know it's not about the belt, it's about the journey

Exactly, hence there are ten levels of black belt and shodan is just the beginning of serious training.

On the TKD issue, as I understand it there are two branches of TKD, much like there are multiple organisations overseeing the various styles of Karate and likely many other martial arts.

The variant of TKD you see in the Olympics is overseen by one organising body and gives rise to a very different focus and practice than the other, which has retained more of its 'marital' and 'art' roots.

My problem with it is that it bears almost no resemblance to the martial art from which it derives. The techniques are not only impractical in a real situation, they are poorly delivered and you can see there is little or no power behind them. The idea that the delivery of one technique constitutes a significant enough blow to warrant a point and the freezing of the engagement is what's most ridiculous. The only thing more galling than watching them is that medal winners seemed to bring home so much glory. It felt hollow.

Like any and all martial arts, there is nothing right or wrong with the system, only the proponents (and the teachers) and the way it is trained for and practised. Blocking, punching and kicking is blocking, punching and kicking regardless of what system name you give it. Techniques will be effective because of how they are delivered not because of the name of the system that taught them.

Exactly, hence there are ten levels of black belt and shodan is just the beginning of serious training.

I kind of agree with this in most dojos, but I do feel what I am learning is slightly different and I am already doing the "serious" training"

Everyone always tells me, "get your black belt, thats when the real learning starts" I dont really agree.

Whereas in most karate schools, you dont learn "the good stuff" until you are a higher grade, I feel that my instructor is teaching us it as we go.

You start off learning karate learning the various "blocks", but in reality they aren't really blocks at all.

I did karate when I was younger and was taught gedan barai (downward block with your hand) to block a kick which is quite ridiculous. Gedan barai isn't really a block at all, its a low hammerfist, its grabbing the opponents wrist and pulling them to the side, its lots of other things, but I certainly wouldn't use it to block a kick. Just one example. Another being the lower cross (or X) block, try using that to block a kick you will get your arms broken, its really a strangle or a wrist lock.

So in this respect I dont think my training will be any different once I have my Shodan, its just that I will be working on a different kata and maybe my instructor wont be as forgiving when i am up against him in kumite 🙂

I do agree re the TKD in the olympics, I thought it was awful to watch and hope that doesnt happen to karate, but SPORT karate is pretty crap and unrealistic anyway so cant see when it will be any different.

The thing with WTF or olympic TKD is that you can win by knocking out your opponent. Many of the kicks that they do can very easily knock someone out. That's why you end up with a tactical contest where people are pretty much just trying to avoid getting knocked out whilst scoring a few points themselves.

In ITF or non-olympic TKD the rules on contact are different and you dont automatically win if you knock out your opponent. This leads to a greater variety of techniques and combinationsbing used, and there is also a greater emphasis on hand techniques. Hands are only allowed to strike the body in WTF, but can hit anywhere above the belt in ITF.

Techniques from both hurt a hell of a lot and are very effective in self defence situations.

What do you guys think of shotokan karate?

It's just that there's a club right near me

jamesgarbett - Member

What do you guys think of karate?

It's just that there's a club right near me

Its worth checking out a few clubs, some are no more than belt factories, other might just focus on Kata, which is fine if that's all you want to do. The style and way Katate is taught can vary quite a bit from one club to another. It also helps to have members the same age and experience to you in the club, not vital, but you might gain more from the session if you are not paired up with a 4 year old 😉

Last one, I would also check how long the club has been established, I have seen a few clubs come and go locally in the last 3 years my little one has been doing Karate.

What do you guys think of shotokan karate?

It's what I do and I love it. Best decision ive ever made. Was 13 stone + when I started now just over 11stone.
My club is great for fitness but as I said above we don't do sport karate. I did have the advantage of doing it when I was younger, 18 ish and got to purple belt, but then uni happened. Now just got back into it at 35 and rattled quickly up the belts and now purple and white with my eyes on brown belt.

The club I am in focuses on karate for self defense and Is more traditional Okinawan karate, we do do kumite, but its more scenario training than a points scoring game of tag. It's all good though.

What's the harm in popping down to your local club and giving it a try? They will no doubt be a friendly bunch and you will know in a few weeks if its for you or not.

Good luck

What's the harm in popping down to your local club and giving it a try? They will no doubt be a friendly bunch and you will know in a few weeks if its for you or not.

Not always though is it, plenty of crooks about. I've personnal experience, and know of many other experience where thats not true. I won't be elaborating.

Make sure your school is affiliated with a national group, or you know some members very, very well personally so you know you're not being duped.

I got my 7 kyu last night after starting again from scratch in Shotokan.
Ive tried Wadu ryu in my teens, kickboxing and shotokan in early 20s then i started a version of tang soo do with my son when he was 5. We were doing ok with tang su do but got disheartened with the club, A typical mcdojo. So started juijitsu which was great but very rough and too much for me. I stopped after a brown belt (sensei son) broke my rib, lovely lad, lethal!
I then found a local shotokan club that came with high reccomendations and im enjoying it. The teacher is assistant coach to the English Karate federation and well respected. Ive also been able to train twice with Dave hazard and Wayne Otto.
Im a bit dissapointed that i only got a mon grade (tag) last night but this guy actually fails people to. you really have to be good enough to grade not just pay your money! So after a few different clubs this is the one for me [url= http://www.byakko.co.uk/ ]byakko[/url]
Really enjoying it.

1st Dan in Shukokai here. Gained in 2010. 2012 has been all about earning my 2nd Dan but sadly time and lack of training has conspired against me. My club mixes traditional Karate well with practical applications for modern, real world situations.

I do it mainly for fitness and I also find it has helped with overall stress levels - I find that I can stay calm and controlled both physically and emotionally in many situations (compared to before I started training). If I never earned another dan I would continue to train.

Do any of you karate guys practice 1 and 3 step sparring?

I used to in my old club when I was a teenager, but my current instructor doesn't see the benefit of it as its highly unrealistic, and I tend to agree with him. Much better to drill this type of thing in
Natural stances with defences against wild swings, headbutts etc?

bjj.andy.w - Member
Brazilian jiu jitsu for me.( you'd never of guessed, looking at my forum name ) Been doing it for five years now and I'm a blue belt, four stripes.