I found some of the best (Asian) karate movies. Which of these films have you watched?: https://gamerant.com/best-karate-movies-imdb/

First and hopefully not last post in here, I 25M have decided to return after being absent from the dojo for nearly 12 years I did Wado Ryu throughout my childhood up until Brown belt. I have a very faded remembrance of things although, I don't expect the new to me dojo to accept my previous grade. More than happy to start with a white belt cause I'll be doing Shotokan either way.

Here's where the issue lies .. I'm undergoing a pretty big life transition at the moment, one that takes time but inevitably sparks the question of "should I commit to this if im going to be moving away soon ?" I'm currently in the process of moving to the US from Greece.

Now this is a nearly 3 year paperwork process that I've already started and I'm genuinely curious to wether I should just hold off and wait until I've settled my life first or move on with it regardless and just "figure it out" anyone that has gone through a similar situation ?

This is coming after already overcoming the social anxiety of trying to pick up a Martial Art after such a long time, tried TKD which I didn't like so I'd much rather drive the extra time to do an art form I'm familiar with and really like.

Hey guys!

Just wanted to tell you about my experience with crosstraining. Practising Shotokan since 5 years (3rd kyu) and started Kickboxing 3 month ago for, 2 hours a week.

And holy shit, its crazy how i get my ass handeld in sparing. Tecnhiqe - wise it is pretty easy to adjust. Kicks are pretty much the same, also some of the footwork is similar.

But i have no defence at all! I feel like a little kid, more experienced fighters are just toying with me. The really good once just punch right throug my defense.

I hope this will get better soon. Its quite a bit frustrating ^^

For what its woth: I am 37., so really on the older side

I can't really hold stances like cat stance, shiko dachi or any really deep stance. The most I can manage for cat stance is a couple of seconds

For context, I am not old. I have had bad knees for a year or two now, not sure what caused it ( but I suspect unhealthy stances). Walking for a long duration is hard for my knees. I'm most likely going to compete soon, so I'll be doing some kata training which means my "stances" have to look pretty and be dramatic.

How do I not injure myself?

Anyone with similar experiences?

I have two mats that I seamed together with mat tape but the tape itself is slick.

Any ideas?

I have the Punok lightweight white kumite gi set that comes with two jackets (red marking and blue marking), but the set only comes with one pant. I would gladly buy an extra pant but I can’t find them sold separately. I hate to mix and match since some brands are not the same material or shade of white. Does anyone know where you can get these Punok gi pants sold separately? Or who makes them so maybe a pant that is the same except for the brand?

I think people have varying opinions on whether karate is useful per recent debate on kata competition. And it's easy to criticize other styles. But I wonder what your thoughts on the style you practice are. Is it useful? If so, why?

Ok, I compete in wkf, I do shotokan, and I happened to stuble upon hyakuhachiho, or shotokan suparimpei. I'm not sure if it will ever become a kata I want to do in competition, but I'm under the impression that I can do it, if I want to. As in I announce my kata as suparimpei, and then proceed to do the shotokan version.

Right now I've been doing the same 5-7 kata on repeat, so I would like to try something different. At least for the fun of learning something new. So I was wondering if this could be a fun project on the side, that I technically could do in competitions as well.

Hello,

As part of our shotokan training we have to get into very deep stances while making sure that the hips can be fully square in zenkutsu dachi when executing certain techniques such as oi-zuki.

Due to some flexibility issues, I am not able to really get the full square when I am in a deep stance, I would have to shorten it significantly in order to achieve this. Other than that , I don't have any issues with moving in a deep stance.

The questions is, what is the best exercise to achieve this objective and since I have to sacrifice either the depth of the stance or the full squaring of the hips while I work my way to the target state, which one of them should I compromise?

I’m 15 years old in the cadet class and I really want to be the adults class why do you think this is the case

I have been trying to find an afterschool activity for my 8 year old daughter. My wife and I found a Karate class that has a family plan that is pretty reasonable. I took TKD as a kid, made it to blue belt but remember nothing. I’m excited about potentially starting karate! I am pretty overweight and think it will be good for me, even if it we be me and a bunch of little kids with white belts 😂. Looking for a bit of encouragement and any advice or pointers anyone may have!

In the club I trained with for 20 years before moving to another country, we sparred with a rules that I believe was not conducive to improving preparing us for self defence or competition. We only allowed light contact above the belt, didn’t use low kicks, sweeps, throws or grabs and while some degree protective gear was used we never practiced hard sparring. I believe this was what nurtured the many students I’ve seen with a lack of composure, inability to eat a heavier hit or an arrogant refusal to be outdone. Alongside this, our discussions of sparring etiquette were not very fleshed out. Have many other people experienced similar things in their training and how would you go about remedying it if given the opportunity to open their own dojo?

I'm chronically online and I see a lot of people saying that you spar the way you train, as a criticism of kata and kihon training being stiff,

things such as training punching whilst chambering your hands at the hip, and training stances etc...

and I think it's important to be aware of the flaws with karate, but I just don't get this one.

When sparring I naturally have a different posture from when training kihon/kata (admittedly, as instructed by my sensei), and my stances are a bit different since I move around more fluidly.

I'm still a green belt, so maybe I'm just a bad practitioner, but I also don't see my senpai looking exactly like kata/kihon. I see some techniques from kata for sure, but it's not stiff and they keep a boxers guard (like we're told to do).

So I don't entirely understand this sentiment. Is it a real thing to worry about?

*first of all, this isn't a call out to the kugb and its members*
Hi all I hope you're all doing well! I started my karate journey this year in spring and I'm loving the MA! but I do have some concerns with the dojo I go to. I want to say that my sensei has been so kind and helpful to not only me but the class but there are some things I am concerned about. like how gradings cost £24 (£10 for a lesson before, £10 for the grading and £4 for the belt) and I wanted to know is this normal for dojos or just kugb ones. and the amount of child to adult ratio too and junior black belts being a thing. also no bunkai for kata too which is odd to me. herd some talk about mcdojos and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to one. thank you for your time :)

Hi everyone, new dude learning karate, I'm having my first tournament on Saturday and I feel well prepared,but Idk why I'm really stressed when I perform my kata in front of people and sometimes messes up parts that I never mess up on. I think it's too much stress for me. Anyway to calm myself and feel less nervous?

I just graded to yellow/white tonight. After a quick conversation about my kata and asking about one aspect I could work on, my instructor said that bunkai is reserved for black belt "so they get something Skirball when they reach that level".

I'm under no illusion that the dojo is a bell mill (grading was $70 just to perform a kata in front of the other 12 persons during regular class) but the notion of exclusivity of bunkai really grinds my gears. No sparring until your a bit more advanced sure, but at least teach bunkai till you get there. The fact that it's the last thing you get because you paid all the way to get it pisses me off.

This club is really more about getting people to hit bags and work out. It's more akin to the cardio-kickboxing style classes than a martial art class - I reckon.

We're in a rural area, not many choices there, I get it and I get it's not for me long term.

I'll go try the Muay Thai across the road. But am I being ticked by something totally normal elsewhere ?

They are claiming Shorin Ryu heritage

Hey karatekas, I've got my first serious national tournament in about 5 weeks, and suspect I've broken a rib during Muay Thai sparring last week - should have my scans back today.

Obviously, not awesome timing. That being said, trying not to let it slow down my training too much - avoiding more hard sparring for the next couple of weeks, but I'm a little anxious about taking time off karate sessions.

The tournament is largely based around kata & point sparring, although there's Light Kick and continuous sparring categories, which I suspect I won't be entering with the rib.

Have any of you trained through a broken rib? Does anyone have any low-impact footwork & point sparring drills you'd recommend to keep me active?

Edit: I've got a little over 5 weeks until the tournament, so there's some time for healing. Going to take it easy for the next few sessions & see how I go. Appreciate the suggestions, folks!

I’m writing an article, does anyone have any high quality photos from any of the JKA world cups that they’re willing to have released on wikimedia commons?

Any photos from Funakoshi Gichin Cup, Shoto Cup, IAKF world championships, etc

It would be great if you could attach a date and a short description of the photo

Thanks!

I’ve been doing martial arts for 2 years, and just recently i have been getting pain in my inner bicep area when throwing hard left and right hooks on the bag. It feels like an instant sharp pain when I throw the punch, but then after i throw it for the next 5-10 minutes I get a Dull aching inflamed feeling right in the inner bicep area. I can throw max power jabs and crosses and uppercuts no problem, but the hooks bother me.

Also, if I partly extend my arm and push it against the wall hard, it doesn’t bother me, but the second I stop pushing against the wall with that arm and relax, it hurts. So I get pain when I’m releasing pressure.

Do any of you guys experience the same thing when throwing powerful hooks on the bag? And do you know what I could do to fix it?

I’m pretty sure my technique is fine, I’ve been boxing for a while I just throw basic technique hooks. I had the same problem a couple months ago, and I let it fully heal, but the first day getting back to hitting the bag, it came back

The left side is my Chinese name and the right side is a Chinese idiom that means "Falling leaves return to their roots". I feel like that idiom sums up my own journey with karate, because I've always returned to it. Let me know what you think.

Hi, I'm currently a yellow belt in my karate class, and I've told my instructors multiple times that I am testing for green for the past 3 months and consistently in my class every time (which is once a day in class) I remind I'm testing for green and my instructors act surprised every time (they always have a look of suprise on their face). I'm currently the only lower belt in my class everyone else is blue and above, so whenever we're practicing forms or doing group activity I have to consistently call out to the instructor asking what I'm doing next since half of the stuff I'm not supposed to be doing yet. Consistently I hear in response "oh I forgot about you oops" and then I get some sort of alternative. So like I know I'm not getting the practice or feedback that I need (because I don't get any feedback ever) and, 99% of the time they're working with some other upper belt who is also testing because they're more important as they have more stuff to do for their next exam I guess. When I got to other classes for makeup every other instructor that watches me seems to be on the same page with me that I need to test this next round and that I look ready.

I'm not sure what else I need to do to get my instructor's attention. I don't like constantly being treated as an afterthought. I'm really not that flamboyant or talkative in class unlike some of the other students in class and I'm one of 2 women in my class so I feel those are factors as to why I feel like I'm being forgotten, but like it's not like I can change who I am overnight in order to gain attention.

I don't know. Do any of you all have any ideas on how to get my instructor to pay attention and listen to me for the upcoming belt exam? Do I just need to join a different class time once this session is over and ditch this instructor? Do you all have any ideas on how I can get my instructor to pay attention to me?

I am a martial artist who has practiced various sports and won medals in a few of them. I have experience in triathlon, water sports, boxing, wrestling, BJJ, Aikido, and more. However, I want to focus on practicing and eventually mastering karate. Due to my schedule, I am only available late at night.

Because of this, even though I can find good practitioners, I am unable to train in dojos.

Given my years of experience in different martial arts and that I have other martial artist friends to train with 3-4 times a week, is it possible to get quality training online?

I hope to train in a real dojo in perhaps 2-3 years, but not right now. Do you know any well-regarded online courses that could help me achieve a recognized degree in karate?

When I get a gi it starts to orange within a few months. You can see a bit of the oranging at the top. It eventually starts turning black, as you can see in the middle. No bad smells to it at all. I wash my gi after every class and hang it up immediately in a dry room. To get rid of this I’ve tried bleach (I know, not good for gis), oxyclean, the Canadian version of “zote”, ironout, various spot cleaners. I’m all out of ideas, any suggestions please?

https://reddit.com/link/1giz4w3/video/kw70xmiziryd1/player