Yesterday I posted asking what the difference was if I just started my own dojo and taught Shotokan before reaching Shodan. That is here if you want context https://www.reddit.com/r/karate/s/UqbJmnylSv

Upon further digging and looking I found another dojo near me that teaches Shotokan (with BJJ and other stuff mixed in) and it is absolutely its “own thing”. No affiliation or accreditation with an organization or anything of the sort. Quite a few students though who have good technique and can actually fight. So again, I ask the question, what is the difference between getting a Shodan at this unaccredited school verses the accredited but bad dojo with no sparring, practical self defense, instruction on how to improve, etc?

Thank you for your thoughts and time in advance!

Hello everyone,

I’m getting back into karate after a break and Im looking to do some extra practice at home.

If you train at home in-between lessons, how do you track what you are doing? I’m thinking of noting what I do down in a diary but wondering if there is a better option.

Hello dear martial artists I have great respect to you all!

THE QUESTION: Is there any good YouTube videos you’d recommend for a beginner to start practising karate? For example different punches

About me: I’m 27 yo male, always interested in martial arts but due to my generalized anxiety disorder and depression I havent been able to start learning any martial art style.

Training background: I’ve been exercising 2-12 hours every day for over 5 years both weightlifting + cardio combined

Training is my passion and I’d love to learn as many different martial arts styles as possible and master them all eventually

Good regards, Hopeful guy

Anybody do 5x5 strength training for their karate?

Does anybody have a gi that they really like and would recommend to others? I'm looking to upgrade and trying to get a feel from people who actually use them instead of just the seller's websites.

I'm looking ideally around $100 range if anyone has recommendations.

After being burned by my last sensei following my 2nd kyu test (I passed), I’ve asked what I should do in here a few times. Unfortunately, I love Shotokan and the only dojo in my area is the one I’ve had bad experiences at. Many of you stated you think the sensei I was training with ran a version of a McDojo because they wouldn’t teach me how to improve and I agree. Some suggested I do GMAU to finish my Shodan but I don’t think I’ll be motivated to just upload videos of myself and get a black belt from an online dojo.

Here’s my question, what, if anything, is stopping me from just opening up a dojo and teaching Shotokan? I know the kata and do them well (from what my good sensei says), I understand sparring and self defense, I have many years in karate and martial arts in general. So could I just do this? I know it wouldn’t be accredited or anything, but is this not exactly what some legends before did? Broke off and started teaching?

Previous Posts for those curious:

Disregarding Other Styles
https://www.reddit.com/r/karate/s/SF1JEZYJQZ

Refusing to Help Me Improve
https://www.reddit.com/r/karate/s/jO041xQrbr

This makes me sad to say but I have to say it. Due to my busy schedule and me getting bored of training the same things over and over again after almost a decade, I've decided to stop training Karate to make time for other martial arts that interest me more.

It sucks that I don't have time to do it anymore since I've been training at the same place for a long long time since I was a kid but I'm also really looking forward to trying new things.

Just wanted to rant.

Osu!

I wanted to ask the Kyokushin community for perspective on a situation at my dojo/federation.

Recently, I saw two people being awarded green belts even though, they were not technically eligible for that level - they were not graded for the green belt.

One of them had not even fully passed the yellow belt requirements and could not perform the kata expected even for yellow belt level during recent grading.

However, he had opened his own Kyokushin school under the flag of our federation. Another person had only previously passed for blue belt. Nevertheless, both were given green belts.

When I asked sensei about the logic behind this, the explanation was basically: “That’s how it is supposed to be.”

I understand that different organizations and federations may have their own internal rules. I also understand that a sensei or federation may sometimes make discretionary decisions based on contribution, loyalty, dojo development, teaching support, opening a branch, or other factors that regular students do not always see.

At the same time, I find this difficult to understand from a traditional budo perspective. In Kyokushin, I always thought that a belt should represent technical level, spirit, effort, time in training, and the successful completion of the requirements for that grade. If someone receives a rank without meeting the technical standard, does that not weaken the meaning of the belt for everyone else?

I am not asking this because I want someone else’s belt or because I think I personally deserve more. In fact, I would not want to receive a belt I had not earned.

My concern is more about the principle: what should a belt mean in Kyokushin?

So my questions are:

Is it normal in Kyokushin for a sensei or federation to award a higher belt for organizational reasons, such as opening a new school under the federation’s flag, even if the person has not passed the technical requirements?

How much discretion should a sensei or federation have in promotions?

At what point does this become harmful to the dojo culture and the meaning of rank?

I am trying to understand whether my reaction is justified, or whether I am looking at this too rigidly.

Osu!

Recently I got back into training Karate, Goju-Ryu on my own mostly because I don't have a local gym. I have a sensei that's a bit further away and some people I can ask for technical advice like how the stance should look etc. but they couldn't help me with this.

What I really want is to make my kata and form crisp and with no excessive movement. When I watch these amazing katas on YouTube from Olympics they just go into the stance. They don't stumble or balance out. They don't adjust weight distribution anymore.

The second thing is these crispy looking techniques. There seems to be no excessive movement in this.

What do I need to train(muscle training, weighted kata training?) to replicate this?

(I don't want to become a olympic master, I just want to make it look crispy and better)

I’m a kickboxer, I kickboxed for three years and fought in a few smokers by the end of my training but never officially amateur. My dad has a black belt in shotokan through a local gym and I was thinking about signing up and doing shotokan myself. I’m mostly attracted to the discipline aspect of shotokan that was lacking in kickboxing.

I moved here about 3 years ago and have been searching for a dojo or kwoon to join and continue my practice.

I started training Shorin Ryu Karate in 2017 and Yin Style Baguazhang in 2021.

I was hoping to join a place that practiced one of these styles, a Google search didn’t help me much.

Does anyone know of areas I can continue my training in these?

Thanks in advance!

A small achievement, but a while ago I made a post about an upcoming belt test I had, while it’s only for my second rank, I was very nervous.
So, I’m proud to say that I passed.

Thank you to those who encouraged me. :)

I'm just turning 44 and just beginning Shotokan Karate. I used to train martial arts for nearly 10 years or so through my mid teens through my mid 20's, never traditional but mostly MMA/grappling/boxing. Haven't trained at all for a solid 15 years. I had been sitting watching my kids at their Karate class just to watch and enjoy them doing karate. After a couple of months I felt the itch to want to get on the mats and train, I thought I was going crazy lol thinking no way man, I'm too old to take up Karate now. That was a thing of my past, let it go and just enjoy the kids doing karate. Time goes by and the feeling to want to do it got stronger and finally I said heck with it. I want to do it and I'm not getting any younger lol. So jumped in last month and I'm so glad I did. It feels so good to do it just for the sake of learning and the tradition as opposed to back in the day when I was training for let's say competition or fighting. It's great and last night I just earned my Yellow belt which was surprisingly quite satisfying. Just wanted to share that and maybe say to a dad in his 40's like me that is feeling the same way I did and that I'm too old to start karate. Age is just a number, do it.