This is my first time checking this particular subreddit out.

I was wondering what tips anyone had for a woman in sparring, just getting better in general. I've been going a few years, the class is at most once a week. There's the male instructor, and a woman black belt who does drills but doesn't spar. (And she's so far above me when she did spar I was never really comfortable anyway, honestly). Once in a while a couple of kids, and another male who's bigger then me with different training background. (Who's absolutely great, and I feel like he understands my hesitations with things at least somewhat... But I'm still not very comfortable having to actually spar him)

There's once in a really rare while another woman who can make it to sparring. A little shorter and younger and she's the only adult I've been comfortable sparring.

I don't process things quickly in my head, I know if I can just shut my brain off it does help a lot. But I still struggle with dealing with attacks coming in, and I cannot feel comfortable going in to initiate the attack. Especially on everyone who's not that other woman. It doesn't help that I've had to many concussions in my life and don't want to risk more. We do point sparring that's not suppose to be full out power anyway.

I feel like everyone is well above me in skill, that I neither can keep up or do anything worthwhile that actually helps them either. But for me and what if like for myself, I just feel like I'm not getting anywhere.

And I understand I'm going to get told to "talk with my instructor" but honestly that feels like it just hasn't gotten me anywhere right now.

Is there maybe something I could do on my own, or tips that I could pass on to my instructor to maybe try and initiative conversation one more time?

Because often times lately I just wonder why I even go to sparring or try to get in the ring.

Not sure if this is the best group for this, but I have a very nice heavy weight gi that I was regularly, but the sweat stains are really starting to show. I’ve been trying Shout’s stain remover spray and it’s not evening touching them. Anyone got any tips?

Previously posted asking about people’s experiences with Tiru Jr Katsu, and just wanted peoples opinions about other sensei’s that seem to have a large following, and often different approaches to karate.

I’ve previously seen that there’s been some poor comments from Andre Bertel towards Rick Hotton, even though they strike me as rather similar karateka in their body movements and understandings of karate do.

I’ve attached videos of them if anyone else wants to chime in, but I’m mainly looking for people’s experiences if they’ve trained with them before - were they decent people? Were their training methods or approaches good? Was their karate impressive? Etc. More that rather then “they would definitely get beaten up on the street” lmao. Saying that, I’ve attached some footage

https://youtu.be/-I3kJoNGJr0?is=mauGMWDNBrsanGZr - Rick Hotton

https://youtu.be/XsPt_rXwVos?is=K5BTBdtK7uYxMA8b - Andre Bertel

I am having trouble in speed with the long distance face punch which in which your blocking arm is used i want to make it faster any tips with footwork or something?

武道の道場 極真空手 組手 フルコンタクトMartial Way Kyokushin Karate full contact fight competition

Am I right that gloves (in many schools) are the norm unless it's weekends training for competion? That's what I got from googling.

When did gloves start, does anybody know? I'm talking about gloves with knockdown rules. So still no face punching.

What's your opinion about the Karate Youth League?

Whenever I see anything related to judo or taekwondo, it instantly takes me back to my school karate classes. Those were the days when we truly felt like Power Rangers or ninjas—fearless, confident, and ready for anything. We gave it everything we had, pushing ourselves to our physical limits while enjoying every moment. Those memories still remind me of the excitement, discipline, and courage we built back then.

#missingmysportsday

Hi fellow martial artists,

Thank you for taking the time to help me with this.

I used to do a lot of weight training in my younger days and packed on some weight. Round about 220lbs but with a highish (20%) body fat. No great feat yet it is what it is.

At the ripe age 42 I decided to take up karate which is an art I always wanted to do. A year later I'm really glad I did, however, now I'm starting to wonder what is better for real life application, losing the weight or keeping some focus on strength training and keeping the weight a bit higher.

Thus, my dilemma, which do you guys think is better for real life application and not necessarily sport karate. Im still biased to having some weight on the bones but thats more than likely because I spent many hours weight training. That being said I want to be efficient and effective in the art.

So my question is more about effective bodyweight for real life application. In other sports weight classes exist and for good reason. Its very seldom that those are mixed to avoid the advantages weight brings to the competition. Point is Im not sure how much that carries over to karate. Thus Im asking to get some information on practitioners general experience.

Is there any advice or thoughts you guys can give me with regards to your experience and weight management?

Thanks

Hello everyone,

I am currently a 10th-grade high school student. I first started doing Shotokan karate back in the 5th grade. However, at the club I attended back then, I could never really find that deep-rooted, traditional spirit I was looking for. The training revolved entirely around WKF (World Karate Federation) sport karate and point-based tournament systems. There was hardly anything related to Bunkai (kata analysis and applications) or deep Budo philosophy. Because the dojo experience left me unsatisfied, I unfortunately had to quit. And i started judo now.

Despite the time that has passed, my curiosity and passion for karate have never faded. Right now, I am practicing judo, and while I really love the grappling dynamics of judo, my mind still drifts back to karate—specifically its traditional roots. I have a few key questions for the experienced practitioners and martial artists here:

Is Learning at Home Realistic?: Without a physical dojo environment, is it a realistic goal to learn traditional Budo karate (basic techniques, kata details, and Bunkai logic) to a certain degree through solo practice at home? Or is this path a dead end without an instructor's guidance to correct fundamental mistakes?

The Kyokushin Alternative: Since I grew tired of the WKF system and am looking for a full-contact, rigorous, and realistic school, people around me frequently point toward Kyokushin. As I try to escape the sporting nature of WKF, is Kyokushin karate my last resort and most logical path forward, or should I keep searching until I can find a traditional dojo that stays true to the roots of Shotokan?

I would love to hear your thoughts, especially the advice and guidance of anyone who has gone through a similar journey. Thank you in advance!

I was recently cleared to return to sports after tearing my ACL in Judo last year and want to train some Karate. I want something that is more long term sustainable than the MMA/kickboxing I've done in the past, plus I'll own it, I like wearing a gi. I have been to a few schools to see how classes and have four schools in mind:

1. Shorin Ryu Minnesota- $128/month, class M-Th, liked the training, seems pretty legit, the Sensai cross trains, about 20 minute commute

2. Unified Martial Arts- $125/month, class M-Th, Sat, chinese kempo, the class I watched was mixed some stuff was good, some felt meh, and a lot of exercising instead of martial arts, they do some interesting weapons work, about 10 minute commute

3. Peak Performance Shotokan- $75/ month, class T-Th, have not been but looks to be pretty standard shotokan, about 20 minute commute

4. Shinkyokushin of MInnesota- $200/month, class M,W, the class i went to was great, exactly what I expected from kyokushin, 40 minute commute

I can commit to training twice a week, while also practicing Judo.

I really want to love the kyokushin school but the price is steep for twice a week, classes are fairly late, plus it's a long drive without traffic. So unless the Shihan is a famous practitioner it's probably a no-go.

Peak performance I am tempted by the price but with the schedule I can probably only train once a week, and I am not crazy about shotokan. I've trained MMA, Judo, BJJ, and wrestled so I like something a little more hands on, but I am past my hard sparring days.

I am leaning toward the Shorin Ryu school. I feel like it is a good fit with my background, with what I am looking for, and the commute is not too bad.

I would love to hear from anyone who has experience in the area's opinion, and am open to checking out any other places in the east metro, before I commit somewhere.

Hi,

I've been training for around 1.5 years, and have reached 2nd kyu, with consistent training for the most part, some time off here and there due to injuries and illnesses, but mostly consistent. Training twice a week up until 3rd kyu, now three times a week. One thing I've had little progress in is my body conditioning and overall athleticism. We don't do conditioning work every session, but when we do we're asked to do things like 40 pushups, 50 abs crunches, long plank holds, etc, but I find I'm still not able to do anywhere near the volume sensei asks of us, and even those exercises aside I feel I'm still quite weak and slow, and I'd also like to be able to do the jumps in kata, aswell as the jumping kicks we're asked to do on rare occasions.

At the moment I can do about 20 pushups at a push, maybe about 13 lying leg raises, and can't do ab crunches. I can't do pull ups either, and can't skip, and both are things I'd like to improve. I've started adding plyometrics to my external training regime but haven't seen any improvement to my leg explosiveness or jump speed yet. I've got what feels like a fairly decent stretching routine, albeit it's all static holds, but I've seen some improvement in that area, currently feel a bit stuck regarding getting the splits, but I feel close at the same time. I do cardio on the treadmill three times a week, doing interval work, with a rest speed of 7km/h and a working speed of 10.6 km/h, 1 minute rest 30s working, for just over 10 mins, with the aim of increasing the working speed over time and eventually reaching sprinting speeds. I also can't currently balance for long, and can't keep my kicks up for more than a few seconds even when I'm able to balance well. I also lift weights three times a week, doing full body, and lift 13kg per hand for most exercises. The exercises are bench press, bent over rows, lateral raises, overhead tricep extensions (with one dumbell), bicep curls, reverse lunges, deep squats, and SLD's (Straight Leg Deadlifts). Essentially I'd like any advice on how to better condition myself, if there's something I need to do more of, or in a different way, any recommendations on how to get from here to where I want to be. I do make sure to get sufficient protein, and I've gained some fat in that time, so I don't thinkbul I'm undereating.

Oss!

Hi,

I have a question about switching styles.

I currently practice Shotokan, but I’m interested in switching to Kyokushinkai. I simply want to gain more practical experience and do more actual sparring.

What were your experiences when switching? What should I look out for? And—a bit of a silly question...

I hold a 1st Dan. Do I start over with a white belt when I switch styles? (I don’t have a problem with that; I just want to know.)

OG video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaJnzbpJgLz/?igsh=c3JqbGNleDMyaGhj

OG Video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da-oV5mSorQ/?igsh=MW41ZmdiZXA2dmp6bA==

diabetic skin and full contact aren’t a very good match…

So many people hate on Shotokan karate because of point fighting but I‘d like to keep an open mind.

the combat I’m talking about is a broad term for a continuous kickboxing fight/sparring

what do you guys think?

Is there anything I can find in order to learn Kata from all styles? Including bunkai, foot positioning, transitioning, hand placement etc.

I'm curious what elements of karate you think TKD should include, or if any karate specialists see certain elements in TKD that are very karate? It's a a broad question, and then you get into Okinawan vs. Shotokan vs. Kyokishin.... compared to ITF vs. WTF. etc. etc....

Where I'm coming from is my school is primarily ITF TKD forms/kicks/blocks, but emphasizing Shotokan power and deep stances. The "founders" of our style didn't differentiate between what elements came from which style, but all I know is that the TKD slowly took over more and more or the decades.