I’m 36 years old. I have a professional career, I pay my bills, and I’ve spent the last three years dedicated to JKA Shotokan. But after a recent gasshuku, I’ve realized I’m done. I’m moving to Seido, and it’s largely because the "traditional" environment has become fundamentally egregious.

The breaking point wasn't the physical training; it was the infantilization. At 36, I’m being spoken to like a disobedient child by 60-year-old instructors. We were at a seminar recently and they told us to get water, only to immediately start barking, "Come on, hurry up!" as we were drinking.

It’s not "character building." It’s a power trip. There’s a toxic culture where having a higher-ranking belt apparently gives you a license to be a prick to adults who are just trying to stay hydrated. I'm not interestdd in their shitty theatrics - I just want to study karate.

It’s not just the seniors. I’ve had 24-year-old black belts get frustrated and tell me, "Look, this is how we bow—it's not rocket science!" when I was first starting. No one had taught me the specific nuance yet, but instead of teaching, they chose condescension. I'm a grown fucking man. When the "spirit" of the bow is replaced by ego-driven pedantry, the art is dead.

Beyond the culture, the "training" has become a loop:

Half the lessons are just punching back and forth up and down the mat in a straight line for an hour.

Being pressured into mandatory weekend seminars for an extra $60+ just to be yelled at some more. It feels less like a dojo and more like a subscription to a boot camp that doesn't respect your time or your intelligence.

I started looking into Seido Karate, and Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura’s story hit me like a ton of bricks. He was a top-tier Kyokushin fighter who walked away from one of the most powerful organizations in the world because he was sick of the ego, the "survival of the fittest" mentality, and the lack of human respect.

He created Seido to be the "Sincere Way"—a place where you’re treated as a human being first and a student second. He integrated Zen and meditation because he realized that being a "tough guy" on the mat is useless if you're a jerk in real life.

Goodbye, JKA. I will not miss you.

Did you actually do effective damage to your opponent?

Lol my sensei looks in shock/horror maybe whenever i do it in front of him.

A lot of people asked me what my karate style is in my previous post about me getting my 1st dan blackbelt. Here it is! This is a video of what Sentou Karate is. As you can see we didn’t just tackle kumite in that video, we also have Tameshiwari and Kata. Our style is deeply rooted in tradition. In our trainings we still do the 5 components of Karate which are Kihon, Kata, Kumite, Tameshiwari, and Bunkai. We’re pretty huge here in the Philippines. We have branches all around America, southeast asia, and Africa. We often get invited to compete by Kyokushin in their local and international tournaments.

Yes we wear red and black gi primarily. Only blackbelts can wear the traditional white gi.

I’ll try and answer as many questions as I can if you have one!

We had to do all the brown belt kata for my grading earlier this year (as well as the Heian kata + Tekki Shodan) and choose one as our graded kata, I did Kanku Dai

Whenever I tell people that I chose KD they look at me like I’m a madman, even the panel of Senseis that graded me called me a “brave man” when I said that was my chosen kata 😅

I was talking with a friend from work today who’s also a Shotokan black belt and mentioned that I’m competing soon, so we started discussing kata and he started talking about Bassai Dai being a good competition kata, so I mentioned that was originally gonna be my choice for Shodan but closer to the date I settled on Kanku Dai and he said he wouldn’t have done that kata since it’s a risky and highly technical one

Hello Senseis and/or karate practitioners, this is a tough question for some of you: do you give junior black belts or do you give full black belts to all these who pass regardless of age? Juniors can be defined as kids under the age of 16, or you can tell me what you consider to be juniors, kids under 14?

I notice many dojos give the junior black belts, which are black belts with a white stripe in the middle. One of my kids got one from the first dojo he was at. He never liked it, it felt like a partial belt. He was tested with half of the traditional forms and only did traditional one steps, as well as some other basics. It felt like half a black belt test, but he was capable of a lot more. Getting a belt like that undermined his confidence level and he was not excited to be ranked lower than another candidate who was technically less capable, and literally was favored by the testing sensei. He earned the second degree black belt from another dojo four years after the junior black belt. The first 3 years was spent wearing the junior black belt in the first dojo while learning hardly anything new. Then he moved to another dojo and was granted a full black belt by the new sensei/really a grandmaster, after seeing what he could really do in a few months of joining. My boy couldn’t be happier to have been able to be himself.

Then there is my other karate kid. She didn’t like the junior black belt either. It just felt incomplete and this kid is even stronger in expressing her feelings. She took off and earned her full black belt from the same new dojo in six months of joining after earning the black belt candidate status from the first dojo.

I have been to a few tournaments and saw many juniors wearing junior black belts. Some of them are really good. And then there are the other junior competitors who wore full black belts but their performances were less than what I expect to see from black belts.

So what do you think? What’s the philosophies for your dojo/dojang in regards to whether to give out junior black belts or full black belts only? Respect for all and sincere discussions only.

It would be interesting to know your experience when you were noticeable better than the opponent for example

I'm 19 and a full time martial arts student in a traditional Goju Ryu school, I have been since highschool. Which kinda sounds cool on paper until you realize it means I'm only ever hanging out around men twice my age. I love martial arts, that's why I devoted so much of myself to it, but at the same time there's NO ONE my age at my dojo and I can't help but feel a little outcasted. I want friends so badly, all ever get to do is train or study. I don't know how to make friends my age, and even if I did, I'm from a totally different world than a lot of other people my age.

I've been to other Goju schools, and noticed a trend of it being mostly much older men. So is there anyone else who's experienced this? What should I do?

So ive made a post before saying I'm a plus size girl. Well sadly I am pretty large and 8 size pant doesn't fit. I know what I am and im joining to be healthier and going to gym and work all day with toddlers and do 10k steps a day. I am truly focused on the journey ya know?

(My top fits and the belt fits, I just have large hips and butt)

I searched everywhere online in Canada and literally no one has my size in pants. Only an American only shipping company. That being said I'm not losing faith and am thinking of going to a seamstress to extend my current pants maybe add some fabric?? To just make do for the first while as I drop the weight.

So is this a crazy thing to do? I feel so angry at myself for letting myself go the last few years. I have lost over 100lbs before and I know I am capable but its embarrassing. My sensei was kind and said to find an alternative for next week's class. I just cant right now. Even that one company people have shared for plus size women is always sold out so im limited.

Thanks im advance for the advice!

I (M, 33) was partnered with another person (M, 50+) who always like to do too much, add more realism, more resistance, or more strength.

I expected this because Ive partnered with him before. Today while rolling on the floor, he grabbed my groin and squeezed. I thought it was accidental but he did it again.

I spoke firmly to him about boundaries and also told our sensei. Guy apologized but I just cant get over it. I still feel the squeeze.

I feel violated. It just brings back memories. I was groped when I was 17 and I froze then. What to do?

I love finding answers to this question. I have had a lot of mammograms this year due to treatment for breast precancer (and I have one tomorrow), and the breath control and posture holding I have learned in karate makes it easy peasy to get good images. I like to wear my karate t-shirts to appointments/treatments for morale as well.

How has your karate training made your everyday life easier/better in some way?

Hi everyone, I am a member of a pretty strict Dojo with a good Sensei and there are a team of good senior instructors. We are very traditional Dojo and we often have people come from all over the world to train with us.

For context, I am a black belt, but not an instructor or any of the senior instructors within this dojo.

I have a question.

I’ve become aware of the activities of a member of the Dojo, who is a junior grade and is constantly misrepresenting our Dojo, himself and talking about our Dojo online, (on this platform and others )and I just wonder what I should do, if anything?

Of course yes they have the right to their freedom of speech, absolutely but they’ve called out people from the Dojo that they have trained with saying that these people are useless. Talking critically about our Sensei who is really good, and is a very globally recognized instructor in our association. Painting situations that I have personally witnessed in a way that casts shade in Sensei.

I don’t want to be “that person” but I do feel this is wrong and not in the spirit of the dojo.

Just curious what your black belt test was like. Our dojo does 4 pre-tests. Just sharing we had to do the following:

Test 1

Run a mile in under 7:50 minutes (age dependent, females had much more time). Then 3 hours of intense exercise plus all your basics, self defence and katas, sparring

Test 2

Run a mile in under 7:30 minutes (age dependent, females had much more time). Then 3 hours of intense exercise all your basics, self defence and katas, sparring

Test 4

Run a giant block (unsure how far in under 22 minutes (age dependent, females had much more time). Then 4 hours of intense expertise plus all your basics, self defence and katas, sparring

Final

Run a mile in under 7:10 minutes (age dependent, females had much more time). Then 4 hours of intense exercise plus all your basics, self defence and sparring.

Each test was different to some extent. Test 4 was very difficult but it’s more of a mental game. Final was very very tough. 2 on 1 sparring, randori and amongst other things. All had grappling too.

Our dojo does well, everyone comes into there and some you’d think won’t make it really do wonderful. I have seen black belt tests in other dojos where it’s nothing big, just a ceremony and about 2 hours in length. We generally do well in tournaments as well. I never questioned other dojos before when I’m at tournaments but some black belts wouldn’t it be green belts in our dojo.

I have been training karate my whole life. I have also trained several other martial arts as well but I consider myself to be karate-ka first and foremost. Let me explain a situation I have ran into many, many times.

I will train with people who do other styles like muay thai/boxing/etc and they will inevitably tell me that they don't believe karate works. So I will offer to spar full contact at whatever intensity level they are comfortable with (within reason) and do my best to show that karate works when done correctly.

This is usually what I run into when I handle myself well and sometimes even get the best of them - "yeah but you aren't doing karate". I am told because my hands are held up high, I am actually boxing/kickboxing. Because I am throwing kicks to the legs, I am actually doing muay thai. Because I am slipping punches, I am actually just boxing. Because I square my stance to defend take downs/leg kicks, I am actually just going "insert style here".

I always get real confused because all of those things are taught in the various styles of karate. High guard, leg kicks, different stances, slipping, etc. All of that is karate. It's a huge system. Also, are those things really part of any system? Or are they just....common sense? The natural way a human being would defend themselves in those situations.

Has anyone else run into this? Being told their karate actually doesn't work because when you are moving properly, you are really just doing something else. What are your arguments against this? For this? Comments? Thanks.

I am a super novice in the the world of Karate. I have admired Karate for awhile, but I have always been too "heavy" to participate. I have been losing weight for awhile and I have lost 100 pounds and I feel I am finally at a weight I can join a dojo without feeling embarrassed for participating.
I live in a more rural area, and the only dojo within a 45 minute drive of me practices Isshin-Ryu karate. The dojo is well spoken of and the Sensei is as well and has decades of experience. My first class is going to be later this week. I was curious if Isshin-Ryu was considered a "legitimate" and respected form of Karate? I am really hoping to dive in and really give it my all, but want to make sure I'm devoting my time to a good practice that is respected by other practicioners.
Sorry if my question comes off as rude or disrespectful, I do not intend it to.
Also, the Sensei is in his 60's. As someone who doesn't practice, I was curious if this is relatively normal? Just curious and appreciate any thoughts on this!

After being open for 31 years, my dojo is closing. The management of the building has changed because the landlord passed away. So they’re kicking us out, knocking the building over, and selling the land to someone out of state with deeper pockets. My sensei is too old and doesn’t have the funds to start anew, so he is (reluctantly) retiring.

Pictured is a list of every kata in Gōjū-Ryū karate. It was done by Master Nakasone Kinei of the Okinawan Sebukai Association. This hung on the center wall of my dojo, and is what my sensei gave to me as a parting gift along with a handmade Purple Heart bō

I am crushed. I have been going here multiple times a week, every week since I was six years old. I am internationally recognized as Shō-dan in the Okinawan Sebukai Association. I have met masters, made friends, made and shared memories, and dedicated so much to this little dojo that used to be a flower store. These people have literally watched me grow up, and my last class is tomorrow.

My sensei gave me these gifts tonight, and I broke down once I got home.

I suppose it’s the feeling of shock now that it’s actually happening, but I don’t know what to do now.

I feel that I won’t get over this for a while.

Disclaimer: Another long and controversial post from me, so hold on to your handrails. Please don't just dump a knee-jerk comment on me.

The most common excuse I hear whenever a "traditional martial artist" loses a fight against a "modern sports fighter" is that it's not the style that matters but the individual person. What's interesting to me is that it always comes from the "traditional" side when they lose, almost reflexively, and especially with karate (and wing chun frankly).

Here's a hypothetical: we take 30 untrained Average Joes of the same size and have 10 of them train aikido, 10 of them train karate, and 10 of them train kickboxing for an equal amount of time. Then we have them go on a free fight against each other on the proverbial streets, or even UFC 1 rules, which set would you bet will remain standing? Let's be honest, as much as we want the karate guys to win, most of us would place our money on the kickboxers, and barely anyone will place it on the aikido guys.

Or in a ruder awakening, who would you rather not have trying to beat you up: a karateka with 5 years of training or a boxer with 1 year of training?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a karate hater. I have a deep love for kata and I have written quite a bit around them here. But if it really is just about the individual person and not the style, the above hypothetical wouldn't be the case. A great example of this is the kyokushin vs muay thai fight in the 60s. Karateka love to talk about how the karate won 2/3 of the fights, despite the fact that Oyama brought 3 of his best students to go against literal nobodies in muay thai (despite muay thai being in their Silver Age). Even worse, or better (depending how you see it), Oyama and his students changed Kyokushin after that match, whereas muay thai stayed the same. If karate was indeed better than, or even equal to, muay thai, why would they even adapt, and why wouldn't muay thai adapt too? Even before this fight, Kyokushin was already famous for being the toughest style of karate, if we were to send fighters from literally any other style (including Shito-ryu, so that no one can accuse me of being biased), do we really think we would get even one win?

What really differentiated muay thai from kyokushin? Or an even better question, what differentiated kyokushin from other karate styles? With very minor exceptions, like rolling thunder, almost all our techniques are the same. Or as someone pointed out to me, Shotokan and Goju-ryu are more similar than Ali and Frazier. We have 2 arms and 2 legs, can't really be that big of a difference.

So that brings me to another historic occasion in martial arts: koryu jujutsu's extinction in the hands of Kano jujutsu. Kano made it very clear that judo was based on Tenjin Shinyo-ryu and Kito-ryu which, like all other jacket grappling styles, have similar technique sets. But what allowed the Four Guardians and his other students wipe the floor with other jujutsuka to the point where almost every jujutsuka jumped ship into the Kodokan? The main change he made was removing dangerous techniques and focusing on randori.

With all that said, we see that even with a relatively same technique set, you can still have a more dominant style. But to use judo as an example, if we remove randori from it, would it still be judo or would it "devolve" into koryu jujutsu? If we removed the judogi from judo, would it still be judo?

The same question then applies to any other style, especially karate. Is the reason that tradition martial arts consistently lose against modern combat sports just because of the individuals? Why can't we produce better fighters statistically speaking? And why do professional karate fighters like Lyoto Machida and Wonderboy Thompson fight nothing like how karate is "traditionally" trained, whereas boxers fight exactly like how boxing is trained?

Could it be that perhaps other than the techniques we do, another similarity within karate is how we train? Like no matter where you go in the world, 90% of karate dojo spend half their time going up and down the hall hitting air? Or how karate's sparring, i.e. kumite (crossing hands), is basically only the equivalent of judo's uchikomi (striking repetition) or muay thai's drills rather than judo's randori (free practice) or muay thai's technical sparring, and much less stuff like judo's shiai (trial/contest) and muay thai's real fight?

Why do we not fight the way we train? Why is it despite the talks of rooting and stable stances in Sanchin and Naihanchi, the two most important kata in karate, do karateka bounce around instead? Why is it that we still practice hikite, despite making it easy to get knocked out? Why are we training in a way that's contrary to how we fight? Or perhaps the better question, or the one I believe myself, is why do we fight in a way that's contrary to how we train?

Before anyone can say, "But that's not how karate was originally trained!" We have photos and videos from the pre-war era that looks very similar to what we do now. We also have photos and videos of other martial arts from the same era. But on the other hand, we know that training in a karategi was only introduced after Kano gifted Funakoshi with a judogi, so it is in fact a created tradition. And yet if we suggested that karateka ditch the karategi, that would basically be heresy.

Another example is the hojo-undo. Why do people still train using things like chi-ishi and ishi-sashi in a world where we now have kettlebells and clubs? Why do karateka not use mitts more to practice their strikes? I suppose the simple answer, and something I personally understand as well, is that because that would lose the identity of karate as a unique art.

Like it or not, the KKK (unfortunate abbreviation, I know) of karate is the foundation of our art. All 3 of them, especially kata, have been emphasized by the masters a lot, even if not in a clear defined KKK package. It could be reasonably argued that if we get rid of even one of them, we would have ceased to practice karate.

So where does that leave us? Stuck with a crappy pedagogy? I'm honestly not sure myself. What I am sure, however, is that the training is part of the style itself. A good style is more statistically likely to produce good fighters, be it by actually good pedagogy, good culture, and/or good quality control. Is karate a good style? You tell me.

Bonus: Andy Hug vs. Changpuek in kickboxing rules (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol7uAQ22Wn8). See how Andy Hug, considered one of the heavyweight GOATs, looks nothing like how we train, whereas Changpuek, considered an average lightweight muay thai fighter, fights exactly like how nak muay train.

Today I seemed to have upset the Taekwondo community by telling them I was allowed to keep my 1 Dan by my 4th Dan WTF taekwondo master.

Obviously she checked me over a few weeks and even in tournaments we chose to stay in the black belt bracket.

This seemed to be an insult to the TKD community, even saying that they won't allow belt keeping between styles.

Now I would like to ask you the same question.

Imagine you have someone switch to your gym from another karate style (like I am Goju Ryu 1 Dan and want to switch over to Shotokan) or even have some first or second Dan from Tkd switch over.

(Obviously it matters what kind of style he learned, he could be an amazing Judoka or BJJ master but they simply lack the fundamentals that TKD in some cases would provide. So let's ignore them)

In my opinion it's completely up to the student and easily testable. Check their form, their discipline, willingness to learn, maybe some sparring and see how they do. Obviously they don't know this style Kata, but they know other style Kata or the TKD variants.

But I wouldn't mind that. Kata is learnable and if he is doing a good TKD form he should be able to learn the few katas we have in a moderate time.

The only thing would be that he won't advance further unless he meets the requirements.

What would be your take on this?

For clarification, I didn't ask to wear my bb but she insisted and it felt weird to say no.

What style of Karate do you practice?

Does a Karate style not founded in Japan lose its credibility as a Karate style? This has been a debate from the Japanese martial artists who say that Karate not founded in Japan or a non Japanese founder of a style is not Karate cause it didn’t originate in their country.

There are hundreds of karate styles in the world and some of them didn’t originate in Japan or Okinawa, but those countries still respect their roots in Japanese Karate hence why they call it Karate. Some are effective and even has MMA fighters from their style, but I do understand some that are obviously mcdojos (95% of them are in america) that only use the word “karate” cause it’s famous.