Evening all,

I am ex GKR 2nd kyu - due to a relocation to an area with no GKR. I am living on Magnetic Island (off Townsville) and the only MA option here is Taekwondo which I happily decided to give a go when we arrived here 8 months ago. To cut a long story short, Taekwondo is not my cup of tea - karate remains my passion. So I am very happily karate training again, with my husband as my coach and my 4 years full time training/3 years teaching as knowledge. i have a bit of catching up to do (to say the least) to get back to the skill level/fitness that I was at and I am confident that I can get myself there.

The question though, is what then? I want to work towards my black belt and beyond - so I need some advice on how to progress when going it alone from others who have been there too. Training in Townsville on a regular basis isn't really an option - the travel and associated costs are prohibitive, but I would be open to ad hoc training in other locations if the opportunity arose. The other issue I have of course, is that GKR is not considered a 'traditional' style, so I don't know where that leaves me in terms of what style of karate I do.

Don't know if this makes sense - but I know there are lots of you wonderful people who have discovered that there is a big wide world of karate outside of GKR.

Any advice?

Kim

Hi Kimu

In one sense the answer is simple. Find a club you want to train at and get there as often as you're able to, and train on your own inbetween. If the club's in your own town that's easy - you train every week. If you have to travel further it may be you can only make once a fortnight/month or even less. But the principle is the same.

Personally I've done a lot of travelling to train, driving between 50 and 300 (each way) to train with the right teachers for me.

What can you do inbetween? Get a full length mirror so you can easily check your posture. Video yourself. If your teacher is amenable, email them the video (or post on youtube) so that they can give you regular feedback. If you could find someone local to train with informally that would be really helpful.

"...so I don't know where that leaves me in terms of what style of karate I do..."

Find a style/teacher that appeals to you, one that can deliver on what it is you want to get out of karate (which may be different to what someone else wants to get out of it). If that's GKR so be it, something more traditional, even something less traditional, its up to you. It might even be that you can only get to the dojo that you really want to train once or twice a year, but you can get to another which partially satisfies your requirements once a month. Do both, there's nothing to say that you can't learn from multiple teachers/styles at the same time.

Mike

Thanks for the advice Mike.

I am already solo training as you suggest and I agree with what you say about getting to some sort of formal classes whenever I can - I guess that's where I am floundering.

Through location circumstances (living on an island), my training is going to have to be primarily solo. If I find a club that I like that I can get to occasionally, what then? There is no GKR here for me to pick up where I left off, so if I join a new dojo, I guess I have to start all over again. I would be willing to travel (interstate if necessary) every few months to train on an adhoc basis, but where do I find these opportunities? - noting that if I was traveling interstate, it would have to be for a pretty special class or seminar. Are there karate 'mentors' around that could act as my Sensei, albeit at a distance?

I was within reach of black belt when I left and I am hungry to continue my training to reach that goal, but I know that I need guidance. I am not overly excited about starting again as a white belt - I did that with taekwondo and lost more techniques and ability than I gained. Ideally I would like to advance by adding to what I already know, not by relearning how to punch and block.

I am trying very hard not to whine here, so I hope I am not coming across that way. I have been very sheltered and spoon fed with my training (from very big clubs) to date and I have learned that there is much more to learn and experience outside the confines of the big clubs. However, I am a naive white belt about what options are available to me.

Am I setting too big a goal for myself - that is to get to shodan from 2nd kyu - primarily relying on my own knowledge?

Hhhmmmmm.

Kim

Hi Kim

You don't seem like you're whining, but you do sound slightly confused or unsure in your goals.

Training yourself is not like training in a club. You can go along to a club (most clubs anyway) and not be required to think about what you're doing. You just go and train and sweat and get told what to do. Your progress is being steered by your sensei, you just have to keep your foot on the gas pedal. You now have the opportunity and the challenge to do what black belts should be doing (although many do not) - that is to take responsibility for your own training (not just motivation but direction too).

I think you may be focussing too much on the goal of attaining black belt, and that's understandable. But what you need to do now is think instead about what you wish/need to improve. Forget style, let go of the idea of grading, think instead about specific skills. Find teachers that can help you improve those skills (and ask them what they think you need to improve upon). It doesn't have to be the same style and you don't have to stick to one teacher.

If you're sincere and determined then I'm sure you will be able to find teachers who are willing to act as mentors rather than regular teachers. Impress them not by asking how quickly you can grade in their style, but what they think you need to do to improve - then work on it. Seminars can be very helpful but do research the teacher/style as much as you can beforehand before forking out for long distance travel or expensive seminars (as an aside I rarely find the most expensive seminar instructors to be the best ones).

Progress may be slow and require lots of effort on your part but you will - I believe - become a more rounded, mature martial artist as a result. And at some point in the process some wily sensei - one not motivated by money, attendance figures and so on - will award you a shodan. And you'll feel you've earned it.

Mike

Kim,
If you are serious about your karate. Not the Grade or Belt and if you are prepared to start again, Then PM me your location and I will put you onto a Teacher that may be willing to help.

Did I also mention that i am a forum white belt? Not sure what PM means???

Is there someway I can send you an email?

(And yes, I am serious about my karate and not just the belt.)

Thanks to you and Mike for your advice. I appreciate being able to access others who have walked the same path.

K

Hi Kimu,

If you click on GojuSeishinseii's name at the little box at the left hand side of the post, you'll see a drop-down menu. if you click on the 3rd option you'll be able to send him a message.

Tom.

Just thought I'd let you know, I chased up the referrals that you gave me and ended up finding an excellent Goju Sensei that ticks all the boxes of what I was looking for! I am now training with him on a weekly basis and am learning heaps and having a ball. I am still training largely on my own, but now I have someone to assist me on my continued karate journey. And I have the opportunity to train in Japan next year as well. What a bonus!

Thanks for all your advice.

Kim

Nice one Kimu, you could do alot worse than Goju! Training in Japan is something I've always wanted to do, maybe one day..........

Hi Kim,


I was just curious, as i lived on Maggie for a while and a number of my ex-students (gkr based) are still living on the island and had much the same experience with the TKD class that is there, are you training on the island or on the mainland?

I know some of my guy's are still interested in training but can't do the travel to the mainland too often.

Hi there,

Sorry not to reply sooner - haven't logged on to the site for a while and I didn't get email notification of a post.

I am training on the mainland and on the island. I travel for about an hour (including the ferry) to get to my goju class and I also train on the island with some other students twice a week.

I would be more than happy to train with any ex GKR students (as a matter of fact I think I am already training with one of your ex students)!

Kim

Cool, good to hear they are still at it. Easiest way to tell is ask if they remember sensei evil, if they do give them a hug for me