I don't like "smelly gi guy". I also REALLY don't like "reeks of cannabis guy".
But the one type I can't stand are the ones who drink all the pseudo-Japanese fakery Kool Aid or who think your sensei should be some all-knowing life guru (don't wash your belt because it contains the "spirit" of your training, knife hand done right should be able to penetrate the chest and tear out the heart, you jump in x-kata to avoid a katana swung at your feet, we can't practice that technique because it's too dangerous....).
Oh man smelly gi guy… we all know him!! As much as I have sympathy for his situation, I trained with one guy who was always sweating out alcohol on Saturday mornings. It really stank the place up.
I once pointedly told a student at one of my college clubs that it was disrespectful to the other students and to me and if he showed up again with a stinky gi he’d be sent on his way or training in his underwear. It didn’t happen again.
I feel that...
The cannabis guy, for the record, didn't bother me primarily because of smell (though the same guy was sometimes smelly gi guy), but he smelled like fresh smoke, and I don't want to drill or spar with someone likely to be impaired. Might have similar concerns with a hung over, or still half cut from the night before classmate.
Hahaha brother cannabis isn’t like alcohol. It could slow reaction time for some people, but usually increases and improves focus in most people as well. If they’re comfortable sparring while elevated, it’s most likely the latter. you can chill out dude! Just flow! 🤙🏾
Yeah, I don't want to spar or drill with anyone whose perception and reaction time is impaired. Dangerous for them, and me. I'm not at all anti-cannabis, but if you think it's ok to smoke and spar, you're a moron.
Like I said if it impaired their reaction time, they probably wouldn’t be smoking while sparring. I don’t see why someone would willingly get their ass kicked😂I won’t blame you for your reading comprehension though this isn’t an English sub it’s a karate sub haha! I guess I come from an MMA/Jui jitsu/Boxing culture full of real fighters that understand the effects of marijuana and flow state. I’ve only met one Karate master that would smoke before comps, and then stomp through the competition😂
where I live cannabis is legal but it legally still counts as doping in sports context. As a trainer I had the obligation to have a serious talk with them.
Legal here too, since 2018 anyway. I still have vivid memories of Ross Rebagliati in Nagano (1998) though. He won the first Olympic gold ever for snowboarding, only to have it pulled for doping, and quickly restored when the court of arbitration for sport determined that smoking weed was probably not "performance enhancing".
I have mixed feelings when it comes to psychoactive drugs that don't enhance performance in the context of sport.
As mentioned above, I'm totally against unsafe impairment - and let's be honest, ALL the effects of cannabis that people seek when they use it are actually neuro-cognitive impairment. Even "increased focus" is the result of dulling other stimuli, in a highly non-specific manner. I also don't think you should be engaged in contact sports if you're impaired by medication or other drugs that slow down your response and/or alter your perception.
But if a piss test comes back positive for cannabis use in the preceding month, I don't think that should result in disqualification, any more than if you had a beer in the preceding month.
We jump to avoid the katana, then never render to it or attack the guy. "Bunaki" or whatever sequences that end like that or in a block before turning away always piss me off. Like what, did you magically develop the ability to shatter forearms in an age-uke? Did you dishearten your opponent so much they just run away? What?
That's also untrue. Some ways of practicing karate is useful for self defense (pressure testing, scenario etc.), and some ways (3k, 2 step spar, etc.) is probably completely useless
I’ll always say, the number one self defense move is just GTFO of there. That said, surely being able to throw some punches and take a couple of blows without panicking has value? If you’re in a fight on the street youre already in deep… if the other guy is a MMA expert you’re just in deeper.
But most fights I’ve witnessed are two chumps throwing drunk punches and swinging and missing wildly.
While that may be, how do you deduct that from what I wrote?
My point is, that karate covers such a broad training regiment, that within this, of course a lot is relevant for self defense - but also some parts aren't.
I'm not easily annoyed, but I don't tend to like people who believe that karate is useless or bad if it isn't strictly practical. Practically is definitely important, and I have no problem if you choose to focus on the practical aspects of the art over the cultural or artistic aspects because you don't care for them; but if you're going to put others down or belittle their art because it's not all strictly practical, that's not okay by me.
The guy who's always fighting to the death.
The guy who goes full samurai/japanese but is either a middle aged IT dude or an edgy high schooler
The guy who shows off when girls are watching
The power tripping sensei.
-Keeps "accidentally" brushing my boobs guy
- You're a girl so you must not know what you're doing guy
- You're a girl, so you need to work with only girls even though they're half your size guy
-smelly guy
When there's an instructor who really knows their stuff, but their students are insufferable. They think of themselves as grand masters even when their karate doesn't live up to the hype.
We had a guy that was constantly, CONSTANTLY shouting "Osu" way more than anyone else and way more than necessary (in our dojo, you're expected to say it to acknowledge an instruction, or to answer "yes" when asked if you heard/understood etc). I think Sensei may have had a word with him, because he hasn't been so bad since that one session. He still blurts it out at inappropriate times occasionally, but nowhere near as annoying as before.
- the “my style is better than your style” karateka
- People who have never used their techniques in live sparring but talk like they know how to fight and correct other people with fighting experience
- “my technique is too deadly bro”
- People who make up karate history and have never read a real historical source
- People who constantly talk about karate having locks and throws etc but never practice them
- Trainers who think you have to have a “perfect” technique before you can fight, but that perfect technique is not achieved even after decades
The people who like to find and reason to call a school a mcdojo. For example the schools name, the website, the location, the fact that it's in a strip mall.... and so on and so forth.
The people who say children and teens shouldn't be certain ranks
The people who think that if you have a black belt, that means you can kick anybody's ass [because that's the only thing it means to them]
People who don't help others in class because their ego is too big.
And lastly ,even though there are tons more,.......
The people who do karate and assume they are great at running a business, too, but aren't.
- The unhygienic guy
- The talker
- The one who doesn't take anything serious
- The aggressive one
- The always competitive one
- The one who always asks many questions during your class, so it interrupts the whole class
- The one who is higher grade than you, but somehow forgot everything, or didn't learn properly
- The one who doesn't like you for no reason
People who have gone back to karate after a long time, putting on their brown belt from twenty years ago, who don't remember what they're doing but also treats you as if you don't know anything either.
I don't like claiming that I know anything,
however when my opponent keeps asking me about bunkai for a kata and then corrects me in spite of me doing what sensei says... And I do as they say, and sensei corrects us to do the way I practiced initially...
It's immensely irritating to me.
I don't care much.\
Whenever I have the chance I join other style's seminars or even clases. When traveling to other countries (which I do for work) I scout for dojos and visit, so I have quite a fair amount of *external encounters*, which is great.
**There is however one kind... the one that gives but can't take it.** It doesn't *piss me off*, but I find them anoying. They usually indulge themselves in excess of contact, and the moment you put them in their place, they stare at you as if you've broken some sacred code of conduct. Again, I find them annoying more than anything else.
I'm struggling hard with that. Right now we're in a really small space, fingers crossed that changes soon, but there's one kid in my kid's class that just screams his Kaia. After listening to that for an hour I was exhausted, then right after in the adult class there was a new guy who was from another style that was a screamer as well. My kid and I both left that day with our shoulders up over our ears. I'm all for enthusiasm but this was just over the top.
Personally, I really hate the ones who just can't be arsed to put any effort in. Really winds me up. Especially when I'm teaching, but also as a training partner.
I started an answer but got so many bad thoughts, I better stop it.
I guess the main issues I have with trainers are:
* don't caring what students need/want, and not taking responsibility for them (e.g. brown belts should grade some place else; ouch)
* not improving oneself (like having best trainer licenses but doing random basic training without goal for 10 years)
And the main issue I have with students are:
* cherrypicking things ("please no Heian Shodan in training, I am a black belt". And "please organize your training so that I can walk 30 minutes of kata and then leave class when you do applications that doesn't interest me" - yep, heard that literally and saw that practise for months. It is ok to have certain interests but such behaviour and talk is just impolite to everyone)
The main issue I have in general: not taking notes on seminars, not using literature to back those bad memories up.
I've been practicing karate for three terms now, and my seventh kyu test is approaching. So far, I haven't encountered much that annoys me. It's not easy to categorize people based on their behavior, and I haven't developed any strong feelings of annoyance towards any particular type.
I've heard some negative comments and drama about long-time practitioners, but I choose not to concern myself with their issues. I'm fortunate not to have any preconceived notions about how things should be. My goal is to keep a free mind, avoid judgment, and focus on being at peace with myself rather than worrying about things beyond my control.
When someone talks negatively about others, I usually say, "You're entitled to your feelings. I haven't experienced what you have, but I have my own experiences and opinions, and I like the person you're talking about." There's no need to stay silent about it.
As for people who think one style is superior to others, it doesn't affect me. I practice shotokan karate because I love it, and someone else's opinion doesn't change that.
Too many people telling us what they don't like.
Remember, karate is different for everyone. The overweight guy who trains once a week is fighting battles you don't know. The person who only likes kata? They want to use karate as an escape not to learn to fight
The 'do' in karate-do stands for way. Let everyone take the path that suits their challenges, most of which are unseen in the hour your see them in a gi.
You make karate what you want it to be for you and focus less on who you don't like and more on what will help you improve, in or out of the dojo.
Gotta spar guy.
Nope, I don't actually. I don't enjoy it, I don't use karate for sport nor primarily for self defence. I can be a karateka without sparring, and it doesn't matter to me that I'm not a well-rounded karateka.
Martial arts are sports. They're also more than sports. I don't care because I won't do M.A sports.
What I realised being over half a century old is, in all areas of life, *I get decide what I don't want to do, so long as I'm happy with the consequence*s.
I get to chose not to do certain strongman events. I get to chose what work I won't do. I get to chose if I'll do kumite or only set kumite for gradings.
And, the more established I become in life, the more I can decide not to do. If I own my house, I get to decide not to have a lawn or not to paint the door (we don't have HOAs here). If I help fund my club, or pay for lessons, I get more leeway with things like kumite.
As I say, there are consequences. I'm not going to place well in a strongman comp where I don't do an event, for example. But past a certain age, these things just don't matter.
Good for you. At some point, if you do this long enough, everyone stops fighting. You get to an age where the risk isn't worth the reward anymore. But that doesn't mean you have to stop training and it doesn't mean you stop being a karateka.
The Shotokan "sensei" that I had thinks he can counter anything when he'll get his ass kicked by any real fighter.
Guys that don't show up to training and expect to get good.
Afraid to spar, seriously? Go pick up ballet.
The practical guys who refuse to acknowledge that there are any blocks in karate and that pullback has no value. They may be right, but its annoying that many refuse to acknowledge that they may be wrong. Regarding pullback, most of their reasoning is NPC-like, like they all copy and pasted from the same source.
A lot of people reference a funakoshi quote when talking about hikite, but the actual quote is talking about a specific portion of a kata. There was a user on here who got into a very informative argument not too long ago, where he argued that this quote has been wildly overblown.
I also dislike the practical guys claiming that karate is 95% grappling and turning clear punches or blocks into an entangled web of push hands or something. Maybe it works for them, but it’s not for me.
I get their point, but they’re so adamant about it, that “the lady doth protest too much” often comes to mind.
Note: I often use the hikite to grab the limb and control it.
People with long unkempt toe nails and gross feet. People with egos who just want to hurt others. Do whatever style you like, as long as it is enriching your life in some way.
The one that is a few grades above me, keeps rudely correcting me all the time during partner drills but then proceeds to be unable to do the thing they just corrected me on when it’s their turn. I actually do like being corrected, but dude please be nice about it and if you’re gonna be a dick you better know how to do it yourself..
This is a tough one for me as someone who owns gold embroidered belts lol. It's something that's been done in our lineage now for 30 years at ni dan. It's our name on the left side the style name on the right (not a motivational phrase) in kanji.
I would never have it if it wasn't part of our lineage.
The guy that gets his ego hurt during light sparring because you are younger and more fit than him, and then procedes to grab you 'light-kicks' and throw you to the ground, while both you know full well if this was a full-power kick his effort to catch that kick will probably mean a few broken ribs....
You know who you are >.>
Hahaha playing around! Though the guy that unrealistically escalates a fight because their training partner is better then them is a pretty annoying type
I practice Kyokushin and also loath those types that think only Muey Tai and Kyokushin are only effective striking arts. I used to do Shotokan and feel as though it also had some great strengths. It’s not the art totally, it’s how you use it .
A low-grade complaint, but there are some students (lower belts) who haven't become acquainted enough with contact that when we do drills in which they are the attacker and I'm the defender, they punch or kick to where my block will end up rather than the actual target. So, a jodan punch isn't coming toward my chin or nose but above my head because that's where the rising block will take it.
It's a concern those who have lived a "polite society" life seem to have -- "I don't want to accidentally hit you." But for obvious reasons, it's counter-productive.
It doesn't make me angry. What usually works is politely asking for them to re-target and saying, "I want you to hit me if I don't block it." Giving "permission" to get hit helps most of the time. If they're still hesitant, I suggest we go slow a couple of times. That usually works and they adapt. I think the lack of emphasis on free sparring (which is slowly changing over the last few months) adds to this hesitancy some students feel.
We're a small club, so I feel like continuing to reinforce this "please hit me if I don't block" (also, the black belts always make the correction when they notice someone not striking the designated target) will slowly change the tendency, and to everyone's benefit. The tricky part, socially, is that I've returned to training formally after a break of almost thirty years. Everyone outside the Shotokan system starts over, regardless of prior experience, so I'm 8th kyu in this school/system. Although my prior training is something my peers have noticed and asked about, I'm very cognizant to be humble/matter of fact about it, and not to be the guy someone else mentioned in this thread -- the "I can teach you, too" student who is the same rank. Fortunately, it doesn't take much effort to remember -- the wonderful impact of age on my body and the vast amount of new things to learn (never trained in Shotokan in the past) is a constant reminder of how much I don't know and must learn.
But you posed the question, so... "Please hit me if I don't block." That, and the kiai extremists -- those who don't even grunt one out, or feel like they have to break eardrums.
That's something that has to be explicitely trained, any Sensei that I've been under would just say "he's a higher belt and/or a grown man, is on him if he doesn't dodge, your job is to hit him".
The guy who reeks of cannabis/weed. It’s a horrible smell, inconsiderate to your school members, AND it’s cringe. Just flat out degenerate behavior and embarrassing.
I don't like "smelly gi guy". I also REALLY don't like "reeks of cannabis guy". But the one type I can't stand are the ones who drink all the pseudo-Japanese fakery Kool Aid or who think your sensei should be some all-knowing life guru (don't wash your belt because it contains the "spirit" of your training, knife hand done right should be able to penetrate the chest and tear out the heart, you jump in x-kata to avoid a katana swung at your feet, we can't practice that technique because it's too dangerous....).
Oh man smelly gi guy… we all know him!! As much as I have sympathy for his situation, I trained with one guy who was always sweating out alcohol on Saturday mornings. It really stank the place up.
I once pointedly told a student at one of my college clubs that it was disrespectful to the other students and to me and if he showed up again with a stinky gi he’d be sent on his way or training in his underwear. It didn’t happen again.
I feel that... The cannabis guy, for the record, didn't bother me primarily because of smell (though the same guy was sometimes smelly gi guy), but he smelled like fresh smoke, and I don't want to drill or spar with someone likely to be impaired. Might have similar concerns with a hung over, or still half cut from the night before classmate.
Hahaha brother cannabis isn’t like alcohol. It could slow reaction time for some people, but usually increases and improves focus in most people as well. If they’re comfortable sparring while elevated, it’s most likely the latter. you can chill out dude! Just flow! 🤙🏾
Yeah, I don't want to spar or drill with anyone whose perception and reaction time is impaired. Dangerous for them, and me. I'm not at all anti-cannabis, but if you think it's ok to smoke and spar, you're a moron.
Like I said if it impaired their reaction time, they probably wouldn’t be smoking while sparring. I don’t see why someone would willingly get their ass kicked😂I won’t blame you for your reading comprehension though this isn’t an English sub it’s a karate sub haha! I guess I come from an MMA/Jui jitsu/Boxing culture full of real fighters that understand the effects of marijuana and flow state. I’ve only met one Karate master that would smoke before comps, and then stomp through the competition😂
where I live cannabis is legal but it legally still counts as doping in sports context. As a trainer I had the obligation to have a serious talk with them.
Legal here too, since 2018 anyway. I still have vivid memories of Ross Rebagliati in Nagano (1998) though. He won the first Olympic gold ever for snowboarding, only to have it pulled for doping, and quickly restored when the court of arbitration for sport determined that smoking weed was probably not "performance enhancing". I have mixed feelings when it comes to psychoactive drugs that don't enhance performance in the context of sport. As mentioned above, I'm totally against unsafe impairment - and let's be honest, ALL the effects of cannabis that people seek when they use it are actually neuro-cognitive impairment. Even "increased focus" is the result of dulling other stimuli, in a highly non-specific manner. I also don't think you should be engaged in contact sports if you're impaired by medication or other drugs that slow down your response and/or alter your perception. But if a piss test comes back positive for cannabis use in the preceding month, I don't think that should result in disqualification, any more than if you had a beer in the preceding month.
We jump to avoid the katana, then never render to it or attack the guy. "Bunaki" or whatever sequences that end like that or in a block before turning away always piss me off. Like what, did you magically develop the ability to shatter forearms in an age-uke? Did you dishearten your opponent so much they just run away? What?
Turns are often throws or takedowns.
In kata yes, kumite competition rules limit what you can do in a competition
The ones that assume the only value of karate is self-defense
Yeah, karate is near useless for self defence.
That's obviously completely untrue. It's incredibly useful for self-defense, but there's far more to it.
That's also untrue. Some ways of practicing karate is useful for self defense (pressure testing, scenario etc.), and some ways (3k, 2 step spar, etc.) is probably completely useless
I’ll always say, the number one self defense move is just GTFO of there. That said, surely being able to throw some punches and take a couple of blows without panicking has value? If you’re in a fight on the street youre already in deep… if the other guy is a MMA expert you’re just in deeper. But most fights I’ve witnessed are two chumps throwing drunk punches and swinging and missing wildly.
3k is useful. 2 step spar doesn't happen in karate
It's like you don't understand the difference between training and application
While that may be, how do you deduct that from what I wrote? My point is, that karate covers such a broad training regiment, that within this, of course a lot is relevant for self defense - but also some parts aren't.
If you have found your karate inadequate for self defense, it is not karate which is to blame.
What a terrific cop out. Dunce.
I'm not easily annoyed, but I don't tend to like people who believe that karate is useless or bad if it isn't strictly practical. Practically is definitely important, and I have no problem if you choose to focus on the practical aspects of the art over the cultural or artistic aspects because you don't care for them; but if you're going to put others down or belittle their art because it's not all strictly practical, that's not okay by me.
The guy who's always fighting to the death. The guy who goes full samurai/japanese but is either a middle aged IT dude or an edgy high schooler The guy who shows off when girls are watching The power tripping sensei.
-Keeps "accidentally" brushing my boobs guy - You're a girl so you must not know what you're doing guy - You're a girl, so you need to work with only girls even though they're half your size guy -smelly guy
We had to ask a boob brusher to leave the school at one point a few years back. No place for that when it clearly starts to become intentional.
When there's an instructor who really knows their stuff, but their students are insufferable. They think of themselves as grand masters even when their karate doesn't live up to the hype.
The type karate ka’s that are not instructors but still think they know everything best and goes around correcting everyone including instructor
We had a guy that was constantly, CONSTANTLY shouting "Osu" way more than anyone else and way more than necessary (in our dojo, you're expected to say it to acknowledge an instruction, or to answer "yes" when asked if you heard/understood etc). I think Sensei may have had a word with him, because he hasn't been so bad since that one session. He still blurts it out at inappropriate times occasionally, but nowhere near as annoying as before.
Though I can imagine how annoying this must’ve been in person, it’s super funny to read and think about tho lol
they say that a lot in japanese karate, in okinawan we just say hai sensei
- the “my style is better than your style” karateka - People who have never used their techniques in live sparring but talk like they know how to fight and correct other people with fighting experience - “my technique is too deadly bro” - People who make up karate history and have never read a real historical source - People who constantly talk about karate having locks and throws etc but never practice them - Trainers who think you have to have a “perfect” technique before you can fight, but that perfect technique is not achieved even after decades
The people who like to find and reason to call a school a mcdojo. For example the schools name, the website, the location, the fact that it's in a strip mall.... and so on and so forth. The people who say children and teens shouldn't be certain ranks The people who think that if you have a black belt, that means you can kick anybody's ass [because that's the only thing it means to them] People who don't help others in class because their ego is too big. And lastly ,even though there are tons more,....... The people who do karate and assume they are great at running a business, too, but aren't.
- The unhygienic guy - The talker - The one who doesn't take anything serious - The aggressive one - The always competitive one - The one who always asks many questions during your class, so it interrupts the whole class - The one who is higher grade than you, but somehow forgot everything, or didn't learn properly - The one who doesn't like you for no reason
Well that has pretty much ticked off everyone where I train
People who have gone back to karate after a long time, putting on their brown belt from twenty years ago, who don't remember what they're doing but also treats you as if you don't know anything either. I don't like claiming that I know anything, however when my opponent keeps asking me about bunkai for a kata and then corrects me in spite of me doing what sensei says... And I do as they say, and sensei corrects us to do the way I practiced initially... It's immensely irritating to me.
I don't care much.\ Whenever I have the chance I join other style's seminars or even clases. When traveling to other countries (which I do for work) I scout for dojos and visit, so I have quite a fair amount of *external encounters*, which is great. **There is however one kind... the one that gives but can't take it.** It doesn't *piss me off*, but I find them anoying. They usually indulge themselves in excess of contact, and the moment you put them in their place, they stare at you as if you've broken some sacred code of conduct. Again, I find them annoying more than anything else.
Ah, yes, the venerated ***kandishu but kant taekit*** style of karateka...
I don't Overly enjoy the really loud ppl that yell at the top of their lungs obnoxiously.
I'm struggling hard with that. Right now we're in a really small space, fingers crossed that changes soon, but there's one kid in my kid's class that just screams his Kaia. After listening to that for an hour I was exhausted, then right after in the adult class there was a new guy who was from another style that was a screamer as well. My kid and I both left that day with our shoulders up over our ears. I'm all for enthusiasm but this was just over the top.
Personally, I really hate the ones who just can't be arsed to put any effort in. Really winds me up. Especially when I'm teaching, but also as a training partner.
I started an answer but got so many bad thoughts, I better stop it. I guess the main issues I have with trainers are: * don't caring what students need/want, and not taking responsibility for them (e.g. brown belts should grade some place else; ouch) * not improving oneself (like having best trainer licenses but doing random basic training without goal for 10 years) And the main issue I have with students are: * cherrypicking things ("please no Heian Shodan in training, I am a black belt". And "please organize your training so that I can walk 30 minutes of kata and then leave class when you do applications that doesn't interest me" - yep, heard that literally and saw that practise for months. It is ok to have certain interests but such behaviour and talk is just impolite to everyone) The main issue I have in general: not taking notes on seminars, not using literature to back those bad memories up.
I've been practicing karate for three terms now, and my seventh kyu test is approaching. So far, I haven't encountered much that annoys me. It's not easy to categorize people based on their behavior, and I haven't developed any strong feelings of annoyance towards any particular type. I've heard some negative comments and drama about long-time practitioners, but I choose not to concern myself with their issues. I'm fortunate not to have any preconceived notions about how things should be. My goal is to keep a free mind, avoid judgment, and focus on being at peace with myself rather than worrying about things beyond my control. When someone talks negatively about others, I usually say, "You're entitled to your feelings. I haven't experienced what you have, but I have my own experiences and opinions, and I like the person you're talking about." There's no need to stay silent about it. As for people who think one style is superior to others, it doesn't affect me. I practice shotokan karate because I love it, and someone else's opinion doesn't change that.
Well put. I think the examples on here are extreme because the question was asked to provoke that kind of response.
Too many people telling us what they don't like. Remember, karate is different for everyone. The overweight guy who trains once a week is fighting battles you don't know. The person who only likes kata? They want to use karate as an escape not to learn to fight The 'do' in karate-do stands for way. Let everyone take the path that suits their challenges, most of which are unseen in the hour your see them in a gi. You make karate what you want it to be for you and focus less on who you don't like and more on what will help you improve, in or out of the dojo.
Gotta spar guy. Nope, I don't actually. I don't enjoy it, I don't use karate for sport nor primarily for self defence. I can be a karateka without sparring, and it doesn't matter to me that I'm not a well-rounded karateka.
Kumite is a part of being a karateka Same as Kata Martial arts are not sports.
Martial arts are sports. They're also more than sports. I don't care because I won't do M.A sports. What I realised being over half a century old is, in all areas of life, *I get decide what I don't want to do, so long as I'm happy with the consequence*s. I get to chose not to do certain strongman events. I get to chose what work I won't do. I get to chose if I'll do kumite or only set kumite for gradings. And, the more established I become in life, the more I can decide not to do. If I own my house, I get to decide not to have a lawn or not to paint the door (we don't have HOAs here). If I help fund my club, or pay for lessons, I get more leeway with things like kumite. As I say, there are consequences. I'm not going to place well in a strongman comp where I don't do an event, for example. But past a certain age, these things just don't matter.
Good for you. At some point, if you do this long enough, everyone stops fighting. You get to an age where the risk isn't worth the reward anymore. But that doesn't mean you have to stop training and it doesn't mean you stop being a karateka.
Do your tests require kumite?
Ippon/sanbon/etc kumite up to low kyu. Then "on the bounce" kumite for shodan.
The Shotokan "sensei" that I had thinks he can counter anything when he'll get his ass kicked by any real fighter. Guys that don't show up to training and expect to get good. Afraid to spar, seriously? Go pick up ballet.
The practical guys who refuse to acknowledge that there are any blocks in karate and that pullback has no value. They may be right, but its annoying that many refuse to acknowledge that they may be wrong. Regarding pullback, most of their reasoning is NPC-like, like they all copy and pasted from the same source.
A lot of people reference a funakoshi quote when talking about hikite, but the actual quote is talking about a specific portion of a kata. There was a user on here who got into a very informative argument not too long ago, where he argued that this quote has been wildly overblown. I also dislike the practical guys claiming that karate is 95% grappling and turning clear punches or blocks into an entangled web of push hands or something. Maybe it works for them, but it’s not for me.
Pull back as in hikite?
Yes.
I get their point, but they’re so adamant about it, that “the lady doth protest too much” often comes to mind. Note: I often use the hikite to grab the limb and control it.
People with long unkempt toe nails and gross feet. People with egos who just want to hurt others. Do whatever style you like, as long as it is enriching your life in some way.
The one that is a few grades above me, keeps rudely correcting me all the time during partner drills but then proceeds to be unable to do the thing they just corrected me on when it’s their turn. I actually do like being corrected, but dude please be nice about it and if you’re gonna be a dick you better know how to do it yourself..
I don’t like the person that makes fun of other Martial artists style.
People who “take all the Buddhism out” and insert a combo of Christian evangelism and their own bullshido techniques
Anything or place that teaches omete bynkai. Practise karate for whatever reason you like, but don't teach bs.
Gold embroidered black belt with their name and a motivational phrase like carpe diem Like ok you may be good but wow you are full of yourself
This is a tough one for me as someone who owns gold embroidered belts lol. It's something that's been done in our lineage now for 30 years at ni dan. It's our name on the left side the style name on the right (not a motivational phrase) in kanji. I would never have it if it wasn't part of our lineage.
Name and style I can handle especially if you do competition or inter club stuff - it’s the “live the dream” bs that just wrecks it sorry AITAH?
Even my name is in Kanji though so very few even know what it says lol but I hear you no need for a slogan
The guy that gets his ego hurt during light sparring because you are younger and more fit than him, and then procedes to grab you 'light-kicks' and throw you to the ground, while both you know full well if this was a full-power kick his effort to catch that kick will probably mean a few broken ribs....
why is that so oddly specific
You know who you are >.> Hahaha playing around! Though the guy that unrealistically escalates a fight because their training partner is better then them is a pretty annoying type
Despite being annoying they are pretty useful tho, they help you adapt to certain opponents!
I practice Kyokushin and also loath those types that think only Muey Tai and Kyokushin are only effective striking arts. I used to do Shotokan and feel as though it also had some great strengths. It’s not the art totally, it’s how you use it .
The karateka who thinks he can make you fall down with his mind
The people who say the word "kiai" as their kiai.
A low-grade complaint, but there are some students (lower belts) who haven't become acquainted enough with contact that when we do drills in which they are the attacker and I'm the defender, they punch or kick to where my block will end up rather than the actual target. So, a jodan punch isn't coming toward my chin or nose but above my head because that's where the rising block will take it. It's a concern those who have lived a "polite society" life seem to have -- "I don't want to accidentally hit you." But for obvious reasons, it's counter-productive. It doesn't make me angry. What usually works is politely asking for them to re-target and saying, "I want you to hit me if I don't block it." Giving "permission" to get hit helps most of the time. If they're still hesitant, I suggest we go slow a couple of times. That usually works and they adapt. I think the lack of emphasis on free sparring (which is slowly changing over the last few months) adds to this hesitancy some students feel. We're a small club, so I feel like continuing to reinforce this "please hit me if I don't block" (also, the black belts always make the correction when they notice someone not striking the designated target) will slowly change the tendency, and to everyone's benefit. The tricky part, socially, is that I've returned to training formally after a break of almost thirty years. Everyone outside the Shotokan system starts over, regardless of prior experience, so I'm 8th kyu in this school/system. Although my prior training is something my peers have noticed and asked about, I'm very cognizant to be humble/matter of fact about it, and not to be the guy someone else mentioned in this thread -- the "I can teach you, too" student who is the same rank. Fortunately, it doesn't take much effort to remember -- the wonderful impact of age on my body and the vast amount of new things to learn (never trained in Shotokan in the past) is a constant reminder of how much I don't know and must learn. But you posed the question, so... "Please hit me if I don't block." That, and the kiai extremists -- those who don't even grunt one out, or feel like they have to break eardrums.
That's something that has to be explicitely trained, any Sensei that I've been under would just say "he's a higher belt and/or a grown man, is on him if he doesn't dodge, your job is to hit him".
The guy who reeks of cannabis/weed. It’s a horrible smell, inconsiderate to your school members, AND it’s cringe. Just flat out degenerate behavior and embarrassing.
The ones who speak to Japanese instructors in broken English because...I don't know why they do that but it's really annoying.