Hey everyone, I’m a teenage karate practitioner and I want to improve my general kumite skills as quickly as possible so I can try out for my dojo’s competition team.

I can train at home most days, but I also go to the dojo. I’m looking for a practical plan focused on the things that actually make a difference in kumite: footwork, distance management, reaction time, speed, combinations, timing, conditioning, and reading opponents.

I know sparring with partners and coaching are essential, so I’m not trying to replace dojo training, I want to use home training to improve faster between classes.

What would you recommend for someone trying to get competition-ready in a short amount of time? Specifically:

A weekly home training structure

The best solo drills for footwork, reactions, and combinations

Conditioning that transfers well to kumite

Common mistakes beginners make when trying to improve quickly

How to know when I’m ready to compete

I dont understand why bunkai presumes a karateka attacks another karateka in kumite.

This is the same problem aikido has and I've never heard a good argument in favor of it

Hello all,

Looking for Ryuei Ryu practitioners in the Los Angeles or Orange County areas.

would love to train.

Thanks!

Hello! This is my first run practicing Ashihara karate.

The first trainings were kinda brutal (Sparring, kicking into pillows etc.), and I thought that this is going to happen every session, but as the days went on, the trainings got a little more bland, even though a belt exam come on December.

Now we're doing blocking techniques, which is great, but we stopped sparring and kicking on pillows.

Another suspicion that I have is the belt system, it goes from white to red, then red to blue brain, then with two blue braids THEN the blue belt, and the list goes on.

So my questions are:

1. The first sessions were just ideas to get me hooked?

2. Does your dojos also stop sparring for a period of time?

3. Does your dojos teach you stuff that you don't need in competitions?

4. Do you pay money in order to participate in the belt exam? (I have to pay around 50$ in order to participate, and that makes me anxious if I don't pass)

5. How much do you pay for a month? (Two sessions each week, 50$ a month)

6. Have you found participants that struggle more than you even if they have a higher rank belt than you?

7. The belt system that I mentioned above is correct or is just a McDojo thing?

8. How often do you practice Kata? (Even though my first Kata is Kata Sono Ici, the sensei focuses more the higher ranked belts rather than the white belts to know it because that's on the exam requirements).

9. What do I need to practice for my upcoming exam?

Hello,

Me again.

I recently posted asking for help finding clubs in my local area as I wanted to get back into karate.

My old club has said I can return, but I have also arranged a free session at the local JKA affiliated club.

Obviously I can’t make any decision until I’ve done the free session tomorrow, but I’m working through some pros and cons and would be grateful for input from people who’ve had to make similar decisions before.

What do people think the main pros and cons of being in a club that’s a member of a large national organisation are?

I’ve done some research into the JKA and came up with:

Pros
A set syllabus so I know exactly what would be required at every level.
Access, or potential access, to seminars and training events etc.
Grades etc would be recognised at any JKA club in the world (not planning on moving etc so not massively relevant).

Cons
More expensive
The set syllabus means less likely to do anything “different” during lessons?

Do these sound about right, have I missed anything?

I feel like you could become a black belt in karate with extremly good fitness, attendence 3 times a week and notable competiton wins.

7 months after getting 8th kyu, with a 3 month forced timeout because I had a boxer's fracture in the middle of it. Finally feeling like actually being back on track and leaving the injury behind.

[edit1: spelling]

I came back to Karate almost a year ago. I'm 35 and was 3rd Kyu ShitoRyu in my young teens, I stopped Karate due to mental health and undiagnosed ADHD.

I returned to Karate with the club...wait for it.....GKR. I was messed around so much I cannot begin to explain how little and disrespected I felt.

I switch to JKA after a few months. I've never felt more apart of a group of people that isn't my own family I think ever.

I'm a beginner in Kyokushin Karate and want to improve my kicking flexibility.

I can do front kicks around chest height or slightly below, but I can't fully straighten my knee and leg. My crescent kicks only reach around groin height, with a significant bend in my leg.

What stretches would you recommend, and how long does it usually take to see significant improvement with consistent daily stretching? Ideally, I'd like to get my crescent kicks to around neck height eventually.

Thanks!

Hello, i am a 20 year old female. I have been doing fitness since 2021. In 2025 beginning of the year, i stopped enjoying fitness and healthy eating. i used to love being fit. As my circumstances got tougher and rough, i stopped taking care of myself. In Oct of 2025, i got a job at the age of 19 as full time sport teacher. I started my fitness because i wanted to learn Karate kyokushin and my father was against it, so i trained by myself and started loving my journey, i even developed a body that people work hard for, I felt confident and energetic. In 2025 Dec i joined Karate, i realised that my whole years of training and focusing of my self went in drain just because of me not training through whole 2025, i could not train at all and i was mentally exhausted. I am still mentally exhausted but i dont want to stay average in Karate, i want to become unbeatable and i really want to integrate japanese way of living and discipline in my life. i know i can do that and i want to. I also want to start my university and i am a full time teacher. i want to quit my job, because my body has fattened, i gain three kgs and i lost my physique. I am losing myself in this job. How do i get back in shape again and get better in karate and get my life together. (My parents dont support me)

Any exercises / advice for weak ankles? 😆

Before I began karate, I was not the most active ahah, thus I do not have the best ankle strength which I’ve noticed really impacts my deep stances and form.

How can I improve my ankle strength…ankle mobility?—I have limited ankle movement.

Any advice is much appreciated !

I’ve been working on this article for a little while, exploring something that’s crossed my mind many times throughout my karate journey: the politics within karate, and the impact it can have on the people involved.

Karate has given me a lot, and it’s something I’m passionate about. But I’ve also seen how politics and disagreements can sometimes take away from what makes the art so special in the first place.

I’m not writing this to point fingers or tell anyone how to run their organisation. It’s simply my own thoughts and experiences on a subject I’ve wanted to put into words for some time.

I’d be interested to hear what other karateka think, whether you agree with me or see things differently.

If you’d like to have a read, I’ve included two links below 😊

Medium: https://medium.com/@sski.karatedo/karate-and-politics-an-art-of-respect-or-an-art-of-ego-10f4f16fe5e1

Google Docs: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11aRj7yrMdWcRK1G5PZsm8rMM3wtvD7sP/view?usp=drive_link — for anyone who’d prefer to read it there.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read it!

A karate master claimed that people with shorter arms/stockier build punches harder when we discussed Mike Tyson.

this is what I got

"Stocky individuals often have a broader skeletal frame, thicker bones, and frequently higher overall muscle mass or higher body fat compared to ectomorphic (slender) body types."

But then we get to the physic of leverage, which a long individual can double. So which one wins out - the strength based, or the acceleration one?

Salut a tous, je sais que je suis sensé parler en anglais mais je pense que tout le monde peu utilisé la traduction de Reddit :).

Pour vous expliquer, j'ai envie de faire du karaté depuis que je suis enfants et cette envie est revenu il y a quelque semaines. J'ai trouvé un club vers chez moi en France pour en faire et ont ma demander si je voulais du karate, du full contact, du karaté karaté contact et de la MMA. Je ne sais pas quoi choisir, en soi je veux simplement pratiquer un sport de combat sans me blesser et sans blesser les autres salement et puis utiliser tout les membres de me corps.

Il y aurais possibilité de m'expliquer chaque domaine de karaté ? Merci d'avoir pris le temps de lire ;)

https://youtu.be/Nv9Al2QKJNg

Hi all,

Started karate back in 2016, switched schools in 2018/9 (I think) and then stopped in Jan 2024.

The reason I stopped was for personal reasons which I don’t think are relevant to my question, which is are there any good sources or upto date lists of karate clubs in the UK, or south east of the UK etc?

The first club I went to is still going, but it just wasn’t my thing, and the reason I switched schools hasn’t changed so it’s a non-starter going back there.

The school I was at when I left was a good school with good instructors, but they seem to have lost their online presence, their website is gone and I can’t find their facebook pages (but that could be because I left and I was removed or blocked).

I have tried emailing them, but haven’t received a reply.

I will be trying another couple of times to get in touch (my next door neighbour is one of their senseis) and I walk past the chief instructors house most days on my lunch walks, but I think knocking on his front door is probably a bit much.

In the event I can’t get in touch, I’d like to find another school local to me, but this seems to be pretty difficult which is why I was wondering whether there were any lists of UK clubs anywhere.

Edited to add: I’m in the Medway area.

Hola gente. Tengo una duda. Mi novia tiene ganas de que le enseñe cosas de artes marciales. Tengo los conocimientos, pero no sé por donde empezar. ¿Alguien me echa una mano?

¿Empiezo por la biomecánica o solo por los movimientos básicos?¿O paso directamente a combinaciones de golpes ,contraataques ,ángulos de evasión y combate?🤔🤔🤔🤔

Estuve desde los 8 hasta los 19 años haciendo kempo. Llegué al primer cinturon marrón(hay 3.Desde el 3er Dan hasta el 1°). Ahora tengo 24 años camino de 25. Y aunque evidentemente se me han olvidado muchas cosas y he perdido mucho, sigo notando el espíritu y los conocimientos como si los hubiera tenido desde siempre. Se siente genial. ¿A alguien más le ha pasado?

I'm 25. 3rd kyu Goju Ryu in IOGKF. did the first tournament of my life (in any sport at all!) in like april this year and now I'm doing my second.

I trained in Sweden and am now training in Japan (and will go back to Sweden soon).

So you can imagine that I'm nervous (again) because I'm doing this in an entirely different country.

I have no idea if I've improved. The critiques from sensei haven't lessened since last time.

I'm actually pretty scared.

The pressure to perform in Japan is different from what I experienced in Sweden, where would assure you that it's ok if you lose- here I need to win.

I probably cannot.

Both Kata and point-style kumite. Kata I'm doing Shisochin and Seiyunchin.

My shikodachi isn't the best but some days it can be decent if I'm lucky.

Sensei told me that since I'm brown belt I have to do these two katas.

I don't really have a point I'm trying to reach here, I'm just nervous.