thinking of going back to Karate after 25 yrs+!

banjobongo

hi guys
just wondering if anybody has gone back into training after a very long absence. I used to do a lot of karate when I was younger (Shotokan, up to 1st dan, with UCD club) but I havent trained in over 25 years. I have recently gotten more interested in going back into karate and I have also just found out that there is a local club (in the University of Limerick).
Im 50 yrs old and am reasonably fit (Im a swimmer and I do a triathlon every year and I train in the gym) so Im not worried about the fitness.
Im sure I will have forgotten most of the katas but they might come back to me.
I would not dream of going back wearing my old black belt. Whats the etiquette for a black belt that hasnt trained for 25 yrs, should one always restart as a white belt?
Has anybody else gone back into training after this length of time?

session savage

I was in the same position as yourself. Although Im a little younger (33) i was absent from training for 15yrs but unlike you I got lazy and horribly unfit. I had planned on going back to Karate with my white belt and talking to the sensei who would be grading me to discuss options. I was hoping to be allowed do a special one off grading going through all the Kata and be awarded an appropriate grade for my remaining skill. I think I would have been allowed to do that as I know the grading sensei very well. I dont know if its ever been done before though but I think its the fairest. I left as a 1st kyu but would have been happy to go back as say 1st purple.
Anyway, as it turned out I have a few hip joint problems and knee issues that would prevent me from training at karate so I ended up taking up Jiu Jitsu instead:eek: little did I know :P

Whatever you do I cant recommend going back to martial arts training enough. I'm beyond ecstatic that I went back to some form of training and I absolutely love jiu jitsu.

Bassfish

My dad went back to Kempo karate at aged 61 and was awarded his black belt at age 67 and wasn't even fit to begin with. Go for it man, you only live once.

Doug Cartel

I'm at a university judo club, and we get a lot of guys who train with us who graded when they were younger and then gave it up for a while. Not as big a gap as you, but enough that they would be pretty rusty. Anyway, we always just leave them wear whatever belt they want. Some of them end up switching back to a white belt, some don't, but there is no set protocol for it and it's a personal decision they make themselves.

One important thing though, is that at our club we are not allowed to have any members that are not students at our university. You should check with the people who run the club in UL that it is possible for you to train with them. While you are asking about that, you can also ask them about what belt you should wear.

siochain

Age is only a number go and give it a shot.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Heya

Sorry it took so long to respond but hopefully its still useful.

In my club one usually comes back with a white belt and is told after a few months or years to put on their proper belt.

Sometimes one wears a white belt for a few months and then "grades in" at the next grading.

That said my club may be a little unusual. There may be crap about having a ISI/JKA (UCD's current affiliation) blackbelt and going to SKIF (University of Limerick) club.

By the way who was the Sensei out in UCD when you trained with them?

banjobongo

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Heya

Sorry it took so long to respond but hopefully its still useful.

In my club one usually comes back with a white belt and is told after a few months or years to put on their proper belt.

Sometimes one wears a white belt for a few months and then "grades in" at the next grading.

That said my club may be a little unusual. There may be crap about having a ISI/JKA (UCD's current affiliation) blackbelt and going to SKIF (University of Limerick) club.

By the way who was the Sensei out in UCD when you trained with them?

the one and the only Brendan McGrath - hi Brendan, if you are a boardsie!

banjobongo

so I have joined up with a local shotokan karate club (UL club) and I have done 2 sessions so far, really enjoyed it, great to be back training after so long. I have pretty much forgotten all the katas apart from Kion and Shodan but hopefully they will come back to me. Delighted I went back, hopefully I will stick with it now IM back.

cletus

So what belt are you wearing

banjobongo

cletus wrote: »

So what belt are you wearing

hah - good question. I used to be a black belt but would not feel comfortable wearing one again until Im back into it, so I tried to buy a white belt, couldnt find one anywhere! Apparently while belts are not sold as they come with a new suit! So I bought the first random colour belt I could fine, which was a green belt. So thats the answer, Im wearing, for the moment, a green belt.
Thinking of grading for a brown belt next year if I stick with it and then working my way back to a black belt again over the next few years....

banjobongo

hi guys
well Im back training now after 25 yrs and really enjoying it!
My waist line has expanded a little bit over the years and the belt I bought is a wee bit tight!
Any shops in Ireland selling slightly larger belts?!

CIARAN_BOYLE

banjobongo wrote: »

hi guys
well Im back training now after 25 yrs and really enjoying it!
My waist line has expanded a little bit over the years and the belt I bought is a wee bit tight!
Any shops in Ireland selling slightly larger belts?!

Mullens on capel street have 280cm belts and 300cm belts.

banjobongo

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Mullens on capel street have 280cm belts and 300cm belts.

ok many thanks

Zen65

banjobongo wrote: »

Thinking of grading for a brown belt next year if I stick with it and then working my way back to a black belt again over the next few years....

You'll find that the training in a SKIF club is a bit different anyway to the training you did with the old KUI/KUGB/JKA in UCD, including some differences in kata. When you graded for shodan in the '80's was it with the KUGB? Sensei Enoeda was the head of KUGB back then and if he awarded your shodan then perhaps sensei Kanazawa (senior or junior) would feel awkward about being asked to grade you again? The Japanese can be strange about such things.

If I were in your shoes I'd just agree with your own club sensei as to when would be a good time to start wearing the black belt again, and save myself a pile of trouble and expense. It might be as easy to train a little longer and then attempt to get your nidan through SKIF.

Best of luck,

NaNaNa1

I've gone back to karate after an 8 year gap and what belt I should wear is something that bugs me. Technically I'm a green belt (I graded as a junior) but I've been wearing my white belt for the last 5 months because I feel off being a green belt. I'm not of green belt standard anymore and I don't know all the katas I should as of yet so I think as of yet I'll keep to white until I get my standard up. I also have the option to regrade with my current club but I really dont know.

Damo W

Zen65 wrote: »

You'll find that the training in a SKIF club is a bit different anyway to the training you did with the old KUI/KUGB/JKA in UCD, including some differences in kata.

And some new Kata as well AFAIK....

1. Gankaku Sho
2. Nijuhachiho
3. Seinchin
4. Seipai
5. Koryu Gankaku
6. White Crane (Hakutsuru) Kata

I'm not a SKIF member so open to correction, and I don't know if these are used for grading purposes, possibly a SKIF member might advise?

Zen65

Damo W wrote: »

I'm not a SKIF member so open to correction, and I don't know if these are used for grading purposes, possibly a SKIF member might advise?

Thankfully no. . . SKIF only use the standard Shotokan kata for grading. They do teach those other kata, because the Kanazawa family have taken a shine to them.

Damo W

Zen65 wrote: »

Thankfully no. . . SKIF only use the standard Shotokan kata for grading. They do teach those other kata, because the Kanazawa family have taken a shine to them.

Wondering why… ‘Thankfully no... ’ ????

But still nice to see/believe that a Kata can be explored for the inherent benefit and not just learned for a grading….

Thanks

Zen65

Damo W wrote: »

Wondering why… ‘Thankfully no... ’ ????

But still nice to see/believe that a Kata can be explored for the inherent benefit and not just learned for a grading….

Agreed Damo, I do enjoy practising kata beyond the "Shotokan 26". But as an instructor I'm very glad not to have to know these other kata at the same level as is required to teach it to students for grading or competition. It's hard enough to try being proficient in a few kata without attempting to be proficient in many.