It’s all down to you
Reaching the coveted Black Belt can be accomplished quite quickly, but is entirely down to the individual and also the results can sometimes be very confusing and not make sense at all, let me explain…..If someone is practicing once per week and someone else is practicing three times per week, you would expect the person practicing three times per week to way more advanced after six months, but it depends completely on the attitude of the karateka whilst training, if someone is totally focused and applying the concept of Ikken Hissatsu with all their fast moves and train once per week, they will be way stronger and progress much faster than someone training three times per week, but simply going through the movements with no intent, so it’s all down to the attitude of the karateka.
We have devised for our members, a very detailed syllabus that starts from the essential basic fundamentals and works up to the extremely advanced karate. We help and guide our members all the way, where they practice and video test from home.
Sometimes in a regular Dojo, bad habits can quickly develop and if they are not corrected it becomes a big problem when preparing for black belt. What we have noticed with our online Dojo, is that people training at home tend to watch the video tutorials over and over, until they have the techniques correct.
Most offline karate Dojo have examinations every three months, then at 1st Kyu, the karateka will sometimes wait six months to a year before testing for black belt 1st Dan (shodan). With our karate video tutorials, we have people progressing much faster than every three months, especially through the first few tests.
The kata is the probably the trickiest to learn, but if the karateka has a good understanding of the basic fundamentals, the Shotokan Karate Kata can be picked up quickly from our tutorials. The main issue with training at home is the Kumite (sparring), this really is the hardest challenge. As i have mentioned earlier in this article, one of the most important concepts of karate is Ikken Hissatsu or to finish with one blow. We try and instill this concept in our members by explaining that when blocking and attacking techniques are practiced at speed, they should be executed as if your life depends on it, when you hit the focus pads or makiwara (striking board) a full speed, you should not just try to hit them, but break them,destroy them! (obviously after you have executed hundreds of techniques lightly). We are looking at a get together maybe once per year, where we all travel to one location and we can practice and talk karate together and have a bit of a vacation also :).
Here is our FAQ video including questions and answers underneath, i hope this helps and i look forward to seeing you inside the Dojo soon 
Oss!
Questions And Answers
There is no stipulated time frame between gradings as many of our members have trained before, some members seem to fast track through the first 3 or 4 gradings. Our offline Dojo has examinations every three months, but really its all down to the individual, as people progress at different speeds.
The $19.97/month will be consistent for our current members, but this may increase in the future for new members joining.
There is no grading/testing fee, it is all included in the $19.97. We do ask our members to get their own karate uniform (gi) and belts, we are also looking at the cost of printed certificates, (please see question 4 regarding certificates).
At the moment we have downloadable certificates (example attached), but we are looking at the cost of nice gold foil printed certificates and how much they would cost to post around the world, but these will be purely optional.
We would prefer our karateka to wear Gi for testing, but this is optional and up to each member.
We are having patches designed and once our members have been with us for three months they will get one posted to the address of their choice.
All fitness levels are suitable because you train at home and only do what you feel you can handle, you are in total control, the fitter you get, the more you can put into your karate practice.
You do not need much space at all, even with the kata, we have a technique where you can practice the whole kata in a five foot square space
We have members that have injuries and they work around those injuries, we have some members that do not kick and thats fine, they focus more on upper body work.
We do like our members to video their exams in a karate uniform (gi), but this is not compulsory. We have a Dojo patch (see question 7) Other equipment is purely optional, as in a punch bag, makiwara (striking board), recommended books, etc.
This is a very good question and one of the hardest things about training at home. One of the most important concepts of karate is Ikken Hissatsu or to finish with one blow. We try and instill this concept in our members by explaining that when blocking and attacking techniques are practiced at speed, they should be executed as if your life depends on it, when you hit the makiwara a full speed, you should not just try to hit it, but break it,destroy it! (obviously after you have executed hundreds of techniques lightly.
It can accomplished quite quickly, but is entirely down to the individual and also the results can sometimes be very confusing and not make sense at all, let me explain…..If someone is practicing once per week and someone else is practicing three times per week, you would expect the person practicing three times per week to way more advanced after six months, but it depends completely on the attitude of the karateka whilst training, if someone is totally focused and applying the concept of Ikken Hissatsu with all their fast moves and train once per week, they will be way stronger and progress much faster than someone training three times per week, but simply going through the movements with no intent, so it’s all down to the attitude of the karateka.
