White Belt (10th kyu)

White Belt (10th kyu)

All students start at white belt level (10th kyu). The purpose of this belt is to give you an entry level understanding of the basic stances, punches, kicks, and blocks that are used in karate. The training syllabus for a 10th kyu is as follows:

Basics (Kihon)

Zenkutsu Dachi, Gedan Barai (front stance, low sweeping block)

• Chudan jun tsuki (punch to solar plexus).
• Chudan gyaku tsuki (reverse punch to solar plexus).
• Jodan age uke (upwards, face-level block).
• Chudan soto uke (outside block at midsection-level).

Note: All should be done stepping forward and backward.

Kokutsu Dachi, Shuto Uke (back stance, knife hand block)

• Chudan shuto uke (forward and backward, knife hand block).

Note: Should be done stepping forward and backward.

Zenkutsu Dachi, Kamae (front stance, hands to the side

• Mae geri (front snap kick).

Kiba Dachi (horse riding stance)

• Yoko geri keage (side snap kick to the chin using dorsel/instep part of foot).

Kata

• Heian Shodan (by counts) (See Sensei Seamus O'Dowd's YouTube Video).

Fighting techniques (Kumite)

• Gohon Kumite (jodan and chudan) (See Sensei Seamus O'Dowd's YouTube Video).

The minimum training time before your first grading to 9th kyu is 3 months.