Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

The Uniform:

Students who are dressed properly for class do better!

The proper uniform at the Studio is: karate pants, karate jacket, and belt -or- karate pants, karate T-shirt, and belt.

The proper uniform at the Park is: pants or shorts of any kind (consider the weather), karate jacket and belt -or- karate T-shirt and belt.

Care of the Uniform:

• Don’t wash it too often. It is cotton, and it will shrink (a little).
• When you do wash it, cold water and no fabric softener. Hang dry works best, but fluff dry is OK, too.
• Never wash the belt. It’s tradition.

 Karate T-shirts:

• Karate T-shirts can be worn in any Karate class – unless you are testing, or participating in a tournament.
• For a belt test or tournament, we wear the complete uniform - karate jacket, karate pants, and belt.
• It's always a good idea to have a spare uniform. We have all sizes at the studio.
• We also keep all sizes of T-shirts in stock.

One last note: At the park, especially when the weather is nice, it is tempting to wear sandals or flip flops, but footwear like that is not good for karate! Closed-toe tennis shoes or running shoes are best, and will allow for full participation in all drills and activites!

The Schedule

We have classes Monday through Saturday, plus Live Online classes six days a week, plus Karate in the Park.

You can always find the most up-to-date schedule information in the Member App!

Which class should I register for?

• Little Dragons are 4-7 years old.
• Juniors are 7-12 years old.
• Teens are 12-17 years old.
• Adults are 18 and up.
• The overlap years are where Little Dragons transition at their own speed to the Junior program, and where Juniors transition at their own speed to the Teen program.

How do I reserve classes?

For Studio classes, reserve your space using the Member App!

Need a quick tutorial? Just ask any staff member and we will show you how!

For karate in the Park there's no reservation required - just show up!

•See the complete schedule HERE . 

Everybody starts at white belt, and will need to earn stripes.

When you have earned enough stripes, you are eligible to test for the next belt.

The stripes mean things – the first two stripes are for techniques, then forms, and then the creeds. Higher ranking belts have additional stripes, for things like Basics, Mentoring, and Sparring.

Students earn stripes when we see, in class, that they can do the material well enough for their level. They always win – they either get the stripe, or they get feedback and help. Of course, getting the stripe does NOT mean they don’t have to keep working and improving. The stripe simply means that they understand the material well enough to be able to practice it on their own.

For Juniors and Little Dragons, the Creed stripe is often the easiest stripe to get.

Here is the First Creed: I WILL DEVELOP SELF-DISCIPLINE IN ORDER TO BRING OUT THE BEST IN MYSELF AND OTHERS.

When they can repeat that from memory, they get the stripe!

All students, at all ages, learn the creeds. We define SELF-DISCIPLINE as ‘the ability to make yourself do what you need to do, even if you don’t want to do it’. It’s a great lesson for students of all ages and all levels.

It takes five stripes to go from from White Belt to Yellow Belt. (Four for Little Dragons.) New students learn to set short, medium and long term goals and to use the small goals to do great things!

We do 1-day and all-week Karate and Parkour camps throughout the year for Little Dragons, Juniors, and Teens. 

Our camps are designed to be convenient for working parents, with early drop-off, and the ability to come and go as you wish. They're also designed to be great for students! These are working camps - kids get lots of time to do Karate and Parkour, and they learn skills. They may earn stripes and even belts. And kids like it when they feel like they are getting better at things. 

 We don't JUST do holiday and summer camps.  Almost every time CFBISD or LISD are out for an in-service day or holiday, we have a camp!  We also have camps at Spring Break, during extended school breaks (Thanksgiving and Christmas) and SUMMER CAMPS!  Our camps are skills camps, and are a great activity for kids in the program who want to get better and move up, but also for kids who’ve never done karate or Parkour. 

We provide everything – morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and lots of fun activities throughout the day.  The main focus, of course, is Karate and Parkour!

You can purchase 1 day, or plan ahead and stock up.  The discount is built right in – the more days you purchase at once, the cheaper each individual day.  Best of all, you can use those days whenever you need them - your days never expire!

Check out the complete camp schedule!

The Black Stripe is our ‘Commitment to Black Belt’. It’s where we build the habit of sticking with things, even when it gets difficult. We learn how to dig deep and get through it. 

Most people quit things between the high points. They decide to go to college, or join a team, or start a project. At the start, things are exciting and fun, but then they get bogged down in the hard work of finishing the commitment. Somewhere along the line, they drift away and drop out. 

We know that we should make our plans when we are strong and confident, and keep them when we’re tired and weak. We start by really thinking about that commitment – making sure we want to do it, and making sure that we don’t have any other previous commitments that keep us from making (and keeping) a new one. 

Once the commitment is made, we keep it. There is no out. In the Martial Arts Mindset, we say ‘my word is law’ – I honor my commitments and finish what I start.

Martial Arts is no different. There are highs and lows, sometimes you’re busy, tired, sick, struggling, and sometimes it’s not fun. But learning how to get through the low points is a crucial skill that will benefit you in all aspects of your life – at home, at school, in relationships, in sports, and at work. If you’re having trouble, the first thought should be to ask for help so you can figure out how to get through it.

If you’d like to discuss the Black Stripe Commitment, see us at the studio, or give us a call.

Our instructor ranks are part of our 10-level Instructor and Leadership Training Program (TNT Program).  Admission to the TNT program is made by invitation to Juniors, Teens, and Adults.

We take great pride in our TNT program, and we work very hard to ensure that our TNT members are highly trained – we don’t hire instructors from outside our studio.  Every one of our instructors and assistants has come up through our program!

Anyone on the mat wearing Blue or Red pants, or a Blue or Red Jacket, can be easily identified as an assistant or instructor in the TNT program.  Once a TNT member reaches the level of Blue Coat, and has achieved the rank of 1st Degree Black Belt, they are eligible to receive an instructor title.

The instructor titles are as follows:

Sempai – a new instructor; requirements include Blue Coat and at least 1st degree black belt

Shidoshi – a more experienced instructor; requirements include at least Blue Coat and at least a 2nd degree black belt

Sensei – a seasoned instructor, capable of running the entire studio; requirements include Red Coat, and at least a 3rd degree black belt

Renshi – (literally ‘polished instructor’) an experienced, veteran instructor; requirements include at least Red Coat and at least a 4th degree black belt

Shihan – (literally ‘master instructor’) – a highly experienced, senior instructor; requirements include at least Red Coat and at least 5th degree black belt

Sifu – (literally ‘one who has come before’) – this title is reserved for the head of our school, Sifu James Dryburgh

Osu (pronounced "oos")

The word “osu” comes from the Chinese Kanji characters “Oshi Shinobu”, which means “to persevere (suffer) while being pushed.” This word is one of the most important philosophies in Martial Arts. “OSU” symbolizes the need to persevere at all times, to push yourself to the limits of endurance, and endure under pressure.

When a student says Osu while bowing onto the mat, they are saying "Be patient with me, but push me". 

When the instructors acknowledge with Osu, they are saying "I will be patient with you, but I will also push you".

“OSU” is also greeting, and is used to replace words and phrases such as “yes, good, I am ready, I understand.”

The instructor may give instructions, and then say "Osu?"  to which the students respond "Osu!"

Another way to think about Osu:

Osu means patience, respect and appreciation. In order to develop a strong body and strong spirit it is necessary to undergo rigorous training.

This is very demanding, because you must push yourself to what you believe to be your limit, and you want to stop; to give up. When you reach this point you must fight yourself and your weakness and you must win. To do this you must learn to persevere, but above all you must learn to be patient. This is OSU!

The reason you subject yourself to hard training is because you care about yourself, and to care about yourself is to respect yourself. This self respect evolves and expands to become respect for your instructor and fellow students. When you enter the dojo you bow and say “Osu” . This means you respect your dojo and the time you spend training there. This feeling of respect is OSU!

During training you push yourself as hard as possible because you respect yourself. When you finish you bow to your insructor and fellow students and say “Osu” once more. You do this out of appreciation. This feeling of appreciation is OSU.

OSU is a very important word in Martial Arts because it signifies patience, respect and appreciation. That is why we always use the word OSU; to remind ourselves of these qualities.

*from the U.S. Kyokushin Karate Official Text Book Basics No. 1 by Saiko Shihan S. Oyama, Shihan Y. Oyama, Shihan M. Miura (Published 1981)