sensei8

Closest thing to a Caveman workout for me is whenever I use the very large truck/tractor tires. Flipping them can be a challenge!!

Welcome to KF, navi72; glad that you're here!!

Oh, those situations; you're absolutely correct!! And now, to make the move much more challenging, I threw out my lower back last night, so bad, it required me to have an ambulance ride to the nearest hospital. My back spasms were that severe!! After 6 hours at the hospital, I was finally released!! Doctor gave me some pain killer medication as well as medication for inflammation, and of course, I've had one back spasm after another, all day today...not fun. Worse time is whenever I have to go the the restroom...spasm city there!! So, there's a chance that the move might be delayed until my lower back improves. Even then, I don't want to aggravate and task my back, and in that, I can't move furniture at all, or anything up and down stairs; I live upstairs!!

I was wondering if the training injuries incurred, with all the comments so far are all from male participants, or are there females that have sustained injuries, such as broken noses and cracked ribs also?Allow me this... Injuries are not respecters of gender; all are subjective to injuries while training in the MA. I'm a male practitioner/teacher, and I will say this, I've seen the ratio be a 50/50 in both genders; accidents happen!!

Hips are hips!! Usage of the hips will vary per its use!! Hips drive the power apex, and without the proper use of the hips, the difference between a push VS a hit are day and night!! Without being way to detailed in my explanation, the hips turn, it's impossible to do anything static with hips effectively. Hip turnout is the beginning and the end of any technique. Without hip turnout, the rigidness steals the power apex curve out of any technique, and almost immediate. Therefore, the fights over before it even began!! One has to understand hip usage when it comes to the MA, and if not, then carry with you some type of an equalizer, whatever that might be.

The short of it all is that you have to wear what is comfortable and looks good on you, BUT at the very same time, freedom of movement can't be restricted!! If the clothes you wear are restricting your freedom of movement, then things that you don't normally do, become those things of normalcy too, directly out of need. You don't to leg kicks...fine!! In the moment of self-defense, you'll do leg kicks in order to save your life, I'm sure of that. And if need be, just don't kick at all; relying on your other tools!! Wear clothes that DON'T restrict movement!!

I believe that the circumstances are more positive than negative across the board. What circumstances regarding the move are you sorry to hear??

Thank you, MatsuShinshii!! It's all doable across the board!! And I HATE MOVING!!

Quite a few car lots at Memorial/41st St; many dealerships to choose from. You're just a skip and a jump from Owasso. Yeah, we'll have no excuse to not meet one another, as well as train!!

I would tell you that there is no need to kick above the abdomen. There are too many targets south of the chest to take the chance on kicking any higher. High kicks are great for showing off but do to the danger of being caught, taken down or kicked in the privates, there is no reason to do this in real life, not to mention the reduction in power and balance. As far as take downs/throws, I was unable to follow why these are now an issue. I take it you are looking to learn more throws but your outer garments are an issue? If this is the case buy looser clothing or wear a Gi which is not restricting at all. Yeah...what MatsuShinshii, has posted!! Don't, if you can help it, kick mid-level, kick low; many targets there to choose from!!

The one thing that has to be remembered when one considers the 270 turn, or what I call, the Big Turn, is the follow through of the leg. Many times, the leg isn't traveling far enough, to its conclusion, because that leg is placed down to soon...WAY TO SOON!! Keeping the hips level throughout the entire turn is vital for the smoothness to be effective. Controlling that particular leg is tantamount for the Big Turn to be successful, aka, effective. The practitioner controls when and where that leg comes down, and not the other way. Don't set the leg down until it has to be, not sooner. You control that leg, so control the darn thing by not setting it down until it has to be, and YOU CONTROL THAT, not the leg controlling you.

Very good, thanks!! Btw, I'll not go anywhere never Woodland Hills Mall, especially on 71st Street, around Christmas...IT'S A TRAFFIC MESS!!!!!! It can take FOREVER to drive from Hwy169 to Memorial, on 71st Street, no matter the time of the day/night, in either direction. And parking at the Mall, once you get there, if you ever get there, forget it because it offers it's own horrific challenges. Better like walking because your parking spot will be in the boondocks, if you're lucky!!

From time to time, especially if one considers just how long I've been on the floor, while executing any given Kata, I'll be overcome with feeling quite mundane. Continued dwelling in the mundane births inadequacy across the board in any given Kata; bad form creeps outwardly like a fungus. I don't mean to, nor do I plan on it, either. It just happens, out of nowhere!! I'll fight it off because that, for me, is unacceptable to experience. Walking off the floor, for me, is the wrong thing to do because that means that the fight was won by the overwhelming feeling, and not of my own doing. Shugyo has to win this feeling because if I don't suck it up and shake this mundane feeling, then the Kata, for that very moment within me has died. That is the worse thing to do because if that happens, then the Kata loses it's importance, and that just ain't going to benefit me at all!! I don't walk off the floor in the hopes that I'll shake this mundane feeling because to do so, walking off the floor for the hopes of putting a fresh pair of eyes on the problem, the I've lost the fight, as well!! Losing the fight, to me, isn't an acceptable option!! Why would I have these feelings of mundane towards Kata, any Kata? After just over 5 decades on the floor, I've executed each Kata so much, the Kata, at that very distinct moment, is the same old thing and bores the heck out of me. I know this is wrong because Kata is the heart of Karate-do, and without it, Karate-do is dead!! How many times can I tie my shoe laces, for example, before I become bored of this most basic of functionalities, no matter how important that it might be, and it is important, otherwise, I'd trip over my own shoe laces. I take as many deep breaths as I need; clearing my head. Reminding me of Mizu No Kokoro and Tsuki No Kororo. Revisiting the reasons why I'm on the floor executing any one given Kata, and the most fundamental, as well as important reason of them all is attaining that MA betterment within me. To do this... I focus on one thing, once again... Bunkai, and the seek of it, especially the Oyo of the Bunkai. That lies, and awaits to be discovered only one way...EXECUTE THE KATA OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER...and then some. It's THAT Bunkai that I seek and the only way to discover it, I MUST EXECUTE KATA!! No other way to find it...no other way to appreciate it...no other way but forward...no other way to improve my MA betterment...no other way to shake off the mundane but by executing the Kata with focus and determination, and not by whining over the darn thing. Suck it up...SHUGYO!! Shut up, Bob, execute the Kata, and with resolve!!

Will do!! Where about in Tulsa is your dojo at?? Please just tell me east, west, north, or south, in Tulsa, but not exactly, so I can have an idea. Are you near the Woodlands Mall, by the Pepsi plant, by the Eastland Mall, or by the BOK Center??

Thanks, Tempest!! For my family and I, Owasso is HOME, and we've desperately missed it. Can't live somewhere as long as we lived in Owasso, for it to not have any special effects on us. Tempest, maybe the two of us can get together for some cross training when I return!!

Century Martial Arts Supply offers some for about $53.00; I've purchased quite a lot of differing Sai's, including the Aluminum ones, for as long as they've offered them. I've been quite satisfied with them across the board.

Both!! They're both equally important, imho, to me. At their own given time, whenever it's appropriate, and no time sooner. One way doesn't over shadow the other, nor should it ever. Allow the moment to reveal itself as to which one to act upon, and not until then because premature reactions doom results.

My family and I are moving back to Owasso, OK this May 26th!! Owasso, OK is part of Tulsa County, only 20 miles northwest of downtown Tulsa, OK. My sister's health is much better, and her 4 kids are going to be much more proactive in helping care for her than they were in the past!! Our daughter Krystal, has already moved from Tahlequah, OK back to Owasso, OK. She'll be finishing her university studies in Broken Arrow, OK, which is about 15 miles or so south of Owasso, OK. I use to own and operate a dojo/retail store in Tulsa, OK before we moved to Houston, TX just over 2 years ago. Don't know if it's still there, it was the last time I checked when I was last at the Hombu, but irregardless of that, I've no interest in resuming that because to me, it's not an option. Since I'm no longer the current Kaicho of the SKKA/Hombu, then I've no idea what I'm going to do financially for an income. I could become a Wal-Mart greeter! Nonetheless, I'll deal with that once I return to Owasso, OK. One fire at a time!! My Cardiologist will be referring me to Dr. Darwin Childs, Tulsa, OK for continuing care, so on and so forth. I'll be returning to Dr. David Moon, Tulsa, OK as my PCP. But until I secure either of these doctor's, I'll be a patient of the P.A.L. program out of the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa, OK. Time to start getting boxes for packing!! Have already reserved the U-Haul and Auto-Transport Trailer!!

I've not ever done any electronic fitness training because I don't believe in its value; a gimmick I can do without. It's just not my cup of tea.

Your Sensei is right...don't go fast at first because when learning, going fast only muddles the technique across the board; end up doing the technique incorrectly, and if one's not careful, those bad habits start to set in. Doing the techniques slowly and correctly help train ones muscle memory in a positive manner. There's plenty of time to work on speed, whenever it's appropriate to do so, but only then once the technique has been matured over time.

Performs?? More like mimics them; many errors...balance, to name just one. I was wondering the same thing myself. Who in their right mind taught a student forms that are above that students current rank?!?! Unless he taught himself the forms out of a book/DVD/internet. Still, his CI needs to curb him away from the forms that are above his current rank.

Welcome to KF, Chris; glad that you're here!! I wholeheartedly concur with what bushido_man96 is saying across the board. You must stay in touch with your instructor, if not, then you start to stray away into the world of bad habits. Catching the mistakes fast, by the very watchful eye of your instructor, before the bad becomes a habit will save your instructor and you tons of painstaking corrections...not fun at all!!

As long as we're still on the path seeking, whatever that might be, then none of us are wrong because we're constantly seeking our own truths, whatever they might be, as well. Imho!!

Let's not all forget that it's not about the style, but it's about the practitioner, as if that practitioner is effective or not, no matter its genre and/or its circa. Boxing...grappling...whatever else it might be, are just a tool of some sort, but without practitioner, and that practitioner making the tool effective. Imho!!

I've never drank any type of alcohol because I've seen what it can do to an individual and that individuals family and friends when alcohol takes control, both from personal accounts and professional accounts. Having said that, I don't criticize those that do drink because what they do is their own business, UNLESS their actions affect my family and me personally. My job as a husband and a father is to protect them in anyway that I feel is necessary, and in that, I don't apologize for that. I'll attend social events with my family and/or alone, but I'll leave immediately, both my family and/or I, at the very first sign of a problem occurring from someone being drunk and harmful for cause. I've lost friends because I've left their home, without telling them we're/I'm leaving, once the drinking became out of control, per my perception, and before something unpleasant happens.