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There's a maxim that states...If you don't use it, you will lose it!! Speaks volums to me. If one wants to flexible then one will have to do what's required to achieve, and then maintain it. What one does to earn that flexibility will be a hit and miss for THAT practitioner. Key: STRETCH but correctly!! Hang in there, and remember, Rome wasn't built in one day.

Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to you....SING IT WITH ME...Happy Birthday, Liam...Happy Birthday to you...and many more!!

Well, that's it!! Just how much can one afford to spend monthly on advertising?!?!? One has to stay within THEIR BUDGET, and not in another's. What my monthly budget for advertising is, has nothing to do with what someone else considers both effective and economical. The very best advertisement is WORD OF MOUTH!! Decide on it quickly!! First decide ones monthly budget for advertising, and work within that budget. How much?? That depends on the market target and which to precede first. HOMEWORK!! Do a ton of it before you set your plans in motion. Be prepared to many fails and fewer successes along the trail and tribulations of figuring out the magical formula of advertising. If you have champagne dreams on a beer budget for your advertisement expenses, one best figure it out quickly!!

JR I do believe that you're on the right path, JR; keep it up!!

Surely looks like the training equipment to have!! Yeah, just might get some for the dojo and at home. Although, the price can cause one to take a pause before reaching for the credit card.

Having Afib, Atrial Fibrillation, it is strongly insisted by my cardiologist and PCP, to always be wearing some type of monitor, which is mainly to help me keep an eye on by HBPM, Heart Beats Per Minute. Anything over 180 is a big no-no especially if that type of HBPM are maintained. Ever since 2016 I usually bought whatever WalMart had, but then finally I did purchase the Polar H-10 chest strap monitor, and as JR says, you forget you're wearing the thing.

Kata and Hojo Undo for the most part of my solo training!! Other than that, whatever seems to be appropriate for that very moment, whether it be bag training or weights or cardio.

Sorry Melau: I am in my 60's that has to take it easy on the younger guys and not the other way around.I wholeheartedly agree with the bold type above.

Once again, as I always state.....To each their own!! If the tool they use helps improve one MA betterment, then who care because if a inner tube can help me with my MA betterment, then I'll kiss an inner tube for the rest of my life.

A hammer is just a tool too, but it's not used by everyone all of the time. There are many other ways to drive a nail, for example, than with a hammer. The tool is only as good and dependable as its user. Not everyone knows how to use a hammer properly; choice always belongs to the user. Imho!!

My students!! Nothing like sharing in their MA journey, with all of their ups and downs. To see their wide smile whenever they have a Aha moment, and they think I'm not watching.

Congrats, Bulltahr; well deserved, once again!!

Welcome to KF, E-Thad; glad that you're here!! I did a plethora search for any Kyokushin dojo's in Akron, Ohio with not much success. Closest Kyokushin dojo is 2 and a half hours away to the west in Lima, Ohio. Sorry!! Might have to contact the Kyokushin Headquarters.

Solid post!!

They both do very well. Sure, they don't win all of the time, but who does!?! Each season they both improve, and that is the real victory. Having followed them both here at KF and FB, has been a complete pleasure through and through. They both do what the Karate maxim speaks...7 times down, 8 times up!! COME ON DISTRICTS!!!! They'll both do fine!! They're both very luck to have the support base of family and friends, and Bran, you've done a fantastic job coaching them on the side. GO KENNETH AND KENDALL!!!!!

I use weights all of the time, and even more so as I age. We were introduced to train with when I was a JBB at 13 years of age. Before long, training with weights became a staple in my training, which meant that I introduced weight training to my students ever since day one at my own dojo in 1977.

You know, imho, it's the individual that versus an individual, and not the style. The style is the vehicle in which the individual arrives in; how the individual drives said vehicle is based on that individual, and not the style.

No I don't use apps for my training because it's a personal choice. Maybe it's an old school excuse to not use a app. I don't cast a judgment on those who do use a app to train with because, like I said, it's a personal choice!!

I've been teaching for a very long time, ever since my dojo opened in 1977; kids of the very young age have always been a staple at both the Hombu and my dojo. Shindokan Saitou-ryu!! If you mean, what do I teach kids that very young and tender age?? Shindokan Saitou-ryu!! But the emphasiks is NOT Shindokan, nor is it ever mentioned to them. Why?? They don't care one way or another. Protocol and manners and etiquette and so on and so forth is taught alongside with Shindokan. They get a uniform; kids love that whole thing with the patches and belt and all. Do they learn how to defend themselves?? That's not the emphasis because who in the world can they defend against except another tiny tot; surely not a bigger kid and certainly not a determined adult. Sure we do teach Shindokan, but in a really laid back way so as not to scare them in any way. Play!! That's what I do....that's what all of the instructors do...WE PLAY WITH THEM!! Running, jumping and hopping, all sizes of balls to toss around, obstacle courses, to name just a few....and then some; whatever our imagination can come up with. My wife has always accused me of being a very big kid, and I suppose that I am; teaching them at that age is my favorite because I love to play too!! Moms seem to love how I do Play with them while at the same time teaching a lot of things other than Shindokan. Knock Sensei down is the most favorite game for them at that age because they've no preconceived notion of evilness in them. Whereas the older kids, just don't want to knock Sensei down, no, they want to SMASH Sensei, in which you can see that "KILL SENSEI" in their eyes Classes last no longer than 30 minutes: 5 minute stretching/warm-up 20 minutes of PLAY 5 minutes of cool down We talk to them while they Play Learn, but we never engage in a long drawn out blah blah session because experts say that kids have the attention span that's equal to their age: a 4 years old MIGHT pay attention for 4 minutes, but it's been my experience that that 4 minutes is pushing ones luck. Constant activities; never, what we call, dry-air!! Once you lose them, it's over...class is over for that kid; if the kid wants mom/dad, we just let them go whenever they want. When we sneak in Shindokan, it's in a game/play time without them ever knowing that they're learning Shindokan. When the kid gets older and starts connecting the dots, they have their very first AHA moment; love to witness that whenever it does happen...touches my heart every time!!!

Welcome to KF the_mars_bar_kid; glad that you're here!!

Karate is far more important than any person(s) and/or any Governing Body!! This decision is their to make, and they've made it; Karate will survive their decision(s)!!

Good or bad thing for Karate?? Depends on who's being asked: Competitors, Governing Bodies, Karateka's, and/or the layperson. This news is both celebration as well as downtrodden all at the same time, but once again, depends on who's being asked. Traditionalists might be celebrating because they despise Karate being called a sport, for any reason by anyone. Karate Sports enthusiastic minded MAist might feel betrayed with their rug having been pulled out from under them before their moment under both the spotlight and microscope. As in anything, time will tell if it'll affect Karate, but I'm sure that either side of the fence will want their chosen loyalty to be respected. Me, I don't care one way or another!!

Don't laugh, if possible, at what I'm about to suggest!! Here goes.... Are you right handed or left handed?? Often times, student tend to favor the dominant side across the board, no matter the techniques. They can pivot better with their left side than their right side because they're left handed due to their own comfort zone in doing everything with their left side...their mind becomes, and knows the left side in everything that they do in their left side dominate muscle memory. I'm right handed, so I had to LEARN how to be ambidextrous in the MA. I always favored to use my right side because I was use to my right through my muscle memory. Through the MA I learned how to trust my left side, and this transitioned into my other activities. I can hit on both sides of the plate during baseball/softball games...I can place kick with both my left and right foot...I can bowl and shoot pool with either my left or right hand...I can use hammers and the like with either my left or right hand. All because I had to learn to be effective in my MA on both sides, and not just one. Takes some time, as most things do, to getting use to, and then some more to become effective in the ambidextrous world. If you're laughing still, then that's ok!!

I've used a various aides like Tiger Balm, and the like, for many years; more years than I care to remember. But what I've truly depended on is a solid warm-up routine starting with stretching from head to toe. Nothing to introduce the body to cardio then stretching. I more or less use ice/rest/RICE afterwards, if necessary.

It's all about one's approach that must be appropriate. Give what's helpful, and nothing else, no matter how much tempted. I'd offer that whatever I felt would help to widen their scope of understanding, after all, that's what teachers of the MA do, teach. I can not teach nor more than I can not live without air, while at the same time, reminding them that their CI is the ultimate final authority!! That depends on the maturity of that student, as well as the one offering the help!! Not all black belts can teach!! As a interested bystander, as to not infect my way with their way; asking in what way I might be able to help them to better understand, but to not counter what their CI is teaching.