Eager To Learn

"Trying to prove a "superior" style of Karate? once again, its not the style, its how its taught." Totally agreed, I think its quite disrespectful to Karate in general to be honest as from the little I know I assumed "we" were all part of the same "family" and should therefore be respectful to one another . As opposed to challenging each others styles.

Osu, I saw the below posted on another forum and thought it seemed quite a bold challenge. I assume its genuine !? but wondered if anyone had seen this before or had any views and or comments ??? http://www.nettisivu.org/lelu/International+Karate+Challenge.html Osu

I train 2 x 1.5 hours a week Kickboxing and 2 x 1.5 hours Karate JK so approx 6 hours a week - would like to do more but its not practical at the moment.. Ossu

yeah Wimbledon looks good this year - shame Sharapova got knocked out so early Not sure about Federer this year tho - think Nadal could run him very close this time so it should be interesting. Definitely going to be a good final though !

I started MA for various reasons - have always admired martial arts in general and wanted to take off where I started when i was younger (Judo). Also wanted to improve my fitness and flexibility , as well as my inner confidence / ability. Also due to a back injury my doctor suggested building core muscle - he suggested pilates or an MA - I thought Karate would be more fun and practical - no contest really.

Id probably try to knee them in the lower back which would hopefully knock them forwards onto there hands and thus of balance - I would then strike at their elbow whilst rolling out and hopefully they would drop down at which point I would either get on top and pound to the head for all im worth or leg it depending on my mood at the time. lots of ifs and buts though if you get my drift.

- I have been checked by the doctor and he has said teh Karate in general should be good for my back as the stretching and forms etc will lengthen my hamstrings which will help my back and should also build core stability so he has given me the all clear but thanks for the word of warning anyway, Kind Regards

HI PS1 - I have seen a consultant osteopathic surgeon and regularly see a osteopath to straighten me out. My back tends to rotate about the 3rd disc up and so if i turn sharply it sometimes locks resulting in sciatic pain and general discomfort in the left leg / hip below the area and my back tends to go into spasm upwards of the problem area. When trying to do the sit ups there is just a general lack of strength in my lower back and so I was just after any excercises to try and improve this area and hopefully strengthen the core muscle around this to give it more protection - hope this makes sense ?

I have a long standing lower back injury involving the bottom 2/3 discs and as a result I am unable to do full sit ups (i.e. arms crossed at chest and full down and back up to knees). In class Sensei allows me to do "crunches" as I can manage this but the full sit ups have so far proved impossible as I have very little muscle strength in my lower backand so find it extremely difficult and painful to do a full sit up. Can anyone advise as to how to build up these muscles so that I can start to attempt these full sit ups ? preferably without damaging my back further ??

I have recently joined a Local Karate Club and I am really enjoying it and trying to get to grips with all the various blocks, strikes and Kata involved. I was just wondering if Kaiing becomes easier with experience as when going through the motions i find myself concetrating more on hand / body position and as such when it comes to the Kai I seem to let out a pathetic wimper rather than full war cry Is this something that comes with time as I am struggling to find a "natural" kai and find myself imitating the person next to me which can be rather embarrassing at times any advice welcome !

Thanks for the repsonses so far , very interesting and good to know that I am heading in the right direction The Karate that I will be learning is Justu Kai and hopefully once I get into shape I may even attempt kickboxing as well. Thanks for your all your comments

I was just wondering if anyone could give me advice regarding Karate and whether or not it is likely to improve my self confidence ? I have often wanted to start a martial art having experienced Judo as a youngster so I recently took the plunge and went along to my Local Karate Club. I really enjoyed the first couple of sessions even though they left me rather sore and I am planning to carrry on. However my reasons for starting Karate are mixed.. the main reason being that although I am middle aged and of larger build I have very low self confidence and lack confidence in social situations and often doubt /question my own ability. Having read various articles on the net suggesting that MA's in general will improve your confidence I thought I would give it a go and chose Karate as I believe it has a "mental" aspect to it (I assume most MA's do to an extent - excuse my lack of knowledge). Can anyone advise whether or not Karate Is likely to improve my confidence and does anyone have a similar experience ??? All posts welcome. thx