doug_kissaki

Everything that joesteph said is right on target. Spot training can, in fact, work against your goals. As was said earlier, fat will come off your body evenly, so the trouble areas where there are the greatest fat deposits will seem to take much longer. However, if you are building the muscle underneath those deposits, those areas may actually start to look bigger. Increase your aerobic activity. Simply put, increasing your heart rate burns more calories. Burn more calories than you take in and you burn fat. Also, DEFINITELY increase your water intake. There is no such thing as drinking too much water. And like joesteph said, increasing water intake actually will decrease your water retention.

It's a vague answer, but I agree with those who said to focus on "everything". Your core is absoutely important because all your power generates from there Strong legs are important, but not so much for kicks as they are for strong STANCES The heart is also important as increased stamina helps a LOT in MA. Obviously, the longer you can go without wearing out, the better your workouts will be.

It's definitely a maturity thing. I first made black belt at the age of 21. In the months leading up to the exam, I significantly increased my training focusing all my energy on what I needed to do to get that belt. During the exam, I incurred a minor injury. I came to a few classes after the exam to show off my new belt, but ultimately used the injury as an excuse to take some time off. It took me 5 years to come back. When I was 35, I moved and started in a new dojo (as a white belt). This time around, I focused on training only. I trained the same way whether there was an exam coming up or not. I even purposely stalled myself at brown belt for 2 years. My philosophy had become that I would rather be a brown belt that everyone thought should be a black belt than a black belt that everyone thinks should be a brown belt. I finally did push to get my black belt so that I could start teaching.

My instructor travels world-wide giving seminars to law enforcement agencies. They need to be concerned with this very thing. A police officer can not use deadly force on a suspect who might take a swing at them or be trying to get away. To that end, he focuses a lot of time in these seminars and in self defense classes as well as in our regular karate training on the use of vital points on the body. These are not the typical points you may be familiar with (groin, nose, knee, etc). In fact, he has recently released a book called The Secret Art of Pressure Point Fighting Here is an overview taken from th back cover of the book (printed with the author's permission) I train with the man all the time and still found the book very useful. If anyone is interested in the book, it is available on his website... http://www.kissakikai.com/shop.php

What is "trepping"?

I've never been one for breaking. But one time long ago, I remember a demonstration where we were doing board breaking and we were all doing all the practice movements you expect. On his turn, one shodan was standing not even looking at the boards as the holders prepared. When the sensei said to go, this shodan quickly turned, blasted through the boards, bowed, and walked away I questioned him about it later and he told me, "In a fight, when an opening presents itself, you don't have time to line it up before you strike". That lesson always stuck with me.

Hyungs? Is that the Korean word for Forms?

Don't confuse movie martial arts with real martial arts. Originally, karate did not have all the high, flashy kicks. I'm sure you used your martial arts training more than you realize. Were you able to block any of the attacks coming at you? Did you have a certain level of confidence you might have had without MA training? Were you able to deliver any effective techniques? Whether you could fight or not before you learned MA, these abilities were likely improved by your training. Also, any attack has an appropriate MA defense. If you didn't instinctively use them, that simply means you are not trained enough in them. WAIT... before you or anyone else takes offense to what I just said, it was not meant as an insult. Training realistic scenarios with increased pressure (this can mean full contact, but it really doesn't have to) done many, many times (not just until you feel you understand the techniques) will ultimately become almost reflex. My instructor, Vince Morris, has written several articles and devoted chapters in books to this very topic. If there is any interest, I will get permission from him to post excerpts here.

They're not??? Then you should be training harder

Which organization is ATA? (American Taekwondo Association?) I guess if an ATA member is doing a kata common to that organization your point is valid, but similar katas are often practiced by schools outside of your organization and that has to be accounted for.

I don't know if you really have a choice here. You may not subscribe to the whole "spirituality" aspect that some do, but that's not the only place where the mind-body-spirit connection comes in. I explain to my students that when you are training hard and your body doesn't want to go on and your mind is having trouble focusing, it's your spirit that pushes you forward.

You're out of your mind. Two problems there... first of all, in a women's self defense class, they would teach techniques aimed at incapacitating an attacker. Secondly, these are not trained individuals so the idea of "hit hard here, but pull you blows here" won't work

Tiger, I have to agree with you there. for me it even goes a step further in that I need other people around to train effectively. I've had a key to the dojo for years, but it's rare that I ever go to work out at a time when no one else is there.

Holy Cow! This may be some of the most irresponsible advice I have ever heard! Statistically, it has been shown that women who submit are any less likely to be seriously harmed than those who fight back (I will try to find some of the literature and post it here). And those who do fight back tend to heal much quicker psychologically simply by knowing that they did everything they could to prevent the attack.

I had assumed that was a joke... that was a joke, wasn't it?

That's interesting... I don't know how he made that determination. Katas are often changed and/or taught differently by different instructors. He may have been doing the form exactly how he learned it.

Ed, I've been there. I have also been the guy in the self defense class wearing that suit. The women love it! They usually start out timid, but as soon as they realize it's ok to hit you, watch out! The suit takes the sting out of getting hit, but be prepared, you still feel the impact. And the suit make it difficult to really tuck your chin so your head gets bounced around a lot (especially when they start taking you down)... be prepared.

I have to agree with what everyone has said. It actually makes me sad to hear you say you've been training but not progressing. Provided you don't have serious physical limitations, there is no reason that should happen. It really is the Sensei's responsibility to make sure you do. When you go back (and I'll be hopeful for you too), there is another avenue you can explore. If your instructor does not have the time to devote to you (many "masters" unfortunately feel they are above one-to-one help with a lower betl), ask any other senior belt to help you. I have never seen a senior level student refuse to help a junior.

In my opinion, there really are no bad schools, just bad instructors. It may be a "McDojo", but if it is run by a good "McSensei", it is still a good place to train. I checked out a Tiger Schulman's near me once. This was before MMA was popular and I was impressed by the fact that they were combining styles. However, I did have a couple of issues with this school (I don't know if this is all their schools or just this one)... First of all, they couldn't give me a straight answer when I asked how much it cost to train. It depended on how many nights a week I wanted to train and whether I wanted to be in the Black Belt Program (who joins a karate school and doesn't "want" to eventually be black belt) Secondly, the took me in a room and showed me a video of Tiger Scholman doing all sorts of cool things. I was quite impressed and asked how often he was there to teach. "Well, never" they told me. I would have rather seen video of the instructor that would have actually been teaching. The school wasn't for me, but you would have to make your own decision by watching some classes.

"Best of the Best" and "Bloodsport". However, there is one movie that will always have special meaning for me... I was 17, I had trained for all of 6 months, made my green belt and stopped going to karate. I was pretty much out of it all together when I went to see "The Karate Kid". I was back in the dojo two days later.

That was years ago... I belive they're called Sempai Sempai now.

I admit that I only read the first two pages of posts, so if what I say here has already been said, I apologize. First of all, in a tournament where multiple styles are competing, there is no way of assigning specific katas to specific belts. This often changes from school to school. That being said, there is a big difference between doing a "yellow belt kata" as a yellow belt and doing it as a black belt. Tekki is an excellent kata (I just listed it in another discussion as one of my favorites), but if it is going to be done in competition, it needs to be explosive!

oops... forgot to list my faves... (Not necessarily in order) 1) Kanku Dai - Someone mentioned the importance of the basics. This kata contains all the heians/pinans 2) Tensho - Excellent breathing kata 3) Sienchin - I think this is a beautiful kata (despite how it looked when Ralph Macchio did it in Karate Kid III) 4) Tekki Shodan - This is also one of my LEAST favorite katas... simple kata to learn VERY difficult to master. 5) A tie between Bassai Dai and Ninsju Shiho. These katas have some excellent self defense bunkai within them.

As early masters would travel and learn new techniques, kata was used as a method for them to remember techniques so that they could return and teach them. Kata is simply a form of "shorthand" I've heard it said that each kata (at least the original, classic katas) is an entire system of self defense unto itself. It is true that students would train specific katas for years at a time. This is because it takes years to truly master a kata. By "master" I do not simply mean being able to do all the moves very well. Mastery includes an in-depth knowledge of the kata's bunkai.

One of my favorite stories about titles happened shortly after I moved one time and was looking for a new school in which to train. I walked in to one of those franchised karate schools and the head instructor came out to greet me. He said, "Hi, my name is Sensei". I wanted so badly to reply "Wow... that would make you Sensei Sensei". I just kept my mouth shut.