Caffeine King

Not convinced by the validity of this but it does say that I'm an owl. How cool is that?? Genera and species: Tyto Alba Collective Term: A parliament of owls Careers: Head of state (!) Aw, crap! We know I'm not allowed to be the Queen... How about me replacing Tony Blair instead?

Fear of punishment usually fades over time but everyone appreciates a compliment. Having said that, everyone should have their feet firmly on the ground. No-one - especially in martial arts - should ever be led to believe that they are better than they really are. Never say "That's great!" Say "Getting better there!"

Could be... Having said that, I'm guessing that you probably can't apply that black belt and fighting savvy/common sense to me from where you're standing right now. Lack of reach!! That must mean that you're probably just the likable sort... A bit like me!!

First things first... I know next to nothing about the technicalities of TKD. Come to think of it, I know next to nothing about any other martial art save Aikido - which I'm not very good at, even now. I have also never ever been involved in a street fight - and I really don't plan on it either!! I have been punched in anger - though only ever whilst playing rugby. I know for a fact that it hurts too... Also, a few years ago, I had the pleasure of dating a woman who knew her TKD inside out so I do have a little idea of what a decent TKDist is capable of. Now please don't flame me folks as I'm pleading ignorance right from the start but a lot of these posts focus on X being better than TKD or TKD being superior to Y and Z... I favour a 'paper, scissors, stone' attitude to all of this - as in real life, I expect that there will be WAY too many variables to pick reliably a winner in a brawl. I've seen a black belt in Karate being dropped in a bar-fight just as he stood up because he was hit from behind with a bar stool (nasty!). I've also seen stories in the newspapers where trained martial artists (men, women and children) have beaten off multiple attackers with their skills. Having said all this, if I was ever attacked in the street - touch wood that I never am - I would like the luxury of a black belt in TKD and *most importantly* plenty of fighting savvy/common sense to go with it. We can all agree there, can't we??

Nah, course not... If I did, I'd probably send one of them up my ear and through my ear drum the very first time I turned onto my side. Always thought that would be really painful so I never tried. I guess I just don't like being reminded of my deafness by being forced to take them out at certain points. Being honest, I also find it quite disorientating, especially since I only lost my hearing in my late teens. Was never able to adapt to it. One more thing. Apologies to everyone involved about not getting that questionnaire sorted yet. Have just been too busy at this end as university winds up. I've *so* much paperwork to sort out before I head home to York for Christmas. More on this topic come the New Year. Until then, happy 2003 everyone!

Heavy thoughts? Heh, I like that... No doubt that trusty "inscrutable master" guy found in every Kung Fu film known to man would suggest you imagine your legs as great oak trees rooted to the ground. Doubt that'll work for you though. After all, if you do that, how are you supposed to be able to kick'em back once they've failed to knock you over??

Heya! Great stuff, I get to ramble on about psychology again... Luckily, I share an office with an out-and-out Sports Psychologist and while I study Aikido when I can, he studies the idea of directional focus full-time. We've just had a talk on this and we think we've figured it... There are two types of ways you can focus your attention on something, either you tend to think internally or you think externally. Hardly rocket science I know, but it means that about half of the people on this site will have a tendancy to think about what it takes to make the arm stay straight (internal) and the other half of you would be more likely to think about the product of your movement (external). This is what Kickckick added earlier. Think about extending your arm across the room and because you're thinking this way, you're NOT worrying about your arm. We all have something tucked away in our heads called the "Ironic Processing System", it's a bit of a mouthful but it may explain why some people find this task easier than other people do. Try this... Sit in front of your monitor for two minutes... During this time, do NOT think of a white polar bear. At all. Really try... Did you manage it? Right from the word go? If you did, I'm stunned!! It's almost impossible. If you pardon the example, what I'm trying to say is that when you're trying not to think about your arm, you will. Your brain will monitor it - it's supposed to and you can't stop that. However, if you follow Kickchick's advice and think externally, you'll think about your arm in external fashion and the task is easier. However, if you start thinking about the biomachanics and the muscles and the bone, joints, etc... you'll bend. It's logical that you should. Hope that doen't take the magic out of "Ki"! As for "immovable body", erm... not sure about that one!

Even I - one of the more incompetent martial artists on this site! - can manage the fabled "Unbendable arm"! If I can, you can too. First time I tried it, it was up against a friend who is six foot six and close to nineteen stones. I was really struggling to keep my mind clear. I even tried concentrating hard on the trees outside the window. I was sagging... Luckily, Sensai was there to save the day! He came over and asked me whether I was coming to the pub afterwards... We chatted about the drinks we were going to buy - I fancied a nice, cool pint of Stella - and I forgot about the nineteen stones on my arm. It really was unbendable. Cracking bruise the next day though...

My hearing loss? Well, to tell the whole story, I lost a little hearing (20dB) in my left ear when I was about four - a severe case of mumps that meant the bones in that ear don't quite fit perfectly together anymore. However, that was never really a problem. At school, I just sat on the left and towards the front to compensate. Thing is, ten years ago - during my A-levels of all times - I suddenly, unexplainedly, lost about 70dB in both ears over a three month period. I'm now severely deaf in one ear and moderately deaf in the other. Deaf enough to have caused speech problems if I was born that way. However, hearing aids are pretty good these days as you'll probably know so I manage just fine. The real problem? I'm high-tone deaf more than anything and it's hard to hear what women say when you're flirting away in the pub!! As you'll guess, this also throws up more problems if you're studying a more 'grapply' martial art. There are times - groundwork springs to mind - when they have to come out. It's the one aspect of Aikido that I tend to avoid as I hate not wearing my hearing aids (I've adjusted THAT well) so my knowledge of the art isn't anywhere near as well-rounded as I'd like. That and the fact that I'm too busy to go regularly(!) For that reason, I never go swimming either! Does your hearing loss - or hearing aid rather - cause you problems in the dojo Freestyler?

Freestyler, I think I envy you in that I have never really come across one book that has changed the way that I think about life in general. I wonder whether psychologists are too cynical about these things??? Yep, I'm in the final year of my PhD. Well, I say that. I'm in the third year of my PhD but let's face it, no-one ever finishes these things on time. I'm in my little office right now. Am I working? Nope. Interesting stuff though, linking psychology with computer science. Cognitive science is growing fast. I think the new big thing is self-teaching neural nets. Not my area (at all!) but artifical intelligence has everything to gain from thinking massively in parallel like us humans. I wish you luck. G95champ - you raise an interesting point. Gradings are very much more of a Western idea, aren't they? Individual status/position is perhaps too important in our society but I'm really glad to see that they can be used in such positive fashion. A great attitude there. As for you Kensai, thanks very much. I most certainly agree about the choice of style, unsurprisingly...

Well, first things first. I'm sorry to hear about your purse, Kickchick. I do hope there wasn't much in it at the time. Sometimes it's the sheer randomness of things that surprises us. You're right, we are human - sometimes painfully so, sometimes happily. Life is a learning curve, isn't it? As an interesting aside, my supervisor is a Sports Psychologist. While staying diplomatically silent about American Football, he's done a lot of work with Rugby League players. Now, that sport is rough!! No padding, either! Once you're down, you're held down and often kicked until the defending team is back in position. (Imagine American football with no gaps between plays). He started on the whole Mental Toughness thing to see what kind of individual gets smacked down by three/four people and kicked a lot before picking themselves up and running forward to repeat the process again and again until the fifth tackle swops possession. It's not much of a jump in my book to consider the martial arts as well. Cheers especially for your thoughts Red J. You are spot-on. Chronic pain - or even sound in the case of tinnitus - is so distressing simply because of the lack of control that the sufferer has over it. However, I wonder how easily I'd be able to pull in a decently-size sample for both groups. Personally, I'm a little deaf and wonder constantly when I should take my hearing aids out!! I turn them off for breakfalling so they don't squeal... As for all you helpful people who are willing to participate in my little study, thank you so much for your time. First thing I'll do is send on a little 'consent form' e-mail-thingie (coming eventually) and if you reply to that then I'll send you the questionnaire for printing out and filling in. I'm afraid I can't just unleash the thing on the world. The British Psychology Society (BPS) ethics committee insists...

Whoa! Driving at the age of 16? That's not even legal in the UK - you can't hold a driving licence until you're two years older. But then again, you're allowed into the pub once you're 18 so I guess it evens out... My 18th birthday was such fun(!) Just don't drink and drive. Ever - unless it's COFFEE!!! Anyway, you wanted a driving test story. Well, here's mine. I was driving along in York (my home town) and during my first test, I ended up being told to drive down a very narrow street with cars parked on both sides. A car coming towards me had right of way so I pulled in to let him pass. Thing is, he didn't. He flashed his headlights at me - probably being helpful to a learner - but I stayed where I was. He flashed again and waved at me. I went. I was failed. Why? Well, no idea if it means the same thing in the good ol'US of A but in the UK, flashing your headlights offically means that you're warning other drivers of danger ahead. I was crushed... However, I passed the second time. If I can pass a driving test, you can - believe me. Best wishes.

Hi folks! Back to the psychology again, sorry... There's a theory out there known at the "Theory of Planned Behaviour". It's simple though - all the best theories are. You usually do something because you intend to. And you do this because: (1) You think you should (it's a good thing) (2) You think other people think it's a good thing. (3) Because you think you're able to. After a while, habit kicks in and you go training because that's what you do, that's who you are. If you don't go, you're not you. After all, I religiously buy a newspaper every morning. Force of habit. Sometimes, I even get to read it during the day(!) As for some people giving up, not going (etc) - that's probably down to (3) above. Once you stop going to training, you STOP. Completely. It could be for any reason. Another example, I used to go to Circuit Training twice a week for years. Then I damaged my ankle one time and decided to rest it for a week or three before going back. Once it had healed, I found myself making excuses about why I couldn't go. It took a LOT of effort to get back to that Sports Centre. I still desperately try to keep up with my Aikido too but I think I'll have to wait - unless the Thesis writes itself. Keeping on about the power of positive thought, do you all know that even the most clinically depressed people have one 'good' thought for every 'unhappy' one? It turns out that most of us think three good thoughts for every two bad/unhappy ones. It goes to show that it's vitally important for all of us to stay in credit. I wouldn't go quite as far as Kenpo123 though as we're all human. We all have doubts. If we know they're there, we can challenge them - and we can learn. It's the old philosophy, isn't it? - the willow bends in the wind while the oak tree breaks.

Well, looking at things from a psychological point of view, "Mental Toughness" is a hard subject to pin down. I mean, just what is it?? One thing is for certain, we can link lack of "the right stuff" with anxiety and depression. Now these issues are more self-esteem based. Unlike mental toughness these things, these things are recognised in psychology as being able to change over time so it seems perfectly reasonable that that martial arts - or any worthwhile hobby/pastime - can have a beneficial effect. I'll certainly give you that but you're then left with people convinced of their ability to the point where defeat/failure brings their world down around them. These people are confident to the point of arrogance but are rarely mentally disciplined. I'm sure we all know people like this. Mental Toughness is a mix of a lot of things (current theory says six!) I'm I'm left wondering whether the discipline of martial arts helps with them all. However, I'm very impressed with your attitude Champ (and you too Kickchick). As long as people like you are out there, martial arts will have a lot to offer people. As for your question Freestyler, my Mental Toughness Questionnaire measure six categories: Control of Emotions, Control of own life, Confidence in Abilities, Interpersonal Confidence, Commitment and Challenge. Certainly, the belief is out there that martial arts can do a lot for all these but is it really true? Clearly the respondents so far are convinced, but dare I say it, embracing martial arts as a way of life means that you must view them as a positive force so the benefits will always seem clear. However, I've approached mental toughness from a health perspective. My Thesis is looking at long-term stressors: chronic pain, headaches, panic disorder, tinnitus etc... and it can often be the fighting back of negative forces that grant the most improvement in terms of mental strength. Simply, you cope because you have to. From my own view, it would be interesting to compare two such disperate groups as martial artists and long term sufferers of various conditions.

Hi there! First things first - I'm not used to message forums so I hope I've put this post in the right place. (If I haven't, sorry folks!) Ok. Now, I've read some posts in the other forums and all this talk leads me to ask whether martial arts do help with confidence in the way people think. Is it really true? OR is it that people who don't advance far enough to gain the supposed benefits were never tough enough in the first place? Is anything gained at all - and if so, what? An interesting question, I think. I'm sure that most people here have an answer but has it ever really been tested scientifically? I have a favour to ask anyone with a little time on their hands. If you study martial arts (doesn't matter what) and if you're either an expert - let's say black belt or equivalent - or a TOTAL beginner - have only been to training sessions a few times - would you be willing to fill in a questionnaire?? If so, please get in touch. I'm willing to discuss anything about this and answer any questions anyone might have. I'll share all my results with this site too! Hoping to hear from anyone out there... Caffeine King.