Kyotogirl

I`m 5`6 and when I am sparring with a guy in my dojo who is 6`2 I never even tried for a head kick as I figured there was no way I could do it. I`m really not that flexible. Last week I practiced with a new guy who is 6`6 and we were practicing head kicks with the big mits and I thought there was no way I would get even close but I thought what the heck and tried. I and got pretty close in the end After when I sparred with the 6`2 guy I found his height was less of a problem and he was a lot less intimidating. I think a lot of the height problem may by psychological (in my case anyway ) I suggest you practice training on the punch bag and practicing kicking higher and higher. I think in some ways it is easier to kick the bigger guys in the head because they tend not to protect themselves as well.

I met my boyfriend at my dojo 1.5 years ago. He was a black belt and I was a white belt (I had only been there for a month). I admit it was the last thing on my mind at the time and I had already decided that it was a bad idea to date anyone at my dojo. However he asked me out for a drink after class one day and one thing led to another.......... I think if it ended badly I would have definitely quit the dojo (he was there first) but things are still going strong and now we live together. Because of our schedules we always seem to go on different nights but even when we go together it`s not a big deal. It`s full contact and when we spar he doesn`t go easy on me because I`m his girlfriend, he treats me as he would anyone else of my rank, strength and ability. In fact when I mentioned he was my boyfried to some of the other guys from my dojo at the new year party they were so shocked, they had no idea. Even when we train at home and he is so strict, he doesn`t mince his words. At first I didn`t like it but now I am so happy to have someone who`s opinion I can really trust. Things have worked out well for us, maybe we are just lucky!

Hi, I don`t know much about the different styles of karate but I asked my sempai and he said it was just full contact karate. No particular style. No face punches though. We don`t study kata or anything, I think the teacher just teaches what he thinks is worth learning. In an average class we do warm up; punches and kicks on the spot; punches, kicks and combinations moving back and forth along the dojo; punches and kicks with the big mitts; blocking in pairs; light sparring; full-contact sparring. Do you do full contact karate? I would be interested in hearing about the different styles.

I`m sorry I can`t help you but I just wanted to add my own question: How much time does his method take? I mean how many hours a week do you need to put into it to get results? I`ve heard a lot of good about this book on this forum and I`m keen to give it a try. I just wanted to know how much time I need to put into it.

I know byakuren fairly well as my teacher trained with byakuren but broke off to form his own dojo. I guess we train a similar style though. We still have a lot of contact with the members as it is so big it`s the main organiser of the full contact competitions around here. I don`t know the guy well but he strikes me as being an absolute nutcase. He certainly is strong though.

I noticed a couple of the guys at my dojo have really faded belts even though they have only had them for a few months. I`m sure it`s just down to overzealous laundering I htink attacking your belt with a razor is so sad and disrepectful too

Wow!! Thank you all for your kind welcome.

Hello Everyone Just wanted to introduce myself. I have been studying fullcontact karate for almost 2 years now. I just got my blue belt but I need all the help and advice I can get. See you around xx