KickChick

Hi Pedro and Welcome to KarateForms... glad you made your way to us .. it was fate! .... just as your returning to the martial arts. Once that desire is instilled you can never rid it. I have see many people return after as long as a 10 yr. hiatus and picking it up as if they never left it! Good Luck in your finding a school... http://www.tkd.net/schools/CA.htm http://bigbreak.8k.com/corkboard/

You need to strengthen your legs and practice jumping as high as possible (plyometrics). Begin by jumping in place. Gradually increase the height of your jumps. Next, jump and tuck your legs at the same time. Next try jumping and spinning at the same time. Start with a 180 degree spin and work up to a 540 degree spin. Don’t try to put kicks in with your jumps right away, just concentrate on jumping high and tucking your legs. Check out the mpeg on http://www.angelfire.com/ma/ktkd/kick.html ... awesome babee!!!!!!!! _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-21 04:50 ]

hmmm... somebody must have had alot of time on their hands to discover this one! Hey Glenn Beck ... he moved from CT (KC101)to FLA. My son did a TV commercial for his morning radio show up here in CT (Glenn & Vinny in the morning). We miss him on the morning show here!

It can either boost your confidence or could discourage you to the point where you will doubt your abilities. It's a coin toss once you fill out the registration form and empty your pockets. All comps/tournys are not created equal ( I actually have seen some fairly run events) ... although everyone says the same thing about them (unfair judging etc...) and yet we still compete . ... go figure!

... unfortunately I have seen this happen many a time with "short people" .... I am sure this has taught you a valuable lesson. We tall folks all know that short people have less reach, keep out of range, start combinations with long range attacks only move inside when their guard has been opened. They get you to come inside and get close because that's how they fight....and when we hit them it's devastating because they are that close and feel the power of the kick so much more. I am sure it was not his intention to injure you and I would hope that afterwards he offered an apology to you .... so your last comment worries me. Is that the right attitude to have? You say it was at his test time ... his adrenaline was rushing and he was I'm sure pulling no punches (so-to-speak). If I land a kick to my opponent's head, I will certainly check to see if they are ok, but i won't say sorry because if given a second chance I will do it again. However, if I crack someone in the nuts, or kick someone and they go down writhing in pain ...I will say sorry, because it was not my intention to injure my opponent. I would make a concious effort not to do it again as might be the case with your opponent. So what I'm saying to you is, if your opponent landed a good hit, his attack was successful your defense was not!. That's what sparring is all about - the refinement and improvement of fighting skills. _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-20 10:35 ]

Here are some basic guidelines for the beginner... 1. What is your goal? .... weight loss, improved strength, bulging biceps??? Write it down .... this seals your mental and physical committment! 2. Warm up for 8-10 min. with cardio followed by gentle stretching. This gets your metabo started, raises your core temp thus making your muscls more pliable lessening the possibility of injury. 3. To begin with... pick 2 days and train working the upper body one day and the lower the next. If you try doing a total body workout the next day yoiu might be too sore and get discouraged. If you isolate the soreness to one part of body then it won't be so bad. Allow 48 hrs. in between training the same body parts. According to American College of Sports Medicine.... a good beginner routine is 2-3 sets of 8-12 repititions each for max results. (A" rep" is one complete motion of an exercise and a "set" is a number of reps performed in a row.) 4. Choose an exercise for each bodypart and perform with strict form and correct technique. (ask a cerfied trainer if yu are unsure!) Work large muscle groups first such as back and chest before moving on to smaller areas like the biceps and triceps. Smaller groups supprt and assist larger ones and will fatigue earlier (this limits your ability to work those larger muscles) if their exercised first!Work slowly through both phases of muscle contraction ( the positive and negative... being the the concentric of shortening of the muscle when the weight is lifted and the eccentric or lengthening of the muscle as the weight is brought down. You want to be in control of the weight not visa versa. Rest 1-3 min. between sets and gently stretch the muscles you are training. 5. Most importantly ... how much weight should you lift? Choose a weight you think will fatigue the muscle in 8-12 reps. If you hit 12 reps and feel like you could do 10 more its too light. If you can't even make it to 8 then the weight is too heavy. Shoot for low weight and then increase as you progress. 6. Don't forget to breathe! Holding it can make you blood pressure double (like when you do cardio)..... Inhale as you finish lowering the weight and exhale as you finish lifting it for each rep to avoid dizziness and fainting! 7. Allow for a cooldown and stretch 5-10 min. This brings bodytemp back to normal and may alleviate some soreness. Key is dedication .... beginners won't see change in their bodies until about 3-6 weeks ... but you will notice signifcant gains in strength, coordination and motor skill before then! Stick with it ... be patient. Good muscles come to those who weight!

...yet another "beer" topic after the weekend!! Very good theory.... I've not seen anyone explain this as well as Cliff Clavin, on Cheers. (the TV show) One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theoryto his buddy Norm. Here's how it went: "Well, ya see, Nahm, it's like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it's the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But, naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

Yep you got it! Good Luck.... minimal strength training will increase fat loss ... don't lift to build mass just to define and get metabo going.... I use resistance bands each morning after stretching and weights occasionally ... Good Luck -- let us know how it goes! You may want to get your bodyfat # done to see how you progress!

Bravo G95champon your handling of that situation ... some folks are just not disciplined for MA training and need to discover that early on! It take alot of effort on their part. (in class and out). I take a little exception on that middle age vs. teenage boy ... that I believe is merely a generaliztion on your part. There are many (I included) 30- 40- somethings that give 100 % of themselves (or die trying) .... I have seen my share of teens just going through the motions (especially at stretch time) ... but I don't want to go off topic! Yes, a good article --- one in which every school owner/instructor should read, regardless of whether they are a "mcdojo" (god, I hate that word!) it does teeter along the lines of good schoolling/bad schooling.

Although muscle is made of protein consuming excess mounts won't cause growth. Strength training causes muscle growth and eating extra carbs (stored as glycogen) fuels the workout. The key to effectively lose fat is a combination of several things. There is no one easy solution .... (there never is it seems) You need to increase your metabolic rate and include cardio and weight training along with your martial art practice (that alone won't do it) and also combined with a good diet! Eat small meals every 3-4 hrs. or so which will keep your metabolism in fat-fighting mode and prevents your body from clinging on to its fat deposits. Never go without food for long periods. This is a common mistake many women make. Keep meals between 300-400 calories. Keep a steady calories intake. By going up and down with calories causes muscle loss and you need them to burn fat even when you are resting. Choose healthy fats and lean protein. Stay away from saturatd fats and stick with omega-3 and -6 fats which burn as heat during aerobic activity and thus inhibit fat producing enzymes. I have found that switching to artificial sweeteners (I love my java!) instead of sugar has shown some fat loss in me. Drink diet soda and stay away from refined sugars as well. Drinks lots of water which sends those impurities (hopefully some fat!). Fewer waste products in the blood takes a load off your liver whose fat fighting ability can now be more avtivated. Remember that too much steady state cardio can cause a metabolic plateau By adding power exercises like sprinting, jump roping or any type of plyometrics requires the muscles to use more energy in a shorter aount of time and gets the heart rate even higher than the regular cardio workout does. If you train the same --- you will stay the same .... you need to mix it up! Many of our cardio instructors at our school (including myself) l teach back to back classes, or a class every day or every other day and find that our bodies stay the same (no added weight or fat loss) You would think with that much activity there would be a change however our bodies have gotten used to it. And now the importance of adding muscle! ... The more you have, the more calories you burn, even when you are resting. A fat woman doesn't burn as many cals as a muscular woman of the same bodyweight because she has got more fat. Thats why those supermodels preserve their muscle by lifting twice a wk. After a good warm up -- do 3 sets of 8-12 reps using a difficult weight for each of 10 exercises covering the whole body. Ex: dumbell rows for back, push-ups for chest, squats for quads and glutes , lying leg curls for hamsrings, crunches for abs, vertical leg raises, barbell curls for biceps, dumbell kickbacks for triceps, front barbell raise for delts. All in all you need to keep that metabolism going! I have supplemented with a metabolic increaser. I have a poor metabolism and notice it does regulate me more. I have increased energy and can achieve a better workout with the aid of it. There are many out there ---metabo(whatever), hydroxycut, etc.etc.) My rule is 3 months on .... and give my system a rest ....

Hey that is why I am having a hard time trying to open the door to get in here sometime it's all those egos blocking the door .... heck and I thought I was getting weak! Actually I think EnvE was trying to explain how and why monkeygirl's line of attack wouldn't work on him .... and that's ok. :::tripping on egos on the way out!::

Nothing would please me more than to make the chat BUT..... Oh God help me!!! ....HELP!!!!!

Good tips monkeygirl ... but yes, not necessarily for competition sparring, which is far more difficult because you don't have the advantage of "knowing" your opponent (unless you have had the chance to see how they have sparred in previous bouts) I too watch my fellow students as they spar and can read many of their sparring habits. Who drops their guard ... who is slow to turn on their back kicks... who favors what kick ... and who charges in .... and who leaves their leg up too long when they double kick. I love this one because this is the best time to attack when they are on one foot because their balance is off. It is harder for them to avoid the counter-attack because you can’t run away when you are on one foot! Yes everyone does leave themselves open at one time or another during the spar, however as a rule we do not attack to the head at our school (although a light smack now and then with a backfist or round is done if the two participants have each others ok to do so). So in this case when someone has a good coverup to their middle it makes it more difficult to attack .... it is up to you to figure out how to get your opponent to drop their guard. _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-17 08:04 ]

three60roundhouse had posted the web site (ITU hyung versions) in order to help me out with Kwang Gae (which I was going to perform at tournament). However, I did not participate (I had explained why somewhere in the forum). But anyway this particular tourn was more "sport" TKD in the manner of sparring and also hyungs (Taegeuks)... although they had advertised as an "open" tournament. Our particular hyungs were not "recognized" in the forms division and if performed were not to be scored in the same way. (a straight "5" to be given regardless of performance) From what participants/viewers of the tourn told me ... for the most part the forms that were performed were boring, sloppy and with no regards to fluidity, exemplifying excellant technique at the same time. Our school is presently working on "tweeking" our forms (much like those shown on the videos on the ITU site) Although 360 seems to think they are too slow and "breathy" ... I think they are excellant examples of the way they should be performed .... especially at tournament! _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-17 07:37 ]

well I suppose it depends what type of class is taught. Our classes are not continuous ("sustained duration") activity of kicking/punching. We mix it up a bit with "breathers" in between. That is why I love to "crosstrain with my cardiokick class which is much more aerobic. Doing back to back classes is the only way you can actually understand the diff. Truly a different form of workout. Remember also, the study was conducted at the beginner level student. More advanced techniques are learned later on.

I would like to further explain my post .... well, it may have come off a bit "smug" ... what I was getting at is -- Respect naturally comes to someone for who they are. I wouldn't respect someone with poor behavioral habits or someone who is unethical (that goes for whether they wear a belt or not!) As far as lower ranks go-- yes, you call that "courtesy" .... it is your responsibility as a black belt to overextend of yourself to others in your class in order to nurture them along their path of learning. So yes I respect a higher belt rank (as long as they aren't self propagating), I respect those older than I (especially in MA ... whether beginner or not)

So they say crosstraining in TKD complements your weight training routine rather than distracts from it as other sport activities may. I just read an interesting article about a research project with results published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine. It measured 19 practitioners of TKD for both aerobic and anaerobic power. Aerobic power being what sustains activities of long, sustained duration, such as distance running, biking and swimming. Anaerobic power is what we use for weight lifting. The results show a significant diff in anaerobic power (28%) and capacity (61.5%) among the athlets who had an average of 10.4 months experience in TKD. No significant increases were seen in aerobic power and resting heart rate. So while TKD may not be high in cardio, in terms of training the same anaerobic systems used for weightlifting, TKD does give you the extra "kick" in seeing some results. I would assume the same goes for many of the other martial arts ..... although they seem to have focused solely on TKD.

Yikes .... here goes! If an exercise hurts, and you've been performing it using good form with controlled cadence and have tried sensible modifications, drop that exercise. The first rule of exercise selection is "Do no harm" ... don't believe in that "no pain no gain" maxim! Experiment with new exercises, angles of movement, types of equipment and rep ranges ... this can spur on new growth. Doing faster reps is one way to change up your routine. Training slow with continuous movement is effective when using heavy weights. Its helps prevent injury and isolates the muscle more. Pumping out faster reps using slightly less weight is done in an effort to fill the muscle with as much blood as possible and is used to build explosive strength. Changing this back and forth may shock your muscles into growth. But remember everyone is diff so try both methods and see what works for you! Make sure you don't overtrain ... don't make the mistake of minimizing recovery time and maximizing workout frequency .... if you feel tired rest! Oh, and eat properly! You can also try Myoplex to achieve muscle gain, size and strength http://www.eas.com

Yes I believe so (in my case), #1 .... I am a Black Belt #2 .... I am an elder #3 .... I am Female :pony: #4 .... dammit I am worthy of it!

It does improve your ability to perform high intensity exercise over a number of intermittent sets probably due to the fact that by boosting stores of high energy phosphate in your muscles. So it does help you squeeze out an extra rep or two which improves the intensity of your workout but it has no effect on aerobic performance. Although you may not want to look like Arnold (don't take this as sexist boyz!), you would probably want the optimum amount of muscle fullness for an athletically "fit woman". Creatine can cause about 2-3 pounds of lean muscle gain in as little as a week due to its muscle cell volumizing effect. When creatine hits the muscle, water follows and you get a better pump. (not the same as a bloat which is thoroughly unattractive the weight gained is just the result of better muscle cell hydration. For women --- 3 grams/day for 28 days is enough to saturate muscle after which 2 grams a day should maintain creatine stores at optimal levels. Yes, be sure to drink plenty of water! It is safe (as with anything.... don't overdo!)

Hey I got one too! Take the Gender Test! http://test.thespark.com/gendertest/ Well, deep down, your gender affects everything about you, from your favorite number to your views on Canada. (sorry Canadians!) 86% confidence.... Statistically speaking, the test says I'm a chick :pony: ... How do they do that! ... they say this test gets smarter with every taker, and it's almost never wrong. _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-15 12:09 ]

oh yes ....I always raise my eyebrows when I see something I like .... ... I wasn't convulsing if that's what you think!

.... and don't give up!

Sorry to have assumed! .... :pony: <--- Bitseach <--- KickChick wearing duncecap

EXACTLY!!