sperki

Good luck, Aurick! Making the required lifestyle changes is always a challenge at the start. I made some similar changes several years ago. After sticking with it for a couple of months it just became my identity. Now at work I’m “that guy” that shows up with overnight oats in a mason jar and my coworkers know I’m off to the gym after work.

My wife and son just returned to the US after 2 weeks in the Osaka area. It was cherry blossom season. They saw kyudo, karate, kendo, and judo classes, hike mountains, saw shrines and a castle, and so much more! I'm jealous that I have to live vicariously through their photos! It looks and sounds awesome.

Maybe it is a tournament thing, I've never been to one, but I see it with other sports. Although it's hard to imagine kids appreciate that treatment any more than you did. In my mind, especially for kids, martial arts should be something fun, something they look forward to. I want my kids to stick with it, not feel belittled and teased. I'm pretty sure their peers harass them enough.

Using the gym ball for balance is great, but remember it's only been two and a half weeks since christmas. Developing balance, like developing strength, is a slow process. There area couple of areas to think about. One, strength, which has been addressed. But something called proprioception is basically knowing where your body is without looking. Improving both of these will improve your balance. Try just standing on one foot while you brush you teeth. You don't really have to move, and you can grab the vanity if you need. When that gets easy, try it with your eyes closed.

Good luck, and congrats! Running, especially when first starting, is hard. I run about 3 days each week, and really enjoy trail running. So no, assuming you don't have any injuries, twice a week will be fine. I think the physical benefits are fairly obvious, but the biggest benefit is accessibility. Have shoes (or go "Born to Run - barefoot)? Have a way outside? 30 minutes later you've gotten a good workout in. But we could get into the new blood vessels, increased mitochondria, and sweating efficiency too, if you want...More seriously, remember to look around and enjoy it, running's not supposed to be punishment.

Skullsplitter, you're quite welcome; as the father of a 5 year old and an almost-1-year old, parenting continues to be the most stressful, and fulfilling, aspect of my life. When actually engaged in the act you never know if you've taken the correct approach. To get to where you are and see the results is quite rewarding. Congrats to both of you!

Huffing and puffing is good, right? It means we're getting some cardio in. 15love welcome to MA, hopefully you kept at it during the holidays. Your posts are excellent; well thought out and written, and engaging. Good luck to you and your son.

Good luck to you and your son. It sounds like you've done a great job with parenting, and you should both be proud. Others have summed up advancement (to any level) beautifully - it's just another stepping stone down the trail of martial arts and life.

Sensei8, interesting idea. She looked like a robot going through it. But it was impressive, more so because she's 7. Does she grasp all of the bunkai? Maybe not. Is she mature enough to decide when to use it? Probably, most 7 year olds know hitting isn't acceptable. We all know adults that are quite immature. Unfortunately that doesn't stop them from "earning" blackbelts. Would I want her as my sensei? Not yet, but I bet I could learn something from her.

It is an interesting thought experiment. I need to look at you sources when I have more time (I have to get my boy to soccer practice), but assuming your measurements are correct, that's pretty awesome. Bullet has less mass but more velocity. 60 kg in a punch might be generous, that's likely more than half of a person's mass and would probably be quite unbalancing to put into a punch.

And I was going to skip my run because of some rain...I gotta go put my shoes on now. Thanks for sharing.

scohen nailed it. If you want more explosive power, do explosive exercises. Just make sure you have good form. The Olympic lifts are awesome and will build great power, but have a coach to teach you the form, and watch you to make sure it's correct. Otherwise you run the risk of injury (I mean there's some risk anyway, but you signed a waiver when you joined the gym). Clapping push-ups and leaping lunges are great exercises you can do at home, with just your body weight to develop some explosive power. Box jumps are another good one. As has been stated, you may put on some mass, but you probably won't turn into Arnie. Do a little stretching, avoid the 'roids, and you'll still be able to comb your hair and touch hands behind you back.

This post flows into the question what is walking away from martial arts? I mean, wouldn't you still be a martial artist, just by virtue of years of training? That helps shape us as individuals and never leaves. Could I stop training regularly in martial arts? Sure. Having a 4 year old and a 4 month old and a bizarre work schedule have greatly reduced my MA time. But I still think about it and how to apply it and imagine getting back to it with my kids. So even if not actively training, I think many of us are still engaged in martial arts, it just might be tangentially. Physical ailments may force us to use our arts in new ways, but that fighting spirit, the patience and dedication that many of us learned in MA will always shape our approach to obstacles life throws at us.

Hawkmoon, to answer your question: I don't train in public, or wear my gi to the supermarket, because it feels like I'm trying to show off. It's like being a kid going to the store in her soccer uniform, "Look at me, I play soccer!" Additionally, let's be honest, martial arts are a bit stigmatized in this country (the US). I don't need to run into a doctor I work with and have that inform his/her impression of me (whatever that may be) on a professional level. Would I practice kata in the park? Sure, if it were secluded and there weren't a bunch of people around. Have I? No - that's why I go to the dojo. I can trail run outdoors, but I can't in the dojo. And as for picking up milk on the way home, well I'd rather change; My gi doesn't have pockets.

Sure cardio is important, heart disease is the leading killer in the US. But...I don't go to the gym for cardio - I just go out the front door. Or I drive to the mountains and run / bike / hike. To answer Safroot's question, in the gym I work all major muscle groups roughly the same. I probably put a bit more enthusiasm into legs. That's where the power and balance for any standing move comes from. Sometimes I have to be really thoughtful to exercise my masseters less. In short legs; want stronger shoulders? Do standing dumbbell overhead press. Want stronger traps? Hangclean. My big exercises tend to work legs, core, and chest or back.

Holy schnikies! 100 burpees! Without a break!? 20 is a challenge. If somebody is knocking out 100 uninterrupted burpees I tip my hat to them; that's quite impressive. I do a deck of cards workout once a week and that works out to 104 of each exercise, but it takes about 45 minutes.

It depends on what I'm working on. Slow and easy is always fine, and a good way to think about some of the more subtle aspects of kata. But lingering pain (not just soreness) is my body's (and yours) way of saying, "take a recovery day." The idea is to stay healthy, not injure ourselves with over training. Shoot, my knees let me know the next morning when I've hit that point. Soccer does it to me too; I get out of bed and have to hold on while I hobble to the bathroom! But I figure that means I played hard the night before.

Getting wrestling back into the Olympics is a higher priority than getting karate in. I mean it's the Olympics, started in ancient Greece and the IOC has removed greco-roman wrestling!? Come on! Wrestling and track are what the Olympics are about and the rest of it is a contemporary side show (that I happen to love watching).

Sure they're both a little absurd. But nonetheless, the are impressive displays of athleticism!

Wow, there's a lot of information on here, a lot of opinions, and some fairly personal insights! Weight and fitness, and their relationship is such and interesting topic. Some people have hinted at this, but there is the whole "skinny-fat" (thin, but unfit) and fat-skinny (fat and fit) concept out there. And certainly there is something to be said for that. I know plenty of folks that carry around a bit of extra weight, but have excellent blood pressure, cholesterol, resting heart rates, etc. And there's a LOT of people that look fit, but when you push them there skin sinks like play-do; they tend to have really high resting heart rates, walking up a flight of stairs leaves them winded, and they are clearly unfit. Additionally we're talking about being overweight. Do we mean "overweight" or "obese?" Based on BMI? Here's what I think when it comes to a sensei: Running a dojo is a business. Sure it's more complex than that, but it boils down to making enough money to keep the lights on. A grossly obese sensei is a poor ambassador of that dojo. When I walk into a potential new training ground I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt to somebody with a bit of a belly, a thick neck, a spare tire. But if I walk in and see somebody that is struggling to breath because they have so much fat on their torso, I'd thank them for their time and walk back out. If I wanted a fitness instructor I'd go to the gym. But I'm not learning by watching youtube, I'm learning by watching and listening to my sensei. That person better be able to demonstrate what I'm supposed to do, at least roughly. When it comes to size and fitness I love the image of American football linesmen. We think people playing professional sports are fit. I've seen pros sprint 50 yards, then end up on the sidelines with an IV and supplemental oxygen. Not fit in my world!

It takes a village..... I suppose legal defense is part of self defense. That's an area in which I am clearly, sorely lacking. But that makes sense, anybody that goes through a concealed carry permit class is taught their states laws about when it's ok to brandish and use a firearm. Although when it comes to muscle power it is more intuitive, at least in my fantasy land - if I'm attacked, or threatened, I have two options: run or fight. In my theoretical world I would fight hard enough to get away, then contact law enforcement.

How do you really define "character building?" It seems like it happens as a process of living life. I suppose with children there are specific actions taken to build character; teaching them when it's appropriate to use violence, when and how to talk your way out of a tough spot. It seems like adults should pretty well have that figured out, otherwise your going to be a social outcast because you haven't developed the social skills to fit into society.

Clearly a low stance doesn't mean you can't move, and it's definitely better for getting leverage, but I'm inclined to argue that a high stance is more mobile. At least if there's much ground to cover.

What about the happy medium stance? The Sumo guys start real low, but immediately pop up, at least some. And yes, they are mobile, but would I be more mobile if I assumed a higher stance? Obviously all of this depends on circumstances and fighting style preference, in a sumo ring there's not much turf to utilize. If a sumo size guy jumped me on the street I would stay high and work on putting distance between us.

I think the question about the big picture is spot on. Do you want to bench 200 for a weight lifting competition? Body building? It's your benchmark of chest strength? Massive pecs are hot? You'll hit harder? From there you can help develop a program that will encompass somebodies total fitness goals.