sperki

I've worked with several of the more traditional Americorps folks and they've all had great experiences. They pay is a bit underwhelming, but they walk away with experience, a better resume, and often, a reference relative to their field. Leaving karate for a bit is a bummer, but you'll always have the option of getting back into it when you return June. Have fun with the NCCC!

Interesting topic, and timely! I've been reading the book "Born to Run" which basically says Nike and running shoes are the reason distance runners have knee, ankle, foot, and associated joint injuries - our feet evolved to support the weight of our bodies while we run. A lot of his arguments make pretty good sense to me. The author says that by wearing shoes we allow the muscles in the feet and ankles to atrophy which leads to additional problems. In the gym though, I do think there are some good reasons to wear shoes, and liability is only one of them. Todome, I agree about hygiene; if you don't mind swapping foot fungus and sweat with random folks that's your decision. But there is a safety perspective. I don't know what style of weights your gym has, but mine has some of the steel plates with 90 degree corners. If you drop a 45lb plate on your bare foot it doesn't matter if you're wearing shoes or not, it's going to hurt. But you're less likely to draw blood if you're wearing shoes. And if you do bleed it's contained to your footwear and not a health hazard to your spotter. And yes, as and EMT I would cut your shoe off if my ambulance responded to your broken foot. But in the meantime your shoe is providing compression (RICE), leave it on and ice your foot through the shoe (stick it in a bucket of ice water if necessary). I think there's a strong argument for exercising barefoot, but I'm not convinced that it should be done at the local 24-Hour Fitness with a bunch of meat-heads.

Welcome to the the forum. Maybe you'll be able to get back into running a little - not marathoning - after strengthening your legs? Good luck.

Dwx, my perspective on adrenaline is strictly based on pre-hospital medicine and anatomy/physiology courses. But I can't think of any reason that adrenaline would make movements smaller. Its physiologic affect is to increase heart rate and contraction strenth, dilate bronchioles (so you transfer more oxygen into your blood stream with each breath), and increase cellular metabolism (you have more energy immediately available). It is typically released in your body by the sympathetic nervous system, which controls your fight or flight response. This works to constrict some blood vessels, like those to your GI tract, while dilating muscles around your heart and skeletal system. What all of that means is...you should be ready to kick butt or run away, but there is NO reason the size of a particular motion would decrease.

Lastbelt, I also wear glasses. I keep them on during instruction, so I can see the kata and make sure my form is at least close to correct. But I take them off when we start sparring. Being in control is a great idea, but with everybody moving, mistakes happen. As far as being afraid - like everybody else has said you'll get comfortable with sparring. But in a "real" fight, if you're not a little scared there's probably something wrong with you. Part of the reason for participating in martial arts is to gain confidence and learn to control your fear. But, I suspect, even the police officers on here will tell you there's some pucker factor every time they're putting somebody into cuffs; the real world is unpredictable and you never know when somebody might pull out a weapon, is loaded with drugs, or is psychologically unstable and may quickly turn violent.

Check the university. My wife did Shotokan (I think) for the four years she was at Mizzou.

Our katas are definitely favor one side, and doing them "mirror image" style is tough, even for the more advanced students! I'm not convinced it matters much in kata though. One of the things my sensei has us do is switch lead sides when sparring. Not often, but enough that we feel comfortable (hopefully) with either side forward. I always thought that was a good idea until I read tallgeese's response. I always thought, "You never know when a threat will force you to lead with the right," but I think the reality is I would switch sides during the course of the encounter anyway, so why spend much time training backwards?

Not to nit-pick, but melfi28, it's the Marine Corps (not the core) but I do appreciate that you capitalized it!

andy100, Anybody that tells you that ANY single workout / exercise is THE "ultimate" workout is lying to you, and potentially to themselves. There's a lot of great research out there addressing periodization (which essentially says doing the same workout over and over leads to either overtraining or plateauing) and specificity of training (make your training simulate your competitive event). I recently had some people try to convince me that the crossfit would be the greatest thing. Yea, I got a good workout in 30 minutes, but it's missing some components to fitness. What if I expect have to keep my heart rate up for 90 minutes? Or what if I think I'll be doing higher exertion, but for only 3 minutes? Then my 30 minutes of crossfit probably improved my overall fitness, without getting me much closer to my ultimate goal. I guess what I'm trying to say is that burpees are great, but why are you doing them? If keep doing burpees and stop going for your three mile walk you'll probably find that next time you go for a hike it'll be harder than it needs to, because you haven't done much endurance training. Good fitness stems from cardiovascular fitness, muscular fitness, and eating appropriately. Without putting some effort into all three you'll never be the epitome of the human specimen

Jeez, when I look at some of those pictures I feel like I should buck up for something fancier than my original x-box!

Man, it's a tough crowd here; how can you NOT appreciate Jackie Chan?! Even if it is totally choreographed, anybody that can use a ladder as a weapon is a stud in my book.

After every workout? That would be a sweet luxury. Or I'd owe my wife too many favors! When I'm feeling really intense about a competition I'll get a massage a week or two before a marathon on triathlon (those are the events I compete in).

Turtle - you've put a lot of faith in a bunch of folks on the internet with that appeal for advice! Talking to a doctor before starting any exercise program is a good idea. Of course most doctors will tell you to exercise, but definitely have the ankle looked at. My wife has weak ankles and the physical therapist gave her a long, rubber, band that she ties to a heavy piece of furniture and her ankle. Then she stands on the opposite leg and swings the leg that has the band tied to it. The same idea would work without the band - essentially improving balance will improve the stabilizing muscles in your ankle. KarateGeorge is correct; putting one some muscle mass will increase your resting metabolism and help you burn more calories during the day. Push-ups and crunches are a great place to start. As for cardiovascular exercise, the secret is to do something that you enjoy. If you only ride your bike to commute you may think that biking isn't particularly fun (my Japanese friend has that attitude about cycling) so you will be less likely to stick with it. If you don't like getting wet, don't swim! Go for a hike, walk the dog, try the elliptical, just make sure you like it enough to do the exercise again. If you're not opposed to swimming and you have access to a pool it would be a great way to lose some weight, develop some muscular strength, and improve your cardiovascular fitness (no, I'm not a regular swimmer) and it would help strengthen your ankles. Good luck!

That's a great question!

We got it yesterday in Salt Lake City. Getting to work was tough, but it made for an easy day after I was there:) And it is pretty.

Welcome, the pheonix. I used to live and train in south St. Louis city. What neck of the woods are you in?

Water polo seems more martial to me than swimming.

I agree with WireFrame; there are a lot of exercises out there, if she doesn't enjoy what she's currently doing - find something else! The other component that helps me exercise regularly is making it a group / social activity. And that's where you come in If I've scheduled a meeting with somebody to run (or lift, or whatever else) then I feel obligated to be there at the assigned time; no skipping the workout.

Ghostfighter, I'm not sure that I exactly understand your question. But of course your body can use muscle for energy. It's technically called starving, and it can happen anytime, not just in your sleep. The key requirement is a shortage of glycogen (what your body typically uses for energy) and a low enough percentage of body fat that muscle and other active cells are destroyed and converted to ATP for energy. It's a tremendously inefficient process and not really good for you. If you live in a city with a university or college, folks in the exercise and sports science department will probably be excited to talk with you about this topic.

Welcome I_G! Is that a record number of posts in 3 days?

Trauma - big time! As a guy that's pursuing a career in EMS you gotta love it!

Congrats! Now what's the dream job?

The other component of strength training, that hasn't been mentioned yet, is endurance. I notice that I can do more repetitions of kicks and blocks and still maintain good form when I've been weight lifting regularly. And of course I don't tire as quickly while sparring.

I think most martial artists enjoy sparring. It's a chance to test what we've been taught, and for many of us sparring is as close to the real thing as we'll ever (hopefully) get. Athena, it seems like your post raises an additional question - which, I think, is addressed in another topic - but why did you start martial arts in the first place? If it was strictly for self defense then self-taught tai chi might not be the best option. But if you got into it for multiple reasons: fitness, self defense, the formality, personal confidence, whatever else you can think of, then there's no conflict at all. Sparring is part of training, which is part of the martial arts. Enjoy it, or find something you like better!

Bushido-man96 has a great point about emulating others. That's how most of us learn martial arts in the first place; "kick like this," "block like that." At some point though, especially in competition, you have to put all of the pieces together in whatever form works best for you. Of course, I'd like to be as fast as Bruce Lee and hit as hard as Mike Tyson!