WhiteBelt

So Jutsu is killing efficiently while Do is livin' in style?

You can always suppliment your training at home. If you are at a higher level then you know what to expect in class and can train accordingly at home.

If somebody out of nowhere puts me in their guard, my first response would be to look who it is. My girlfriend does that all the time... Otherwise I'd be stuck with pounding and pressure points. I learned how to get out of a mount not a guard. Probably try and keep from wasting too much energy.

I'm sorry but it's a play on words that I couldn't resist.

1. No full contact. Attacks kept above the waist, and no attacks from behind. Some techniques are forbidden until later levels. If one person initiates contact then it's assumed they want to get hit back, so the rules sometimes go out the window. If the fight goes to the ground, it's going to hardwood floor. We wear pads on hands, feed, and head. 2. Unnamed Karate style.

In every dojo I've attended, which are only two, I've never had full contact sparring. There was some contact but no complete follow through. I've had bloody noses and been kicked into a wall, well more like through the air and into a wall, but nothing serious. Usually the injuries are from people new to sparring, or from people who want to show how tough they are... Both of the dojo had bunkai as well, though my new school is much more thorough. Our self defense resembles Grav Maga, but how quickly and fiercely you train depends on your partners. My first dojo trained mostly for sparring and neglected the kata and self defense a bit. The one self defense drill I do remember was basically run-do when fighting more that one. So I guess I'm learning a Do/Jutsu combination. Without the full-contact sparring it's slightly Do, but with the more realistic self-defense it's a bit Jutsu. But, if Justu is pertaining to war, then shouldn't we be learning how to use firearms, and drive tanks?

Can karate be good for self defense? Of course, but it's up to you to make it work. In the same way that a gun can be great for self defense, unless you left it in the car or never learned how to use it...

I've seen some sensei spar with the bo. You could hear it from outside the dojo. And no, it didn't look like Star Wars...

I have a pencil.

My most common mistake with sparring is always getting stuck at work on the days that we do most of our sparring... When I spar white/yellow/orange belts I tend to go easy and end up getting a fist in the face, or getting injured in some weird way. Keeps me expecting the unexpexted.

I work nights and usually nobody is here. Soooo, I end up training at work too. I take my shirt off, or change and just go at it. Washing up at work is a pain but the training is worth it. I have to improvise for pull-ups by using a door frame, and do dips off a metal cabinet. There's even enough room to do Heian katas, but the cement floor is noticably harder than the dojo floor. I just hope that the cleaners never surprise me...

The 6-pack is more affected by low amounts of fat on your belly than muscle developement. In any case, crunches are very much like situps except you only want to raise your shoulders off the ground basically. Think of bringing your ribs into your hips. You want to breath out when you crunch in, and hold it there for a couple seconds, and then breath in and slowly lower back down. Do it slowly; fast crunches are ineffective. Well, that's how I do 'em. I could be wrong...

And this is why I like my school for only using english names for techniques. It's hard enough when they tell you to do a combo, and you're standing there trying to remember the name of each technique in english! ... or blindfolded. I find that every sensei has their favourite way of putting the students through hell. Like, hopping roundhouse kicks around the dojo just to see how long we can do it with good form, and laugh at how our faces look while we do it. Heh..

I just had a class on knife-defense and we did the forearm out thing too. Used them to parry and control the knife hand. Mind you this is pretty low level stuff as I have many years still ahead of me. Most of the techniques involved slapping away the attacks, until a parry was possible and then take it to grappling/ground. Steal the knife and finish them off. "So how exactly did he stab himself?", the police ask. "He fell on it"

The best way to train is to put effort into it. Practice at home and in the dojo. Think about your training, and apply it in your own way. MA are more than just a physical activity. If you want to build strength, then there are plenty of programs available, and a health & fitness forum here too. EDIT:: You also need instruction to guide you and correct you.

Heh, I try but my net connection at home has been dead for a week. I might drop by that school Wed evening on my way to work, or Thurs, so I'll see then. Edit: One quick question. The instructors include, one brown belt, and two purple belts. All three graded by Mr. Soares. Is this typical of BJJ? I'm curious because in other MAs the instructors all claim to be black belts...

Anybody know about this guy? I'm asking because there is a BJJ school a few blocks from where I work which claims to be pretty damn serious about training. Marcus Soares flies over from Vancouver to help train from time to time, and does the belt promotions. If you're in Toronto and know about Rebellion BJJ, tell me about it. I can't go for a few days because of work (coworkers on vacations)...

Gun-do and Gun-fu are very effective on the street and in other countries.

Ignore them, or be happy with the fact that your average person could barely hit the broad side of a barn from 10m with a handgun. EDIT: My uncle was in the infantry and always told me how useless MA are because people in the army learned to fight too, but much more dirty. "They would bite your ear off", he said, which sounds familiar to some people here...

My school is technically not shotokan, but uses it as a small base. We are taught sweeps, throws, and some ground fighting.

Or point in the opposite direction? Wouldn't that position put a lot of stress on your joints?

Garage sale PCs aren't the best you could get. I'm guessing you need a new video card. I've never checked out that game but the ATI Rage Pro isn't the best for games these days. I have one at work here on this PC, and it pails in comparison to what I have at home. But honestly, it could be any number of things considering we don't know what your system is.

I've been to two dojos. In my current dojo the first belt test is basically 2 to 4 hours of hell, consisting of everything you've done in class. In my previous dojo (was wado-ryu) it was mostly sparring, almost full contact... with one kata to perform and some drills.

Target would be about the abdomen, and yes, I do have a problem with the flexibility of my hips. We are taught to point our foot 90 degrees to the target, and then rotate the rest of the way to 180 degrees during the kick. Though, this way of kicking seems very, well, difficult at first. Goes very quickly, but it's much slower on the return.

My school has a class dedicated to bunkai atleast once a month. Basically they go over a few applications at different points of kata, and then ask us to come up with our own. This class is for every level of karateka.