ninjasan11

Training with adrenaline going is so important I think. any time im doing partner work, I think as though they are actually about to attack me and hurt me. And the anxiety of it, waiting for the attack, sometimes puts butterflies in my stomach. Thats exactly what im going for, that nervous blood flowing feeling before a fight so I can train my body to react reasonably and responsibly under that pressure.

yeah it would, I lucked out I guess haha. The coaches do for sure, though I'm not so sure about the students. some of my peers did, others were just athletes and saw it only as a sport

as far as studying buddhism and such I do not, though I do practice zen, because I feel it is practical to life, I just take the religous aspect out of it to an extent. However, Honshindo, which means way of the true heart, Is part of the US christian acadamy of martial arts, and is a ministry. It relates the virtues of karate, to what Jesus taught, so in that aspect, my martial arts is intertwined with religion.

I wrestled in high school. and as far as it being a self defense system, I would have to agree that it is a martial art. My coach told us the first day of practice, that this is one of the oldest arts and that it acutally is a fighting art, then he went on to tell us not to use it outside of the wrestling room etc etc. So it is a system of self defense, and I have used it many times when sparring to get out of sticky grappling situations.

No, of course use it to practice with. Im just saying that bokkens arent the sturdiest things on the planet. If you ever used a shinai, you know you clan slam those things against each other in practice and they wont break. The same cannot be said for bokkens, They just arent as strong, and break easier if they are hit a certain way or with a certain amount of force. but yes make contact, just take it easy on the force used. and i meant weapon to weapon. Haha that would be pretty cool if you could break cinder blocks with it

I have ADHD. And ive been doing karate since I was a little boy. The thing here is lack of interest. A kid with ADD or ADHD has trouble focusing on things, however, when given the chance to do something that is interesting to him, the focus is inhanced. for example, I love puzzles, and when Im doing one I sometimes get so into it that I dont even notice anything or hear anything around me, though I cant focus neraly as well with other stuff. Same thing with karate. If the kid doesnt really want to learn it, he wont focus on it, and no matter what, there isnt really anything you can do to make him except get him interested.

in martial arts this is called kime and mushin. In a self defense situation, one should let their mind "go" and not think. You acted perfectly. "too many mind" is a famous quote used to express thinking in a fight, which you shouldnt do. Bruce lee also touched on the subject saying that in a fight he isnt really there, meaning his body and instincts take over. thats all it is, is letting your body and mind work together in complete focus, this is kime and mushin. and that is when you know your instincts are sharp

personally, I dont use music when meditating. I use it to calm me down or to pump me up, but thats not really meditating to me. plus, Its hard enough for me to sit there and empty my mind, and would be imposible with music. I would be humming it lol.

I would be careful with how you use your bokken. Dont hit anything hard with it, its not a Shinai which can take a beating. And be mindful of how you strike with it, make sure you dont hit the side of it in any way with force. Hitting to hard and at an angle is how I broke my first two bokkens when I was new haha.