KarateGeorge

Congrats!

My most annoying injury was to the trapezius muscle in my left shoulder/neck. The pain seems to flare back up about once a year or so for a couple of days and then goes away again, but never as bad as the original injury. I've also pulled a hamstring a couple of times, folded a toenail in half, hyperextended my knee, and chipped a tooth (because I stupidly didn't wear my mouthpiece while sparring.). Then of course the many minor bumps and bruises that often come with physical activities. Regrets? Other than wishing I'd been wearing that mouthpiece, which I knew I should have been putting in, not really. The benefits I've gained from martial arts far outweigh the injuries.

It sounds interesting, but I'm not home when it comes on. It looks like I can watch full episodes on A&E's website though, so I just may have to check it out.

I'm a fan of elbows too. They can pack quite a whallop if done properly. If using them in a street situation, you're going to really have to pay attention to your distances. You don't want to reach with your elbows, as you'll lose power and risk putting yourself off balance. Other than that, just think of all the different angles of attack and how you would use an elbow for each angle. An elbow can be used in a wide variety of ways to cover most angles. Also think about the best targets to strike with an elbow at each angle and how to apply the technique to a real fight. It's a versatile strike with many different ways to use your elbow...but it is definitely an in-close technique.

I personally think teachers should be sparring with their students. By doing this, the teacher has the benefit of being able to better understand what the student is doing and help correct weaknesses and build on their strengths through first-hand experience with that student. Secondly, it gives the student the opportunity to spar with someone of a higher skill level and helps bring them a challenge. As for the instructor being afraid of hurting their students, that just makes me wonder about their ability to control their techniques. When training one should be learning to use the appropriate level of control to the type of training they are doing. As a black belt, one should be able to adjust their fighting to that of a lower level student they're working with and trying to help them become a better fighter. For example, if I'm sparring with a white belt, I will intentionally leave openings and even point them out while sparring with the student to help them learn to look for those things. When sparring, say a blue belt, I may still give you opportunities but I'm not going to point them out for you. If you don't see the opening I've given you, I'll take it away after a few moments. When fighting another black belt, I'm not going to intentionally give an opportunity to strike, you'll have to find the opportunities to strike on your own.

Congrats!

Agreed. Wing Chun focuses quite a bit on close quarters fighting and efficiency and has minimal kicks. I'm not overly familiar with Hung Gar.

Congrats all!

We also can't forget all those words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings, like to, too and two or there, their and they're.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

24 Mythbusters How It's Made 24 The Office 24 Dirty Jobs ...and did I mention 24?

"Salad's not food. Salad's what food eats." Seriously though, some good advice. I couldn't give up meat entirely, it's just too tasty, but I do try to stay away from red meat, and stick to things like chicken and fish for the most part. Also, as stated, whole foods are definitely much better than the typical processed foods.

I think another trait that makes a good martial artist is tenacity. The determination and courage to keep going no matter how difficult things may get is something that will really help in overcoming many weaknesses one may have.

Kudos! Just take it one day at a time. Glad to hear you enjoyed getting back to a class!

When someone asks me to show them a move, I usually respond with, "OK, first grab me by the shirt." That usually stops them, because they wanted to SEE a demonstration, not BE the demonstration. If they actually do grab my shirt, I just reach up and put a small amount of pressure on a pressure point on the forearm and leave it at that.

Well put. I've studied pressure points to some extent, but I wouldn't rely on them. They're good to know should the opportunity present itself for me to take advantage of using them, but those opportunities aren't always easily attained. Instead, for effectiveness of striking, I tend to fall more to the center-line theory espoused by Wing Chun.

Ha, that's awesome!

Today: 2.5 mile run, treadmill, 7 miles per hour, 20% incline ab work push ups (set of 20, set of 30, set of 20) pull ups (set of 5, set of 10, set of 15) Katas: All the Kippons once, full power All the Pinans, twice, full power

Yeah. I do think he was wrong to put down what someone does as just "playing around." We're not necessarily preparing ourselves to enter a combat zone, but that doesn't mean learning how to defend ourselves by learning martial arts is invalidated. There are plenty of people who take their training as a serious matter and look at how to apply it in real life defense situation, but everyone has their own reasons for doing martial arts. But he does make a valid point that for many, "playing around" really is all they're doing. Like many things in life, you get out of martial arts what you put into it, and since different people join martial arts for different reasons, I guess it really depends on what you're doing it for.

Agreed....even within the same school, not everyone getting their black belt is equal. Some put the minimum amount of work necessary to get to black belt, others give it their all and not really worry about the belt as much as just doing the best they can. Some may have physical restrictions they have to work around, others may be in the prime health of their life, etc. If the org. one is a part of is comfortable that they've fulfilled their requirements for black belt, then so be it.

Mostly cheap little oriental trinkets and things to place on my desk. Now...I actually did get a sword as a gift once. It wasn't rare or expensive by any means, but still...it was a sword. The Christmas after I got my black belt, the owner of my school gave all of his black belts a sword. The night that he handed each of us a sword, I was really glad I had gotten that black belt a couple months prior.

I think it depends a lot on the specific style of martial art, as well as the specific school being attended. Martial arts is such a broad reaching world and different people do it for different reasons. Though personally, I look at my martial arts training as preparation for a real life self defense situation, there are also people out there who do it solely for the competitive sport aspect, others who do it for the health benefits, etc. The same goes for different schools and styles, there are some that place more or less focus on real world self defense than other schools. So....I think you're both right and it would ultimately depend on the motivation of the person practicing.

Yes, thanks for putting this together. I'm kind of new around here, but in my short time here, I've got to say the community is really awesome here. Not only do we get to discuss one of my favorite things, martial arts, but we can debate things here and have legitimate, honest discussion. There are so many forums out on the internet where rather than discussing the matter, people just get into flame wars and start insulting people they disagree with. Every one of us comes from different backgrounds and have different opinions on things, and it's great to see a forum where not only can we have a little fun here and add a little extra enjoyment to our day, but where we can have a constructive discussion when we have differences of opinions.