KarateGeorge

Don't put too much focus on the one school only having 6 belts. That was actually how a lot of TKD schools used to be. That's an older ranking system, but is still a valid one. The increase in the numbers of belts is something that came along later. You're likely going to be spending the same amount of overall time and training going from white belt to black belt at either school. Don't put too much emphasis on association memberships either. Yes, the WTF is a great thing to be able to say they're recognized by, but it's no guaranty of the quality of the instructor, and there are plenty of amazing "independent" schools out there that aren't part of any organization. It can be a part of the decision on what school to join, but don't base your decision solely on what organization, if any, they belong to. Largely in part due to TKD being an olympic sport, its much more likely to find they're part of a national organization. There are karate organizations, but there are a lot more "independent" karate schools out there. The two most important factors are going to be the quality of teaching at the school and whether their schedule matches up to yours. From your post, it sounds like you've already started this process, but go and watch a couple of the classes at each of the schools. Are the instructors knowledgable and able to pass that knowledge on clearly? Are the instructors able to keep the class interesting for the students? Are the students getting the level of workout you're looking for? It sounds like you're interested in tournaments. Do they provide opportunities to participate in tournaments? Are they teaching a style of martial arts that is interesting to you? These are just a few questions to ask yourself and the school. I'd suggest writing down all your questions, getting the answers and then picking the school that matches up to your goals most closely. Good luck in your journey to choose a school and keep us posted on what you choose!

My school's belt progression is as follows: White Yellow Orange Purple Blue Green Brown Red Black

Oh, yeah, nevermind. I'll let someone who actually knows what they're talking about give advice.

Lap swimming would seem to be a good activity to keep you active without irritating the foot.

At the end of July, I decided to finally do something about the weight I'd been gaining and started actively trying to shed some pounds. While at the gym last night, I stepped on the scale. I've lost 38 pounds! Before I started my workout routine, I was at about 195 pounds. As of last night, I was at 157 pounds.

11-9-09: 3 mile run

When facing greater strength, one must use greater smarts. There are things you can do to work around their strength. Before applying a hand twist for example, you initiate the technique with a strike to stun them long enough to allow you to apply the technique without their resistance. Also, strikes directly to joints can't really be resisted by strength. Maximize your strengths, minimize their strengths.

11-7-09: Karate class in the morning 4 mile run Push-ups (set of 50, set of 30, set of 20) 11-8-09: 3 1/3 mile run Stomach crunches (3 sets of 25) Push ups (set of 45, set of 25, 2 sets of 20) Dips (2 sets of 20) Arm curls - 35 lb free-weight (2 sets of 20) Arm extensions - 35 lb free-weight (2 sets of 20) All the Pinan katas (once through each)

Welcome aboard!

Awesome! Good job!

Congrats!

I use grippers that I purchased from the store and wrist curls with the free-weights. I also do the wrist roller with the dowel rod that bushido_man96 suggested as well. It's cheap and works really well.

My philosophy has tended to be more of controlling the variables in the beginning and let the student focus their attention on performing the technique propertly. The beginning student has enough to worry about just trying to think through how to do the technique correctly. Introducing too many outside elements can be a bit of a distraction at that level. As time progresses and they gain more comfortability with the techniques, we slowly start introducing more into the technique...grab them harder, not letting go immediately so that they have to think of how to react if the technique isn't as successful as they'd hoped, introducing greater aggression and resistance, and expecting more out of them than just a basic "break the hold." In a real life situation, if all you've done is break the grab, they may just re-grab you, so introducing retaliating attacks and takedowns may provide the opportunity for escape.

Agreed. It seems like a times the defensive training against grabs is watered down. The way we teach these techniques at my school is with beginners we do teach it in a static manner, so that they can learn the basic concepts of what to do. Once they reach an "intermediate" rank we start to remove some of the static portions of the self defense practice, and by the time you are testing for black belt, the gloves are off, so to speak. Not only are the "attackers" pushing and pulling you, we require the defender to not just break the grab, but to incorporate at least 3 additional strikes and a takedown into their defense.

Well put. Martial arts does have a very important key word in the very name, "martial." If martial arts aren't taught with real life application in mind, then you might as well be learning how to dance, because all you're doing is bouncing around on a mat.

Welcome!

Ong Bak ranks as one of my favorites. Hero rates pretty high as well, and if I want to get a little "old school" and go back a few decades, Enter the Dragon is a great classic martial arts film.

The advice I've generally given people about starting is that it's never too late to start and if you want to learn it, just jump right in. At the school I attend we have a student who started at the age of 63. He brought his grandaughter to class at her school once, and as he watched he thought it looked like fun, so he then found our school which was closer to his home and enrolled. Granted, he couldn't do the same things an 18 year old could do, as age does play a factor, but that didn't stop him from giving it his all, and he could still definitely hold his own against the younger ones in the class. The improvement in physical fitness will come along with it. With the exception of special health concerns, I personally don't see much point in trying to get into better shape before doing an activity to get in better shape. Just jump right in and start learning. (If you have specific concerns, it would probably be best to consult your doctor prior to starting lessons.) Wearing glasses shouldn't be an issue either. Many students wear contacts or glasses, myself included. Under normal circumstances I can wear my contacts with no problems. When doing contact activities, I take them out. I see the same thing with people wearing glasses. Granting your vision will be impaired, but my philosophy about that is that if you wear glasses or contacts, in a real life situation, the chances are high that they'll get damaged during the incident, so training without them helps to prepare you for how to handle yourself with your natural, uncorrected limitations. As far as what you'll likely learn during your first lesson, it'll largely be dependent on your instructor. However, from my experience, the first couple of lessons are going to involve a lot more verbal instructions, just going over basic concepts and practices. There will still be a fair amount of physical activity, but that will pick up more after you've gotten past the first couple of lessons. That being said, everything I've said is just general guidance, as Adam_XKT stated, your best bet in finding out what to expect is to contact the instructor and see how they like to run things. Different instructors handle things differently, and he'll give you advice as to what he expects in terms of physical fitness, how to handle wearing your glasses, what your lessons will look like, etc.

Awesome! Glad to hear you're overcoming the hurdle. You reminded me of a line my sensei once said, "If martial arts were easy, everybody would have a black belt." I doubt its an original line from him, but its definitely a valid point. Keep it up, train hard, and you'll be able to look back at the various challenges in your training that you've overcome with a nice sense of accomplishment.

That's awesome. Congratulations and I'm sure you did great!

Where? Was he an extra?He was a bit part. If I remember correctly, he's got a mention in the credits, but you have to know his real name, not his "American name."

Probably Judo. Which, once this semester ends at grad school in early December and my weeknight evenings are freed back up again, I just may be getting to do that cross-training. I just learned about a Judo school near me, I'm planning to go check them out in the near future and see if I like the school. If I like them, I just may be signing up come December.

Well, naturally, martial arts. I'm a fan of MMORPGs and used to play WoW quite a bit, but stopped playing a while back because it was competing with working out and study time needed for graduate school. I play Guild Wars on occasion now because it doesn't have a monthly subscription, so I don't feel like I'm obligated to play to get my money's worth. Otherwise, I also like to work out, read, watch movies, and I play on an adult co-ed kickball league (tremendously fun and highly entertaining).

Welcome to the forums! As was already mentioned, first step would be to figure out what your options are in your area. Once you find some schools, check them out, and see which ones you like. Also, take into account what type of training interests you. Are you looking for a kicking/striking art, a grappling art, a weapons art, etc.? That may make a difference in whether you choose say a karate style, judo, aikido, kendo, or one of the other Japanese styles. Sorry I can't give you a specific answer, but there are a lot of variables. Whatever you choose though, congratulations on taking the step to start learning martial arts. That first step is often the most difficult, but once made, can lead to a lifetime of learning.

Agreed. Using my solar plexus example from above, I don't believe it necessarily will be a fight stopper, just that it can be a fight stopper. I view things like that as an option in my arsenal, if I am able to use it and it buys me the time I need to get away, deal with a different attacker, etc. I would take advantage of that opportunity.