CheekyMusician

There's a lot of good sites on the 'net that explain this better than I will. Basically, though: a is pronounced ah i is pronounced ih u is pronounced ooh e is pronounced eh o is pronounced aw So Ha would be pronounced hah. The 'n' is pronounced like you would expect it to be. Ge is pronounced geh and tsu is pronounced like the beginning of the word Tsunami. So its pronounced Hah-n-geh-tsu dah-chee.

The place where I train is a sports centre hall and the floor is always really dirty. Its actually a bit of a hazard if you train in bare feet there 'cause once you have a layer of dirt and grit on your feet you can slip more easily sometimes.

I'm an incredibly picky eater and will rarely eat anything. My family loves Chinese food though. Luckilly, we know the guy who owns the Chinese place and he always cooks me chips when I come in!

Tae Kwon Do definately sounds like a good choice for you, but "shop" around. When I first started Shotokan karate I kind of "jumped into it" because there wasn't much else available at the time. I didn't even watch any other classes and I regretted that for a while, although now that I have tried other classes I've realised I am in the art for me. Anyway, my point is, don't be in too much of a hurry to start. Just take your time picking what you learn and where you learn it and then you'll be sure you're making the right decision. Good luck!

Aikido is fun, but its takes a long time to master and I felt when I done it that it was really tough on your body. I only done it for a month and gave it up due to the class I was in being not all that great and me not having enough time, but I felt that my joints were really suffering from it (especially my elbows). As I said though, my class didn't seem all that great, so it could have been bad technique of my partners which was causing the joint pain.

Yeah, I totally get what you're saying. I thought that with Aikido the first few times I sat and watched a class and when I first took part I was pretty amazed that all the moves just weren't pretty fancy dance steps! I also felt that way with mawashi geris in karate, until I actually practiced them and almost knocked my dad on his butt with one by accident. That's the great thing about the martial arts in my mind-the way that you can prove yourself wrong all the time!

I train once a week in Shotokan and once a week in Aikido. I'd really like to do more but I've just not got time. Ideally, I'd like to train in Shotokan at least 2, but preferably 3, times a week, but my schedule is too packed with other stuff that I can't quit right now. That's partly why I took up aikido (because my schedule was too tight and the other training times of my karate club didn't fit in anywhere, but the aikido club training times fitted into one of my 'free' days).

Its not that. Its just that my club doesn't test very often (only about twice a year) and we've got 10 Kyu ranks.

*rubs hand together* This is my kind of topic! I believe a happy medium has to be met, and it may have to be made on an individual basis. Some people respond better to criticism than others. Discipline is definately a good thing. I was a Girl Guide for years in a pack where there was a little discipline, but not much. It was crap. I left feeling I'd gained nothing. I then became involved in the Boys' Brigade. Its a totally different kettle of fish. It is moderately disciplined most of the time, but extrememly disciplined when leading up to special events eg. competitions, and this gets results from the boys (and from me). You have to be careful, though. Discipline in the martial arts can be effective, but it can also be counter productive. My karate class is relatively laid-back. Our Sensei can be quite strict, but most of the time he's quite cool with us and the classes are usually largely taken by another instructor who is very laid-back and sees the humour in everything. This works for me. I'm happy there and learn through the relaxed atmosphere. At the aikido class I've recently joined it seems to be the opposite. At first, the Sensei was encouraging and that worked for me, but then he started getting disciplined. He was shouting and getting frustrated and angry. I wouldn't have minded if I'd been carrying on or not trying, but I was trying my hardest and already felt bad that I couldn't achieve ehat he wanted with or without him screaming at me. I think the martial arts are intimidating enough for a lot of participants. After all, they're fighting other people, using strange customs and terminology form other countries etc.etc. Discipline just isn't always necessary. If, of course, someone is being disrespectful, wasting precious class time etc. or not living up to their potential, then discipline can be a useful tool to remedy them.

The only way you can be sure of the art you want to learn is if you go along and watch some classes. Any decent dojo would let you watch at least one class, but preferably two or three (or more) before they could expect a decision of you. Speak to the instructors (prepare questions before you go), and speak to other students if possible. If the place doesn't appeal to you for whatever reason, it might be best to try elsewhere.

http://www.usadojo.com/aboutshudokan.htm Click here for a history of shudokan. http://www.ska.org/ Click here for some Shotokan information. There's lots of Shotokan sites on the 'net though. If you search around you'll be bound to come across some decent information. Hope the links help.

I started because I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't want to start martial arts. I remember when I was little my dad had a friend who studied judo, karate and kickboxing. He was seriously into his martial arts and so were his sons. Anyway, they visited my house quite a few times and used to demonstrate their martial arts to my dad. I used to just be amazed. My dad used to box and he'd tried judo (although only for a few lessons) and he used to show me boxing and judo stuff jokilly as a kid when we were having a carry on and just playing around. Anyway, I grew up desperate to learn martial arts and my parents (more specifically my mum) refused to let me. She was afraid that I'd get hurt or turn into a bully, I suppose. Still, I'm here now and if was worth the wait

That varies too from person to person, club to club and style to style, but in my club I reckon that it'd take at least 4 years to reach first dan, but probably closer to 5.

When I started karate I found a lot of the information on the net useless. You really should consider checking out a few classes or maybe going to a library or bookshop and checking out some books on karate.

I do Shotokan. I've not been doing it long though and I'm only a little 9th Kyu Oh well, we all have to start somewhere.

I'm writing an essay on karate and how its started to perfect my character for school. It was actually my teacher's idea...I was quite impressed Anyway, I was going to intersperse some quotes from the masters throughout it. Statements they'd made about perfection of character, benefits of training, etc.etc. Have you guys got any quotes for me? Preferably from Funakoshi or O'Sensei as I study Shotokan and have just started Aikido. Any help is much appreciated.

Not quite. Ours is quite similar though. The only big differences are we have red and yellow after orange and we have no blue belt.

I live in a small town and there isn't much available here. There's: 2 Shotokan karate clubs (I think) a few TaeKwonDo places Aikido Muay Thai Tukido Nanbudo There could be some other places in the surrounding towns, but that's all I know of in the town I live in.

What Kyu rank is purple in your club? In my club I think our first purple belt is 5th Kyu.

I love it! Its my style. Its fun, its practical, its easy to reach a decent standard in it (unlike some arts that take a long while to even master the simplest technique), its a good 'all-round' martial art. Yeah, it rocks!

I got Phoenix Arm Goddess without my middle name and Retarded Arm with my middle name

Well if I could I'd probably try and knee him in the groin. Failing that, I would try to punch his head or face (if my hands were free). But I'm pretty crap at thinking of ways out of tricky situations, so they're probably not the best.

I think the fact he died young has quite a lot to do with his legend status. I mean look at James Dean, Marilyn Munroe, John Lennon etc. They hold legendary status due to their short lives and tragic deaths too. If they had lived they'd probably have had their 15 minutes of fame, grew old and faded into the past.

Thanks

I had my first "competition" fight last night at karate. It wasn't really a competition as such, though. Another club was visiting us and the juniors had to compete. I didn't know about it because they'd told everyone earlier on in the week and I can only make it to one class a week, but since it was just for the juniors I reckoned I'd be OK and wouldn't have to participate 'cause I'm a senior. Anyway, we did some ordinary training and then the adults were told to sit off and the kids were told to come on the mat. I was sitting off with all the seniors, quite looking forward to just having a wee rest and watching the kids fighting, then one of the instructors told me to come on the mat. I don't know if he called me up to make up the numbers so there was an even amount of fighters on each side, or if he called me up 'cause he reckoned I was almost a junior (I'm 17 and juniors are under 16s) and should be allowed to take part, or whatever, but I didn't really want to do it anyway. Maybe he just forgot I was a senior since I look about 12! Anyway, I didn't exactly want to make a big scene and stand in the middle of the hall screaming "No, I don't want to do it and you can't make me!" so I just walked onto the mat thinking ARGHHHHHHHH, I WANT TO GO HOME! Anyway, we sat at the sides and after I'd watched the first match I felt quite relaxed. I was quite surprized that when they called me up to fight I wasn't even nervous, but I still fought pretty crap. The match finished as a draw with neither of us scoring, so it wasn't exactly a proud moment, but hey, at least I took part. We all got given out medals for taking part and my dad was as proud as punch, while I was just plain embarrassed at sparring pretty crapply and ignoring all the advice that was being shouted by folk watching. I'm quite glad I did it though, because a few months ago I'd have never even considered sparring in front of people at all. You'd have had to drag me onto the mat kicking and screaming and crying like a baby, and yet I actually went and 'did my bit' last night without getting particularly nervous or worked up, which I was quite chuffed at.