CheekyMusician

Ah, so you have been visited by the infamous "desk elves". At least, that's how they're known to us in the Western Hemisphere. In some eastern cultures, they are known as "desk assassins". Woo! I spelled "assassins" right on the first try! Ah, now it all makes sense!

My desk is currently buried too. Every now and again I decide to clean it up, it looks great, and then 3 days later its buried again. Its like someone comes in when I'm a sleep and dumps random pieces of paper and books on it.

Well John Van Weenen's book called "The Beginner's Guide to Shotokan Karate" is interesting reading. I guess its more useful to Kyu grades, but I suppose there's a few pages that could be of interest to dan graders. Another book I liked was "Myths and Legends of the Martial Arts" by Peter Lewis. Its just a bit of light reading, but I enjoyed it.

I'm a wood ox. That sounds totally pants and probably the uncoolest of all the elements and animals there is! Still, the description of the ox personality fits me to a T so it must have an element of truth.

From Shotokan Planet, I believe I love that site!

Our classes always begin with sweeping the floor clean. As I said, the hall we use is a hired hall, not our own dojo, so we don't bring brushes with us to clean the hall before we use it. I've never been to Japan, so I can't verify this, but supposedly the Japanese think that the "tradition" of not washing the belt is quite disgusting.

Don't be an ignorant fool. Of course, martial arts is training how to fight, but it doesn't mean I want to go out on the streets and pick fights. I enjoy the training, I enjoy the learning, I enjoy many aspects of the martial arts, and I enjoy sparring in the dojo. I do not want to go out looking for trouble and starting fights. Even in a self defence situation I would not want to seriously injure my adversary. I would want to stun him/her enough so I can run and escape, I do not want to do any more damage than is necessary. Of course martial arts will teach me how to hurt people, but I don't want to apply that knowledge outside of the dojo, unless I am forced to use it in highly unlikely, extreme circumstances where the statement made in the above paragraph will apply.

Well, usually the belt isn't getting that dirty, or I'll have to ask what are you doing with it! How long do you wear the same belt anyway? I had my white belt for two months... Our club doesn't test very often, so by the time I got rid of my white belt I'd had it almost 6 months. It was dirty mainly from exercises we'd been doing on the floor. My club trains in a sports hall and there's people in before us using it, so the floor is always grubby. Whenever we lie on our backs, or kneel etc. we always get up and have to wipe some dirt off our gis, so the belt was pretty filthy by the time I washed it.

I agree. Also, Mr.Clark, there is no BJJ schools in my area, and even if there was I would be unlikely to join. I prefer the more "traditional" types of arts.

Traditionally, the belt isn't supposed to be washed. Even if it gets stains from training, like blood, it's not supposed to be washed. I don't know anyone who washes the belt. I know that some people think that way, but personally I think its a little bit gross to not wash a belt. After all, sweat and bacteria will just accumulate on it, not to mention the fact that it was my white belt and it was getting very dirty. Have you ever visited Shotokan Planet and read Rob Redmond's views on washing your belt?

When I first got my gi it shrunk in the wash....twice! Yeah, washing and drying it will cause it to shrink. My belt also shrunk when I washed it. It shrunk so much I could hardly tie a knot in it anymore!

Thanks Or maybe it means you should take the bus!

You're definately not too old! I just started karate a few months ago when I'd just turned 17, and I'm now 17 and a half and hope to take up Aikido soon. Go for it. You've got absolutely nothing to lose, and if the people in the aikido club "beat you up" then its probably a crap club anyway, and you'd be better looking for another one elsewhere. Good Luck!

I could never quit karate....I love it! I'm going to try both for maybe a month or two and see how I get on. If I feel that studying two arts is a bit too much at this stage then I'll quit aikido and just stick with the karate on its own a while longer, but I think I should be able to handle them both (at least, I hope I can.....well its gotta be worth an attempt! )

I sure will once I get started and get stuck (which is very likely!) I think I'll be pooping my pants before going to class next week though. At the beginning of class they were practicing their falls and it looked like they were just chucking themselves at the floor from a standing position. I was grimicing every time one of them hit the ground! It must of hurt! Ouchies!

Well I'm not an expert (I've only been doing karate for a few months myself), but I reckon Shotokan karate would be a good place for you to start. There wouldn't be throws and stuff involved though unless you went to one of the mixed style type of dojos You wouldn't have to worry about not kicking high etc. because any decent club would expect you to go at your own pace and kick progressively higher when you felt ready to do so. After training for a few months you would probably realise that you flexibility will have increased quite a lot and so, hopefully, will your fitness. Good Luck!

I've been going to karate for about 5 or 6 months now and have become a bit obsessed with martial arts, so I decided to start something else. There was an aikido class nearby so I phoned the guy who ran it, and visited it today. I just watched from the viewing gallery, so I didn't participate or speak to anyone in the class, but I liked what I saw. It looked a lot harder than karate (but I guess that's just a matter of perspective. I suppose some people are grapplers and some aren't), but I think it would be worth the challenge. The falls looked difficult and painful, but the class is small (only about 9 pupils) so it should mean that the instructor would no doubt be able to spend a lot of time with pupils individually. Anyway, I'm going to go along next week with one of my dad's friends and give it a go (hopefully, although my dad's friend might be a bit relucant to try it as she said she wants to watch a class first but didn't come with me tonight). Anyway, YAY! I'm looking forward to giving it a go!

I love kicking the pads! I also like sparring when our teacher shows us a combination to use and then we practice it on a partner.

Interesting topic! I've learned that people will always remember the bad things, no matter how many nice things you have done (all the more reason to be constantly nice, then!). I've learned that you really can achieve anything if you really have your heart and mind set on it. I've learned that effort and self discipline are more important than talent, but harder to find. I've learned that true friends are exceedingly rare, but family members will always stick by you. I've learned that life is a journey that should be taken one step at a time and enjoyed as much as possible. I've learned that the more time that is spent worrying; the less time that is spent working to improve your problems. I've learned that nothing is constant and never changing and that nothing can or should be taken for granted.

You would probably be best to look round about where you live and find what schools are available before you start to make a decision. Once you know what there is, visit as many schools as possible and see what style you like best. Do some research on the 'net about styles and ask questions at the schools you visit and then choose. Good luck!

You seem to really enjoy your martial arts. I think the problem is that your boyfriend doesn't take his martial arts as seriously as you. I think he sees it as a fun hobby where you are more into learning to do it properly. Tell him how important martial arts are to you and go to your new dojang. I don't think the McDojang will change much (if at all) so go somewhere new. Invite him to join the new dojo with you.

Well physically there's: -increased endurance -increased flexibility -possibly increased strength? -increased fitness in general Mentally there's: -more positive mental attitude -becoming more determined and dedicated -increased confidence I don't know. Probably some of you other guys could come up with some better stuff.

Maybe if you go into a dressmaking shop, show them a picture of a hakama and ask if they could explain to you how you could go about making one yourself.

My karate instructors are a 3rd dan and a 2nd dan. The 3rd dan is really intense, really focused and quite tactical. The 2nd dan is down-to-earth, funny and encouraging. I don't think I could ask for any two better people to teach me because of their attitudes to teaching and their personalities, never mind how high graded they are. Anyway, I'm just starting out at the club and have just passed my 9th Kyu (so I've still got an awful lot to learn before I have to worry about my instructors being too "low ranked" to teach me), and by the time I've been in the club a few more years those two instructors might have moved up another dan grade. They way I see it, I've got something to learn off everyone in my club, not just the two head instructors, and not just the black belts. I would be hesitant to join a club run by a first dan though. Sometimes 1st dans take my class and can teach well, but I would be wary that it might be a McDojo if a club was owned and controlled completely by a first dan.

Well I've not seen too many martial arts flicks in my time, but I saw this film called Karate Bomber aka Spiritual Kung Fu a while ago with Jackie Chan in it. Its supposed to be a comedy, but I was laughing at it 'cause it was so bad. I would buy it though if I ever seen it in a shop just for the fits of giggles it caused me to roll up in for being so rotten. There's this scene where Jackie Chan gets his trousers pulled down, and what you see is a rather nice sight too