CheekyMusician

Wasn't very sure where to put this, so I just put it in here, but I injured myself yesterday and just need to vent. I'd missed karate class last week, and decided to get in some extra practice last night to make up for what I'd missed last week. So I went outside with my dad and a shield, did one side thrust kick, then when I went to do my second side thrust kick I somehow managed to theatrically topple over. I don't even know exactly what happened, but I hurt my ankle. At the time it was pretty sore, but seemed to ease up a little as the night went on. Then this morning I woke up and it was throbbing. I didn't want to miss karate tonight, so I spent the whole day trying to get it to stop hurting as much as I could so I could go to karate. I was determined that I was going to go to karate tonight no matter how much it hurt. I practiced some kicks, and although my ankle hurt, it was bearable. When I tried jogging on the spot, and moving about on the balls of my feet like I would when I was sparring it was agony, though. Eventually, I just had to admit defeat. If I went to karate tonight, I'd be lucky to last the whole training session, and even if I did I'd probably make my ankle a lot worse, so I've just decided to miss karate. I'm so mad, though. I hate missing karate, and it was bad enough that I missed it last week. Now I'm sitting here being all depressed because normally I'd be at my karate class right now, and I'm stuck at home instead. Grrrr!

When I first started at my karate club I felt the same way about my instructor. He was intimidation personified. In fact, my friend and I were so scared that for the first month or so we refused to go to the adult class that we were supposed to attend, and chose to go to a kids class that was run by the "nice" instructor. Even at that, the first week we decided to go to the adults class, the scary instructor just walked in the door and my friend and I were so freaked out that we almost left. Over time I got accustomed to him, though, and now I think he totally rocks!

I'm not sure about mine because I've not been doing karate for long, but I've worked damn hard on my kicks to get them quite powerful and I can't help but be chuffed when someone passes a positive comment on them. For me its usually stupid things that make me feel proud. I'm really shy so every week I get totally nervous when I even think about going to karate, yet I just tell myself to stop being a wimp and make myself go, and even though I sometimes feel physically sick with nerves before class starts, I always survive and I'm pleased with myself afterwards. I'm also proud that after going to the same club for a year I've finally managed to build up enough confidence to actually talk to people sometimes. Admittedly, I usually just hide in the corner staring at my feet, but sometimes I actually strike up a conversation with someone. See, I'm possibly the biggest wimp to walk the planet. Sometimes I wonder how I manage to get out of bed every morning and get on with my day.

Well the friends from High School thing is out 'cause there's only one other student from my High School going to the same Uni and she's studying medicine, so its pretty much starting from scratch when it comes to meeting new people. As for the whole thing about girls....I'm a heterosexual female, so I'd rather not be chasing after other girls.

Well I've always loved learning, and so I actually want to go to learn about subjects that I wouldn't have much opportunity to learn about elsewhere. Plus, I want to get a degree because I know I'm capable of it and I know that will hopefully help me out a few years down the road when I start trying to build a career for myself. Plus, there really is no point trying to find work right now without a degree behind me. I've got good school grades, but that's not enough these days. Even with a degree many people struggle to find jobs. Plus, I actually think it'll be good for me. It'll hopefully build my confidence. If I can get through this, then I can get through anything type of thing.

I just realised today how terrified I am about starting University. I had a meeting at the Uni today, and my dad and sister came in with me (my sister has just graduated with an MA in philosophy from the Uni that I'm about to start, so she knows her way about). If I hadn't had those two with me, I think I would just have curled up and died. The worst part is: I start in 2 weeks. I really don't think I can do it. I'm so shy and have no confidence even at the best of times. I'm totally and utterly terrified, and even the slight excitement I was feeling about the courses has just become buried in fear and nervousness. I keep telling myself that I'll be fine after the first few weeks, but I only half believe it.

Apparently I'm Genkai, too, although I've never heard of this cartoon before in my life.

Don't do anything while its still injured for a start. Once its completely healed I would reckon that if you just practiced punching softer targets eg. old worn out focus pads, punching soft at first, then harder and harder, then moving on to harder targets etc. that you would get somewhere.

Although women are naturally more flexible than men, but with less strength, a woman can succeed in just about any art. The only art that a woman might have difficulty is boxing, as it is very male dominated and women's upper body strength doesn't tend to be great, but if a woman wanted to participate in boxing then I'd wish her luck. When it comes to other striking arts, a woman would really have no major disadvantage. I've been training in karate for just a year and I'm not particularly strong, but I've spent a lot of time working on my kicks and now I can quite easily knock my dad (average sized, slightly overweight male) off balance. I'm working on my punches and they're getting increasingly stronger. I don't train in the martial arts for self-defence, although I may have to use them in self-defence one day. I train for the love of it, for fun, for fitness and for discipline. Any martial art could give me those 4 things. Even when it comes to self-defence. If a woman is attacked, any form of defence will probably save her. The surprise value is what would really give the woman an advantage in a self defence situation, as her attacker would probably not be expecting her to fight back at all.

That's a bit too general. Its like saying what's the best martial art for a man? It depends on the woman. It depends on the club, the instructors. It depends on a lot of things. Some people would argue that grappling arts would suit women better, or arts like Aikido where she could use an opponent's weight and momentum against them, but every woman is different, and wants something different out of martial arts, so it would be impossible to name a "best" style for a man, woman or child.

I think both Japanese and your native language should be used. Using your native language makes it easier for beginners and makes it easier to know what to do if you don't understand the Japanese, but using Japanese means that no matter where you train you'd be capable of understanding what technique to perform. Its like musicians using Italian terms, so that any musician from any country can pick up a piece of music and understand the performance directions without it needing to be translated.

We're talking yoko geri keage.

Kataman is right in what he said, and a mawashi geri is a roundhouse kick not a side snap kick.

Ok, well I study Shotokan karate, and for my first belt (orange at my club) I'd to perform: -chudan oi zuki (stomach level stepping punch) -jodan oi zuki (head level stepping punch) -mae geri (front kick) -age uke (rising block) -soto ude uke (outside forearm block) -uchi ude uki (inside forearm block) -gedan barai (downwards block) I'd to perform Kihon Kata (Taikyoku Shodan) and I'd to do some gyaku zukis and mawashi geris to focus pads. I think that was everything, but I'm probably forgetting some stuff.

It varies from style to style and club to club. I'm assuming yellow belt is the first coloured belt after white in your club? What style do you study?

The worst teacher I ever had was a right little Hitler. At the time I had him I would've loved nothing more than to have gouged his eyes out with a fork, but now that I've left him in my past, I realise he probably did me a lot of good. Yes, if I'd staying in his class another millisecond, I would probably have killed myself, but grudgingly I have to admit he made me into a better person. As Sai said, a senior student should not be surprised to get shouted at for turning up late. A teacher who does that is correctly disciplining bad behaviour.

I only learned one kata at white belt, too. Although I learned Kihon kata (Taikyoku Shodan) and as Heian Shodan is quite similar, once I'd learned my first kata, I already had the back of my second kata well and truly broken.

When I first got involved in martial arts, I thought the belt system should be done away with and that it should just be white and black, and nothing in between, but my opinion has changed over time. I went to an Aikido dojo for a short time where the belt system was just white and black, and although this meant that people in the class tended to be people actually interested in learning martial arts, and not just being able to adorn themselves with some pretty coloured strips of material, it actually caused me quite a few problems. Often I'd get shown how to perform a move by one person, then another person would show me it in a slightly different way. Since everyone was wearing a white belt I'd no way of even attempting to guess who had shown me it the right way. At my karate club I never had that problem when I was a beginner as I could look at their belt for a rough indication of who would be correct. Of course, rank isn't always an indication of skill, but if, for example, a 9th Kyu had shown me to perform a technique one way, then a 1st Kyu had shown me it a different way, I'd know that the 1st Kyu was likely to be a more reliable teacher. I'm not too fussy on belts myself, but they do roughly indicate skill level, which makes things easier for the teacher of the class and for other pupils eg. if you need kata help for say, Heian Yondan, you would know that 5th Kyus and above would have actually passed a belt test with this kata, so they would be able to give you more guidance than a lower Kyu. Coloured belts just make it easier to realise what student is at what stage. Plus, they do give the feeling of achievement. I think belts become a problem when they're handed out like candy. I hate it when you hear about clubs that have about 20 different belt colours, and all sorts of different tabs for the belts. Its as though their club members need constant reassurance and physical proof that they've done well to continue training. Same when belt tests are frequent. I think as long as belt tests are held at least 6 months apart, then you'll be able to weed out the people who are looking for rank, as they might have the patience to wait 6 months for their first belt test, might even stick it out another 6 months for their second, but unlikely that they'll hang around another 6 months for their third unless they're actually more interested in learning than their rank.

I've never worn shoes, but they might not help. Most of my club wear karate shoes, including my instructors and I don't know how many times my instructors have slid half way up the whole during energetic demonstrations.

I think what you did is mature and respectable. You felt strongly about the patch issue, but I think it was right that you put your training ahead of a piece of fabric. It would have been terrible if you'd been kicked out the dojo or made feel less welcome for a trivial issue.

That's true, but I wear the "Iron Man" gi. It's pretty expensive.......... I'm not trying to be rude, so please don't think that I am, but you seem to be making problems for yourself. You seem to have an answer for everything. Here, for example. Does it really matter what gi you train in? You might prefer a specific gi, but you could buy another cheaper one and put one patch on it. And here.... Obviously it is important to him, but it must be important to you, too. A plain gi would be showing maturity on both parts. It would be a fair compromise if no other solution could be sorted out. And here... I'm sure Master Advincula would be more understanding than you would think. If you spoke to him openly and honestly and told him exactly what you'd told us. You would rather wear his patch, but that your instructor felt it was disrespectful and you felt the school was top-notch and didn't want to risk causing waves by refusing to wear the new badge. Maybe I'm just being naive here. I really can't see why any self respecting Master would be concerning himself too much with a bit of fabric. The JKA symbol or the Shotokan Tiger are often used to represent my style, but if I attended a club who chose to wear no patch, or a different patch eg. a dragon, kicking karateka, a fist etc. I would have no qualms about it as long as that club had good technique and the instructors had a good attitude.

I need help with side snap kicks. I don't understand them at all. I don't really understand their application, or how they differ from the side thrust kick. Any hints?

Try talking to the guy who had a problem with the patch and explain why you believe their club is wearing the wrong patch. Be honest with him. Tell him how much you enjoy training and how you think his club is one of the best you've seen (flattery, especially if its from the heart, might help bring him round a little), and tell him how you feel about betraying previous instructors if you remove your patch and put on his. If he still wont back down you'll have to question your priorities here. Being head strong and sticking by what you believe in is important, but at the end of the day it is just a patch. If this club really is as great as you say it is, would you want to risk advancing in your karate training just because you wanted to be stubborn about a patch? If you answer yes to this question, then ask your instructor if you could train in a plain gi with no patches.