Lupin1

I'm like that, too. My laptop is my lifeline. Going on it is the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do before bed and I'm usually on it for at least three or four hours a day in between (often times a lot longer). When a tree almost fell on my house during the "snowicane", I grabbed my laptop off my desk before I ran down to the basement-- that's how important it is to me. I guess it's my way of being part of my technology addicted generation, since I'm probably the only 23-year-old in the developed world who doesn't have (and doesn't really want) a cell phone.

Well, my school tends to use the English words for most things, but I really don't see the problem with conjagating things differently. Part of globalization is that words from some languages make it into others, where they usually get butchered or changed. Anyone who's read Japanese attempts at English on everyting from road signs to lunch boxes knows that they do it to our language, too. I give you exhibit A: http://www.engrish.com/ Even when I went to Germany, whose language is fairly similar linguistically to English, I saw a lot of English words taken in and twisted and then used very commonly by the Germans, most of whom have studied English since they were five or six. It's just part of this more global community, in my opinion.

I took my cousin's 4-year-old to see it over the weekend. We bought him a Woody costume with boots and a hat that he wore. He got scared at a few parts and at one point said he wanted to go home because he was scared, but it got better and he changed his mind. I loved, though. Especially growing up with the first two movies.

I'm obsessed with Facebook and I have been since I first got on it (back when only college students were allowed on). It's how I stay in touch with all my friends around the world.

I just started meditating recently. I try to take some time before work to do it and if I had a rough day I try to do it after work, as well. I don't meditate on anything yet. For right now I'm just concentrating on my breathing and picturing myself in a safe and secure place (like a bright white light surrounding me and protecting me) while I get the hang of the meditation thing and then I'll start exploring from there. I plan on making an meditation space in my new house and possibly an outdoor meditation space for if it's nice out. We don't meditate in our karate class at all, this is just something I'm exploring on my own.

That sounds almost exactly like my philosophy of education. I like it!

I think that's the way it is even with adult new black belts. Even an 18 or 20-year-old kid will take years to gain the respect of the more senior yudansha. A 40-year-old new black belt will still take awhile, although maybe not quite as long. I think in any adult organization it takes awhile for young adults to grow into the group and been seen as equal and if a 30-year-old were to join a group of 65+ people, they probably wouldn't be taken as seriously at first. And, as a young adult myself, I think it's a little justified. The majority of us just don't share that life experience with the older adults, regardless of our skills within the group. It's just the way the world naturally is. I personally don't have a problem with it, but I can see why some people do.

A place near where I'm moving brings students to the "Martial Arts Olympics". One time it was in Jamaica and recently it was in Ireland. Basically they go there and compete and if they place in their division (which from what I gather are pretty small) the school considers the child a "world champion".

I grew up in New Hampshire and that's where I am now. I like it here-- it's beautiful and I've got my synagogue and karate class here, but I am so over the snow and almost all of my friends have moved away and I haven't made new ones, so I'm very bored a lot. I went to college in central Virginia and I love it there. That would be a place I can see myself eventually ending up permenantly. It's just so beautiful there, it snows just the right amount, I love the southern culture, and I still have a few very good friends there. Next month I'm moving to New Mexico to the high desert for a year or two. I can't comment on it yet, but although I'm eager for the experience, it's not a place I can see myself staying for longer than that year or two. I'd also love to live in Alaska for a year or two, again just for the experience. I think I want to move around a bit experiencing different places in the US before settling down somewhere.

Good call. No reason to rush. If you were that freaked out, I doubt you would have done very well even if you were ready requirement-wise. You have to be ready mentally too.

I know the secret techniques. Of course, I had to hike barefoot to the top of a mountain in Nepal and wait three months in the rain with no food before the Grand Master monk would teach them to me. Maybe you're just not dedicated enough...

I feel like I'm a bit more aware while driving now, but that might just be age and driving experience.

My instructor teaches us a lot of Aikido along with Isshinryu. They do go really well together.

We have carpet as well as a section of wrestling mats that we don't use very often, but we use sometimes for certain takedowns. I like the carpet. It's soft and warm in the winter and provides good grip for your feet, much like you'd get if wearing shoes (chances are, if you get attacked you won't be barefoot on a wooden floor). Although I definitely prefer doing takedowns on the mat.

I don't want to be mean, but I think I'd leave an organization if that happened.

Oh I totally LOLed at that one. Hahahaha.

Google it. You're living in New York, so I garantee you there'll be at least a few schools around you. I wouldn't recommend teaching yourself unless you have no other options (like me moving out into the middle of the desert, although I'm still going to look into the school 40 miles away when I get out there just because I don't think I can do it alone).

I just watched Karate Kid II last night, so I just have to throw this in here. Miyagi Rules of Karate: Rule Number One: "Karate for defense only." Rule Number Two: "First learn Rule Number One." I would suggest something the centers around sport fighting like boxing or MMA. And if those don't suit you, there's nothing wrong with mixing styles. Cross train in something like that to improve your offensive game and still train in the style you love for once your opponent start throwing strikes.

When I was 5 I wanted to be a ninja when I grew up. When I was 6 I wanted to be a Power Ranger. So when I was 7 I had my mom put me on the waiting list for the free karate class at the local Boys and Girls Club and I got in when I was 8. Like some other people, other stuff got in the way, so I quit when I was 12 and then when I started college I wanted to do it again (I think Avatar: The Last Airbender started it) but I didn't have the time/money/transportation so I had to wait. Then this past December I found my old teacher on Facebook and sent him a message and a week later I started training with him again. Yes-- both times I started because of TV. But I continue because it's fun and challenging.

Like people have been saying, it varies considerably based on what you expect of the different belts and what they mean to you. Most of the dojos around here hand out black belts like candy just to keep the older members interested and happy. They have half a dozen 6th or 7th degree black belts in their one small school. I consider that madness. My instructor doesn't promote anyone beyond 3rd degree black belt and to us, those upper degrees mean you're someone who has contributed a lot to your art in general, not just someone who's studied at that one school for 15 years. I personally think your age requirements are dead on what I would have if I were to design a ranking system. At some point rank becomes less about what you can do and more about what you've accomplished and contributed over a lifetime. I wouldn't expect an 80-year-old 10th dan to be able to fight off a 30-year-old young charger 4th dan, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be a 10th dan. After 5th dan or so, to me the rank becomes an indication that this is a person who has put in the years of dedication, who has contributed to the art and furthered it, who has studied with many different masters and expanded his or her horizons, who has taught countless people and had years to reflect on their art and mold themselves to the art and the art to themselves. At that isn't something that can be rushed. To me it takes until you're at least 70 to do all that to the point you should be considered a 10th dan-- the highest rank in karate. But it all depends on what the rank means to the individual organization and every one is different.

I'm planning on going to see it. It looks ok. I'm not really big into remakes, though. The original is always better. Plus I feel like this is just going to perpetuate the idea people have been gaining in recent years that karate is all about doing super high flying double back flip kicks. I much preferred the simple yet effective Okinawan style of the original karate kid movies. I think the fact that the movie will be so jump-flip-kicky will make a lot of kids dissapointed when they enroll in an actual dojo if they're expecting to learn what Jaden Smith will do.

It depends on SOOOOOO many factors that we just can't tell you. It depends on the fighting style of the person you're fighting vs the style you're learning. It depends on how your training's conducted, how well you learn, if the sun gets in your eyes or if you get nervous and forget things, it just depends on so much. My advice would be try to avoid situations where you have to physically defend yourself.

I think that's the key there. It's a very rare 16-year-old who can teach adults effectively. Children and adults need to be taught differently-- they need to be treated differently, things need to be presented differently for them, etc. 16-year-olds tend to have trouble with this because they've never been adults and so they don't know how adults learn. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, I've found this to be the case.

I never really understood this idea. You'd have to be surrounded by a lot of really drunk biker-type dudes for this to make a difference, imo. At my school the guys always talk about people wanting to fight because they know they're black belts and it makes me wonder what type of people they hang out with. I guess in my circle of aquantinces fighting just isn't that common. Most of the things I learn in karate I know I'm never going to use because I just don't fight and don't expect to have to any time soon. I just can't picture a random person on the street wanting to fight someone just because they're advertising that they're a black belt.

I don't like to talk about it much because everyone starts making comments about it. Basically, I don't like talking about anything that's important to me because I know someone (especially my family) will put me down because of it or at least make a statement about it that makes me feel really awkward. I don't hide the fact that I do it and if someone asks I'll tell them about it, but I don't volunteer the information or talk about it beyond that.