jsteczko

These of you who train Shotokan know that it is totally forbidden to lift your heel. They must touch the ground almost all the time. In that way you're more stable and your punches are more powerful. But if you have trained boxing or muay thai you know that they say to actually lift your heels. In that way you gain more power in your strikes. I think they lift heels in kyokushin too but I'm not 100 % sure because I haven't trained kyokushin. Did you also hear about that difference before? What do you think, is it better to lift your heel or not? Who is right?

I don't participate in competitions... I don't know why, I think it is because I was never really interested in this subject. You know, competitions sounds fun but still it doesn't motivate me to participate in them.

Your training sounds nice. I also like the fact that your sensei is teaching you grappling. My karate sensei has no idea about grappling... which is bad. I like high intense trainings. And your training seems to be good.

Well, some people may not like it, but in general there's nothing wrong with relationships in the dojo. Everyone has a different view on this. If there are people in the club we don't like it, maybe then the couple should not show their relation in the dojo. In that way they would show respect to others. Everyone in the club would know about the relationship but they wouldn't see it with their eyes. And then it does not hurt that much.

Well, because I don't know much about Zen Shin Ryu I would choose Kyokushin. But who knows, maybe Zen Shin Ryu is also a good style.

I don't see any connection between driving and martial arts but if it works for you, congratulations.

It's hard to tell. I don't think this would matter for me but I think "knowing" would be better because that gives me time to prepare.

I think there must be an age limit. 18 or something similar. But maybe it will be "ok" if the kid was training since he/she was 5 years old. Very hard to answer this question. A kid can get a rank, but he will have to grow up to gain more respect from adults.

We train on some special mat. I don't know what it's called, it's soft but looks like grey wooden floor. It has some special material underneath it to make the floor even softer. Well, at least I can guarentee it is not traditional floor

Well, what can I say... Congratulations! Who knows, maybe he deserved it.

Yea, a big discussion was created about muscles, flexibility, speed etc. Stamina, speed and strength are important in MA. Probably everyone agrees with that. To gain strength you must train weight lifting (or something similar to that). People train weight lifting for one of these two purposes: increase muscle size or gain strength. You can train so you mainly gain strength as an athlete. Or you can train as a bodybuilder and gain muscle mass. Which one is better? From logical perspective strength would be better for a martial artist, right? But muscle size can give you weight which some people want. Some people also want to look nice in the mirror. And you won't gain good look quickly by training strength. I was wondering if to create a new thread about this but I decided to discuss this here. My question is, what is better from your point of view? Is it to gain strength or to gain muscle size?

I have only trained no gi and I like it that way. I don't like the idea of training with gi but perhaps it's worth trying. You can always learn something new.

Well, I'm not training Judo so my answer may be not the right one... I wouldn't care if something was "rude". There is no such thing as rude. If the other person says "it hurts".. well it's not my problem. The most important thing is to escape his guard etc. I'm not very experienced in BJJ so my point of view is a little bit different. If this hurts your partner, isn't it something positive then? Because your partner can then train how to manage pain. When you get more experienced and find something better, then you can stop grinding your elbows. I don't see anything wrong with using elbows.

Google and Wikipedia can help you. It is a self defense martial art. Aikido is like judo, you use your opponent's power against him. But I think there are more joint locks in aikido then judo. They also practise more standing fight than grappling. It was created because its creator though karate was too brutal. Try aikido yourself and see if it fits you.

There are a lot of applications to every kata. And you probably founded the next one! I will tell you this: if boxing guard fits you, then make it work. If you like it, then do it. And I agree with a few persons who spoke before me. There are not only punches and kicks in katas. Locks and takedowns can also appear. But sometimes it's hard to see them and you must use your imagination.