Wastelander

Welcome to the forum, Andreas! As Zaine explained, there is no evidence that such powers exist. It would be very cool if they did, though! Typically, when you see a display of such powers, it is actually the result of a type of hypnosis, or mental conditioning. That is a very interesting subject, itself, but it isn't any sort of psychic power.

I don't keep my training secret, because it's a major part of my life and I'm a pretty open guy. I have trained in parks, beaches, parking lots, garages, and yards without any issues. I also wear martial arts themed t-shirts, and will talk openly with people about martial arts. Of course, I do try not to be obnoxious about it, and I don't wear my gi or martial arts themed clothes to places that wouldn't be appropriate. I suppose it could be the Generation Y in me, but I just don't see the need to adhere to the "karate is my secret" maxim these days

Welcome to the forum, rasputin! Unfortunately, there isn't a "single source of truth" when it comes to martial arts schools. Your best bet is to visit the schools in your area, try out classes and talk to the instructors, and decide which one is the best fit for you. If you want more information before you make your decision, you can ask the instructors about their history/lineage and ask Sensei Google about them

Congratulations!

1. Many dojo--particularly Japanese karate styles--don't do any weapons training. Some do, but it isn't as popular as karate. 2. Depends on how similar the weapons methods are to your karate, and how fast you are at learning, really. It isn't a rank thing, so much as the ability to learn the forms and techniques without getting it confused with your karate. 3. Can't really help you there, since I don't know anything about Australian laws--in my state in the US, I can own just about any weapon you can think of. I will say that techniques for bo, jo, hanbo, and sword all transfer over into just about any sort of long pole/stick-type object.

Yakusoku kumite. They are largely impractical, with one or two practical bits thrown in, so I'm not as interested in them as our bunkai drills that are more free-form and practical. We also don't practice them all that much, and you have to learn both the attacking side and the defending side, so it's a lot of material to try to memorize.

I can't speak from a Korean martial arts perspective, but from an Okinawan martial arts perspective, you are really too tall for a 4ft bo. The 5ft bo would work, but you should really be using a 6ft bo. I'm 6'1" tall and use a 6'6" bo, because your bo should (ideally) be taller than you. "Tapered" just means that the bo is thickest in the middle and then gets thinner toward the ends of the bo. That makes the bo lighter, which means you can move it faster, but it isn't as good for partner drills and doesn't make you as strong.

That is definitely very, very strange. I would like to think it is some sort of joke that has gotten out of hand, but it's still not very respectful of him to brush off the concerns of one of his students. I applaud you for leaving a situation that was uncomfortable for you! Is your new dojo also Tang Soo Do, or is it a different style?

A wise man once said, "there are no advanced techniques; only basics done in an advanced way." I honestly can't remember who that was, but he taught a seminar that my Sensei went to, years ago, and his advice stuck. Drill your basics until they are automatic. Only then will the more advanced techniques even make sense. Don't worry about how long it takes, either--you have the rest of your life to learn karate

Welcome to the forum!

It occurred to me that I recommend "kettlebell clinch pull-ups" to people a lot, so I recorded a quick video demonstrating them over the weekend.

Hello everyone, I recorded this video really quickly between classes yesterday to explain a throwing application for the morote-tsuki in Naihanchi for a friend of mine who asked about it. The audio is messed up because there was a CD player near the camera when I was recording, but hopefully what I'm trying to explain still comes across well enough--I didn't have time to redo it, at the time, but I'm hoping to make a better video on it later. It's nothing special, or groundbreaking, but I thought some people here might enjoy it, even if you can't hear the majority of what I'm saying . I added annotations for clarity.

You don't need to be in shape to start training in karate--it will get you into shape if it is trained with intensity and focus. When I started training in karate, I lost nearly 30lbs in a year. That said, you can certainly improve your karate by getting into even better shape than karate alone can get you.

I also like Safroot's post. A McDojo is any martial arts school that does anything it can to make money, and doesn't care about the quality of what is being taught. That said, there are also commercial schools--martial arts schools used to make a living for the instructors--that are NOT McDojos, because they keep quality up. Pretty much nothing is ever totally black and white

I practice kata, kihon, and goshin-waza in my living room, and do heavy bag work, makiwara work, and maize bag work in my garage. I've also trained in the woods, on beaches, and in a variety of other places, but not regularly.

After the UFC event on Saturday, I came across this article: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1994748-johny-hendricks-vs-robbie-lawler-how-safe-sparring-may-change-contact-sports I have always thought that keeping contact (to the head, especially) on the lighter side is much safer and more beneficial than going all-out. It's interesting to see that idea gaining some traction.

I'm all for it--my dojo hosts open sparring events 3-4 times a year, and I periodically visit other schools to spar with them. Aside from the occasional person with something to prove, it always goes quite well. MasterPain has a very good point about the standing locks, though. Setting up rules and expectations in advance is definitely a must!

Welcome to the forum, Luther unleashed--it's always nice to see another martial artist from Phoenix here! I would wholeheartedly agree with your recommendation on how to approach finding a school, but there is a bit of a caveat; you have to know what "good" looks like . When I found my current instructor, I had already been training in another style of karate, as well as judo, for several years, so I knew what to look for. I didn't even know what rank my instructor held for months after I started . Your instructor isn't one that I've heard of, but it looks like you guys are out in the West Valley, so that isn't surprising. We're having some seminars and an open sparring event at my dojo over the next month, so if you guys are interested, we'd be happy to have you over!

This is, quite honestly, a very complicated and touchy subject. Since I am a man, I can only make educated guesses and pass along what I've been told by female martial artists. There seem to be two primary reasons that more women aren't involved in martial arts: 1. They have been conditioned all their lives to believe that hitting/wrestling/fighting/sweating/etc. isn't feminine, and therefore isn't something they should be doing. 2. When they do decide to try doing those things, they are made to feel uncomfortable about it by men and women, alike--even those that they train with. Both of these are societal issues, really, but I feel it's vitally important that every individual that is aware of it should be working to change their behavior. One person at a time, this is something that can be changed.

Well, by definition, "endurance" and "stamina" are synonyms and mean the same thing. Some people in the exercise industry will say that one is cardiovascular and one is muscular, but none of them seem to agree on which is which. The term "body conditioning" usually refers to the process of conditioning the body to take impact (punches to the abdomen, kicks to the legs, forearm smashing, etc.). If you're referring to the term "conditioning" in terms of fitness, though, then I would say that is the process of becoming accustomed to a particular activity at a particular level of intensity. In that case, you're looking at specialized exercises and routines that are meant to specifically improve your performance at a given task.

My old dojo strongly recommended/quietly required students to purchase all martial arts uniforms and equipment through them. To be fair, though, they had a wholesale discount and ended up charging the same price as what you would pay online. My current dojo will gladly order equipment/uniforms (same deal with the pricing) but doesn't require it.

Pull-ups are an excellent exercise for building strength in the arms and back which, in addition to being important for muscular balance and posture, are vital for clinchwork and grappling situations. I try to do some variation of pull-ups every time I work out--and there are many different variations to try that will focus on different movements and muscle groups. My current favorite is the kettlebell clinch pull-up.

In our case, they wear an Oreo belt (black with a white stripe down the middle).

We use a jun-shodan rank for students under the age of 18 (must be at least 14) if they can pass a proficiency test proving that they know the material necessary for shodan. This is partially because many teen students that young can't pass the adult test, and partially because they aren't typically mature enough as people or as martial artists. When they reach 16 years of age, my Sensei will consider testing them for shodan, but they will have to pass the same test as an adult student. ETA: Oh, I almost forgot--there is a 1 year minimum time between ikkyu and jun-shodan, and from jun-shodan to shodan. For adults, who don't get jun-shodan ranks, the wait time is 1 year minimum between ikkyu and shodan. During all of that time, students are certainly expected to be helping around the dojo in a number of ways.

Traditionally, they were made with rice straw rope. There are a couple places that seem to sell pre-wrapped rice straw rope makiwara pads in the UK, but that's it. I did find a supplier in China willing to ship rope anywhere, but it's very expensive. I made mine out of manilla rope, although hemp would have been softer.