Evil Dave

Sorry no, they don't make steel toed Tiva's for me...

My Sensei, her birthday was a couple of days ago and her dojo anniversary is in two weeks. Ok, I was lazy and made both events in one phone call.

My Sensei, she is in a same sex marriage. So?

I didn't have to see the movie, I've got tourists!

I also think part of this discussion should be the nature verse nurture argument. Some people are born into their category, while others can change, even 'just for the moment' their category through training, conditioning and experience in life. For this discussion I would say that as MA's we train, while LEO's, soldiers, etc {including 'some' MA training} are in the conditioning category.

Sweet looking, good work. I also checked out a couple of other videos from the competition. Thanks for posting.

Do a search on Google about tricks to adding more fruit and vegies to your diet. Any addition will aid you in your diet. Also take a look at nuts and seads, these are a great source of protein, healthy oils and minerals. They can also be easier to add to your diet then fruit and vegies.

Garbage in Garbage Out is not just counting calories. It's taking a look at everything we eat. We need a balance of macro nutrients: protien, carbs, fats, water, plus the micro nutrients: minerals and vitamins. The body can not produce everything it needs, that's why we need to eat. We eat fairly healthy, make our one bbq sauces and rubs, sausages, salsas, etc. The only 'processed' food we have in the house is a couple of quick treat snacks. When I have a fast food dinner {burger, fries, coke} about two hours later I feel the biggest blood sugar drop and need a 'fix' for lack of better term. Think of food as fuel, this might help. Kevin, changing eating habits in our society is not an easy task. Take it one step at a time and make small changes, you'll see a big difference.

Nice job, and welcome the world of competitive martial arts.

What is wrong with your concrete? Is it too ruff, smooth and slippery? We need to know the complete problem before we can recommend any actual solutions. You can look at some of the outdoor concrete paints, check your local diy or hardware store, that can add texture, be smooth, fill in small imperfections, color, etc. Another solution is interlocked mats that gyms use, can be pricy but watch for any local gyms or fitness centers doing any remodeling. The last solution I have is a stall mat, your local hardware store or farm supply store will have them. I have used these before as outdoor lifting platforms.

On the business side watch out for the floating / friends and family rate changes. The should be able to show you all the fees up front, including any family discount {as your son already trains there}, grading fees, association fees, etc. Next is curriculum, you should be able to see what you are grading for. As already mentioned, don't go for and 'guarantees' of promotion ~ that depends upon your effort. Head instructor, is he/she involved in the classes, you'll see this by watching a few classes. What are the association issues for grading, training standards, chief instructor involvement, etc. Most important, do you think you will enjoy your time there! Good luck, and let us know what you end up doing.

That's training, mental training not physical. It happens to all of us.

I do like the simple three categories. I do not think there needs to be any more categories, but there is room for sub-categories and some cross pollination between the three main categories. I do think that it is an over simplified to say that because you practice MA's you are a sheepdog. The difference between sheep, sheepdogs, and wolves is a mindset, not a physical practice. Yes a practicing MA is capable for more, but are they mentally able to in a given situation?

Nice stuff, thanks for posting! My interest is in conditioning, do you have any information on historic conditioning methods? Cheers.

Thanks for posting, it's nice to see these fighting styles getting a serious look.

Having been part of McDojo for the first part of my MA carrier, along with an independent 'for profit' school and now a small community centre school, the real difference is not so much how the business is run, but the instructor. I have also seen this in other industries, and everybody likes to kick the big guy ~ in scuba it's PADI, in MA it's the McDojo. They are not all bad places, some are just not pointed in the right direction. At the McDojo, the head instructor was a great teacher and had attracted a number of people to assist him. Just after a while he let the business end take over and his compass was not pointing North any longer. He is no longer teaching karate. I am still friends with a number of people from that McDojo. The independent school is run real well under it's current head instructor and next year will host it's tenth anniversary {I'll have to travel across the country to attend this...}. I do think their fees are a little high, but there is a cadre of high quality instructors there teaching everything from Karate, Kung Fu, Self Defence, Fitness and more. They do this with two store fronts in the same strip mall, and attract good instructors. They do take the time for instructor development, student mentoring, retreats, guest instructors, and they also travel outwards. Now I am at a small community centre school in a town that is the second last community on a dead end highway {we call it a highway...} on the far end of an island. I got here as the head instructor was retiring from teaching after 30 years. These people are good people, they have just been sheltered and isolated for so long they do not know what is out there and available to them. I am slowly bringing in the outside world and trying hard to bring them out of the back water to see what else they can do for themselves and our students. I'm trying to meld the best of both worlds. If anybody's lived in a small semi-isolated town you know what I'm talking about. Three different scenarios, with good instructors at each location. It's all about the instructor, not just how good they are, but where they are in life, what are they doing for themselves and personal development, etc. This is what makes the real difference in a school. Just my two cents...

The simple answer is "Garbage in, Garbage out"! There are many ways to go about eating healthy, with many diet programs out there {I don't like the word diet, as the connotation is that what your eating is something special, where everything you eat is part of your diet}. Take a look around, as your instructors, and others you respect to see what they do ~ you are looking for ideas, not a copy diet plan of what they do as everybody is a little different. The main things are: consistency, healthy choices, well balanced {protiens, carbs, fats, water, minerals, vitamins}, portion control, less mass produced, etc.

Since I'm a Trainer, it's both relevant experience and shows that I have the 'been there, done that' t-shirt.

REST!!! Depending upon the level of damage, it could take six months or more to fully heel! No bouncing for a while ~ that includes kicks. Do as already mentioned, them slowly work back into full gear, spend a lot of time working on balance and listen to your body. If your ankle is soar or starting to swell take a step back for a week with rest and then slowly move forward again.

It's not always an apple to apple comparison, and sometimes they do not take the best of an army, either unit type, mission, or period. That said, I do enjoy watching the show.

Always a tricky question, and up to the discretion of the head instructor. What I see regularly is instructors 'punishing' individuals {little kid or adult and all in between} for making a mistake while learning. Isn't making mistakes what learning is all about? So what is the difference between 'corrective punishment' where you are highlighting errors or 'discipline punishment' where you are correcting behavior? Personally I don't like corrective punishment, other than rinse and repeat. That being said, every once in a while I do bring out what I call a 'punishment workout' and my students figure out what is happening very quickly. It is set as more of a mental challenge through me pushing the body and yelling and screaming. This is not an emotional response, but a planned workout and after it's done life returns back to normal.

First, congratulations! You have your own school. For your financial concerns talk with the Treasurer and/or the Accountant of the Church. If it's a church group a lot of the financials may fall under their bigger umbrella. The churches accountant will know your local laws regarding this area. This also may take some of the burden off you as well. Sit back, take a deep breath and take a look at the resources around you, it sounds like you have a lot of support.

BOSU balls, wobble boards {there are different styles}, stability balls, TRX, and even just standing on one leg. They very in price with the stability balls usually starting around $40 and the BOSU's going for $150 or more. Every piece of balance equipment has it limitations along with working the balance in many different, hence challenging, ways. I like to use them all, this way you don't get too comfortable on any one piece of equipment. The main thing is to practice your balance, in all endeavors and ages in life. If you don't use it you'll lose it. One thing we as MA's can practice on the different balance tools is our basics, blocks, punches, kicks, etc. Why not? The difference here is that you are not working on perfect form, you are working on balance! Yes, you can also do one legged work on the different balance equipment. Check outside your MA club, and take a look at some of the local gym's and rec centers as they usually have different classes on this stuff {I know, I teach them...}. Most people that are looking for the basic information generally only need to attend a few classes then they can go off by themselves to play. The price point for these types of classes "usually" isn't to expensive.

Take six months off, or another fixed time period, talk with your instructor about 'life' without going into details. Take this time to look at the other things in your life, and tackle the major stressors. If you love Karate, you'll come back. I know this was already mentioned, but sometime repetition is key. Myself, like a lot of others, have made drastic changes in life due to stressful situations. My biggest enjoyment activities are Karate and Scuba, I have taken large breaks from both to do what I needed to do.

What Ueshirokarate is talking about is progressive overload. He is not saying body weight exercises are bad, following his post's it sounds like he likes them! What he is saying is the body only provides a finite amount of resistance, no matter how you 'adjust' things, and there will come a time when you will need to add more resistance. Remember: there is no single workout modality that fits every situation and the situation does change with an individuals fitness progressions and goals.