Harkon72

They say Jesus was meek and mild - I don't think so! To take the punishment at his Passion he must have been physically and mentally very tough. And I bet when he threw over the money lenders' tables at the temple he must of thrown a punch or two. I can see him with biceps like cooking apples.

That's a good freestyle drill, looks great when he speeds it up, thanks for sharing

Hey! Good Luck with your test, I've got my pre-grade next week then I grade for my Purple and White belt on the 7th of June. I wish you the best with your grading; relax and enjoy it!

Hello Angel and Welcome, I look forward to your posts, osu!

Sensei, yes we can take our teachers for granted; we some how expect them to always be there. My original Sensei died a couple of years ago; he had heart trouble after taking many shots to the Heart in Kumite. I believe to this day that his gift to me as a teenager set me up for a life as a Martial Artist. He would be proud and pleased to see me today training the way I do with Sensei Williams. Keep your Sensei's voice in your head with his footsteps just behind you. I'm sorry for your loss, the root of your art will grow in future generations, Osu.

Martial arts with no respect is not just ugly it's dangerous. We bow for a reason; we show respect not just for the person, but the soul of that individual in Karatedo. Many take the path, few keep to it. Some show no respect to those below them. Others fear those above them in the ladder. I personally fear myself more than my Sensei, I know my inner depths; I cannot know the heart of my Sensei but I respect his teaching and experience. The lowest grade in our club receive attention and fair play. The higher grades lead by example. "Student of the Night" is chosen at random by their peers in the children's class, I joined them to teach Kata tonight and stood in line with them. I won "Student of the Night" for the first time! The little Kohai thought it was hilarious. I bow to the same angle with an 8th Kyu as I do to a 4th Dan. We are family, brothers and sisters together.

An essential element in a Women's self defense course is MEN. They need to practice with men to make the applications effective. This will illustrate what really works.

It took me 8 years to get my first black belt. I was a 4th kyu for 3 years, and then a year for each kyu grade before my Shodan grading. 8 years including my first belts. I think you can do the maths to see that grading to black belt in 3 years is very fast.

My strategy for sparring is to make my opponent block until I get through. If he's blocking or being hit he is less likely to be throwing techniques at you. It takes stamina and good foot work, but keep throwing those combinations.

Blood, Sweat and Tears.

I have a high opinion of Sensei Abernethy too, Bunkai and application is the soul of Karatedo, we must never lose the Kata and Kihon of our styles to rolling around on the ground. I am a Traditional Stylist, my Sensei teaches Karate and Kick Boxing separately; I love the pressure point work, Okinawan weapons and the most genuine Self Defense I have experienced. I have no claims on the Authentic Budo of distance lands, but our Association is for Martial Artists not Businessmen.

I'm sorry, this reminds me of Majorette baton twirling and it has nothing to do with martial arts at all. They seem to have lost the root of the tradition of the weapon. Freestyle? No-style in my opinion.

Training on a Heavy Bag will be good for your Karate, it will improve your stamina and will actually help with your technique choice. You can land long arm and short arm techniques on the bag, karate has an abundance of both. You can also slug away with boxing style blows; it's good training.

The youngest Dan grade I have met is my Sensei's 11 year old Daughter. She was doing Karate from the time she could walk. She might not be able to knock me out, but her Kata and Kihon are very good. The children's mentor in our classes is a 16 year old Nidan. I heard from a slightly jealous rival that she shouldn't have graded to Nidan until she was 18. This may be true in his club, but I call her Sempai, she is senior to me in Sensei Williams' club, even though she looks to me to teach her. I was requested to take a junior 5th kyu to one side to polish his Kata before he is tested to grade, my karatedo is respected even though I am a 5th Kyu myself. My 26 years of Karate has left me as a senior friend and teacher to all my Family within the Dojo.

Does anyone here use Tonfa? I have had a little windfall and fancy buying a pair. Some traditional square ones look good from Nine Circles. A new Project, mmm...

We do floor stretching and wall stretching in class, but not every class in the same way. I'm not as flexible as I was, but I try to give my best effort in stretching.

A great result! I'm really pleased. I got to watch a great match for the underdog. Goes to prove that money can't buy trophies. Manchester City are the wealthiest soccer club in the world but they couldn't beat Wigan's grit and determination. It was a great goal and earned me a 25/1 win at the bookies!

The FA cup final between Wigan and Manchester City starts in less than an hour. C'mon Wigan, I know your the underdog but you can beat anyone on your day!

I love chi sau, it's a great exercise in sensitivity and patience. It can be applied directly to fighting in my opinion, as can pushing hands and Aikido Randori, soft arts can have a hard edge.

My Dojo is 50 yards from my front door, walking to the hall in my gi has never been a problem.

I had a message from my Sensei to say that when I hit the wall of non-energy and carried through it he was impressed. Also he said that I was unafraid to come forward and attack even when he was countering strongly in the last few minutes. I can say that I did better than I thought. Can't wait till the next time.

Do you spar with your Sensei? I sparred with Sensei Williams for the first time tonight. He's a seasoned karate and kickboxing fighter, going for his 5th Dan this year. I only went down once in 6 minutes. I caught him a few times in the head and body, but he seemed to ignore my strikes. Once did he catch me with a blow that stunned me. He used Shiko Dachi at the end of the bout to hold me off until he attacked with a flurry. I seemed to be able to keep him moving by changing my stance. I was quite proud in hindsight that I didn't give up, and Sensei said that i did ok. It was a lesson in Humility and a reality check I can build on. I hope to do as well again and offer more of a challenge next time.

I know of a Nanny who works in Saudi Arabia, she is paid well and not just cares for the children, she can protect them if she had to.

Master Pain, maybe I was a little slow to react, but my flabber hadn't been so gasted! It took me a while after wards to realize what he had just said. I asked my Sensei about this attitude; he called it "Very Strange" and I think he was being very polite.

This is what a Wado Ryu Sensei told me the other day. He was horrified when I told him that in our Dojo after the age of 16, each Kata is broken down openly for each student, whatever their grade to show its applications. "We only teach Bunkai to 1st Kyu and above" he said "Bunkai is for Gansters". I think it's a way to withhold the style from those that are not in the inner circle of his association. I think also that it is a very out dated view and very blinkered. If you don't know the application, you might as well do aerobics in my way of thinking. Our Bunkai is taught safely and respectfully, we don't hide it from our students. Are there thoughts on this?