Harkon72

You are right, we do not see the pressure some kids are put under. The "Failure is Not an option" and "There's no such word as Cant", "Pain is weakness leaving the body" school is fine for motivating warriors or young soldiers, but not for 4 year olds. A video was removed from facebook after complaints; it showed two children in a martial arts centre being forced to fight each other. The oldest was 5 years old. The adults were filming and edging them on. It was filmed just down the road from us. If they had fought young dogs like this, they would have been arrested. The mental discipline and focus of the video on this thread is very apparent. The skill is well displayed, but it is a series of martial arts looking movements at the end of the day. Karatedo is mostly internal, with maturity, if this young lady develops it in her mind, then I am sure she will be formidable.

Hey, that looks good, if I lived closer, I would join you. Get your teeth into Goju Ryu Kata, you wont look back.

You are right, boxing is a sport. Then again, the question for me is; does she really understand what she is doing? I can compare it to a person singing beautiful Opera without being able to speak or understand the language of the aria. It may sound fantastic, the tradition may sound preserved good and strong in what you can hear; but to the singer, the words are meaningless. So it is with child karateka performing kata; it looks amazing, it has the feel of a real master at work; but the depth of the art is unknown to them. If it was, I would question the ethics of what you should teach a child.

I liked the second bout, the timing for the second wazari was good. I always struggle to listen to fake kiai like that Dan grade had, so I was pleased that he was well beaten.

Gojo Ryu is a traditional style, with a good linage, you can't go wrong. It can be tough, it can be more modern, as was said, it can be good with the right instructor.

That's good advice, a good Sensei can make a style. I'm biased and traditional, but if you want excitement; follow the Kayokoshin.

It's not really a karate kick at all. Remember, originally, Okinawan Karate only had one type of kick and that was mae geri, or front kick. This is a strange kick, a somersault with an inverted kin geri, or front kick with the instep. It is very risky and dangerous. You can't control it at all. Even kicking styles like tae kwon do and capoeria would struggle to control this one. It has to be done at speed, you are totally committed; at the point of impact, your body is upside down, it may be a devastating technique but if your opponent catches you and grapples with you, you could be in serious trouble. Don't try it on the street, the ground is hard.

What a jury would look at is what other options the man had to defend himself. A bat can kill just as sure as a blade. When you are faced with immediate danger, you have no time to think. The old guy reacted as he was trained to do. You can't hold that against him. He was convicted of manslaughter, it was not his intention to kill, he had not planned it. I cannot remember the jail term suggested but due to public support and his age and the obvious remorse that he felt; the judge suspended the sentence.

I'll tell you a little story. It was remembrance day, London, a WWII veteran was attending a reunion party with his Parachute Regiment friends to remember comrades fallen and present. On this day he was recognized as the senior member of the group. In his honour he was presented with a Fairbairn Sykes commando dagger, it was beautiful and sharp. He had a couple of pints with his mates and he headed out of the club towards the tube station. On the way, he saw a group of teenagers that were fighting. As he got closer, he noticed it was three lads assaulting a young girl. The old gent shouted at them, and while the boys were distracted, the girl ran away. The three thugs now turned on the old man. He met the first one with a punch to the nose that sent him reeling into the street, the second fell to a right hook to the jaw, but he was not out. The third boy had a rounders bat in his coat and ran at the old soldier. The ex Para stepped back startled and drew the dagger, as the first two attackers stood up and the armed thug bared down on him, the veteran thrust the blade into the bat wielder's heart, killing him instantly. The other two kids ran away. The gentleman was arrested and charged with murder. Do you think he should face jail? Was his violence justified? Or did he end a young life unlawfully? What do you think?

My wife and I are Welsh, we were in an Italian restaurant in a medieval walled town that has a Norman 13th Century castle eating Black Turkey on America's holiday brought to the table by a Hungarian waitress and followed by Colombian Coffee prepared by a Czech barrista! Wow what a night! Happy Thanksgiving folks!

My advice, move, don't stand there. Some people think they can take a hit, this could leave them hurt or even dead. Move off line and away, if there is someone in your way, move them. If someone wants to throw punches at you, don't exchange them with the person, if you have shoes, kick, if you really have no choice, strike and claw; but don't stand there or fight on his terms.

It's the same advice from me, a good instructor can make any system work. If that system is a good one then the effect is multiplied. If the choice lay just with style, Systema is an unknown quantity for me, Krav Maga is not really a system in its own right unless you have skills already and the last one would be the best in my opinion. JKD based systems, be they Wing Chun based, original Jun Fan Kung Fu based or the popular Filipino based JKD; they all can be good as JKD has an ethic to use your strengths and cope with any weakness you may have. Good Luck.

My wife and I are Welsh, we were in an Italian restaurant in a medieval walled town that has a Norman 13th Century castle eating Black Turkey on America's holiday brought to the table by a Hungarian waitress and followed by Colombian Coffee prepared by a Czech barrista! Wow what a night! Happy Thanksgiving folks!

Yes you are right Sensei, many people know I train, but few know what in and what grade I hold or even how long I've been doing it. What shocked me was the matter of fact way she mentioned MMA instructorship as if it was what everyone does. MMA fighters, let alone their instructors are special people, usually life long martial artists. To be in your early twenties and refer to being an instructor in it and having retired sounded really strange to me. It's like some of these hyped up Masters who claim to hold black belts in 10 martial arts! Have they listened to what they have just claimed? Some of these guys are not much older than me! I'm not too hot at maths but it doesn't add up. As you say Sensei, the floor is an unforgiving arena.

I was in a local cafe with my wife the other day. A young lady said to me, "I'm a 3rd Dan in Karate" I didn't blink, I could believe that, she was about 4'10", 6 stone and about 23 years old. She was probably a child Dan grade who had elevated to an adult grade when she came of age, fair enough. The next comment she made blew me away; "I've just retired from being a MMA instructor." I took a deep breath and finished my coffee. I know that I'm an old fashioned old coot with dreams of feudal Japan and prays to a Celtic Warrior God. I know I'm crazy right? But there is no chance in a Hell made of Lego that this young girl has the skill and toughness of mind to teach real MMA. She may be a child karateka who's parents paid her grading fees every 3 months and bobbed up and down in dipped foam and did her kata nice and pretty to earn her her little belt with three stripes; you just can't add some throws, holds and chokes to it and call yourself a Mixed Martial Artist! MMA is not a martial art in its own right, you need to be proficient in at least 2 or 3 arts so you can mix them. I bet she charged a good £50 a month for her teaching too. By the way, there's no grades in MMA either, unless you want to charge £35 each for those.

Family.

All martial arts have what is called an effective zone or physical context. In this space or set of conditions, and against another person who works in this space in the same way, the system works, it looks very impressive. If you are confronted with an opponent outside this zone that you are used to, you can struggle to be effective. The same goes for the way you behave within this zone. For example, karate works in the middle distance area; if you step away from them, they will follow until they reach this effective zone that they are used to. If you step close to them, their technique has to change to accept your attack, if this is new to them, they will struggle to be effective. It's the same for a grappler, they are used to being in close contact and taking the fight to the ground, this is where their zone is. What you must do is move yourself outside this zone. In Aikido, they call it moving off line. They have movements such as irimi tenkan, or entering turn, where you move away from the opponent and their attack while remaining in control. Don't be where they are strong, step out of their zone and make them act in yours.

I had a break from karate for 6 months, I went back tonight, I was faced with a brown belt jumping through the air like a monkey. My legs pulled like rusty springs just looking at the guy. I know how you feel, hello and welcome.

I train with a Kubotan, I have only used it outside the dojo once. A wooden one, less than 6" in length with no points or spikes is legal to carry. But please realise that most police officers don't know what they are. If you are stopped, it's a gamble as to what could happen. I know the law should be the same for everyone, but the way each individual officer interprets it can be different. They may see it as an innocent key fob, no problem. On the other hand, if you get pulled into a question answer session, you could find that they will confiscate it. Some zealous officers might even give you a formal caution. The real situation, as I said is that carrying the for mentioned item is not illegal. The way you would be seen by a judge is how you used it. Striking with a Kubotan of any material is illegal. In this case it is deemed to be the use of an offensive weapon. Using the Kubotan to press certain points of the body such as bones and nerve centres is allowed. The question the law asks is; "Is the person intending to injure his opponent? Or was the intention to control the situation for defence?" It's not an easy arena, do these rules change if you were faced with a deadly weapon? The answer is yes. Again, a court would decide if you had over done it in your effort to defend yourself. I'll leave you with a line a street fighter said to me; "It's better to be tried by twelve than carried by six." Train hard, good luck.

What you do outside their Dojo is non of their business. As long as you don't bad mouth their reputation, then they don't need to know anything. They sound paranoid and totally delusional to me.

I was at a course of Aikido here in North Wales. There were martial artists there from a few western European countries. During the first day I had a gentleman from Holland as my partner a few times, I would say he was in his mid 60's, he wore hakama and was very experienced. He had studied in Japan and his training had been continuous for the best part of 40 years. At the end of the day I went up to him and said; "Thank you for your help today Sensei" He greeted me with a broad smile as he showed me the belt underneath the hakama skirt. The belt was white. "Please, don't call me Sensei, we learn together, I am a beginner in life as you are." I walked away inspired.

Cramps and Muscle spasms can be common in sport and martial arts. I get cramps in my feet at times while studying Aikido. Just as you sit in the last siza at the end of class, it hits you and there not much you can do. One remedy I was advised of was to take more minerals into the body. Some electrolyte powder can do this, you just add it to fruit juice, it's not that bad. Another suggestion for the same effect is to eat sea salt, as it contains minerals that are not always present in our diet. Good luck.

Hello and Welcome. Interesting indeed.

As I see it, whatever you look for you will usually find. If you give out the impression that you are serious about your training, like minded people will find you. Isn't it true that; When the Student is ready, the Master will appear?

Hello and Welcome. If you start a Dojo, know your martial art and know it well; anyone can walk in the door.