muttley

The stitching came undone

I dont see myself training in Judo again, I have gone back to my Karate routes.

This is something I find is very much dependant on the instructor. For instance, over my 20-30 years of training in Karate, I have had many different instructors, one of them introduced a lot of grappling, throws and ground work alongside the kihon and kate in an effort to make the classes more self defence orientated. Then I had another sensei whose strong point was the power and precision of the striking techniques etc. I personally feel that there should be some grappling techniques taught in karate, but that it should be introduced and taught alongside to compliment the striking techniques. I fell that this is what Funakoshi wanted, he always recognised the need for grappling techniques in karate due to his training and study of judo.

Hi I need some help/advice. I have a heavy weight Tokaido gi which I have had for years. I wore it to a judo session when I went along to try it out and it got ripped while doing some randoori. Badically, I have ended up with added ventilation under the arm pit from this and one of the tabs for the gi top has come off (no big deal, I can easily get that re-attached). The main issue is the rip under the arm pit. It ripped along the seem, can I use something like "magic-hem" to fix this or am I going to have to go out and buy some heavy duty cotton to sew it back together? Many thanks Muttley

Interesting article on Jesse Enteknap's website today about the meaning of Heian/Pinan http://www.karatebyjesse.com/heian-pinan-kata-secret-meaning/ I have heard this theory before (courtesy of a podcast by Iain Abernethy). I remember when I was a novice in Shotokan, my Sensei used to tell us all that the Heian kata's were "Tranquil Mind 1,2,3,4,5"...we all thought "wow, this is teaching me to be mentally well" like there was a spiritual ebb to the kata. Having heard/read this translation of the actual kanji, I can see that it does make more sense that the Heian/Pinan Kata were named such by the man who invented them to wish us all a safe progression in Karate and life itself. Any one else have thoughts on the meaning of the various kata out there?

Never too old to change to a healthy diet, I'm 46 and benefiting immensely from getting my nutrition sorted. All I can add is, log your food truthfully and then you will see where you need to make the changes. Don't make changes blind. I don't know how clued up you are about nutrition but Futurelearn are offering a free online course in Nutrition and Wellbeing next month from the University of Aberdeen. It is likely to be basic but they are generally well produced, interesting and not pushing expensive supplements like some online courses I have seen. Thanks for that, I will have a look at that when I get a minute. I have already upped my water intake as well as looking at healthier options for breakfast etc. My main issues are lunch and dinner (especially when I am on a late shift or night shift!)

I was going to put up a post about diet and what is best for training. Although I only train once (sometimes twice) a week depending on my shifts, I do want to get my body back to how it was when I was training more regularly. The main problem I have is that I work shifts and when at work, it is hard to balance eating with my job. When I am at home, I try to eat as healthy as I can, but having both myself and my wife work full time (and with 2 young children), this is not always easy! I am trying to cut out breads and "processed" carbs as much as possible, unfortunately, this leaves very little variety for meals! I have recently started to use an outdoor gym that was kindly installed by my village council pretty much right outside my house, I am looking to combine these body weight exercise machines with some laps of the park they are in to turn it into a decent(ish) circuit. Again, this is going to be dependant on shifts and time (Isn't everything?) My main concern though is my diet, my metabolism has gone from being super fast when I was in my younger years to slowing right down since I turned 30 (9 years ago). Part of me thinks I am too old for this sort of change, but I realise I need to sort my diet out if I am going to progress with my new style of karate that I am now trying to train in. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated Ossu

I look forward to my next session, just hoping that the club continues, I know it's early days but currently there is 1 junior and 2 seniors training.

Thank you, I do feel that I am getting somewhere now and hope that I can stick at this style and succeed. As for the last bit of your post, I seriously ache today, my legs and hips are screaming at me! With any luck, I will be able to get my daughter involved in the club as well, she wants to learn and I think it would do her the world of good.

Despite the similarities between the two style, there are some quite obvious differences. In Shotokan, all kihon was done in zenkutsu dachi or kokutsu dachi, in the new style I have started (derived from Kyokushin), every thing at beginner level is done in fighting stance with a switch step or double step to create power and movement. This difference I am struggling with, but I turned up tonight and was the only student so had a 1-1 session with my sensei, that helped a lot. As there was only the 2 of us, we did some partner work which really put the movements into perspective and seriously helped me understand the movement. It also helped with some conditioning as we were actually hitting each other (not full force, but enough to know you'd been hit) whereas in Shotokan it was all no-contact etc, pulling techniques etc. Loved it tonight, great session, can't wait for the next one and hopefully, despite my many years of training, one day I might learn to relax my shoulders and let the body/hips do the work!

Why do I train? In no particular order:- - For self discipline/self control - For health benefits - So I do not have to "fight" - Increase self belief and confidence - Personal achievement I trained in my youth to be able to stand up for myself as I was bullied at school. That was years ago now (like 30 years), now, in my ever growing years, I train for the reasons listed above. When I can't train for whatever reason, I get annoyed with myself as I miss it that much and my thoughts get strange. I love the challenge of pushing myself that bit further, that bit harder and, now that I have finally made the decision to start as a novice again; I feel great! I have seriously missed that burn in the calf and in the arms from a really good training session.

I saw this on Facebook earlier (after Iain Abernethy shared it). Really like the look of this drill. What is the kata and style it has come from as I would like to look into this a bit more?

The new karate club I mentioned a few weeks back opened up last week and tonight I was finally able to go train. As mentioned previously, it's fully kitted out with mats, makiwara and punch/kick bags which is brilliant. The other good thing about tonight was that there was only myself and 1 other training. I have joined as a beginner this time. I have 2 reasons for this, 1 is that it's a different style than Shotokan (it's derived from Kyokushin but not totally focused solely on knockdown as others are) and the other is that I haven't trained in so long, rusty is an understatement! Anyway, I went, we trained in kihon and I learnt so much. For years I have thought kihon meant purely basic moves but tonight I realise that it doesn't; it means so much more and I have so much to learn now that I am older and (possibly) wiser. Kihon as explained by the Shihan are exercises to form strength in the body and that is why they are performed in such a way. Having studied Shotokan for so long before quitting, and then continuing "unofficial" training on my own on and off for years; I have become lazy, my movements are weak and I now have loads of hard work to do to rectify this.

Ah, finished my set of night shifts, this morning, after my sleep, I wake up to see that Karate Kid Part II is on Sky Movies, what a way to spend the afternoon, not the best of the series but certainly not the worse (and still better than the Kung Fu remake!) Favourite quotes: "Mr. Miyagi: Aha... here are the Two Rules of Miyagi-Ryu Karate. Rule Number One: "Karate for defense only." Rule Number Two: "First learn Rule Number One."" "Miyagi: Daniel-san, never put passion before principle. Even if win, you lose." "Mr. Miyagi: Remember, best block, no be there." Got to love Mr Miyagi!

This is something I have wanted to do for ages, trouble is I would feel like a fraud having gained my Shodan and then not training for ages due to various issues. I might have to get into this once I am back in regular training. Trouble is, how do you find a niche in the market? For practical karate/martial arts there is Iain Abernathy and then for an American slant there is Kris Wilder and Marc Mac Young...I am going to have think where I am going to go with this.

Like I said, try Kris Wilder and Marc Animal MacYoung, they are American "gurus'" when it comes to self defence, also try Rory Miller if you can find any.

Just found this e-published magazine after findING marc macyoung on Facebook. The first 2 issues are free, so worth a look. Seems to have lots of articles by some of the best names in self protection there are. http://conflictresearchgroupintl.com/conflict-manager-magazine/

I second what has been said about Iain Abernethy, great stuff on there. I also used to listen to Lawrence Kain and Kristen Wilder but they seem to have vanished lately. Oh and I forgot Marc "Animal" MacYoung

I understand. It was kind of the elephant in the room. I'm glad you put it out there. And I do at least reference the "Glasgow kiss" (which is a headbutt - so you probably don't want one, even if she IS cute). I am glad that you took it with the humour it was meant.

Just to stereotype and put it out there, I think a flying headbut while yelling "see you Jimmy" needs to be in there. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Certainly if I were to open my own dojo (an idea I still haven't given up on at some stage in my life!) then I would want it to be properly equipped as this one is. In fact my idea isto have a dojo with a proper martial arts shop connected to it.

I will do. I have been to many dojo's and I have made the same fundamental mistake every time; I have tried to continue from where I left off. With this one, although I have told the sensei of my background in Shotokan, I aim to start from the beginning and see where sensei thinks I should be.

When I was young, I sacrificed spending time with my friends in order to train, unfortunately since getting old and having a family, I have sacrificed my karate training for career and family time, something I need to get back in balance and aim to shortly.

I generally post on here when I get the time/can think of somethign worthwhile posting! I read a lot of the forum posts and articles on Iain Abernathy's website as I find his entire outlook on karate very informative and something of an eye-opener. I also follow him on Facebook and listen to his podcasts when new ones are out. I also follow Geoff Thompson on Facebook as well as listen to his podcasts. While Geoff still studies martial arts, he has very much gone towards a self help /mself improvement type of persona which I find interesting.

In all honesty, it's the first dojo I have seen around here that has been purpose fit, most are just school halls etc where it is literally a space to train, no equipment etc.