AdamKralic

I believe that certain techniques do work better for certain fighters. Both in body types and in what feels "easier" for them. To me though footwork is THE technique that makes all others "accessories."

Just got Bioshock Infinite. (it comes with Bioshock 1 for free) Really a good game so far but I've just started so...

Karate: 1 point for a punch. 2 points for a kick. 3 points for a spin kick. (other times the points are the same except ALL kicks are 2 points...no bonus for spin)

You know what to do...just have to do it. Don't mess with your sleep cycles too badly. A cycle is 1.5 hours. Think of them as 1,2,3,4,3,2,1. You NEVER want to wake up at 4. (total muscle relaxation) You will be groggy all day. 6 hours is minimum recommended sleep. (4 cycles) Give yourself 20-30 minutes to reach the start of the process. So 6.5 hours should be bare minimum. How to know if you woke up on a 1? 1 is when you dream. If you ever had an alarm clock wake you from a dream...I bet that you had a good energy day that day. My 2 cents.

Have the main character choose martial arts over a love interest. Guys don't want to read romance...and girls don't want to read martial arts. This is of course generalization...but generalization increases your potential readership. You'd rather hit a demographic 80% correctly than hit two demographics at 20% efficiency for both.

If he has to attend a different school for proper training in his next weapon...so be it. I have the same feeling in regards to kamas. All flash, no substance in oh too many demonstrations at tournaments. My son's school seems to transition all post black belts into swords. I do not like swords for my son for several reasons. 1) He's smallish but strong and fast with good balance...I feel a weapon that stays closer to his core would be advantageous. 2) I dislike that there is an entire outfit that HAS to be worn to use swords. 3) I would prefer that he trained from day one with a "real" weapon not a mimicry of one. Swords by their nature are very dangerous so I understand the need for a training version... 4) ties with 3...it's very dangerous for a beginner. Too easy to hurt yourself and/or others.

I ask on behalf of my 12 year old son. He has been doing bo form for a good while now...getting closer and closer to his black belt which is the point when he can switch weapons. I'm trying to sell him on sai. He seems to prefer kamas. (but he hasn't tried either) Now I fully realize human nature...whatever you choose will be what you are likely to recommend...but all the same I ask. He was also talking about a Chinese spear...but those are loooooong. The advantage there would be that my wife trained with a Chinese spear...but reality is that I am the one actually training with my son not her. So thoughts? Thanks.

IYO what is the best fluid to drink during a strenuous, sweat drenched karate session? Why?

The number one reason why every business fails is lack of money. 3 months is not NEAR enough money in my opinion. There are businesses (successful ones at that) that did not turn a profit until YEAR 5. I fully understand that getting 5 year's worth of operating money will be next to impossible for the vast majority of us. Just throwing that out there. I would absolutely not start without atleast a full year's worth of complete expense money. That includes: rental of building, ALL utilities, a advertising budget, equipment purchase, insurance and six things that you won't think about until you really study the total costs of this exact enterprise.

You should post pictures of the designs...I wanted to show my son but since I have already taken the survey it won't let me in.

CONGRATS!

A mouthguard is mandatory. A $20 one should be fine. I've seen them as cheap as $4. The $20 models use thicker, stronger material than do the $4 ones.

Probably. Depends of course upon how many are in your division. If there are 5 for example...you'll need to fight three times to win it all. If there are 4 you might only have to fight twice. You might have to fight more than once even if you lose your first match. Or if you lose in the first match you might be done. Of the two? You are rooting for as many fights as possible win or lose. Nothing stinks more than spending $50 to enter and only getting one fight in.

Nobody can give you that information. Show me your opponents and then show me you. See? Rotate towards the opponents' backside. If you are constantly doing that the odds of you taking a really solid shot to the head are reduced. Learn to move laterally very quickly. Charging straight ahead is not ideal unless you are quicker and larger than your opponent.

I think that it should be from day one...but our school makes you wait until your third belt. (green in karate)

My 12 year old does about 45-50 minute classes.

This is merely your introduction to tournaments and you should think of it as such. If you look online...you'll see that there are many tournaments. Depending upon where you live there might be as many as one every month. So as others have said...you are just looking to gain experience.

That game is fantastic. The whole series is. I'm playing a lot of Black Ops2 on ps3...especially the zombie co-op levels.

Shadow box. (watch yourself move in front of a mirror) Don't fight flat footed. Increase endurance through cardio type exercise. Use music in your training and try to match your "bouncing" to the beat. (please note you are not "bouncing" straight up and down but rather forward and backwards and inch or so and you aren't really getting air under your feet.

FYI: We had a surprise tourney that was announced to us on Friday...(event was on Sunday) So I decided to go carbo load. Pancakes and blueberries for Saturday breakfast. Pasta with chunky red sauce with shredded chicken for lunch...and dinner. (I made a massive amount at lunch time and was lazy that night) Had pancakes and fruit the morning of the competition as well. We got there at 10:30 am...found out he wasn't fighting until afternoon...so to keep his belly from grumbling but not stuff him...we split a hotdog at noon. He fought at 2:30 and did very well. He had more energy than usual imo and I will now carbo load the day before until it proves non-helpful.

Ah ok that makes sense then. In karate it is the third belt. white then yellow then green.

Came back from first strike 7 karate/tae kwon do/kung fu tourney in Hillsdale on Sunday...was surprised to see some of the belt colors. I typically see pure karate tourneys so that's probably it...but is green belt a intermediate belt in Tae Kwon Do/Kung Fu? In my son's school it was the first belt where you were allowed to spar...so it is considered beginner. Didn't directly effect us...just curious is all. And what is orange?

spamming means to do the same exact move many, many, many times. Spamming a roundkick would be someone who spends 80% of a fight repeating a roundkick.

I've only been to about 10 tournaments...and only saw maybe 100 fighters in that time...but I've never seen anyone with their guard completely down. Many have a modified boxing guard stance. The better, quicker fighters have a guard more akin to the Tae Kwon Do guard. (front guard is extended almost straight from body ready to catch kicks or blitz with) Frontside roundkick is the #1 kick. That is because it is easy to throw...I would not call it the most effective in sport karate. The most effective kick imo is the sidekick both in offense and in defense. Few are good enough at the axe kick to use it properly but those that do get results. The most perhaps un-fight like technique that is popular is the superman blitz. The counter to this however is very fight like. D side kick both with a fade or a angle fade. I prefer the angle fade as if the kick has bad timing...atleast you have attempted to put an awkward angle to your opponent's attack. Another counter to the superman blitz is a fast raising of the guard to your forehead...with a underneath reverse punch. I've seen this simple counter double over the "superman" in pain. Ditto with a great d side. The "superman" has to be lightning quick and opportunistic. The defender has to have super quick reflexes to counter.

Speed walking is ridiculous. You want to go faster than walking? NP. It's called running.