mazzybear

Congratulations!!! Must've felt great! Mo

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say, while MAs DVDs can be hugely useful (mostly for folk in the MAs,) I don't really see the benefit in using them as fitness DVDs, as some folk have said unless proper techniques are used and executed properly, then it's not actually benefitting you. It kind of reminds me of a friend who took up boxercise, I thought if you want to get fit doing something LIKE boxing, why not take up boxing? You learn how to do things properly and get much fitter much quicker. The same apllies here. Why not give karate a try? No two classes are the same, so the boredom factor has no room to creep in and you wouldn't believe how quickly your fitness levels rise and the fun you can have in the process. I'm not a fan of the fitness DVD industry, especially ones which feature celebrities, they target people and have them believe these celebrities lost all this weight by doing the routines featured, when the reality is they have personal trainers and nutritionists behind the scenes, this is why most folk fail with the DVDs because the goals are unattainable from the start. The only one I have ever bought and still regularly use is P90X. But having said all this, if you feel it is working for you, then far be it from me to discourage your methods. Everbody is different and have different ways of working out. I hope you keep it up and reap the benefits. Mo.

It's like my mum says, "good things don't just happen, you have to make them happen". The MAs is no different in that respect. I want my black belt but nobody is going to simply hand it to me because I turn up to every class, I have to PUT THE WORK IN. I might not like every single thing we do, but so what? Suck it up and get on with it! You get out what you put in, right? I'll one day reach my current target because I have endured, then, I'll take a quick breather and focus in on my next target and start the journey towards it. Mo.

That's actually a really good idea, I've seen way too many so called karateka that are way out of shape, as you say this would prove they at least have a decent level of fitness. As to the trail running, I plan to build my running ability a bit more before starting the trails anyway, as Harkon suggested I'll probably build up by running on sand to start with. Mo.

This makes me a little queezy, I have a bit of a phobia about my toe nails coming off. Even though there was no pain, I would've had a slight meltdown! I hope it falls off soon and doesn't hinder you too much. Mo.

Wow!! That's cold I guess such injuries are common place when the temperature dips so low. Neck pain definitely isn't any kind of fun! Mo.

The "five point palm, exploding heart technique" from Kill Bill Vol 1 Mo.

While any injury is frustrating, I find it's the silly ones that happen out of nothing that are the most annoying. For example, I was simply walking down to the car park at work last week when out of the blue, I felt a "pop" at the back of my leg just under my right buttock, it turned into a sharp pain and I had to limp the rest of the way to the car. I had class that night and with a grading coming up in a few weeks I didn't want to miss the class, so I turned up, did what I could do and sat out anything that aggrivated the injury. Come Thursday's and Sunday's classes while the pain had eased somewhat, there were still some execises I had to sit out due to small twinges and fear of making it worse. Today there is no pain and everything is moving freely, so tomorrow's class should be back to normal. I still don't know what it was, a muscle strain or hamstring pull perhaps, I'm just glad I've had no complete loss of training because of it. My friend tells me it's because I'm getting old and had better start getting used to such things happening more frequently. I refuse to believe this though. Has anybody had these innocuous injuries that have actually kept them off the floor for any period of time? Mo.

We train on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. For me the worst attended is a Thursday, why? I don't know. Maybe because it's in a different hall in a neighbouring town, the class can drop by as much as half. I have to say though, it's actually my favourite class and that's because of the drop in numbers, I feel there's more time to concentrate on things people may be struggling with, more one to one time. Tuesdays seem to be our best attended, it's a no gi night and we work on fitness and conditioning, hard going sometimes but people seem to enjoy it. Mo.

My instructor was the reason for me going back to Wado Ryu after a 26 year absence. I remembered how engaging he was to me as a child, now as an adult, for me he is just as engaging. He knows how to hold a class, he's funny and makes learning new stuff fun but he's serious when he needs to be. He can be grumpy at times but that's usually when certain folk aren't giving their full attention to the task at hand. But by far the biggest thing is, he's approachable, you can ask him after class to go over something that you've not quite picked up and he'll take as much time as is needed till you better understand it. This is probably why it's the oldest martial arts club in our area and people of all ages are still coming through the door after 45 years of teaching. Mo.

Wow, What a milestone to have reached! Congratulations and thank you! Mo.

Welcome to KF Matt. Mo.

Thanks Tallgeese, I'll be sure to check those out. The Heavenly Warrior looks to be a good read, lots of positive reviews. Mo.

Ankle weights can help in building stronger kicks BUT be very careful with them, don't kick fast or with power, if you do this you risk tendon/ligament injuries. If you're going to do it, don't go any heavier than 1.5kg and do your kicks slowly and methodically, do maybe 2 sets of 10 on each leg for each kick and build from there. Resistance bands are also useful for building strong kicks. Mo.

Thanks, I actually had a look at this one a couple of times, it looks a very interesting read. I prefer books in hard copy but when there are such books for free, it's hard to ignore the lure of buying a Kindle. Mo.

I've always been fascinated by Japan and it's people, that fascination has only inreased since starting back with Karate, so I'm looking for books on anything Japanese. If anyone on here can recommend some books, I'd really appreciate the help. I've looked on the like of amazon but as you can imagine there are so many to choose from, I don't know where to start. Anything from general history to the Samurai or Shintoism and of course the Martial Arts. I recently read Patrick McCarthy's translation of The Bubishi, while confusing at times, it was a very interesting read, so anything along these lines would be great. Mo.

All advice is welcomed, I'm a complete novice when it comes to running. But I'm bang in the middle of the recommended weight for my age/height, so hopefully that sets me in good stead. I'll also be sure to give the sand a go too, we have a few lovely sandy beaches within short driving distance to choose from. My friend has asked to come along so he can get back in shape, so it'll be nice to have a buddy, although I'll be going whether he comes along or not. Mo.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement, I'm lucky enough to stay in quite a scenic county, so there are plenty of trails to choose from, and one right on my doorstep so I'll definitely give trail running a good go, although I'll need to get some cold running gear, Scotland isn't the warmest at this time of year. Mo.

Hey guys, So I've finally bitten the bullet and started running. Since I've never been much of a runner, I decided to use the couch to 5k app for iPhone to gently work my way up to 5k. My instructor has encouraged me to do this for a while because it "has endless benefits" for my Karate, so in the end anything that benefits should be on my workout regime. So I'll get to the point, once I can run the 5k I'm planning on doing it twice a week, is this enough/too much? How many of you run and how much/often do you do it? And what are the benefits, aside from the obvious stamina/endurance improvement? Mo.

Welcome to KF Vaporman!! Mo.

Welcome to KF Good to have you here. Glad you're loving Wado, there's so much about it to love Don't worry too much about your round kick, everything will come in it's own time. Mo.

First of all, welcome to KF The two biggest things I would say is to PRACTICE!! and RELAX!! Practice outside of the dojo for up to an hour a day, concentrate on one or two techniques and or Kata for that hour, change the technique/kata to something different the next day and something different again the following day and so on. If you are properly prepared, then the grade will take care of itself. On the day of the grade don't practice at all until it comes to time for class, use the day to relax and try not to think about the grade too much. When it's time, take a deep breath and go for it, let what you've practiced over the weeks speak for itself. A simple phrase that many have used but is hugely appropriate is "TRAIN HARD, GRADE EASY" remember it and it will serve you well. Good luck when you come to grade and remember to fill us in on how you went. Mo.

Practice, practice, practice!!! It'll all fall into place eventually, just don't be too quick to judge yourself on what others can do. Progress at your own speed. When I first started back in Wado Ryu, I couldn't do a round kick to save my life and my flexibility was poor, I practiced as much as I could outside the dojo and now, 2 years on I'm a brown belt and can kick a round kick to the head quite comfortably, so anything is possible. Hard work and determination is just as good a tool as natural ability IMO. As far as the katas are concerned, purchase the book "karate katas of Wado Ryu" by Shingo Ohgami, it will serve you well, although it was written in the 70's, it's still considered something of a wado bible today, also "introduction to karate" by Mr Ohgami is a very useful book and breaks down techniques such as the round kick into easy to follow directions. So stick with it, don't be too hard on yourself and things will come good. Mo.

I'm sorry to hear that!! Wishing you a swift recovery from what is keeping you off the floor. Hopefully the rest will do you good and you'll be back where you so clearly belong in no time!! Mo.

Well done!!!! you must've ben over the moon! Mo.