mazzybear

Thanks, guys! Much appreciated. Mo.

Yep, seen this video on Facebook recently. It's hilarious, cheered me up during a bad day at work. Were these guys for real, or was their tongue firmly in cheek? I can't quite decide. Hysterical Mo.

So, graded for 3rd Kyu on Sunday. I passed with a 2nd class, which I'm delighted with as it's quite a technical grade and many before me have come away with a 3rd class (including my instructor many years ago) It's by far the best feeling I've had at being told I've passed a grade. But I have to say, it was a different feeling to any other. I think now I've realised becoming a black belt is a very real possibility for me. I've always thought I could but now I'm wearing brown, it feels like it's within touching distance. I don't want to get ahead of myself, I know there is a LONG way to go, but it has sparked something in me, a hunger, a desire to push harder, train harder, to do whatever it takes. Before it was "I COULD be a black belt" now it's more "I WILL be a black belt" Some of you may think I'm talking out my backside, I possibly am but does this sound familiar to anyone? When did it all just "click" into place and you just knew nothing was going to stop you? Mo.

Congrats on the promotion and welcome to KF. Mo.

I think the politics of martial arts suck, the association to which my club belongs to states that all ranks up to 3rd Dan must grade if they wish to gain promotion. All grading are done by a panel of 5 taken from schools across the association, so they are not done "in house". you must wait the specified time in between grades (2 year from 1st to 2nd Dan and 3 years from 2nd to 3rd Dan), the minimum age to sit for 2nd Dan is 16 and you must have 20 competition stamps for each grade of 1st Dan and above. I think this is as it should be, it's from 3rd Dan up where it begins to fall apart IMO. This is the stage where belts are "awarded" for what the say is "time spent training/teaching, depth of knowledge and service to the art" when in reality it's whose backside you're willing to crawl up and lick. If you go against the association on any matter, then your card is marked and it's hard to move up after that. There are folk with 7th or 8th Dan that are half the age and don't have half the practical knowledge of some at my club and I think that is wrong. I'm only 4th Kyu but my eyes have been well and truly opened to the politics at play within the association and I have to say, it's a side of the art I don't like. So I'm in agreement with you, rank should be about skill/knowledge/ability, not whose bum you're willing to kiss to progress. Mo.

Yeah, thanks for that, Hawkmoon! I'm not far from glasgow so might pop along and have a look. Be good to see something a bit different from point competition. Mo.

I suppose every club/style will be different, but in my club we have two ways of doing Ushiro-mawashigeri (jodan). There's the standard way for grading, where there's no spinning involved, it's just done from hidari shizentai, step forward with the right and bring your left up and over to the right slightly, then swing it out to the left and add the hook at the end of the movement, slapping the target with the sole of the foot. This is also the only way we're allowed to do it in competition, the 360 spin is far to dangerous. Then there's the 360 version for "shutting folk down", we do this with a straight leg during the spin and hit the target with the heel, a truly devastating blow. We don't tend to add the hook on at the end, but are told if proper contact isn't made with the target, then the hook can be added on to kind of wrap the leg round the back of the targets head/neck and pull them down to the ground with the leg. My instructor says there is no right or wrong way of doing a technique, as in, "if it works, it's right, if it doesn't work, then there's always something you can do to make it right". Mo.

No, what you are feeling is completely normal. I resumed my karate training 18 months ago, after an absence of 26 years. 90% of my day is spent thinking about Karate. I practice techniques in the shower, in the locker room at work, in front of the mirror in my bedroom and even just walking from the living room to the kitchen I've found myself busting out a soto-uke or tobikomizuki. On class days I have ants in my pants all day until it's time to go. I've filled my mum and dad's garage with punchbags and weights so I can train on non-class days, I've bought books and dvd's on my style and spend countless hours at work on youtube looking at videos and scouring through old posts on Karate Forums for useful hints and tips (don't tell my boss ) It all points to Wastelander's diagnosis of EKS. It's not a bad thing by any means, I like to think it shows my commitment to my personal journey and eventual target of gaining my black belt. Will it stop? Who knows! Like Sensei8 says, after 5 decades, he's still head over heels in love with the MAs. I hope I'm like that in the years to come. Welcome to KF and I hope your journey takes you everywhere you want to go. Mo.

Well, it's certainly different. Kinda cool actually. I think some folk would disagree with me tho, some see the dojo as almost sacrosanct. But I think it would be a great bar to go into and meet and discuss the MAs with people from all over the world, to get their views and theories on all sorts of things. If I ever make it to Okinawa, it's definitely on my list of places to go. Nice find, thanks for posting. Mo.

I myself have never worked in the mental health field, my friend however, has worked in it for many years. He, like you, thinks these "breakaway techniques" are laughable at best. He's actually had to lock himself in a room and let his client tear the place apart trying to get to him, his client was a 6ft 5', 20 stone man who had previously permantly injured a 5ft female carer by lifting her clean off the floor by her breasts. He's had excrement thrown at him, his glasses broken, the shirt ripped off his back and countless black eyes. The techniques he has to use are worse than useless. BUT I'd be wary of teaching any martial arts techniques to folk with no experience in the MAs, it could all end very badly, after all how mauch can one person truly learn in a 4hr session. It could result in injury, court cases, even prison. The law quite rightly sees these people as vulnerable and has to protect them, but at the same time there's a big difference between being violent to them for no reason and protecting yourself when you feel your personal safety or even life could be in danger. But until better procedures come in for carers in terms of self defense, the law is always going to be on the side of the service user. It's a terrible catch 22. Mo.

Thanks for the kind replies guys. Now I've had some time to reflect on it, I am definetely looking at it as experience gained, whether I won or not, the experience was invaluable. And yes, one day, it will be my day and Sunday marked the beginning of it. Mo.

Each division is weight and rank based up to the 35+ category, then it is "open" in all senses including style as it opens up to all members of the SKGB (Scottish Karate Governing Body) not just SKF (Scottish Karate Federation) I don't want to appear ungrateful, because, as you say it's a guaranteed medal, it's more I'm just a little deflated by it. If nothing else it gave me much needed experience on the kumite side of competition, as it's all been kata up until now. Mo.

So I went in for my first kumite competion on Sunday, it was a national event for the association. I came away with a 2nd place......... BUT there were only 2 in my section, female 35+, 4th Kyu-Dan grades, open weight. There was an over 35, 9th-4th Kyu section with only 3 in it, should the two have been merged? I kind of feel that if I'm going to get beat in the first round, I'd rather have the opportunity to fight for 3rd place with the repachange system, than get beat once and still come away with 2nd. I explained this to my instructor, who was already going off his head that this competition was organised, as there was already a national kumite event in March, he thinks the nationals should be a once a year event, and that this was just a money spinning stunt aimed at folk looking for another competition stamp towards their black belt. He told me that 2nd place is 2nd place whether i got beat or not, that it was not my fault there were not enough folk in the category. He was angry, not with me but at the fact that one of his students feels that they were not deserving of a 2nd place through no fault of their own. I would like to hear your thoughts on this, would you feel the same as me or are you in agreement with my instructor that 2nd is 2nd regardless of the circumstances? Mo.

I agree, confidence is a MAJOR part in one's MA ability. During a class last week one fellow student was on the floor performing Pinan Sandan while the rest of us sat ready to give any critique on his performance. While most students focused on how he was doing a particular move wrong or his stance was incorrect, I told him to have some self belief in what he was doing, while he had other issues as the others correctly pointed out, his lack of confidence made his kata look very. very weak. I think once the confidence is there, then yes, practice is more important. Mo.

I grew up watching him in Hook and Mrs Doubtfire. A fantastic actor and comedian. I have to say, as funny as he was, I always felt he had a great sadness in his eyes, the pain and torment behind the genius maybe? I for one will miss him. Mo.

That's what I love about martial arts, everyone has different views on everything but no single person is wrong in their views. If my instructor can inspire me and your instructor can inspire you to give our all, then that, in my book, is a win and a mark of a great instuctor. Mo.

My instructor comes out with some crazy stuff, some of it is quite weird but most of it makes a lot of sense. One of my favourites is when he was talking about the guns mounted on a spitfire, and how they were all angled to hit the same spot, that if they were mounted just to fire straight out they wouldn't have been so effective and that we should apply this to our journey toward black belt, if our focus isn't correctly aligned then we will miss our target. We pick a spot and fire ourselves towards it. Mo.

Interesting video. Only a few differences from the Wado Ryu version of Bassai (or Passai as my organisations calls it). I haven't fully learned this kata yet but it's one I definitely like. I have no videos of myself performing anything, but here's a link to the legendary Master Suzuki performing Bassai along with some of the applications to it. Mo.

Well deserved!! Congratulations!! Mo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

My advice would be go see your doctor, moobs (or Gynecomastia) can be caused by a number of factors. Biggest one being a hormone imbalance, your body may be producing excess levels of estrogen, which in turn can also be caused for various reasons, such as excess alcohol intake, poor diet and steroid use, taking certain medications can also cause moobs. All the exercise in the world won't get rid of them if your body is producing too much estrogen. So go see your GP and see what he can suggest. Mo.

Welcome to KF, Lordy. Hope you're fighting fit in no time and can get back to doing what you love! Mo.

Hello and welcome to KF!! Mo.

WELL DONE WASTELANDER!!! I bet you're still on cloud 9. Really chuffed for you, always good to hear someone getting something they've worked hard for. Mo.

The best option I think would be to get a custom made Gi, but it's an awful lot of money to spend when somewhere down the road it will need taken in again if you lose a fair amount of weight. But talk to your instructor, he will understand and may not force the issue of you wearing a Gi. Another option is to buy only the trousers at a waist size that is comfortable and have the excess length taken up, wear a white T-shirt (some clubs have their own t-shirts made up for students) with your belt around the T-shirt. We sometimes do this in the summer months when the hall is unbearably hot. Hope you find a solution soon and don't let it get you down. Mo.