mushybees

Take a look at your psoas. http://www.berkeleywellness.com/fitness/injury-prevention/article/get-know-your-psoas-muscles

Hands up and out in a none threatening manner. If they come close enough to touch your hand AND are displaying aggression that's my line in the sand. There's no room to dither, it's time to act. Edit: This depends entirely on the laws where you live. In the UK, if you honestly believe in that moment that you're about to be attacked you are justified in taking pre-emptive proportionate action. In martial arts parlance, you don't have to wait to become the defender.

I haven't any yoga experience but when I was looking up the exercises the physio has given me I found the best information on yoga websites. They know their anatomy and they're know what needs strengthening and what needs stretching. If I had the time I'd attend a regular class.

What is stopping your kicks from being high? Discomfort, tightness? I don't know a great deal about strength and conditioning but I am currently seeing a physiotherapist because of discomfort I feel when kicking. In my case I have a whole raft of problems. My hip abductors are weak which causes pain in my gluteus medius. My tensor fasciae latae muscle is tight which causes pain in the front of my hip and also are my calves are very tight causing my knees to hyperextend. It sounds awful but these are all caused by a muscle imbalance that I wasn't aware of and so didn't address. My plan for higher kicks was to kick more and it worked. My kicks increased in height but it's come at a price. It might be well worth spending an hour with a physio to check you out.

What style do you practise? Are you under an organisation?

Surely their rank would just translate over. So a purple belt on the old scale would become 2/3 of the way towards grading for their advanced brown belt.

I never think of fairness in relation to martial arts. I train of my own volition so ultimately I decide what I will or won't endure.I also don't compare myself to others, if the cookie crumbles in an advantageous way for someone I don't feel resentful at all. What ego I have is well in check and the way I was raised has never allowed me to feel I'm entitled to anything in life. Has something in your MA experience happened to prompt you to ask the question?

I've bought high end gi in off the shelf sizes and been disappointed. A £50 gi that isn't an ideal fit isn't a problem, at the price of a good shureido or tokaido it's go big or go home. I have bought a custom size hirota and I live it. If I ever buy another expensive gi it'll be a custom fit.

Monday 4-6yr olds 5pm-5.45pm Junior grades 6pm-7pm Senior grades 7pm-8.30pm Wednesday Junior grades 6pm-7pm Senior grades 7-8.30 Thursday (every other week) Yudansha only 6pm-6.30pm Friday all grades Kumite 6pm-7pm Kata 7pm-8pm Saturday All grades 10pm-11pm Adults only 11pm -12pm Sunday Junior grades 6pm-7pm Senior grades 7pm-8pm CI teaches pretty much every class. He only takes about 3 weeks off a year and the occassional weekend where he's usually attending seminars. His comittment to the club is really impressive.

For self defence being able to turn on aggression without needing to psych yourself up and a general defiant attitude is very important. If you're really feeble it's not going to do much but for the average person in mostly good health they can still be very effective at turning the tables and attacking the attacker. For combat sports, physical fitness is obviously far more important. The minimal fitness is a given and the will to fight is already there. Of course going in to a competitive fight with low self esteem or self doubt about your abilities is very counter productive so it would be wrong to say it's all about physical attributes.

I once, in the early hours of the morning, witnessed a man slam a woman up against the shutters of a shop front. As I confronted him he attacked me and we got in to it. I was acquitting myself nicely until the "victim" smacked me in the head with a stiletto. Lesson learned. I was also once berated by a young woman when I offered to help her with her child's pram whilst getting on the bus. Chivalry is dead

Consensual or self defence fighting? If we were talking self defence I would definitely subscribe to that.

More small injuries or aches and pains. I normally bounce right back after a good feed and sleep but when I'm over doing it recovery can take a few days to feel 100% again.

Almost right you need a / on the closing bbcode. So [/img] on the end. You cant 3rd party host from photobucket though. http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah28/LLLearner/Prototype%201.1_zpsqp33we3y.jpg

If possible could you take a few pictures while you make them? I love seeing how homemade martial arts gear is made.

As a Pats fan I'm wallowing in it today but it was a great game. The patriots defense was awful and out matched. The offense aquitted itself admirably, Brady had over 500 yards passing without our best deep threat for 3 tds and no ints. If that's succumbing to father time then I'm looking forward to september. The Eagles played a very good game and it's hard not to feel happy for Nick Foles. Journeyman to SB champion. Oh well, time to turn the page on another good season. You can't win them all but let's try again next year!

Not screen as such but instructors should be alert to character problems in students and be prepared to halt their training if they discover anything troubling. There's a chap at our club who has shown a worrying lack of control which only manifests when he is sparring women or teenagers. Never with the men. There are rumblings of problems at home, controllng behaviour and intervention by social services. Imo these are red flags which would/should be cause to part ways.

A white belt is given with the gi. Imo just the act of choosing to take up a martial art and start the journey is worthy of recognition.

I don't practise shotokan but it looks like a powerful performance. It was fast and accurate when it was meant to and it had tension where it was intended. To my eyes only. He didn't look stiff to me. Any tension seemed deliberate.

For me I find short rounds of continuous sparring is best. If it does on too long it can get sloppy. We sometimes do 60 second rounds which I find are great. We rotate partners after each round. It forces engagement and a sense of urgency. If we only did that I'd find it lacking but we mix it up frequently. In terms of "self defence" we have in the past had one person act as the initial aggressor who pushes, grabs and/or strikes. There's no de-escalation or environment awareness training so only the physical aspect of sd. That's always a bit of fun and can be useful

US Bank Stadium is acoustically designed to make the crowd noise much, much louder on the visitors sidelines. It's a big part of the Vikings home field advantage. As I understand it though the NFC are classed as the away side this year so the Vikings might find themselves falling foul to their own stadium

1. Start solo internal bodywork training to learn to develop better structure and connection.2. Improve my sparring. Sport karate bores me but I really need to commit myself to that aspect of my training. It won't change how I feel about the tournament circuit but it's something I've avoided and shouldn't. 3. Achieve shodan in wado ryu.

I just read the sad news of Sensei Poage's passing. I offer my deepest condolences.

Billy Doak taught in my town. I took his class as a kid but didn't go back as it wasn't fun. My biggest ma regret. He was a remarkable martial artist who passed away too soon. It is very, very close to how we train as one of the 2 highest ranking instructors of our club was also a student of Sensei Doak. After a grading cycle we ease up on the 3 ks and spend 3-4 weeks with a focus on application. A lot of what we do derives from Billy Doak's nage and kansezu waza. Thank you for posting this Alan

I have two Amazon Echoes and I'm ashamed to say I just use them to play music I'd like to hook the lights up and heating but I find there are other things I could spend the money on (karate books and gi etc) and it never happens.