mArTiAl_GiRl

Fireka, I have! In Balticum, we have "the best created kata" competitions. I have won first place at one of those competitions. We use to do this competition at our Karate Club camps and in Latvia.

Ciao and welcome.

Most of those cartoons are pretty similar to things which has happened during the training in my Dojo, for example, the Ukemi thing, black belt jokes and so on...

Check out those Judo Cartoons http://judoinfo.com/humor4.htm

MMmmmhh.... well, I've used Karate for self-defence for many times and it helps. So, I think it's pretty god for self-defence, like SaiFights said, it depends on how you train.

AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Well, I did it to show you it in many different ways. Right, just be patient.

I tried my mother's name just for fun. hahahha lol Just check this out: Eeloo Metal Title: Lee Ford of Chinese medicine HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!! oh gosh...

Ok, here's mine: Aag-Su Metal Gaa Volvo of Chinese medicine or Nazol (I don't remember which medication I had last) my name is funny

Discipleship is very much like spiritual conversation in that its successful practice is totally dependent upon the willingness of the convert, as well as on the absence of coercion by the master. Why some Sensei's use to say: "when you will get there after many years of practice, you will understand", is because they are trying to say: be quiet, be patient, trust in your commitment, and train faithfully and when you have done that for many months, or for many years, depending on your commitment and maturity, you will understand, that there is no shopping mall one can visit to find the worthy master, no department store offfering easy payment; no plastic is accepted, only the hard coin of diligence. And it must be this way. Because the most important prize of all is: the authentic master, revealed through mindfulness, modesty, spiritual purity, compassion, unselfishness, impartiality and a capacity to love and be loved. It means, that you will understand, that you don't get things quickly and too easily, it depends on how you train, not the number of days you have trained. The quest is never to capture a bunch of fighting techniques and technical terms, rather the quest must always be: to open your mind and your heart to the essence, to the art of living. In conclusion, it means, you will understand the point of karate by many years of training. Hope you understood.

Well, actually, there is a spiritual side in karate, but it totally depends on the Sensei, the instructor. If he doesn't know anything about that, then his pupils won't know either, and so the pupils think, that such 'spiritual side' doesn't exist in karate or something. My swedish Sensei was a very philosophical and wise man, he used to explain things to the pupils by doing it by talking philosophically, and it was interesting to hear that. And the pupils acted themself more like the true karatekas too. One Sensei I had in Estonia once, he was a: McDojo Sensei, well, that kind of Sensei and he never ever said anything or didn't even mention karate's other side, the spiritual way of karate. And I was so surprised, when I saw how the pupils acted, they didn't know anything about it either, and the meaning of karate was completely lost. That was actually sad to see... because I was used with another way of teaching, like my swedish Sensei did, that's why I miss his Minkamai Karate Dojo! ...

I practise Shito-ryu and we mostly do full-contact. About Wado-ryu, I'm not so sure.

I MISS SWEDEN!!! ...any swedish people on this forum? ...

WOW! Just like me! I remember my training in Sweden, I practised shito-ryu, and the first kata I learned was: Kihon Kata Ichi. The kata you learned! Oh... I miss that Dojo sooo much!

LOL

And that says the person who does only know one side of karate, shame!

Good question. Yes, nowadays the spiritual side is a bit lost, people pay more attention to competing and sport. It is very important, that the instructor teah the karateka's both sides: the spiritual and the practical side. You know, karate came from kung-fu actually, and the japanese changed it all. Before the change of the meaning of karate, karate had a spiritual side too, but it has disappeared with the years.

An insightful karate poem: "our Karate ocean shall never bear God's Karate cell sorrowfully but their quite unforgiven Karate pride could enjoy your Karate mind mindlessly turn on God's angelic Karate hatred wickedly you hear this Karate war - you are hardly bright her Karate fire ..."

Karate vs Kung fu? Now I already expected this. Because my brother started to practise kung-fu and now the only thing he is talking about is: karate vs kung-fu!! oh...

The founder of the style: Shito-ryu is Kenwa Mabuni. And even karate masters, founders wrote poems. This is a Kenwa Mabuni's poem, where he has expressed his view of of Life and Karate-Do: "Nanigotomo Uchiwasuretari Hisasurani Bunoshima Sashite Koguga Tanoshiki" This poem has many meanings.

Well, I have learned respect, calmness, to control myself, confidence and I've learned that: NINTAI, DOH, SEIKEN!! (Patience is the Way of the True Fist!)

Thanks SaiFights, that was interesting. At my Dojo, our training gi's are white, but the Kata gi's are very light blue, almost white. But I like white more...

We wear white gi, I personally like the white colour more, but our kata gi's and light blue, almost white. And when we train outside, then only a few of us wear black. Blue is not sold in Estonia anymore, I liked the blue one.

I thought so too. But there are even styles in karate, which don't practise traditional karate, right? Shito-ryu is traditional, because Kumite is done in the traditional way too, sparring on one line.

oh yes...right, you're from Finland! Tere!