Bulltahr

This was pretty cool, no matter what you think about WKF.

The tyre sounds a great idea, will do that, bag is not the skinny long one, it's 900 mm {3 ft) long with a D ring on the bottom for anchoring, I might do a bungy set up there.

OK, so I'm going to make up a bracket and hang my heavy bag semi-permanently off a tree in the backyard. What height off the ground is ideal? I.E. ground to bottom of the bag?? Mostly for solo use, striking and kicking. I'm average height. 1.76 m (5' 9") Thanks for any advice. Regards, Bull

I really enjoyed Mark Hunt vs Ray Sefo K1 heavies 91ish??? You can find on youtube, a slugfest between 2 iron jawed samoans. Been enjoying a lot of "striker" fighter videos lately also.

Not want to sound like a troll, but LOL.

My Goals for 2016, (factoring in a 5 month period of virtually no training due to work): 1. Get down to 82kgs (currently 84 kgs, so it should be achievable) 2. Get more sparring in 3. Set up a quasi "fighting gym" at home, circuit training, permanent set up for my heavy bag etc. 4. Train more than twice a week where possible 5. Polish, polish, polish

Good for you Mike, welcome, and you can always start stretching till you find the right dojo... Keep us posted on the journey.

Yeap Xmas lunch in one hour. Merry Christmas to everyone, and for our secular friends, happy holidays!!

Welcome Joe!

Congratulations from across the ditch!

Great surprise at the end!!!! Congratulations, a lifetime memory for sure!!

Short answer is yes, I have plenty of sessions where we are pushed pretty hard, predictably most of the kids cruise/cut the reps etc, but if you are like me you push yourself as hard as your instructor pushes you. It will show in the end, also at 5o yrs old I have to push hard to try and keep the fitness that I have. The feeling you get walking out of the dojo after a hard core session, gear bag slung over your shoulder, chatting with your mates, is hard to beat. Endorphins are charging!!!!!! See here for the buzz of a hard workout..... http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/exercise-depression Good if your feeling a bit low too...... Cheers Bull

Welcome to KF mate!

Not the right forum, but probably should stick to this thread. Graded today, toughest I have had so far 2.5 hrs worth. Tired but happy. Towards the end my sanchin with weights was apparently very strong, so I'm happy with that. Osu.

Meh, No. Bet those that say that stuff spend most of their spare time in front of a TV or computer screen. Human nature mate, negative people are everywhere. Leave them to wallow in their negativity and carry on getting stronger and better.

South Canterbury.

Don't be a stranger, good people here......

5th Kyu, Sei Shihan Michael Higgs http://www.seidotimaru.co.nz/ We are a satellite dojo of Timaru. Depth of knowledge and experience available to us is amazing, I consider myself very lucky to train under them.

Busy in lead up to Xmas, add extra training for the last month or so in preparation for a grading coming up before Xmas is my reason......

I know what you mean, I saw 2 under 10's sparring in Russia, they bith just went for it, great mawashis too!

That's a great story Mazzy, we have several kids at our dojo also, and I watch them train sometimes, some are great!

Good luck mate, I'm sure you will do well!

That is great. But i mean "MASSES". not 1x1 or small groups. To develop a large(1,000's - 1,000,000's) of followers, the Head of the organization needs to be politically correct. That is just how it is. He has great points, but the great ambassadors of Karate are pretty nice about what they say about other "KARATEKA". Anyone can open a dojo, but to become well known it takes a lot of sacrifices to what true KARATE / Martial Arts is. Sacrifices like "softening" ones teaching and requirements. He will learn later when he gets older and his "Dojo" has a ceiling of a handful of students. I hear you, real world, paying the bills business model, but I guess he may be one of the lucky exceptions to the rule in that students come to him because of his traditional attitude to karate. Most definitely would not work for everyone. I have never met the guy, but I believe he has a pretty good reputation in JKA circles. There's not a lot on Youtube, but there is quite a good interview with him there somewhere.

Actually, he has his own dojo in Japan, does 1 x 1 sessions and travels internationally to do seminars etc. Not sure if it's his only job tho. But I believe he is "super traditional" in all aspects of his Karate.

That's great man, I love training with my little princess also. Something special about washing 2 gis every week.........