Samurai_Steel

Just a thought but it depends on your level of attraction. Physical attraction or lust can probably be written off as something else. However that feeling when you meet someone and instantly like them, or dislike them, whether they are male or female, I think can be put down to this. If everything is energy, and this energy exists in everything, who is to say it cant communicate on a level that we dont understand??

AGKK, I agree 100% with what you are saying. I have had the pleasure of meeting and training under the same type of man. No one here would ever have heard of what I do or who teaches me for those very reasons. It is nice to see someone on this board with an appreciation about the art, and more importantly the life. Thank you. In response to other questions over the all or nothing approach. Well put it this way, you can become a good fighter without it, train hard and regularly and you will get your black belt. But for some people that is not what we train for, there are so many other things in the true way. Dont get me wrong most instructors and even self professed masters will never know this so if you dont understand what I am saying dont worry, enjoy. And this is in no way meant to critisize any style of MA, all have their benefits all are admirable. I think ultimately you will find that when you meet a genuine master of a style the moves you learn become inconseqential.

All the things mentioned are pretty much spot on. You definately need to relax, a tense body is counteracting itself and cannot work at speed. Put in the tension at the end and harness it with the technique to generate power. Practise is also important, but dont just practise punching or kicking quick because your technique will go out the window. You can only practise at the maximum speed that YOU can deliver the technique well. Any faster than that it is a waste of time. Speed is not everything in any case, 80 punches in 20 seconds is very impressive, but not so much so if they are having no effect, and if you are punching 4 times a second they arent going to as you dont even have time for the penetration to come in. Then again it depends on what you want this skill for. The problem with your kicking sounds like a common one that you see quite a bit. Kill the apprehension, relax and dont worry about hitting the target , practise at home with soft slow music and treat it not as an aggressive subject but one you are going to enjoy. Relax your entire body (shoulders are important here). Then simply kick. Ok a lot has to go in to make this right but that is why we have instructors, stick around long enough and he will fix it I am sure. Keep trying but you cant fix everything yourself simply through hard work.

How does this all pertain to a karate club? You can teach someone to fight, but how can you teach spirit? Learning karate to many peoples dismay is not going to turn a 90lb weakling into Rambo or a Samauri. My definition of spirit is mental toughness combined with a thick-headed stubborness not to give up no matter what. It requires a bit of personal selfishness where you will not and sometimes can not let anyone get the best of you. Used properly it can help you achieve many goals in life, it can also turn a person into a total_____________. IMO either you have it or you don't. Uhmmm got to agree and disagree here............yes you are right with the way most martial arts are now taught. However I couldnt disagree enough if you are talking about originations and how some still are. I am part of a very unique school where all of this is taught, it is primary focus, except you arent told that at first. Martial Arts is a tool, and not just for fighting. If you are taught by a true master you will develop all the things you are talking about without the arrogance. Those with it are the mistakes, something has gone wrong, not the successes. The stubborness is not born from ego but from another area altogether completely detached from this. Sorry if this is all a little vague but obviously I am not going to come on here and preach.

I think I am going to cry!!!!!!

Black belt 1st dan in a style you American's wont have heard of. A brand of karate true to how it was taught in Japan. Couple of my own observations, belts are there to make you feel like you are making progress and to put in place some rank in the teacher / student relationship. They dont mean an awful lot apart from that, and if fact werent used to my knowledge in Japan. It is a fairly recent development. Incidentally the only reason I have included my grade is that if I had said the above line without it, I would have been dismissed as being a white belt who knew nothing. Oh yeah another thing, if you have your grade listed in your signature and you only signed up this year (2003) then you might want to remember what you wrote rather than claiming a grade five or six higher than that in your signature...............alternatively update your signature.

Crash, I am with you but it depends on how you study as to what your beliefs are. I dont label what I believe in with the term Chi (that isnt supposed to be negative in case anyone misinterpretes that). I believe that there is an energy that exists in everything and that we can harness it and exist within it. In fact I believe that we always exist within it but dont always recognise it. So no I dont think it ever runs out, but I do think at times our ability to tap in to this can be altered by a number of things. Only my opinion though.

OK I have come into this late. I hate to say it but in my opinion it is impossible to train yourself and be any good. I have seen plenty of black belts join the school I am in and be appalling, much less people who have never had instruction. I think your dedication is admirable and you should be applauded for that, but I think it is a little misguided. So what happens if you do get an instructor and they disagree with something in a book, which do you fall back on? Remember that there is more to karate than kata, your ideas about timescales and how good you are going to be will be left to grow whilst training yourself, in a proper structured environment these should be removed. There is so much more than you can read in a book. The belt thing is right, in fact they never had belts at all in Japan for a large amount of time, just students and instructors, interestingly enough always that mix, never one without the other. As an instructor myself I see a lot of people come through the doors who think they know everything and are awful. Be careful, you could be doing more harm to your martial arts future than you realise.

It is impossible to ever become good at karate from learning from books. The photos for techniques show only a timeframe from a technique, or at best a series of timeframes, they do not show a technique. An instructor is looking for many things, your overall movement, the path the technique takes, your focus, aggression, aim, and much much more besides. Books about learning martial arts do one thing only, make money for the authors. You really cant beat finding a good dojo where you wont feel intimiated and can learn what the art is really about.

I am not as well versed as yourself in the history of Zen Buddism but from what I understand a common misconception is to automatically associate Zen with a religious belief. From what I understand zen in itself is the art of thought and not at all associated with religion in its purest thought, but the way most people are familiar with it is through Zen Buddism. From what I have been taught zen was adopted by the religion and used alongside it, and eventually became more popular than the pure form of zen. That may be where the conflict between zen and martial arts arrises. Could it be that the warrior sect of Japan at some point devoted their lives to zen but not to religion? I dont know the answer to that question but if you consider what I have written it does open up some other possibilities. Something to think about on a wet and windy Tuesday.

Interesting how a question on how someone feels gets changed into biomechanics. Let me guess, heart pumping, hearing changing, vision changing slightly, listen to your own breath can you hear a fast pulse in it? All sorts of things can be felt that science cannot prove. There is also a reason many things arent explained to beginners. You need to trust your instructor without fail before he can attempt to explain these things to you, because they dont fit with the things we learn through life. It is real and anyone who has felt this will testify to that, but we wont defend it and cant teach it to someone, particularly over a BBS. Keep at it, and enjoy. Oh and by the way someone told me recently that scientists have discovered a new range of frequencies or some such thing and can now view streams of energy moving between people. For those scientists out there.

The only thing that all of us have in common is that we will die. It is the right thing to happen. Do I want to die, not a chance, do I fear the way I die? Yes! Am I afraid of dying? No. And that is not because of religious beliefs, I have none. We all plan for the future, what we will be doing 10 years from now. There may not be a future, live your life with that in mind. Make the maximum use of the time we have. As it says on a chocolate bar advert in London now "No one's last thoughts were that they wished they had spent more time at work"

The ongoing dilution of the styles will lead to the ultimate demise of martial arts in the mainstream, instead it will, and already has started to become a child care facility. People join for many reasons, including self defence, fitness and all sorts of other things, there are not many reasons why people stay but the reasons that are there are the most compelling of all. Trust your instructor, he is doing more than you may think. If you cannot do this find one you can. The style you study is just a route to the path, some better than others due mainly to the fact they have stuck to the principles that were always taught. Or on the other hand get good at self defence, improve your confidence and when you are happy leave, there is nothing wrong with that either. Just be aware of the choice you are making.

OK I have only just registered here, which probably means everyone is going to think I started karate yesterday or something. Got to say though I agree with NinjaMaster in many respects. Martial Arts comes from roots much deeper than simply self defence in a time that weapons were banned, much much deeper. The philosophy and spiritual side of it was never an optional excercise it was deep routed in the art. To those who are saying they shouldnt be true to their style......so why do it?? Either be loyal to it or join another style, but make a choice. I can only presume from the comments made here a lot of people are very low grades. Can I suggest something, keep a record of what has been written here, because in a few years time you may end up laughing at what you wrote.