Titanium

Its always said that MA is to be apart of your life. People initially thought I was sad when I said to people that I eat, sleep and breath karate. I somewhat believed them, however now I don't care...I love MA and wouldn't want my life without anything else. I'm almost married to karate. HAHA. This is normal for you to be like this...it is essentially MA engraving itself into your being.

Tai Chi has taken off over the past few years, I may have to go to a session one day and try it out.

I pass two or three depending on route.

Wado has short stances and I find these more effective, they are not as string though. That's one beauty of doing Wado and Shotokan; I can mix and match certain things like stances to suit different needs.

In real fighting, a shallow stance is useful, Shotokan uses long, deep stances which can be more difficult to move in than a shorter stance. In real fighting, you will need to adapt the stances for the situation and environment.

UK is strict regarding potential weapons. It's always safe not to carry weapons, however saying that, I am an engineer and I always forget to take my Stanley knife out of my pocket.

Been there are few times myself, that have some great martial arts gear. Haven't been in a while though. Next is near it I think.

Yes, well done my friend. I will check it out.

It does greatly depend on where you are looking to strike; both could be very useful and painful to your opponent. Boney areas, use fist and medium to soft areas use open hand if you wish. NEVER try, nukite or anything similar where bones are in great quantity, you could break your fingers very easily here.

In our affiliation, karateka's are timed performing kata as our senior Dan grades set an allocated amount of time one the practitioner begins the movements. I think this is good for time management and regulation during kata; it also is good for bunkai.

Solid post!! I totally forgot about Andy AND Terry; I hate the rock I live under...I need to get out more often. Sorry skullsplitter, my bad. Thank you. I am a member of the KUGB so have had the pleasure of training with these excellent figures on many occasions.

Look at the center of the body allow you to see the head, hands, chest, feet etc in your peripheral vision. At one point I always took into my opponents eyes, try it out...look at your opponents body and see if it helps.

When I started Wado, my instructor was always telling me to relax as my Shotokan ways were very rigid. I have now mastered the concept of power on attack and relax after movement. It took me a year to do it though. Pers has made an excellent point.

The spongebob onesie would have been hilarious. Decathlon do some good stuff for that. There's one near Ikea isn't there on the M1?

Have you tried Blitz or Kamae? They do good overgi's? Ours is white, this way it shows dirt easy.

Yes, I believe you're correct. Love thy neighbour - a fundamental lesson in Christianity.

Zazen is a great time to practice breathing. You can do this in the dojo or in your own time. I do this frequently to get my body used to breathing in this way. It helps between kihon, katas and kumite - you feel the benefits.

A belated happy birthday.

They certainly can be. I am aware of some dojos which give black belts away for the right price. I mean, seriously? Dedication, sweat, blood and tears goes into achieving a black belt; why should it be easy?

I am a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. There is time within the religion for deep study, knowledge, training and understanding. I like how Buddhism does not restrict you to anything, there are no rules, only guidelines.

You have to become your apportion. When you can conquer yourself, you can conquer others. Its all about knowing yourself then knowing your enemy.

Howdy, close proximity and almost identical styles - hello twin.

A very BIG well done! Making your way up those senior ranks now. Keep up the excellent work and dedication.

Many congratulations, plenty more to follow I hope.

Fantastic story, thanks for sharing. I love it when the older generation get involved.