Darkranger85

Hey all, I'm interested in trying out Qigong as a workout. I first saw it through Shifu Yai Lei's website. I've heard some people say that his videos are difficult to follow though and so I'm hoping to get some insight before I put down money on a video. Thanks ahead of time!

She does offer self defense seminars and such as part of her services for women and businesses.

I wasn't thinking of doing a random thing from the audience. My thought was to set it up before hand with someone that one of the instructors know that's willing to show an untrained person sparring with someone that knows karate. Sparring gear would be used and I'm sure Kyoshi would use the same rules she uses during class. No face shots, and no hard contact. And for target audience, my thought was to circulate flyers around town and have them come right to the dojo.

I'm working with my Sensei to get more students into the Dojo. One of my thoughts was that many people don't take Karate seriously for a number of reasons. First off, many dojos don't teach real effective karate. So it produces a generation of "black belts" that can't fight worth anything. So one of my thoughts was that we could hold a free event in which this topic is discussed and ends with a sparring demonstration in which a trained student or instructor has a match against with no training. Thoughts?

Thanks everyone! Very useful information! I'm hoping to eventually get into kata competition.

Just as the title says, is there a minimum belt requirement for most tournaments?

I agree with sensei. That's a problem in so many areas now. One person will fight tooth and nail that his theory is right and provide a logical explanation. But then the next guy seems to have a similarly logical explanation for why the first guy is wrong.

I appreciate all your suggestions. Hopefully I can test them out next class. As for teaching falling technique, that's not the teachers fault. We were taught how to break out fall but I'm having trouble doing it properly. I never actually hit my head, I just tend to extend my arms jamming my elbows.

Thank you wastelander! So, the kinds of stretching that I gave examples of, is this the kind of stretching that would be considered bad before a class?

Absolutely not. I'm looking forward to the next class. Great teachers and a wonderful class. Far too good to allow a headache to stop me.

Ok, I read somewhere that static stretching before class is actually a bad idea. I'm hoping that someone can confirm this and point me toward some good references for it that I can bring into class. The stretching we normally do is: Sitting with one leg out and stretch toward the toe. Standing and hanging toward the floor. Cobra forward stretch And things like that. I appreciate any and all info!

I used to drink that much soda, but not in a long time. But I think it is similar. I drank some water, but not a ton. Enough for my standard karate class, but during the MMA class my mouth was completely dry. And I had a large coffee on my way to the dojo. So I'm leaning toward thinking that's the problem. I'll test it out this coming Monday by super hydrating and seeing how it goes. @Wado - It's just a headache. I mean, I was certainly sore afterwards, but the main complaint was a throbbing headache.

oh gotcha. Like when I go backwards to slap my arms on the mat instead of using my hands and jamming my elbows?

Are you referring to rolling? (I still haven't learned all the japanese) If you are, it wouldn't have worked for this class as my partner was coming down with me as it was practice for starting grappling.

Ok, I have no issues with normal class. Even on the days where we do cardio/core workout before starting. But on Monday I decided to stay for the MMA class after regular class. It was pretty intense. Hardcore cardio workout to start and then we went into takedowns and grappling. My head started to just throb when we started doing the take downs. My first thoughts are. 1: Being thrown to the ground repeatedly is hard on the head, even if you don't hit your head. 2: Not enough hydration. Any input?

Thanks guys! My next kata are: Ninja Aiki and Gekkai Sai Dai Ichi

Thank you everyone! It certainly does feel good. I was worried that I would get up there and forget everything I know and I would go to yell and nothing would come out. But, as it turned out, when the chips were down I was able to push through it.

Hey all, It's been a while since I poked my head in, been really busy. I just passed my yellow belt test this morning! I'm very excited and can't wait to start up again on monday and learn some new stuff.

I agree with you spartacus. But I didn't really mean to use it to memorize technique, but more to remember things like the order of things. Like in my example, I wouldn't use the memory palace to remember how to do each of the 50 strikes, just to remember what they are and what order they come in. The technique for doing the actual strike would have to be there already. At the moment I can only tell you the top 3 or so of the list, and not even that accurately. It starts with an eye jab and then 2 throat strikes. After that, I don't remember the order. I remember some of the strikes randomly. I'm not sure if I'm making myself clear or not lol.

I've been doing a lot of research the last couple days on a memorization technique known as a mind palace (Also known as a memory palace). For those that don't know, it's a mnemonic device in which you visualize a place as well as landmarks within that place and associate information you want to remember with those landmarks within the "palace". (If you care to look into it) Now, I'm wondering if this can be used at all to remember certain things in karate. For instance, in our dojo we have a list of strikes on the wall called "50 strikes." I'm wondering if someone these techniques and their order could be remembered using this method. I'm hoping that someone here might have a little bit of experience with mind palaces or other similar memory methods to give some first hand thoughts, but others are welcome to chime in as well.

lol I do not yet. I pulled a tricep muscle on monday and haven't been able to practice much. I'll give it some work and get a video at some point lol.

I found a video of the exact kata for any that are interested.

Well, I was given further instruction and correction on it. And as far as I'm told, its called "Iron Elbows" or Enpi. So I am assuming it must be dojo specific or something. I didn't get a lot of time to talk about it cause the instructor had a wedding to go to and I wont see her again for a week or so. But, I do have class tomorrow and I might be able to find out more.

The one I'm most unsure of is the inside block which Sempai calls "scooping" because of the motion you make. I'm 80% sure I'm doing the first 2 alright. But I'm just unsure of the last half.

I'd like to add about intimidating judges into giving points. First of all, I highly doubt the judges are intimidated by the contestants. But, I have never been to a tournament so that's just my opinion. But, one of my dojos things is "Sincerity, Honesty, Integrity." I would never want to win a match through such tactics. And any sensei that actively teaches dishonest methods is not a sensei at all. IMHO