Sparky

Anybody else have any ideas?

Hi, Does anyone know where I can purchase manji or nunti sai? How about some videos demonstrating katas with these? Thanks, Rachael

How do you prevent the bo from slipping out of your hand during a weapon's kata? This keeps happening to me at tournaments. Thanks. Rachael

Awesome, gheinisch. Looks like there are some small differences than the one I am learning, but this is close enough. If anybody has some tips on learning this kata, feel free to share. Thank you. Rachael

Does anyone know where I could find the moves for this kata? I am working on the kata currently, but it would be nice to have it written down somewhere. Rachael

Hi Yoshie Try standing in a normal everyday stance. Chamber one leg as high as you can and hold. Then extend kick and move extended leg around finally bringing it back to chamber and down. Try moving an extended front kick across your body. Try multiple types of kicks. Do all this w/o holding onto anything. Rachael

Anyone ever heard of the dragon stance? How does your style perform it, and what are the applications? Rachael

By regularly, I mean like once a month take a day you normally go to karate and doing something else. Something else can be as simple as staying home and relaxing or doing something that you just have a hard time doing with your schedule. I train outside of karate as well, and I have a tendency to take two days a week off from that. Not sure how beneficial that is, but I don't want to burn out either. My doctor wanted me to take a six week break from karate about two months after I fractured my rib. It apparently had went from a hairline to a displaced fracture. Rachael

Do any of you regularly take breaks from your training. If so, for how long and how often? Do you feel that it helps or hinders your progress? Rachael

Radiophonic Oddity - hmmm.

Good for you Monkeygirl. Rachael

Sparky because I am an electrical engineer. I also used the name on my softball T-shirt. Don't let the smoke out. Rachael Edit: Just realized that my sig still says Brown belt. I just passed my Red belt test Monday.

Are there any local tournaments that you could enter? This would give you practice as well as an idea of how a tournament operates. Rachael

With a graphite bo, you need to powder your hands first which works really well with a black gi. Some traditionalists would think they are too modern Sai? Rachael

Any opinions on a graphite bo vs. other materials? Rachael

My school offers 29 classes if you count both adult and youth classes. This includes weapons, sparring, and regular classes. Rachael

Hi all, First I should say that I am a brown belt. I am also 26 years old. The only female instructor at our dojo is leaving in about a week. My dojo has a policy that only black belts are allowed to be instructors. My head instructor is looking at me as a potential replacement for her. Any tips on what I can do to prepare? As only a brown, there would probably need to be a black belt instructor there as well. I could then work as an assistant. Rachael

Please do not combine ankle weights and kicking. Keep your knees around for a while longer. They are useful. Rachael

I have office days and plant days and sometimes a mix of both. I have been known to work on karate in my cubicle, in front of the office bathroom mirror, and on the plant floor. The looks you get can be strange if someone catches you so keep an eye out. I even worked on spinning while at a vendor. Rachael

Thanks for the responses. My chin na instructor keeps telling me that the other guy is going to be aggressive on the street so I need to train aggressive. There are so many things to remember during sparring...think, don't think, combinations, timing, mobility, relax, aggressiveniss aghhhh. How do you maintain an aggressive attitude through all that? I was thinking maybe part of it is because in a class situation I usually don't feel threatened so it's hard to bring up that aggressive response. Any thoughts? I usually have my joint locking or sparring class right after a previous class so it can be hard to get the adrenaline going. That's good pmh1nic. I like that. So aggression is more of a mindset than an emotion? Karatekid, what kind of tips did your instructor give you. Anything you can practice? Qigong????????????? What kind of mental training? Rachael

Hi all, How do you turn on an aggressive type attitude during a technique such as joint locking or sparring? The key to me would be to still be in control of myself and be able to turn it on and off as needed. Rachael

Respect your parents opinions. Parents are there for a purpose. It can be annoying, but eventually you will be on your own. Maybe they are just overly excited about this new hobby they found to do, and will eventually tone it down. Can you maybe do both? Rachael

I pay $56/ month for American Kenpo with unlimited classes. This is actually a reduced rate from the then $75/month. It has since been increased to $85/month. From what I understand, this high of a rate is fairly typical (if not on the low side) of the city where I live. One of the great things about my school is that the head instructor does not charge students extra for private lessons. Rachael

Sparring is a great stress reliever after a hard day at work. I enjoy it, but my instructors have told me that I need to be more aggressive. My injured finger has put my sparring on something of a hold, but I can't wait to jump back in the fray . Our dojo has designated sparring nights which helps. Unfortunately, it seems like the adult classes in general do not like to spar. We do have a few, but we need more. One nice thing though is that because of the small sparring classes, I have the opportunity to spar more often with black belts. Fortunately for me, being a smaller size female, I'm allowed to spar in the kid's class as well...which is how I injured my finger in the first place . Rachael

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