karate-ka

That really is too bad, his type are a dying breed (Literally unfortunately...)

I would highly reccommend enrolling a 4-year old in a MA program, just be sure that the program works specifically with smaller kids, and isnt just a "kids (1-17 yrs old)" class. When a child begins learning younger, they develop instinctive basics, and they benefit later on, especially if they are continuing MA. Just dont expect your son to be good to begin with, or even in a year- 4 years old is still quite small, and it will probably take a good amount of time to get the basics, but it will be worth it in the end

All I can say about full contact sparring is it's great training, especially when you do it frequently, and with higher belts than yourself. As far as the fear of full-contact, I got over that within the first couple days, using only shinpads and knucklepads, full-contact. And later, I switched dojos and we didnt even use pads for full-contact!

lol...ok Its best always to keep an open mind on these things, and watch for things like shattering bricks, but if its not too obvious that its fake, then there is still the chance that it is real. I personally have never seen it done, and it sounds like an interesting event, I think I'll look into it...

What you say here is quite untue...There is no necessity to learn original Okinawan karate in order to defend yourself in a street fight. A white belt with only BASIC training in karate is much better off than someone who hasnt trained, no matter what form they learned under. And as far as advanced students go, Im sure no matter what style they trained under, if they have any real ability to perferm the techniques, they would be far more than a match for the average person.

Self-training has quite a few disadvantages as compared to a dojo. One incredibly important thing however, is correction. If you try and self teach yourself any form of MA, you are GOING to make mistakes! And one of the worst things to do is to continue training, without having the mistakes corrected, (very often done in just about any dojo). And if you continue with these mistakes, then your very basics become flawed, and that will mess up many advanced techniques, and will make real life application quite dangerous

MA websites with videos are lots of fun...this site ought to get some

Yay! Now you get to learn some more advanced stuff, and the fun shall indeed begin! Although I must say blackbelts learn the best kata

Ah, the "My boyfriend is a blackblet" line has got me into trouble a few times because my GF has liked to use it...but in many cases, girls do find that fact that I am a martial artist attractive, but only in the sense that I look impressive (and can be impressive I suppose) Also, if you are conditioning a lot in MA, you may also achieve a nice physique, which would consequently attract more girls. (Not that I'm not guaranteein anything )

Each style really does vary...here is my two cents for two dojos, even though its kinda repetative Shito-Ryu White Red (smaller kids only) Orange Yellow Blue Purple (2 tips) Green (3 tips) Brown (4 tips I think) Black Shudokan White Orange Yellow Blue Purple Green Brown Shodan-ho Shodan They skip the many tips in Shudokan and run on a strict 4 months on a belt then test for higher basis