Whisky147

And how was BJJ for you? I always ask. I loved it! so much so that i have now signed up properly

So far so good for me... Martial Arts related resolution: *Get back into Kickboxing - DONE! *Try out Jiu Jitsu - DONE! Non Martial Arts related: *Read more, at least 1 book a month - First one done! *Improve my cooking skills! erm...getting there slowly haha

Yes! and always remember to restomp the groin!!!

Myself all i have is my white sash certificate i got recently which is in a drawer at home, all my old kickboxing belts i have no idea where they have gone, got a feeling the parents may have binned them when i left home! The reason for asking was, at one of my classes one of the guys mentioned his friend used to tie his old belts to a bo and i was curious if others had a 'thing' they did with old belts

Have quite long hair myself that i wear into a ponytail when training or up in a bun, no real issues whilst training in MA class, self defence wise i generally wear my hair up day to day anyway plus with the majority of street fights i have witnessed (involving women anyway) they generally start with the two girls clamping onto each others hair and not letting go, (blokes fights i've seen have generally been windmill arms all over the place). So if someone was to grab my hair i would feel confident enough to know that i would be able to counter it thanks to self defence techniques taught in class. I do wonder though how i would cope in bjj where you are rolling around on the ground and there is more chance of your partner rolling on to your hair unintentionally and effectively pinning your head to the mat! lol

Is it wrong that my first concern was 'you're still going to see Metallica though right?' (i'm a diehard metal fan and applaud your commitment to travelling that kind of distance!)

Hey again folks! Apologies to Patrick if this is the wrong thread for this! With all the years of training, progression and belts under your...erm belts? I was curious if any of you display your old belts/sashes? At home or if you own your own school do you have them on display there? Maybe you have old weapons you used to train with that have now become part of your interior décor? Or does all the old stuff get retired to the back of the cupboard?!

Ipods are good, I have one myself for the gym. The Ipod Nanos, which are the smaller version, are really good for working out as they can fit in your pocket/arm band etc and weigh next to nothing. I've had my first ipod since 2006, it's been dropped so many times, taken to cold countries/hot countries and its still working fine!

Ah I've also been looking into ballet/gymnastic stretches and exercises too to help develop my flexibility and all the rest, have to hand it to ballet dancers they really are physically impressive folks! As for challenging myself, i haven't really challenged myself much recently, i've been practising my bo staff spinning techniques! haha i'm at the stage now where i'm not constantly hitting myself in the shin! Progress is progress

How are the challenges so far? Alan Armstrong - How is that canon kick coming along mate?

What I've been doing recently (and it's not the most exciting challenge I have to admit! haha) is doing a 'wall sit' (I think is what the exercise is called), where you lean against a wall in a squat/seated position and hold for a certain time, try to increase the time you hold the position for. I've been doing this to try and build up the muscles in my legs to help improve my stances, I come from a kickboxing background so am not used to the deep kung fu stances I've been learning. So my goal...iron out the basics!

Thanks folks, been a good year so far plus i've just got home from training so i'm on that post Martial Arts class buzz! haha Hope you're all having a positive start to the week

Well I am a few weeks behind due to a brand new gorgeous little godson to fuss over but I had my first grading at my kung fu school a few weeks back and got promoted to white sash Our instructor had pre warned myself and the other beginner that we would be grading sometime the start of April however it ended up being 'right let's do it now!' during class! So typically all the techniques, moves, forms etc that we had just practised easily enough 5 minutes ago went right out the window just because the word 'test' was involved. haha bloody typical! Happy to report that myself and fellow student passed fine and are now looking forward to the next stage of the journey I've done gradings before where it was made out to be more of an event (tested infront of the other students/special day set aside for it) but I think the more relaxed/informal approach made it easier as I didn't have time to get nervous for it we just went and did it and then it was over with, job done! What do you guys prefer? The informal style of gradings or the full ceremony/event gradings?

Yeah i get that feeling too sometimes, but the fact that you still train and want to keep going even after feeling a little disheartened shows you have a good attitude about training! Keep going and stay positive buddy

Wow thank you! A lot of top advice to keep me occupied for a while One of my aims is to improve health and flexibility for not only doing Martial Arts but to ensure i am giving my body the best chance at remaining fit and healthy right into my senior years (a long way off but i feel that if i get into good habits now whilst i can, i will be able to continue for years to come ensuring i will be able to remain active, mobile and able to lead an independent life as a sweet little old kung fu lady! haha) So your advice on stretching is spot on! I find myself at certain times of the day trying to stretch off a little, usually legs are the worst, so hamstring, groin (you know the 'split' type of stretches). I'll have to check the Bill Wallace and other tutorials out, sound good! Thanks for the info!

Thank you kind sir! This is very informative and exactly what i was looking for One thing i am curious about though, how do you condition throughout your normal day? Is it applying training techniques to random everyday events?

Hey everyone, So i have officially passed the 1 month mark since i started training at my kung fu classes (Hung Gar) and i have well and truly been bitten by the MA bug! I am loving training, the club and look forward to learning more in the future. Being that i am still very new and getting to know the style, i feel like i have barely scratched the surface with everything Hung gar/Lao Gar/Shaolin entails e.g. The history, philosophy, training etc So i would quite like to read up about kung fu in my own time to learn a bit of the theory behind it, can anyone recommend any good books worth checking out?

Hope you keep us updated wisky147 on how you are doing with the class; all the best.Will do!

Many thanks for the replies and advice everyone! Very much appreciate reading everyones response. So quick update, it's been almost 2 months since my post and i have to say things haven't gone quite as I'd planned! Haha. I had been looking at attending a Kyokushin class over in the next town (about 30 mins away) unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it! Haha) was recently successful in getting a new job at a local hospital, so feeling pretty chuffed with that but the only downside is that by the time I would have finished work i would have missed part of the Kyokushin class. So decided to be sensible and find a more local club (any style) that had classes a bit later in the evening and i found a Kung Fu club which I have now been attending for the last month. Enjoying training so far, I've never really looked at any of the Chinese MA before but I've enjoyed the classes, instructor is really nice and classmates have been friendly and made me feel welcome so feeling good to finally start training again.

Hey Safroot! If you are still quite new on your martial arts journey then i wouldn't worry too much about feeling apprehensive about sparring, your not the first and certainly wont be the last person that has felt nervous about sparring with someone. With time and good quality training comes experience and it's this experience that allows you to build up your confidence and your skills for sparring. I am by nature a quite quiet and laid back person and i absolutely hate confrontation, but i am now at the stage in my training where i enjoy and look forward to sparring (especially with the instructor as he is twice my size! lol) Just keep working hard and training and i'm sure you'll be fine my friend.

Hey folks, i came across this guy's videos on youtube, quite an awesome film maker and storyteller! Although seeing the moves they do has just bummed me out as to how rubbish i am!!!

Not really a question just more of an observation really... I am by nature quite an indecisive person, not 100% all the time but certain occasions i can annoy myself with my back and forth decisions. So the last month or so i have been looking at getting back into MA after a good few years break, my first choice was to return to my old kickboxing club i trained in before i moved to another part of the country. Decided against it as whilst it is a good club and i did enjoy kickboxing, i wanted to branch out and try new things (variety is the spice of life they say!) So i have sat down in front of the computer many times this month looking at various clubs/schools/dojos etc to see what i would be interested in, when they train, fees etc. (I'm quite lucky having quite a few places in my area) I had to wind my neck in several times as i was beginning to do the 'beginner thing' of wanting to do EVERYTHING!!! haha i wanted to do Karate on this day then Lau Gar on that day followed by Krav Maga on another day, oh but wait a minute that clashes with the TKD class! and i haven't even started on the jiu jitsu class!!! Like i was trying to become some sort of Mortal Kombat super boss level 100 with 4 arms shouting 'FINISH HIM!' all the time. Yep i can just imagine all the experienced guys and girls on here just shaking their heads right now! haha I think my whole reason for going crazy with all the classes at first was because i appreciate how much/long a commitment is to a ma so i had the attitude of 'get as much in as you can!' Thankfully i have calmed it down a bit now after reading several posts on here and have decided on one, yep just one place! I've found a Kyokushin class that trains 3 times a week so i'm going to commit to that instead of trying to juggle 4/5 other styles. So yeah more of just a humorous observation on my part, anyone else have this or something similar starting out? Thanks for reading, have an awesome weekend folks!

Thanks for the advice folks, it has certainly put my mind to rest

Thank you all for the warm welcome! Have a great weekend folks!

Thanks folks, I'll make sure to inform the instructor about my potentially crazy work patterns, i'm sure in this day and age they'll understand that not everyone works a standard 9-5 job Feel for you buddy, stay safe out there!