karate_woman

If you trained for as long as you suggest, things will start to come back once you train again, provided you take a martial art that is similar to the one you originally took. I wouldn't get your heart set on retaining that blue belt. Your boxing training will be different than the karate training, as well. My best suggestion would be to check out the martial arts clubs in your area, try out some classes, and see if anything is to your liking. I wouldn't worry too much about trying to 'recover ' the information you've lost, or how you used to do things, as there will be different subtleties that each teacher will bring to your martial arts training. Just go with the flow, and keep an open mind.

Wow. Since when are 23 year-olds old? I believe my Sensei was in his 40's when he STARTED taking martial arts. As for you physical fitness, I've met many people who have used martial arts as a means of exercise to take weight off and/or get in better shape. At a minimum, it can be the catalyst you need to make lifestyle changes to improve your overall health.

The story of Miyamoto Musashi is a mixture of fiction and fact. It is the stuff of legends - I wouldn't base any hypothesis or attempt to "prove" anything with his story. According to some quick online research, Miyamoto Musashi was born into a samurai family. As such, I doubt he was completely lacking in any sort of training. According to Japanese historians, he fought as a mercenary in numerous battles, and according to his own account, had a lot of duels. He was therefore very experienced in battle, and as such, more qualified than many individuals today to create his own style; at least his moves were tested in battle. You theoretically could make a style on your own, with no formal training, but without testing the techniques out, how would you know they work? You'd need someone to practice with you, and in effect, teach you what they know, so you can find out. This "practice" is a form of learning, so you couldn't really say you were self taught. Just my two cents.

Hi and welcome

Hi, welcome

Theoretically, at 25 he "may" have ranked up to 4th dan, if he started pretty young (others did the math in earlier posts), and at that age may even have ranks in other similar arts. Where the story starts to fall apart is that his knowledge isn't there. There should be some degree of similarity between, the basics in for example, japanese, or okinawan arts. We had a guy come and train with us after a 20 year lay off, and SWITCH STYLES from Wado Ryu to Goju Ryu and his basic techniques were still quite good. He had to learn all of our kata, but his practical knowledge and basics were good; you could tell he'd earned his black belt way back when. Also, when he did his new kata, he did them like an advanced/black belt (mainly talking about kime here). It took him about 1.5 years minimum to learn them all and earn his Shodan with us; we didn't make him go through the entire ranking system again. We've also had other people who come in claiming to be certain ranks, and after being observed, were clearly not at that level. Sensei judges on a case by case basis, and asks for certificates as well as his own observation and gut feeling. Of course, the guy could always have joined several McDojo's, and "earned"/bought his rank that way....

I started taking karate because I was "too old", at 15 years of age, to take the kids judo classes offered at the YMCA. The only other martial arts place in town taught Japanese Goju Ryu Karate and T'ai Chi. I started there and enjoyed it, so continued training. The entire club switched to Okinawan Gojy Ryu after I was a Green Belt, and added JuJitsu to the classes offered. The rest, is history!

Shodan (black), Okinawan GojuRyu Karate, 3rd kyu, (green) Japanese Goju Ryu Karate 1st kyu Okinawan Kobudo, (rank for weaponry, taken in same class as karate, though separate requirements than for karate ranks) 4th kyu, (Orange) Judo, Didn't grade in jujitsu, but trained with the intermediate/advanced class with permission of the Sensei (same sensei as for karate). Kickboxing - they don't use rank where I train, but I'm new to kickboxing (2 months) T'ai Chi...Yang Style & Qi Gong - with T'ai Chi Training.... 6 months or so

Hi!

Let me throw out a scenario. 1. You don't know his intentions. All you know is he's bent on harming you. 2. Again, you don't know his training, but he's bigger and much stronger than you. 3. No, he doesn't know you have training in the martial arts, but he's not taking it easy on you. 4. You're sober and you've just left a concert or a movie. 5. No weapons, but he does throw a barrage of punches at you, and manages to grab you and wrestles you to the floor. His whole goal is to knock you unconscious. 6. You notice him following you after a block, and you confront him. Thats when you initiates the attack. 7. Your male attacker is over 6' and over 200lbs 8. Lets say he's sober, but he's obviously insane. 9. My definition of defending oneself is to be able to stop an attack long enough to get away. I'd be unlikely to "confront" such a person directly until engaged, and I would walk with a purpose and not like a scared little mouse (you're less likely to be attacked if you don't carry yourself like an easy target). I believe strongly in avoiding dangerous situations, in spite of any training you have. It is also unlikely I'd be alone, but of course it happens from time-to-time. Being much smaller than my attacker, I would want to stay on my own feet as long as possible, and hopefully discourage the attack at that stage rather than wrestling to the floor. I have taken karate, kickboxing, two jujitsu and judo, plus helped teach self defense classes, so I would hope I could send the attacker to the ground himself, while staying on my feet. Whether that would involve taking out his knee or throwing him depends on the opportunity I'm given. I would prefer to stay out of his grasp. Generally, when I'm given an opportunity to defend myself in class without a plan I do a number of things..I keep going and going, and don't give up. I've used some techniques in actual self defense, and found when I actually started to physically defend myself the attack stopped. Since you've given the scenario that my initial efforts failed and I'm on the ground with someone who wants me unconscious, I'd have to act quickly, as he could easily achieve that by banging my head against the pavement or even striking me hard. I would not take it easy on him as I'd be in fear of my life and depending on what parts of my body are able to move I may use my knees, elbows, teeth, fingers, etc. I would have a very narrow window of opportunity and would maximize it, hopefully crippling him to the point he can't continue. Never give up....

Welcome

Welcome

Welcome

I always answer that type of question with caution, as I've been trained never to underestimate my opponent, and that awareness of your situation and surroundings, how you carry yourself, and avoiding dangerous situations are large factors in self defence. Whether I could defend myself depends on a few different things: 1. The intentions of the male attacker (rape, murder, kidnapping, etc 2. The training of the attacker 3. Whether he knows I've had training in any martial arts 4. My condition at the time (if I've had alcohol, if I've been slipped drugs, if I'm sleeping, etc) 5. How I'm attacked (is there a gun or knife involved? am I being hit with fists?) 6. If I have any warning or if I could have reasonably expected an attack, given the circumstances (I'm often watching my surroundings, where people are around me, and what's going on) 7. Possibly, the size of the opponent (depending on how I'm being attacked) 8. The condition of my attacker (is he on drugs that make him feel no pain? drunk?) 9. Your definition of defending yourself In general, I feel confident enough that should I be attacked by anyone, male or female, I'd do something if attacked. I'd continue defending myself, to the best of my ability until I could either get away or they stop attacking me, or both. I don't go looking for fights, but will fight back to stop people from touching me when I don't want them to, or from any attempts to harm me.

I don't see myself being executed, since I don't live in a country that believes in it, but putting that aside, I'd probably want to see my family.