karate_woman

LOL. This incident wasn't in my city, but one about 2 hours to the south of me. There was a recent incident involving a crow bar and a brawl in front of a bar downtown, though

I agree. Here is a link about them: http://birds.cornell.edu/BOW/REWBLA/ The good news is that it will stop bugging you late July, early August. As for defense against it - I'd suggest avoidance as much as possible; physical defense against a small bird will most likely end up with a dead bird, and it isn't even your property he's on.

Everyone has different ways of performing gradings. Perhaps the students are being tested in class and the grading is just a formality in your school.

Agreed; in Goju, there are no new kata after your yondan grading (at least not with any of the organizations I've come in contact with, and that has been several); godan and up are like you describe, more about what you've given back to karate than learning new kata.

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Nothing mysterious about mine - needed a screen name and my primary martial art is karate and (yup) I'm a woman.

Yes, sometimes the natural athletes sail through the first six months to a year or so, and then get stalled and quit when it starts to get hard for them, so it is hard to tell based on talent alone - it is more the attitude they have to their training and the dedication level.

Something interesting I've found with the arts I've been involved in is they tend to compliment and add to my experience in my primary art Of course, after the big change from Japanese Goju to Okinawan Goju I had to loosen up a bit and take a grey view of things rather than a view that "THIS" is the ONLY way to do things. Since I have actively pursued seminars and training in more than one martial art, some could say that makes me a "jack", but since I have studied one art the longest and most consistently, earned my shodan and continued to train in that art, that lends itself to the "master" theory. I guess I'm on the fence

It isn't a grey area unless the material isn't copyrighted. An example: my mother-in-law used to show animated movies to her Grade 2 classes until the Board of Education looked into the rules about showing to an "audience"; apparently a group of 30 or so children in a classroom was a big enough audience that she had to stop showing the movies in class - they needed to obtain permission to show them and it was too much of a hassle. If you think of it in terms of a book and not music it would be clearer to you. If you lend a book to a friend to read that is no problem. If you photocopy the book and give them a copy it is a copyright infringement. If you scan it and share it with your friends in p2p, it is also a copyright issue. People don't generally do that sort of thing with books because they are so bulky, however. Anyway...I use p2p mainly to check out a few songs from an artist when I've enjoyed their single on the radio. I will buy a CD only if I enjoy at least 2 songs, so rather than waiting for the next single to come out I can know right away and will often buy the CD sooner than I would have otherwise. If I decide not to buy that artist's CD, I'll wait and see if it is a compilation (if it is a big hit it generally will be) and buy it that way.

The last I heard, Karate was a potential demonstration sport for the next Olympics, but it doesn't appear that they were successful. They've been working on it for quite some time and the WKF is still trying to make it a reality. Check this out: http://portal.enfoque5.com/karateolimpico/ingles/index.php Hopefully by the time your daughter is a contender it will be in the Olympics at some level.

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Yeah, that happens a lot when you start "thinking" about fixing something and changing your moves instead of just doing what comes (or has become)naturally. One thing I've learned is NOT to try to change how I fight while actually in a match; that's what training time is for.

With all due respect, comparing these two is not that good an example, because they aren't really that much of different styles, Japanese Goju was formed more because of a drift from the Okinawan instructors than any technical renovations (which though happened too). What I meant with my response earlier was that the completely new styles founded on the mainland, like Shotokan or Kyokushinkai. And compare them to the Okinawan styles like Seibukan. Yes, well that is why I specified my particular experience, so it would be taken in context. I felt it was relevant only to show how one particular style was influenced by the transition to Japan.

I wouldn't agree with that, but my experience of Japanese vs Okinawan has been from within the same style - Okinawan Goju and Japanese Goju. The bunkai is the same for both styles. I noticed the Japanese stances were longer and deeper and that the hand movements weren't as large in the Okinawan version. Also, the Japanese versions seemed to be...more flowery...than the Okinawan, with the bunkai more obvious to the casual observer. Whether there is more grappling and throwing or less depends entirely on the school itself and not really the style.

I met a guy on the weekend whose business card named him a Shifu. Anyway, he had a guy with him with a 5th degree black belt in kenpo, 2nd degree tai jutsu, blah, blah blah, saying that in 1 month of training with the Shifu he'd learned more than in 15 years of other martial arts. Whether it is true or not...couldn't say, but one thing I do know is that the more experience you have the less time it takes to learn new things and make them work for you, so it isn't really a fair statement. There are a few kung fu/wushu people on here that might be able to help you with that, but I think it depends on the actual school you go to and what their focus is on.

A course that runs a few months or weeks is not the same thing as taking a martial art for several years. You will learn a lot of useful techniques in such a course, but the problem is you need to set aside time to keep practicing those techniques in order for you to be able to use them effectively. If you want to just take self defense moves, that is fine, but I recommend practicing them regularly as well.

My sensei told us that one too, i like it Being a woman, people trying to abduct you think you will give in. However you have the advantage, you know karate 4 on 1 is kind of unfair. Try to get your girlfriends etc to start karate ;P Nah, I wouldn't give in; they'd have to render me unconscious or otherwise incapable of doing anything. I have a car alarm "panic" button like that lady, though I must think that my wicked scream would probably come out....I can silence a room of karateka participating in a tournament with my kiai You are right: 4 on 1 is extremely unfair, and we were told by a soke (founder) that if it is one on one, send them to the hospital, if it is more than that...make sure one of them is going with you to the hospital - you can get his buddies when they come to visit their pal . He cracks me up I usually preach awareness, avoidance, etc, but unfortunately, the woman was just leaving work and I believe it was broad daylight - not your typical "common sense" situation where avoidance takes care of many of them. I would be willing to bet that at least some workers in that shopping plaza are going to their cars in groups now, though.

Put it this way - what if he were to REALLY attack you? Have you done the mental preparation to defend yourself against a loved one? Early in my martial arts life, my Sensei advised us all that the odds are greater to be attacked by someone you KNOW, and she'd found that there is often soul searching and a conscious decision involved before people know for sure they would defend themselves in such a situation. As for class, he's an opponent like any other, and I actually got MORE competitive when I used to spar and grapple my ex-husband, rather than less

I don't know where you'll end up. You could decide after a few months that you can't stand it, or it is too much work, etc. MOST people that start training in a martial art DON'T get their black belts. Some stick around for a month, some longer, but the fact is most don't get their black belts. Of course, you also could be someone that ends up training for the rest of their lives; martial arts are so much a part of me I always consider myself a martial artist - whether I'm actively training or not. Take advantage of the ranking system you'll have, and focus on the short term goals for now.

Only for karate, only for adults. Two hours are at lunch time, though, and there are the same number of hours/classes for the adult jiu jitsu people as well.

There are 7, 1 hour classes available for adults.

Canada

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