kenpobball

And look... when I came to this forum, I had to start over at white belt too! (and look how far along I am now... lol)

Laurie, The important thing is to do what is comfortable. When I switched styles, I didn't have a choice and was told to start at white belt (not that I was THAT far along in the other style). At first I was not happy, but I soon appreciated the lack of pressure, especially when I realized that it was a much "tougher" school and that the yellow belts could kick my butt... lol.

I pay about $80/month for unlimited classes for kenpo.

Regarding what blocks to use, it really depends on the situation. We are taught to do a range of things, from simply turning your body to blocking with the hands/arms or legs. We actually focus a lot more on landing the kicks than on blocking them, which is sometimes frustrating (at least from a guy's perspective). At any rate, we use the technique a lot in both sparring and self-defense practice and the blocking tips really come from trial and error during sparring as well as an instructor sometimes pointing out what you could have done differently after you get nailed (not as helpful... lol).

I recently had an argument with a fellow martial artist about this, so I was glad to see that there has been a discussion about this on the forum. I totally agree with sparring with groin kicks. I used to study tae kwon do, and I used to love high kicks. The first time I sparred in kenpo, I learned real fast that high kicks are almost always a bad idea for this reason. At first I found it really frustrating, but now I have gotten really good at blocking down there and feel pretty confident that I can defend my goods in a real life confrontation. So, I think its a good idea. Just my two cents.

Hi! My name is Aaron. I'm a lawyer in Los Angeles, CA (*puts his guard up* ). My first girlfriend did karate, and tried really hard to get me to join. One day, one of her friends teased me that my gf could kick my butt, and I was like, "yeah right," which of course led to a challenge, and sure enough she kicked my butt... lol. So, I joined a tae kwon do studio near my house the next week. I did tae kwon do on and off for roughly two years, studying at several different schools (I was between undergrad and law school, so I was moving around a lot). I have now been studying kenpo karate for about eight months, and am a yellow belt. The transition from TKD to Kenpo was pretty rough at first, but I'm adjusting. I love sparring, regardless of whether I win, so I'm not afraid to spar people with higher belts. In my spare time, I also like to play basketball.

Congratulations!!

my favorite move is the roundhouse kick fake to the side, and then delivering it to the head.