Rich_2k3

I agree with Pride&Poise, we need a few pictures to make a proper diagnosis

Kickboxing is like boxing when it comes to danger, u all know what happened to Ali, he's got parkinsons because he was hit on the head too many times. The same can happen in kickboxing, however plz remember this only really happens when u take it to a pro level and are constantly training and competeing. Injuires are a part of any martial art, but especially so if ur doing full contact. You may brake a rib or ur nose, but thats part of the sport, u recover and get over it. I had my nose broken two months ago in karate, and that was only semi contact, the reason being the guy was hitting way too hard and a spinning hook kick went wrong and whipped me on my nose. Injuires are a rareity, you may see one pop up every few months or so, mostly very minor, its all part of contact sports and sports in general and part and parcel of development as a sportsman or martial artist.

Dont worry benkendrick, I do understand the angle your coming from, but remember TKD is TKD and Karate is Karate. I'll keep my stones holstered for now ...

To help you make up ur mind please read this, its an article I found on karate in the olympics, I think u'll find it quite interesting: Our long and painful dispute with the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF) over the IOC recognition has finally been settled. Now it is time to make peace and work together to move karate-do forward into the 21st century. Participation in the Olympics will certainly transform karate. Our next mission is to make sure that karate maintains its honor, technical integrity and traditional values so that our ancient art will be accepted and respected as a constructive member within the greater family of sports. Karate is a sport cultivated by the Eastern culture and tradition, and has much to offer the youth of the world in building strong bodies, minds and spirits, as well as developing character, compassion and humanity. Joining the Olympic family means that karate accepts Olympism as its guiding philosophy. Such thought might upset some “traditionalists.” However, believe it or not, this had already occurred in the early 1900s. Let me explain… The Origin of Karate as a Sport Soon after the revival of the Modern Olympic Games in 1896, Baron Pierre de Coubertin extended his invitation to Japan. The Japanese government chose Dr. Jigoro Kano, best known as the founder of judo, to represent the country. Dr. Kano, a life-long educator and university president as well as renowned martial artist, became the first Japanese representative to the IOC in 1909; he also participated in the 5th Olympics held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912 as the head of the first-ever Japanese delegation. This was 10 years prior to the famous demonstration of karate by Gichin Funakoshi and Shinkin Gima that took place at Dr. Kano’s Kodokan Dojo in 1922. Dr. Kano became the Baron Pierre de Coubertin of Japan. He founded the Japan Athletic Union, which still governs all sports in Japan to this day, and dedicated his life to promoting sports and physical education among Japanese youth. Judo, which he created, was without doubt a combination of the traditional Japanese martial art of jujitsu and the ideal of Olympism outlined by Coubertin. It was Dr. Kano’s effort to support the Olympic movement as a proud citizen of Japan in response to Coubertin’s call for support: “Every act of support for the Olympic movement promotes peace, friendship and solidarity throughout the world.” When Dr. Kano invited Funakoshi from Okinawa and encouraged him to teach karate in Tokyo, Dr. Kano envisioned a universal sport that could be practiced by the youth of the world. The transformation of karate-jitsu to karate-do signified karate’s acceptance as a sport, rather than as a tool of war. Funakoshi’s dojo kun (motto) includes “Seek perfection of character!” This philosophy actually originated in ancient Greece and was handed down to him by Dr. Kano, a life-long mentor to Funakoshi and a friend of Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Olympism and Budo Ancient Greece and Japan may seem a world away. However, these two countries share somewhat similar philosophies and religions. For example, the Kojiki, Japan’s first book on history (written in 712 AD), describes the day-to-day interactions among mortals and immortals, and resembles the work of Homer. And a Zen master, instead of Socrates, might easily have said “His chief and proper concern: knowledge of himself and the right way to live.” The Olympic Charter states that “Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles. The goal of Olympism is to place everywhere sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to encouraging the establishment of a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” I believe that these goals are consistent with the objectives of Budo as defined by the Budo Charter: “to cultivate character, enrich the ability to make value judgments, and foster a well-disciplined and capable individual through participation in physical and mental training utilizing martial techniques.” Students of Budo are required to “constantly follow decorum, adhere to the fundamentals, and resist the temptation to pursue mere technical skill rather than the unity of mind and technique.” Instructors must also “always strive to cultivate his or her character, and further his or her own skill and discipline of mind and body.” This is where the East meets the West. The global culture lies upon the universal truth and understanding. Olympic Karate must represent both Olympism and the Budo Spirit. Rules of Karate Competition With these in mind, our next task is to shape the future of karate-do as a sport. This is an important but also a risky job. Much as the mighty Roman Empire caused the decline of the ancient Olympic Games, narrow visions can lead karate into ruin. The Romans lost sight of the ancient Greek ideals. Athletes were replaced by gladiators, and the interest in striving for perfection was ignored in favor of spectacular actions which pleased the Emperor and the Coliseum audience. As the original purpose of the Games was forgotten, Olympism itself began to decline. Karate must not follow that path. Baron Pierre de Coubertin wrote, “First of all, it is necessary to maintain in sport the noble and chivalrous character which distinguished it in the past, so that it shall continue to be part of the education of present day peoples in the same way that sport served so wonderfully in the times of ancient Greece. The public has a tendency to transform the Olympic athlete into the paid gladiator. These two attitudes are not compatible.” In the recent years, karate has enjoyed a rapid growth in popularity, thanks to the current WKF Kumite and Kata Rules which made karate competition fair, fun, exciting and, above all, safe. Although drastic changes in these rules have been proposed by some, we must be very careful when attempting to modify the rules that have brought karate such success, including IOC recognition. Temptations are always there to make the sport more spectacular, appealing and exciting; this, however, would result in fundamentally altering the nature of the sport and losing sight of its original purposes, thus causing the sport to decline due to a smaller number of participants, and the audience to lose respect for the sport. There are many sports that have successfully avoided such a trap: golf, tennis and fencing (European), among others, enjoy their popularity without having had to modify their rules to be more appealing to the mass audience. They accomplished this by educating the public about their sports, rules and traditions, and by inviting the public to join. Karate must remain a participation sport and therefore, the rules must first consider the safety of the athletes: not only of those who compete in the World Championships or the Olympic Games, but also of athletes of all ages and skill levels in local, regional and national competitions, and even of those who do not compete at all. I oppose any attempt to make gladiators out of karate athletes, sacrificing their safety. Professional wrestling and kick boxing may be fun to watch but they do not belong in the Olympics. Promoting karate the right way will take many years of work. We need to provide better training for the referees and judges so that the competition will be fair. We must improve the rules to make it even safer so that more people (including younger children) can participate. And we must educate the general public through a better public relations effort. The stories about the history, tradition, honor, dignity and indomitable spirit of the sport and its athletes must be told so that everyone can understand and share the virtues that karate provides and the traditional wisdom it represents. Traditional karate is like classical music or ballet. The music of Mozart, Beethoven or Bach may be arranged to some degree, depending on the individual musician’s interpretation of the music. However, if it changes the basic nature of the music, it is no longer “classical.” It is tradition that provides the depth in art. Such tradition must remain and stay alive in the sport of karate. Karate must also maintain its own identity as an independent sport. Changing the rules to render karate more similar to tae kwon do, judo or boxing would have a negative effect on karate for many years to come, and will eventually kill it. Conclusion The Olympic Karate Movement has already brought us a democratic structure that governs the international and national federations. As in any other democratic entity, all members must actively participate in the decision-making process. If we fail to act promptly, we all must share the responsibility of failure. I ask the world karate community to resist the temptation to make radical rule changes, and to choose the right way to promote the sport while preserving its traditional honor, spirit and ideals. Baron Pierre de Coubertin also said, “Olympism is not a system, it is a state of mind. It can permeate a wide variety of modes of expression and no single race or era can claim to have a monopoly on it.” It is my sincere hope that karate will become a productive member of the world sport community, and that future generations of the world’s youth will be able to share in its virtues, developed throughout ancient India, China, Okinawa and Japan, uniting the communities of the world in peace.

If so keep him at long range with your kicks, dont let him close u down cuz u can't beat him fist to fist, keep moving and hitting with hard kicks to his upper legs and go for sweeps.

U mean when sparring?

I'm sorry but ur very wrong.... Taekwon-do is not karate, it is Taekwon-do. Plz dont get the 2 confused they are very different. Oh and kenpo is not one of the "big 3" as u call it, although shotokan is the most popular style of karate in the western world. Kenpo is simply a popular style in the US but still not that popular. U do realise that TKD is korean and not japanese, it revolves around kicking and is NOT a style of karate, thats a typical comment a mcdojo would say, somtimes they call kickboxing or TKD karate, those kind of misconceptions are what are killing karate and MA's. If you must know TKD could be classed as part of the tang soo do family, but again its still not tang soo do.

He did not start fights as such, he didnt attack ppl, but he did challenge ppl 4 fights, specifically boxers and wrestlers (in controlled conditions of course, he didnt beat them up in a bar or somthing!), if ever someone was to challenge him, he always accepted, he liked to prove himself, the same goes with challenging bulls, which I think is cruel. Apparently he was racist too, well thats what EvilTed posted eariler. However he was a gr8 fighter, plz dont lose ur respect of him just cuz of me.

Yeah, why put karate in when we've got TaeKwon-do? MMA sounds like a good idea, however that would be very hard to regulate because olympic standards are very tight.

Actually, my style of Karate is Trodai and we have only two clubs, one in Ashby and one in London, despite this my style is fantastic, its a fusion of styles including muay thai and Boxing, I've visted several schools i'd ive not seen any like mine, i'm not joking it really is very good. However my style is affiliated with AMA (Amateur martial association) and my instucters are experienced in several martial martial arts.

Plz allitirate.

So would I...

pretty good, sounds like somthing u'd here on a computer game or somthing. Abit of guitar would be a nice touch.

So many post's recently about girls/boys i'd thought i'd ask the big one: Do you believe in true love? It makes me so emotional when talking about it...

http://www.combateffective.com/Improve_your_roundhouse_kicks.htm We could all do with a look on this link, it improved my kicking power.

Yeah, lennox is a generally nice guy, compared to the ear-biting rapist who's * he kicked in a couple of rounds. I mean u gotta look at the facts, lennox is taller, heavy, longer reach, better boxer (as proved); tyson didnt stand a chance in hell, and he got what he deserved. Go Lennox!!

The jumping front kick is easy, fast and powerful. Just stand in right stance jump on to your left foot and at the same time throw out a front kick. Its a very fast kick when done properly and one of the only jumping kicks that is actually practical and easy to do.

Yes you sister Well there are machines that stregthen and tone your Gluteus Maximus, aka your *. You'll find them in most gyms.

No, I think Kyokushin is a gr8 style and i'm actually think of taking it up eventually, i'm just saying that u've got a slight bias towards Mas Oyama, which is expected from a kyokushin practitoner. Yes he was a powerful and great man when it came to fighting but he was abit of a tough guy and a boaster too, he used to continually challenge ppl just to prove he cud beat them and thats not what karate is about.

Dijita, I wonder what style you practice

Reason no. 8: More Mcdojo's

http://www.martial-arts-info.com/ This site has a list of more or less every martial art u could think of and info about them all. Have a look at Capoeira, but remember this is a form of dance and NOT self-defence, it also requires an acrobatic level of fitness, ur gonna need to do things like back flips, rolls etc. Being able to do the splits should be a basic skill. If I were u i'd have a look on that link and check out the other martial arts and see if u like the look of any of them, and remember, if u need any help choosing were always here to help

Wushu's a form of kung fu, its like tai chi; but dont ask me why he blurted it out

What hand technique did use? ie. fist, knife-hand etc.

Oh yeah, theres another martial art on there too; wushu.