telsun

No, I'm sitting here reading this

Get a sparring partner and do slowish controlled sparring. Try out new things and don't worry about getting hit. When you are sparring remeber it is just that. It is not a fight for your life. It is okay to take hits whilst trying things out.

I agree. You are quite right to say that most karate guys do not know how to grapple. From my experience I would say that a striker (karate, TKD, etc) will carry on striking whilst on the floor. This is generally what they know best and is what they will do whether on their feet or on the ground. I do JJ now to cover this weak area in my karate. When I first went to JJ and we were doing ground fighting I remember getting my opponent on his back and looking at him, I said "well that's it! Other than hit you I don't really know what else to do!" Excellent philosophy There is a guy at work that is always challenging me (in jest) my response: "I will not except your challenge because even a loser like you may get a lucky shot!"

Well maybe not thousands How to find them? Well you have to look The best instructors are not always the best known and are often hard to find. I do not wish to be patronising but you have searched the web and looked in the phone book haven't you?

Oh and watch MA movies. Lots of 'em.

Life without MA I just can't imagine it. The thing with MA is that you do require practice. Yeah I think all of us go through the spell of getting lax in training when there is little to no motivation. When my old instructor left I opened my own club Others have already given good advice, please excuse me for repeating some of it. Keep in shape. What do you lack at the moment? If you want to build up some bulk now is a good time to do it, as your body will have a more relaxing time recovering. Alternatively you may wish to work on your fitness. Set a goal and go for it. The goal part is important to keep your motivation. Read, read, read. Buy some MA mags, read those old MA books you have (you must have some surely). Personally I don't get much from reading 'How to' MA books. I got hooked on motivating, self improvement books. I recently read "The great escape" by Geoff Thompson, which was very good. Gives you a real feeling of self worth. I also enjoy reading biographies. I just finished reading Inside the Cage which is the true story of Carl Merrit who was involved in illegal prize fighting. That book was a real eye opener. Next I'll be reading Mohamed Ali's biography. Visit the library and get some good books to read. Alternatively I will send you a couple you might enjoy, under the condition that you return them to me There must be people from your old Karate club in the area. Get together. Hire the hall if you like (I used to hire a squash court for some extra training). If you was friendly with your old instructor then go visit him. It is surprising gow much you will learn at a social level. Of course do not neglect your karate training. If you can't get combo's together etc, then just concentrate on kata. Everything is in them study them and things just seem to come to light.

See if you can get the Panther series-Morio Higaonna video collection. The series is broken down to each kata (1 video per kata) and is extremely comprehensive. I got my copies from ebay from a guy in America. I don't know of any sites that feature mpegs of kata though. I don't think so. There are some similar katas within the styles but I do not belive that this are any of them. Although like you I am not sure Sanchin is a dynamic tension kata performed very slowly with only a few basic moves the only stance is, obviously, Sanchin.

The Shotokan reverse punch is, to the best of my knowledge no different from any other styles reverse punch. Certainly not Goju-ryu as I have studied both extensively. Okay so your punch is already extremely hard, obviously, so my advice maybe in vain. To improve power: when hitting the bag have the rear leg slightly bent, prior to throwing the punch straighten the leg, then throw the hip, etc, etc. I train RP (reverse punch) in various ways on the bag. One way is a rythmic pounding. With what I said above you can transfer your bodyweight forward and back as you punch, this way you will really appreciate the extra power you are creating by getting the whole body behind the punch. Also develop the tanden and learn to extract power from this area. Easier said than done, I know, but it is where the power is. Of course eventually you should be working up to punching without retracting the other arm, if you still are doing this. We used to have "strike shields" that you would buy from a MA shop but after sensei broke someones ribs through them he had to come up with his own thicker made one Surfice to say, it still hurts holding the bag for sensei.

.........but maybe you could tell me/us how long you have practiced karate and JJ

Don't worry about that last post Beer-monster as I have just read this: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=79003&highlight=#79003

I think that this may prove to be a dissapointing journey for you Beer-monster There are thousands of guys between here and there that could teach you more than I can. Although you're only a little fella and I maybe able to kick your butt, so maybe you should come down Just kidding, maybe one day if I am up that way or you are down here............ What style of karate are you practicing anyway. Tell me a bit about yourself, if you would be so kind. Pick up a copy of Combat, Martial Arts Illustrated or some other mag from the news agent. There are some in there sometimes.

Hey chh, where are you? Tiger push ups are punishing aren't they. I had never done them b4 I started Okinawan Goju-ryu. I was watching Sensei Higaonna's 'Warm up' video yesterday (for the 1st time) and there he was doing them as a stretching exercise. I traines with a kick boxer friend at his club and he also does them as well. I thought the pyramid push ups would be easy but like you say I did struggle with them. As you get better you can up your maximum rep count and then count down from there. I am the same as you about the push up width query

Thanks all!! Well I have a few more thoughts............ I know about Jesus dying for our sins, but cannot truly confess to fully appreciating it, in a Christian sense. So what will make me realise? Do I need preaching to? I do not have a desire to fulfill a criteria to become a Christian. I do not feel the need to be a Christian but I want to have 'God' by my side, so to speak. I don't know if this makes sense. Reading it again it reads something like I want to practice karate without becoming a karateka!!!Obviously I am struggling to say what I mean, still a little bewildered I guess. Thank Tibby I'll take a look. Please except my questions for what they are; naive. No offence is meant by anything that I write.

What style of karate was you doing?

A VW Jetta is a Golf (mk3'ish) with a boot. The 1.4 TDI is a superb unit, so I have read. The VW Polo has a 1.4 TDI sport which is the model that I would go for. The Diesel is quite quick, very, very frugal and you still get the cheaper road tax A very good choice me thinks

Nearly Have you always trained in GKR Karate? Welcome to the forum, by the way. Your contributions so far have been appreciated, at least by myself

My stance will vary depending upon whom I am fighting. It maybe a neko-ashi-dachi, or a very upright boxing style stance (cannot recall Japanese name ) My hands will also vary they are generally: back hand; in front of stomach, front hand; slightly extended, both hands open, but if I am feeling vunerable I will close my guard down and perhaps close my hands. I will happily have left or right leg forward. Yet if someone I have fought read this they would probably disagree, as I might have used something completely different with them.

I read in the news paper a while ago that Iron Mike was going to take on all volunteers who think that they're handy. I guess they may have been referring to a MMA bout. Yeah I think that he would be a man to be reckoned with. Not necassarily an ultimate fighter when it comes to grappling etc. I imagine him more in uderground, illegal prize fighting. There I think he would be in his element..........

You say you found a "really good shotokan dojo". From this statement I presume that you have checked it out. Do you also think that the Kyokushin dojo is really good? You asked for the plus & minuses of Shotokan. Well it is impossible to say as what some consider to be a minus others may consider a plus. I practiced Shotokan karate for a fair few years blissfully unaware of any other styles Sometimes I think that this is the best way............With that said given the choice I would now choose Kyokushin. My advice to you would be to try both clubs. See which one you like the look off and don't let anybody tell you which one you should do.

Hi Valithor Nice to see a GKR black belt on the forum. Could you possibly tell us more on your history. Years training, styles practiced, etc. No particular reason just curious

I think this is what TJS was implying.

Beer-monster it would appear we have something else in common; I too would also like to train and compete in Kyokushin. I have trained at a Kyokushin club a couple of times and was very impressed, unfortunately though the club is very far away and not practical for me to train at. Okay well I have had a little think about this. It would be more accurate for me to say: actually I fight by my rules unless I am requested to do otherwise. I will fight by their rules if I think it is to my advantage. Please allow me to elaborate. If I am going to a karate class that is a different style then I think the difference in our styles should be shown. This will be of benefit to me and my opponent. Like I said though if I did a groin kick and my opponent said we don't do groin kicks then I would refrain from doing them, which brings me neatly onto............. Controlled groin kicks are possible, but they must not be aimed to the groin itself. What we do is kick to the inside of the thigh or to the hem of the jacket. In my 12 years of practicing this way I have never made serious contact with any of my opponents, although I have received one from an inexperianced karateka trying to imitate his seniors. They are dangerous and need to be applied with extreme care.

Why do you want to study two styles? The most common reason is to cover weak spots. I would suggest comitting yourself to one of these styles, whichever you prefer, and be a master of 1 rather than a jack of 2 or more. You bob, your opponent knees you in the face. This is not likely to happen in a boxing match. Some people...................

GrrrArg - yes that's kinda where I 'm at. I believe in god but do not go to church, I have also been christened when I was young. Another question for you all. When can you call yourself a Christian? Do you have to take a vowl (spelling?) or something? Well my life is.........challenging. People have it harder, much harder, I know but I have my own personal struggle. I have always believed there is a God but recently I have been finding myself thinking more about it. My sensei is also a Christian and he obviously has an influence on me, although he does not preach religion, he does tell a good story He has gone through alot, more than the average man will in his lifetime. Any way sensei is a big strong guy but emotionally he struggled at his times of need. He found a great deal of strength in God. The more I listened to him and read a couple of books that I had brought (not religous books I might add) the more I begun to wonder if there is something in this God thing. I finally got to the point that I was convinced that God is there watching and listening, so I gave it a go. All I'll say is that I received a sign. It could be easy to pass it off as a coincidence, but it was enough to convince me. Since that time I myself have found great strength in the believe that I am not alone. Like my sensei said to me once before: "I believe in the way I am leading my life. If I am wrong and it turns out to be a load of garbage then it does not matter because I would have lived a good, fulfilling life." I appreciate the diplomacy shown on this thread as I know that this can be a very passionate, sensitive subject. Thanks all and just to remind you of my question: When can you call yourself a Christian?

Yup No more no less...........