telsun

How confident are you? My advice: show off whilst showing respect at all times. Let us know how you get on..........

Calee My very sincere congratulations I was very saddened to read how you dislike your soon to be old job. And what a superb choice of career, something that you will be proud to tell people that you do. Thanks for sharing the excellent news with us, it makes me feel good thinking of the joy you must be feeling. I wish you all the very best Calee.

What exactly do you meanby "work" Rich_2k3? Lots of push ups will work the areas you mentioned.

Do you mean other styles of karate or other arts? I will spar with my mates from other styles and arts and we do not have any rules. Other than we are not allowed to seriously hurt each other. I do go to other dojo's occassionally but not for the sole purpose of sparring. However when it comes to it I fight by their rules but may slip in a couple of unexpected techniques (groin kicks for example, which some styles do not allow or teach) just to show that it is a weak area for them. Why do you think that you would sound arrogant?

I did wonder this as Dr Kano studied Jujitsu prior to developing Judo. You're right; when I say it is not judo I am implying that it is not olympic style judo. However as we do striking, punch, kick, elbow, etc, I just figured that it was not a form of judo at all. My Jujitsu knowlegde is very poor, please excuse me. Any info anyone is willing to give will be greatly received. Thanks.

I think that you underestimate a 'thug'. A bully is someone that picks on the weak. A thug is someone that will get into a scrap at the drop of the hat. He will probably have a bit of fighting skill, usually boxing and street (a style in it's own right and maybe the most devastating). With the bully you may get away with the show of aggression to make him back down. But with the thug he will see you as more of a challenge and will take more pride it beating the cr*# out of you. The bigger his opponent the greater the victory so to speak. Never underestimate a thug.

Yeah I know.....hehehehehe Well I am not entirely sure When I asked sensei told me that it used to be Yoshin ryu JJ but has changed to Kano JJ when they changed association, but when I asked about Kano JJ I was told that it is just Judo. However what I am doing is certainly not Judo. Everyone else, thanks for the advice so far, keep it coming. I did not go strolling in saying "I don't need to be taught this or that because I have been training in karate for 15 years" as I realise that this would be extremely arrogant. In all honestly I thought that my skill would just come to light and it has a couple of times. But the moves I am being taught as a white belt are just so restrictive. Obviously my throwing ability is rather embarrisingly poor although slightly better than a pure beginners. I think that if I just continue to train there it will become apparent that I am a little more skilled than the average guy. I am picking things up quickly (kyokushin) and I think that before long I will be mixing it with the big boys. Sensei does seem to pay me quite a bit of attention which I think is a good sign. Beer-monster so you do slip JJ moves in with your karate and vice versa (vaguely recalling a previous thread). It is very humbling going from top of the class to bottom. Maybe I should just swallow my pride Like I said many wise words already thank you all (BlackBeltJudge ). But I would like to hear any others.

Agreed Yes the correct answer is look to yourself. But I really just consider this to be words of the wise wannabe's There are hundreds of people that I admire but Morio Higoanna - Goju elite Geoff Thompson - zero to hero karate & JJ instructors - there they are right in front of me, these guys with superior technique and ability to mine. Spring to mind...... There are many others.

Someone will come along with a superb desciption that is crystal clear no doubt

Han zenkutsu dachi - Half long stance, han means half. So it is like a short longstance.

sansoouser I agree with you I average martial artist will be able to fight the average guy but if he comes up against something special then he is going to struggle. I was going to start a similar thread due to the fact that I am reading this book............ "In The Cage" a biography of Carl Merrit. Now this is one hard dude. His training consisted off street fighting, boxing and bouncing. That's it. Anyway he thought in prize fights. Not controlled matches but proper underground stuff, such as in Jean Claude Van Dams AWOL. Some of his fights ended in death!! It certainly is no kids game (although he started prize fighting when he was just 16) and really made me think about how ineffective my MA training would be against someone like this. He was well built and had the mentality of a maniac. I couldn't bring myself to inflict the sort of damage he did on someone unless my life depended on it, although I guess in most cases his life was in danger. Although he is a thug you still seem to warm to him. He has morals and does not brag about his past. If you ever get the chance to read this book I would highly recommend it. So with this in mind I agree that you will really benefit from being physically dominating and have the 'right' attitude. But if you are training in Martial Arts you will probably not be developing this kinda Mad man attitude. There is definately a flip side to this argument and no doubt I will be chopping and changing my opinion as others have their say.

Obviously you will not be able to turn your rear foot in as far as you would in a Sanchin dachi stance.

Are you familiar with Sanchin dachi? Well Seisan dachi is like a very long wide variation. Take a Hanzenkutsu dachi stance and then change your feet to a Sanchin dachi position. Isn't it hard to describe something rather than show

I got this definition from the English-to-American Dictionary: http://english2american.com/dictionary prat n. To call somebody a prat is rather similar to calling them an idiot. It's often meant to mean someone's general attitude than concerning one particular incident - "I met my sister's boyfriend the other day and he seems like a complete prat". Derived, I believe, from a time when the word was slang for your posterior (in a similar way to the more contemporaneous arse) and interestingly from that came the peculiarly American word pratfall, a fall on one's behind.

GrrrArg absolutely, it does happen I know. But still some people will remain with their McInstructor simply for conveniance or ease of training, etc. Some others will be completely blind to the better karateka. The fact remains that the world of karate would be better of witout these Mcdojo's, but your point is a fair one I am pretty much aware of the association that this dojo belongs to which I know has a very large following. However I do wonder why they let this type of thing go on. Which only causes damage to their respectable association I also agree with you on the world association front. I belong to a very small association although they are affiliated to the EKGB. I hate all this politics stuff. Fact is at the end of the day I am learning karate from the best instructor I could find. If he was not affialated to anybody I would still train with him. Respect.

granmasterchen, are you a nutter or a master And you did not say what you are doing nowadays old man...........Respect to you My training is so varied, I have no schedule at all. I'll just get in as many club sessions as I can during the week. I will run 1-3 miles, do makiwara, chishi, kata, basics, spar (when I can get a partner!). You know normal stuff. But due to the shifts I work and having to look after the kids when my better half is at work I just squeeze it in when I can. I workout extremely intensely. If I only have 1/2 hour, then that 1/2 hour will be like my last 1/2 hour I will ever get to train. Sometimes I get a few spare hours, although not often enough! I will generally train in one area (kata, sparring, fitness, etc) and just do repetition after repetition.

I have recently started going to Jujitsu. The instructor knows that I do karate but I did not mention to what extent I am trained. The first few JJ lessons were great but tonights wasn't all that good. Obviously there are alot of things in JJ that I do not do in karate but there is also alot that I do do. I have found that the stuff that the assistant instructor has been teaching extremely patronising, through no fault of their own I might add. I think that next time I am there I should mention that I have trained in Karate for 15 or so years and alot of the basic sweeps, locks, etc are quite familiar to me. Otherwise I am going to get real bored and quit. I do not wish to come across as arrogant because I know that I still have much to learn from JJ but I already know alot from my karate. I also want to make this clear to the JJ instructor. Just wanted to get it off my chest

Well even with my Tom Cruise looks and fantastic body (okay maybe not the body!!) I still don't think that I would wear the formentioned garment in these parts. We brits used to call them "T-bag" tops and it was generally fat slobs that wore them!!! Guess it's a bit different out there Anyway I wear my "pants" to training although I do try to minimise being seen in public in them. My JJ ones aren't quite so bad as they are black and full length so noone really notices I know of one instructor around here that walks upto his club fully kitted out, black belt n'all, with his arms away from his sides like his lats must be huge!!! What a prat!!

I used to use weights alot but am now tending to go more for calisthenics. More for conveniance than any other reason. Although the karate and JJ classes I goto have showed me how hard bodweight exercises really can be

This is him: http://www.internationalbudofederation.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/martin_clarke_bio.htm I remember reading that he did not feel worthy of such a grade at such a tender age. But felt it very dishonorable to decline the offer from his seniors. A very humble man.

You are quite right in saying this, but just wanted to say that there is a highly acclaimed Judoka that lives in these parts that has been awarded 8th dan at the age of 51 It was awarded by the International Judo Council (or something like that). This guy is exceptional, just wanted to let you lot know that there are exceptions to the rule.

He must have truly believed in what he was telling you. You say that he was probably jealous, which I do not doubt, but he was confident enough to challenge you I don't know how to take this "McMaster. How was he after the dual? Bet he made a load of excuses. What was the response from the class? The 'masters' over here tend not to be any higher than 7th dan. Yet I have never seen them challenge anyone. I don't think that they have anything to prove. It would seem that he was not whom he claimed to be. What was his theory behind the lack of practicality behind a back fist? He might have heard a true master say it once and just copied it parrot fashion without the true understanding it was originally said with.

I used to iron mine after every wash but now I don't bother as it does not look any different I think that ninjanurse is right in saying to hang dry them. Or failing that just don't wash it quite so often, you'll find that the creases decrease every time you wear it It'll also keep your opponent at bay

Are they? I don't really know just seen them nipping about and looking sweet, always thought to myself that I wouldn't mind one as a little runaround. Okay then with that in mind I would go with the Polo. Nice looking, good residuals, excellent build. A friend of mine has a lovely little black one which she loves, but like you she would like a Golf The Seat Arosa is a good alternative to the Polo as I believe that it is basically the same car but with a different body. Probably cheaper than a Polo so you will get more car for your money. Depreciation on Seats aren't as good as Volkswagons but if you're getting it on HP and giving it back after 3 years then that won't really be a concern. Test drive all the cars you like, see who is going to give you a great deal and then you can make an educated decision, but I doubt that it will be an easy one Remember though at the end of the day 'it is just a car'

They will work very well in Karate sparring. But I agree in "fighting" they would not be so effective unless the opponent was running backwards. I see what you're saying and doing MuayThai Fighter. I think pointless is a little harsh, maybe even naive.................