Tal

The 'boards don't hit back' argument is r*tarded (wtf?? this forum censors the word 'r*tarded'!! ). As aefibird said, neither do bags. And neither does the atmosphere, so why don't people stop practicing basics all together and just do constant sparring.

My shotokan style has nine coloured belts! White, orange, red, yellow, green, purple, striped purple, brown, striped brown & double striped brown. That's way too many IMO.

'The street' has become a synonym for any real fight, not just fights that literally take place in a street. When people talk about street fighting that usualling includes bar fights etc. I've only ever used front kicks and roundhouse kicks in real fights, and nearly always below the waist. I kicked someone in the kidneys once but that's the highest I've gone in real life. I've found that if you kick someone's legs (knees or lower) a few times, they get really p***ed and charge you. Then you just sidestep and trip them over. Front kick to the groin is, of course, unrivaled for inducing pain But if your opponent is remotely skilled he will block it. Finally, an axe kick to a floored opponent is pretty damn effective.

You practice on the toilet???

I would definately have still done shotokan, jujitsu and kendo. I would have tried to stick with boxing a little longer (I only did it for about two months). They were the only arts available to me, other than TKD, but TKD didn't really appeal to me as the local dojo was way too sport oriented.

10 years is a long time...its hard to say. Guessing where I'll be in 1 year is hard enough! Anyway, I hope to have got back into shotokan again within 10 years, maybe reach sandan grade. I could get to nidan or sandan in jujitsu if I train hard, and a similar grade for kendo. I'll probably start a different art if I get the chance. I'd really like to do some muay thai or wing chun or something.

I had a friend at college, he was big (6'4" i think) and strong, and played a lot of rugby (he went to trials for the national team once). If he got into a fight, he'd just charge at his opponent and rugby tackle them. He'd grab them at their waist while he was running, lift them several feet into the air, slam them on the ground, and land on them. It was a very effective technique for him because he was so strong. However, overall I don't think sport or culture has a big offect on the way people fight in this part of the world (central England). Most fights I've seen just end up with people swinging wildly at eachother, with some form of stand-up grappling involved.

At the first shotokan dojo I went to, we only did breaking about once a year. The second one I went to, we'd do it once a month.

Superior offensive techniques...such as killing people with the empty hand, quickly. If a samurai attacks you, you either have to kill him or he kills you. Since the Okinawan farmers weren't allowed real weapons, most of the time they had to rely on their hands to kill attackers. Yes, they killed people in self-defense, but killing people is killing people.

No, my dojo was quite sport-oriented. Very little of the 'real' bunkai were tought to us. We just got these crappy applications for use in competitions. It wasn't until after I got my shodan and started going on lots of courses that I learnt some real kata applications; and I was surprised how many of them are really 'close in' techniques rather than the distanced punching and kicking you do in competition.

I think I could take two or three untrained and inexperienced people of my own strength and build. I was once in a fight with a friend, against two other guys about the same size as me. My friend got beat down pretty quickly, so I effectively had to fight both of them by myself. I got a broken nose, but they left me alone eventually. I've also been in the unfortunate situation of having four people attacking me while I was on my own. They were about the same size of me, and they kicked my * in no time. So, I'd say 2 to 3 'average' people is about all I can handle. The thing is, most people who pick fights aren't average people; they usually have some or a lot of street fighting experience. Even 3 'average' people, I think, would be pushing it. If you're being attacked from front and back simultaneously, its very difficult to defend yourself. Its not like in the movies when the baddies attack the hero one at a time. Oh man! A nose bleed....truly devastating... If they put a half-decent head lock on you, you won't be able to knee them in the face unless you're very strong. Death kick? Can you do fireballs as well?

As always when you have a problem, speak to your sensei first (but be respectful!). What matters at the end of the day is that you are learning the art. If you want excitement, go bungee jumping or something. However, if the new style of lesson at your dojo means you aren't learning the required stuff, then there is a problem and you need a chat with sensei. At your shodan grading, you're not going to be tested on how exciting your lessons were! You get a black belt for your skill and knowledge, not your enjoyment of lessons. You could try entering some competitions. There have been times when I've got bored with shotokan, and a competition reinspired me.

I train jujitsu twice a week and and kendo twice a week. I manage to visit my shotokan dojo about once a month, but I wouldn't say I'm really training in shotokan any more - I don't have the time and the dojo is far from home. I just go about once a month so I don't forget everything; I'm not really learning anything new. I've also started freestyle shinai fighting once a week; but thats more like fun than training. This is apart from training at home, of course.

As many as possible. You can't really go to the dojo too much. I'd say 2 hours a week would be the bare minimum.

I was 7, watched karate kid, and was like "dad, I wanna learn karate". So I started going to the dojo. After a while, I learned there was a lot more to karate than doing funky kata and kicks and stuff, and I became addicted, pretty much. I started jujitsu when I was 15 because I wanted to learn how to fight better. I picked a fight with this big guy at school and he just got really close so I couldn't use my karate. About a month later I started on him again, and he was like, "oh, its karate boy again". This time I threw him and broke his wrist. Started kendo when I went to university at 18, mainly because I was really interested in sword fencing in general, and the whole samurai thing appealed to me.

Yes, I think that may be the case for some people. I hope to return to shotokan one day, but that desire doesn't really interfere with my jujitsu and kendo training. Perhaps its because I don't take things seriously enough, or perhaps it does interfere subconsiously.

There is no definitive age that is right for everyone. It depends on the sensei, his style of teaching, the ages of others at the club, and most importantly, the mentality of the child. If your son really has his heart set on it as you say, then it shouldn't hurt to give it a go. Make sure he wants to do it for the right reasons though. I know you can't expect a five year old to take things very seriously, but he should have a desire to learn, not purely just to play around doing kicks and stuff. You don't need to go to a dojo and pay $ just to play around. Personally, I think for the vast majority of kids, 5 is too young. They simply don't have the maturity to learn MA effectively. I started karate when I was 7, and I think that was too young. I didn't really start learning until I was about 10. But as has been said already, it depends on the child. Talk to the karate instructor about it and see what he thinks; he's probably more knowledgeable than most of us here.

Wrong forum, I think, but anyway: You can hit people with them Knee to the groin is always a good one. That spinning elbow thing from muay thai looks pretty good, but I've never seen it used in a real fight. If you get too close to punch effectively, you can do a kind of uppercut with your elbow. If you hit your opponent under the chin, you'll probably knock him out (seen it happen in a real fight). If you can manage it, pulling your opponents head down onto your rising knee is devastating.

Bit of a stupid question; it obviosuly depends on the skill of the people I'm defending myself from. I could face several very poor attackers and defeat them, or I could be beaten by one good attacker.

all your nation are belong to me!!

I wouldn't go 'hunting' myself. I probably don't have the strength to shatter someone's skull with a single punch myself, I was talking about the uses of breaking as MA practice. I also practice kendo. If I went out with a sword and cut someone's head off in a fight, I'd be in deep s***, but that doesn't mean that training with a sword in kendo is pointless or 'lame' practice. Likewise, if I went out and shattered someone's skull in a fight, I may get in trouble, but that doesn't mean that breaking is an pointless form of training.

For heaven's sake, why you want to do that? To kill them. That's what karate was created for - to kill people quickly with the empty hand. You may not want to kill someone in a fight these days, but if you want to train in traditional karate, being able to kill someone quickly with your bare hands is a vital skill. I don't think someone with a shattered skull will find breaking beneficial!! I also don't think it will be very beneficial to you..... spending the rest of your life in prison! Killing someone in a fight doesn't automatically land you in jail. You might be able to easily justify your actions in some situations. For example; someone attacks you with a knife or gun, you punch them and shatter their skull and they die. A single punch is quite legitemate self defense if you're being attacked with a lethal weapon, its just that single punch happened to shatter their skull. Too bad for them.

err, no. Most people can't. If anyone could break things, no one would bother with it in MA. Anyway, what about 5 breeze blocks? or 10? Neither does a bag have any intent of hurting 'u', but all the best boxers train with bags. It takes more skill to break than to just hit a bag. A weak person can learn to break by using skill. What about breaking armor? Or breaking a table or chair someone is using as a shield? Or snapping a baseball bat with a block? Perhaps you can break someone's nose or jaw with a punch, but can you shatter their skull? You may not find breaking beneficial, but some people do. Show some respect to them.

One of the most common situations I've seen start with some guy pushing another guy for whatever reason. If someone pushes you, I'd take it as a good sign. Its showing they don't have the confidense to go for you straight away, and neither are they expecting you to go for them straight away. As soon as they push you, go! In most cases you'll surprise them. Kick their groin, get them off balance (you can use the momentum of their push to bring them of balance) and put a wrist lock on (having pushed you, their wrists will land in a very convenient position). Then you can throw, break their wrist, whatever. I've used this in real life. As long as you go the instant they start to push you, you'll surprise them.

Very true! I too have seen this many times (I think anyone who's seen a few fights will have seen it too). Wrong. I've had people do this charge on me before; I just move out of the way (tai sebaki) or go circular just as they are about to hit me. You can easily trip someone at this point, or throw a roundhouse to their kidneys. If the guy is in a rage and you're calm (and have some skill), you can 'dodge' those charges indefinately if you have the space. I've always used ground fighting or even stand-up grappling/throws as a last resort. If you go to the floor his mate will probably come and stamp on your head (seen it happen). Ground fighting is fine in a one-on-one fight, but you gotta watch out when there are other people around. I mentioned space above, and that is often a factor in a real fight, especially in a bar or anywhere indoors. The place may be crowded, or you may be between tables. In this case, you cannot get out of the way, and if the guy is charging you, you either have to knock him out quick or grapple. You don't necessarily have to go to the floor, but once you start grappling the chances of going to the floor increase greatly. This is my philosophy. I'm not a big person, so I like to stay up so I can use my fitness and agility to my advantage. For a big person, grappling may give them a greater advantage. What you cannot do is say that in a given situation, one type of fighting is best for everyone.