SaiFightsMS

Thanks everyone and I am working really hard. I got both feet half an inch off the floor at the same time last night. Hey that may not sound like much but I spent 14 years stuck in a wheelchair.

I was reading another thread and the question came to my mind do you study the art you really want to or one that is available? Remember not everyone has access to every art. Some areas have very few schools of any kind. If you do study and art because it is the one that is available what would you choose to add to it if a new school came to town?

We have had very shy students start to learn to kiai with just a forceful exhalation and gradually adding more force to it. Also working on "Belly breathing" will help clarify some of the more complex explanation. Most of us breath incorrectly in that we contract our abdomen on the inhale. It is hard to learn to belly breath and use the diaphram on the inhale to bring more air into the lungs. Lay on the floor with a weight on your lowerchest and breathe. Or a large cat. That will help strengthen the breathing action.

I have a deep appreciation of all serious responses that were given in this thread. I enjoy things that make me think. It is so amazing to come in and be among people who can think and contemplate more than what is on tv tonight. I have drank green tea while seated on a straw mat in Japan. It was the first cup of green tea I had ever drank. At the time I remember noting the small size of the cup. Now I see that there are many reasons for that. There are so many ways to search for the perfect cup of green tea. For all of us we have different cups. We can however, share the pleasure of the search.

Ad you ask very hard questions for one so young. Actually you are asking a very good question that I am sure many of us have pondered. I don't think there are any easy or pat answers. I have had the privelage of meeting a few people with very great inner strenght. They were all very quiet, humble people. And they all had at their core a very strong belief in something. Their outer strenght came from an inner strength. They have all also had great self discipline. This may not help your question. But at least you know others wonder too. Sai

Okay since someone brought this thread up I have a problem with knee and shin tenderness. I still wear knee pads during class if I don't I wind up with green and blue knees. I would have thought things would have gotten better over time but no. Now I am no kid. I am over 40 and do have some chronic joint problems. Any hope for me?

It is good for one to respect and admire your sensei. I am of the opinion that if you cannot respect your sensei or you violently disagree with the way your sensei teaches or what is taught you should train elsewhere. Sensei's are not gods they are humans. But they are humans who can have big impacts on those they teach. Mayby that is why the old Okinawan masters had few students at any one time.

What an oppurtunity. Just remember those a's that are the prerequisite and don't neglect your schoolwork while you are trying to soup up your ma training.

Um Joe just never go to Japan and say that. The person who sits on you may not be a big fat guy. Seriously sumo is a revered tradition there. Your sensei should be trying to teach you some respect if you are studying a traditional art.

Hello Ad and welcome to the forum. You ask a common question and different forums here have threads about sparring asked by others. The main thing for you I think will be just more experience. Try to find a senior student with a bit of patience to spar with you. One of the jobs of a senior student in a sempai-kohai role is to assist with learning. They should push you a bit without killing or hurting you. They should give you opportunities to try things and maybe slow some of their techniques a bit in order for you to learn how to respond.

Can you be more specific in what you are looking for? There are a lot of books out there.

Okay my last fight lasted 6 years. Yes six years. A very long time. Not all fights are short one or two punchers. Okay I had the neighbor from hell. As it turned out about the time his "friends" started pestering the absolute sh*t out of me(and the rest of the building) I was just learning how to kick. I got really pissed off one day and sort of kicked his door in. Not smart. This fight went on so long because it involved rules in public housing. It is amazingly difficult to throw a physically handicapped person out of public housing. They would not just throw this bast**rd out because he was an amputee. So the garbage went on for six years until we worked together with management well and long enough to take the case to court. The f****r was thrown out by a court of law. There were many times I would have loved to have taken some shots at the guy. But the result would have been Me getting thrown out. It was harder to restrain the anger from getting out of hand than it was to set down and cooperate with management. I credit my training with helping me keep may anger in check. There are many sorts of battles and fights. Sometimes it is clearly a case of defend yourself or else. But there are many other time were our training can be used to keep us from getting into needless trouble. And there are going to be many times when the discipline we learn can be applied to fight in a form you may not even think of until you are faced with a strange setting.

Yes we do recover. But it does take us a bit longer now doesn't it KickchicK? And you know every time something like this happens we swear next time we will return to a specific form of training more gradually. But do we???

Oh please, you have me intrugued as well.

Hello and welcome Ronyu My primary style is Shotokan but I have trained in Shor-in ryu and Shi- to ryu. I work with some Okinawan Kobud as do others who visit here. This is a good site. Explore and find all sorts of interesting things. Sai

What is an astronauts favorite key on a computer keyboard? The space bar. :spitlaugh:I liked that one kicker

Kareteka I am almost glad there are not 50 kata in my style. I would most certainly never remember them. I struggle enough to remember the ones I do know. And there are some I will allways struggle with to do well. For me I love the allure of learning a new kata but I also love the struggle to do one over and over in the strugle to do it well.

Ah no, did I neglect to mention that you are laying on your back and your legs are against the wall? . I see I did. Oh well what you end up doing is doing the splits while laying on your back. The wall helps keep your legs in position to maintain your form.

Moobrak I wish we all could meet that guy and learn from him. That is what it is all about.

Moobrak sounds like you earned your belt. I had a similar experience getting my 5th kyu. Everyone of my strips of cloth have a special meaning to me and a set of different stories and struggles behind them. My faded threadbare 1st kyu belt is really ragged and a real treasure.

ROFL Kickchick. I think one of my problems in the push up struggle is the damage that has been done to my shoulders. It is odd but I get more swelling in my shoulders the day after I bench than I do after I train shoulders. Isn't it nice to have a sense of humor?

When we rei in before class and pay respects to sensei and to the dojo I will never remember one room I trained in for a year. We were in a dark, very dirty basement. We all wound up with dingy gray gi's. Now everytime I pay respects to the facility I am training in and I can see across the room without having to quess who I am seeing in the dark I am greatful. Respect is a complex and a simple thing.

Ah Joe you have much enthusiasm and much to learn. It is fascinating to study the history of the martial arts and the back ground of many of the arts contributers. Bruce Lee is revered becasue he was one one the ground breakers in teaching non-orientals. You need to watch Enter the Dragon. Sounds like you might enjoy several trips to the library and a deal of research to start you on your way.

Masters of multiple martial arts hmmmmmm. I really don't know if one person could adequately teach many differing types of the martial arts. It would be a unique school though with the facilities for qualified instructors in differing arts to teach under the same roof in the same school. With the clear understanding that each instructor had their special area. Actually I find I enjoy learning an occasional kata from a different style. My sensei knows I do that. He is fine with the idea as long as I am not trying to do a foriegn kata in front of other students while warming up before class.

Oh wow what a way to start a fight. I have watched and trained with a number of young students approaching black belt hood. Our young black belts earn theirs the same way as our adult students do. And as for attitude problems those usually show up before the black belt is earned. We do not teach bullies. And we do not accept bad attitudes out of anyone. In fact an effort is made to incorparate ways for them to learn to accept the responsiblity of the belt on the way up as they get close in terms of tournament judging and so on.