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Getting your blackbelt shouldn't be the most important thing to you. Its not the belt that says how good you are as a martial artist its the person. It doesn't matter what belt you wear you are the same standard, you don;t suddenly increase in skill and speed because you put on a black belt. The question really should be how long till i am at the standard of the black belts in my system. Then even this question can't be answered because what is the standard of 1st dan? you will probarly get some really good 1st dans and some bad ones. You shouldn't measure your progress by belt colours, but by personal achievment. Like when you spar with x, then spar with x a few months later are you doing better, or making x work harder. I hope you can see what i'm saying. Who cares if it takes 2.5 years in one system and 5 in another. Maybe that says something about the standard of teaching or the people. Look at Bjj that takes 10 years to get 1st dan. But the standard of the 1st dans is sooo high.

I dunno how many of you suffer from this. But I find when I try and get into the splits, my initial stretch isn't very good, but after a few tries i get really close, just a few inches off the floor. So my question is why does this happen, and how does one solve this problem. My aim is to be able to get into splits cold.

Please can you give me some advise on a weigtlifing schedule. I've so far been told to stick away from weight machines, as they will make you slow. That I should stick to the cable machines and dumbells(never use the bench when using dumbells, use that ball thing to help with balance). With dumbells how many reps should one do? What are peoples favorite dumbell exercises?(been told that shadow boxing with dumbells is bad if you use too much weight, due to the main force not acting away from your punch but towards the ground) For every exercise that there is a pull do an equal push exercise, to make the body balanced. What are some good exercises for static active flexibility(the one where you can stick your leg out realy high and hold it there). What do people do for torso strength and for the back muscles? Does anyone do any plyometric exercises, which ones do you do? If possible could there be some reasoning behind your answers and any scientific info to back it up would be great.

I think everyone knows the masciline thing would be to wax your legs(if your a nutter) I have never waxed my legs or shaved them, do you get ingrown hairs? It seems like alot of maintanence to shave your legs, and won't the hair grow back thicker each time. How often do people(men) have to do it?

I don't know about kenshukai karate, but i wouldn't worry about your grading, you have done all the hard work training getting there. I doubt you would have been put forward if your instructor thought you were going to fail. In the system i do the grading is: a) Starting with basic combinations b) Have a go at katas c) Sparring d)Ippon work(self defense) for higher grades e) exercises f) The grader will ask a question and you can answer about it. Eg what does your training mean to you. I havent done a grading in ages hope i didn;t forget anything. Its nornal to be nervous, because you care about passing, but remember everything doesn't have to be perfect no one is perfect.

Tyson has signed to K1 http://www.k-1gp.net/top546.htm To be honest when tyson punches he will have to plant his feet and he will be taken out with leg kicks. But once he connects one good punch I think the guy is going down. Look at Vitor Belfort and Mike tyson is a way better boxer then him. I wouldn't put my money on mike tyson in a mma event, but all it will take is for him to expode in and hit his oppenant with a few punches. Look at how effective vitor's punches are. I would love to see a Rickson Gracie vs Mike Tyson I think thats the match all mma fans would love to see..

If you ever watch the creative breaking championship iw will give you some idesas. A Cocunut Baseball bat(with shins looks really cool) 2x2 pieces of wood you could recreate the scenes from karate kid 2 with the ice blocks Do some speed breaks they're impressive. I always think anything on fire looks cool The guy who won the creative breaking when i watched it did a really cool break, he broke an arrow that was fired at him.

Best defense would be to parry the side kick. So with your lead hand(assuming left)you push her leg left when it comes into your range. It will totally put her offbalance.and will make her spin if done proparly and you can steam in with punches. Hardest thing is timing, but thats just practise. Or just side step those kicks, you don't have to move in a straight line! well done on your tournament aswell

If you think you can beat him try it, what do you have to lose. I know alot of people will never go full pace at their instructors for a) Out of respect b) Don't want to show a lack of control c) Want to show there techniques arn't sloppy at all, want to throw good clean techniques which gets harder the faster you go. My advice is try it, if you score a really good point infront of everyone he will prob say well done and up his pace abit, I know thats what happens where i train.

If you look at the ufc pride some of the guys are really big. They still have the speed, look at heavyweight boxers, they're big, do weights and look how fast they are. Vitor belfort, hes probarly the fastest puncher in the ufc and he does weights and such. Rickson gracie, hes about 185lbs and 5'9 tall he is arguable the best fighter on the planet. All the top fighters do seem todo weights. Doing weights will help you with power, and that extra mass should help you from being hit back when sparing. Doing weights doesn't mean you have to slow down or lose flexibility. Just make sure you do some speedtraining after doing weights, if you just do weights and no traing you will slow down. Have you thought of using creatine, it will let your workouts be more intense. Its a natural substance found in steak, and pretty much all top athletes use it.

Be blunt. But try and be kinda polite just say, i don't mean to be rude but I really don't appreciate you goofing around i'm hear to learn. Do it proparly or do it with someone else. You could also tell her that she should probarly practice with another lady because its better to work with the same sex on partner work.

I might have gone abit off topic, but i still think even full contact sport fighter would lose. Due to much the same reasons i said before. Full contact sport fighters don't take leg kicks or have a clue about takedowns. Pretty much every ufc pride etc fight you see goes to teh floor at some point, unless there is a knock out really quick. Watch old ufcs there you will see alot of full contact sport fighters and they get beaten by people with floor work the whole time. You can see what they're think. they get taken to the floor and are like wtf. Then get submitted. Thats why gracie did so well in the old ufcs not many peopel had the same groundwork skills he had. A striker on the ground is like a fish out of water.

All you TMA next time you are training look at your technique. Most of you will find that your techniques are way too flicky. Look at your kicks/punches next time and ask yourself is this going to really hurt him, or will he just absorb it and continue to belt the hell out of you. MMA have a different mindset they will take that one reverse punch so they can give you a whole load of punches or submit you. MMA fighters i would say can take alot more of a beating then tma. Tma try taking a leg kick. Next time your in a session ask a friend to kick you in your leg(the section of the leg above the knee) with their shin hard. Your leg will probarly go completly dead and i would like to see you try and spar, thats one of the most common moves in a mma ring.There was a video floating around kazaa called muai thai vs taekwondo, this will show you the effectveness of leg kicks. How many of you tma have actauly being proparly hit to the head, i don't mean a reverse punch that was accidentily hit in. In tma you don't really learn how to handle leg kicks and head punches. Watch the really old ufcs and you will see alot more tradional martial artists then you do know. The reason, all the tma that didn't have adequite striking and almost all of them didn't have a clue when it came to the ground. If a fighter wants the fight to be taken to the ground they normally can, they will take that punch to get you down. I'm not saying mma fighters will win all the time, but a person will full contact experiance will most of the time be able to beat a semi contact fighter. They can take more of a beating and will know whats actually effective and whats crap. As a semi contact fighters doesn't always know what actually works in a fight. There is alot of crap in tma. Pressure points, please. There are only two "pressure points" that are effective in a street fight that i can think of the groin and throat. No offense against pressure point fighters its not easy finding pressure points on people, becaues everyone is different and sometimes those pressure points don't work on people. TMA arn't bad, but normally tma artists have no groundwork skills,are too flicky with techniques, don't know how to take a good beating. When i'm talking about tma i'm talking about semi contact ones. But i would still put my money on a mma over a tma who had done there full contact(normally only above the waist hits). Talking about that huge guy, have you ever seen old ufcs. There was a huge guy who looked like a sumo wrestler. If they're big and fat they're normally slow.THis big guy got whooped, fisrt time he tripped up when he charged at the guy so the guy kicked him in the head fight over. Next tiem i saw him fight, the other guy just charged in with head punches and he dropped and ended up just putting his hands infront of his head and lost. Thats another point most tma wouldn't have the same fittness or even strength that most mma fighters have. The fittness level of mma fighterrs has to be really high. Most mma fighters do alot of gym work so i would say generally are stronger then tma, i know there would be alot of tma who are well built aswell, but i'm just saying in general.