aefibird

Huh, sounds like the history of most martial arts. :-/ Anyway, thanks for the link - it's an interesting site.

Even the local McDojo may be better than nothing. It will give you a chance to train and work out with other people. It may even surprise you and be not as "McDojo-ish" as you first thought. Why do you consider it to be a McDojo? Is it because of the price? High prices do not necessarily = bad teaching. As I always tell my white belt students you can learn something from everyone. Even a white belt can teach another whitebelt, so you may learn more from the McDojo than you expect to. Good luck with the training.

Hi Hyatt, welcome! There's other Uechi stylists on here so they are more likely to be able to help you/have heard of it.

Samuel, glad to hear you had a good experience for your first lesson - it certainly sounds like you've found a great club! Good luck with training.

That's really cool!

5 years - congratulations!

A great achievment Patrick, well done!

Congrats Sohan - a very well deserved award!

Ask him to 'help' you with something MA related - that way his attentions will be diverted back to training and not just talking to you. Promise to talk to him after class - that will show him you're interested and not just give him the brush-off. If he's still pesteing you during class time then you need to speak to the instructor and get him/her to have a word.

Sorry for your troubles ps1. I hope that everything works out well for you - good luck with your training.

KL, I'm sure that you will make a wonderful blackbelt! Good luck with it - and good on ya for inspiring other girls to want to train/continue to train in martial arts. You sound like you will make an excellent MA instructor; you should be proud of yourself and your abilities to help those kids.

I've been doing that with my TKD patterns. I like to watch a video clip of my next pattern a few times to "familiarise" myself with it and get a general idea of the gist of the pattern, although I've not learned a TKD pattern just through watching a video. I didn't do that when I was coming up through the Karate ranks but I have learned a couple of weapons kata from videos. They were kata that Sensei was going to teach me anyway and I wanted to get a head start. However, I wish I'd not bothered because the video clip I downloaded was slightly different from the way my Sensei taught those kata and I kept getting muddled. I think watching a video of a kata is good to help you get a general idea of what the kata/pattern is like (some are faster than others for example) but learning one from a video is a bad idea IMO. It's a good aid to training if you already know the basics/basic outline of the kata and want to brush up, but not good for learning from scratch.

One way to practice hook kicks that my TKD instructor has taught me is to try drawing big circles in the air with your leg. Stand on one leg, bring the other up into the chamber position (we use a turn on the supporting foot, leg brought sideways across the chest kinda position) and do a hook kick. Now keep your foot/lower leg circling around - as if you've gote through the target and are returning back to the start. Keep drawing circles in the air with your leg (a minute at a time is good) then return to the chamber position. it's a good exercise to help with balance and co-ordination, as well as working on getting the "feel" of a kick. It can also help with practicing the chamber position as you have to return to a proper position (whatever that is for your club) before putting your leg down. At karate we have a hook kick drill that we do with the pads, moving up and down the dojo. The pad (focus mitt) is held low at first and gradually becomes higher and higher until it is at the highest a person can kick at. The kicker has to work their way across the dojo, moving forwards using hook kicks. Alternate legs, right then left, with the height of the kick increasing every time. The pad holder is moving back all the time - once you get used to the drill then the pad holder moves back quicker and the kicker has to sort of "chase" them to find the target.

WELL DONE! A big to both you and your son.

We have t-shirts for my TKD school. There's colkoured ones that are for general wear and white ones that can replace the dobok top. We also have over-dobok tracksuits with the club logo on the back of the jacket. SBN has also just done baseball caps too, which are popular with the kids. At karate we have general wear t-shirts, as well as sweatsirts. We're looking to get tracksuit tops/jackets done too, but need to work out the cost.

That's the best talent and the best job in the world.

Heh heh, I was one of those bigger girls! I played (grass) hockey for my school and was like the proverbial bull in a china shop - my PE teacher always claimed that I used to think the object of the game was to whack as many people as you could with your stick. I once had the dubious 'honour' of being the person in school who'd commited the most fouls in a season. I love ice hockey, although I've never played. I can skate well, though, and theres a rec. ladies team near me. I may decide to have a go one day. I was a bruiser at grass hockey, I should make a good goon for ice hockey! lol

I left Comprehensive School aged 18 in June 1997, after completing my A Levels. I was glad to see the back of the place, I hated it! I loved being in Junior school, but I didn't enjoy Comp at all. I've finally completed my degree this year (after studying part-time for it). In July I will have a BA(Hons) in English Studies and Performing Arts!

Heh heh, I've done that before!! I've also done that in one of those funfair "maze of mirrors" - walked into the mirror before when I thought it was a turning.

Good idea, I'll try that!

I say definately not!! It keep students coming back, espeically the younger ones. Yes, learning practical stuff is all well and good but if a person is so bored that they only stay for a month or two then it's no good anyway. Better to mix it up a little and have some fun then people will stay and learn the practical techniques (as well as the fun things), rather than just quit because it's dull.

How much training does that get you? How often a week?

Keep practicing! Also, if you feel you will be nervous then breathing exercises could help you, as could meditating. Make sure you eat well and drink plenty of water too. Good luck!

I'd say that you need to find a club that will teach them to you or at the very least get a DVD or book to help you. Also, having a friend watch you train might help - he/she can give you tips and tell you if your kicks 'look' right; even a non martial artist can often tell if a kick 'looks' right. Keep practicing your kicks without jumps to get them even better, plus make sure you strengthen the muscles in your legs with jogging, cycling etc or with squats.

Differences in climate and terrain and the like are one of the reasons why Northern and Southern Chinese styles are (often) different from one another. Good post Bushido man.