aefibird

A big welcome to you from England! Good to have you on the forums.

Great article, stl_karateka, very informative! Thanks.

20th August 2004 - anyway, that's the date given by empiremovies.com I cant find a release date on the film's official website.

I generally only put ice on swollen areas, rather than heat and ice alternatively. I know that human and equine physiology is different, but I was once told by a vet to only apply ice to my horse (you can buy special equine bandages that you put in the freezer & then wrap round their legs), never heat, if he ever got a sprain or a swelling. Since then I've only ever used ice on my own injuries too.

Well, I'd say that each MA you listed is a good choice, but it depends what you want from MA. Do you think that you'd want to enter competitions? If so, then you'd need to find a school that catered for that, maybe looking more towards Kickboxing or TKD. What about grappling? Do you think that you'd prefer that to striking or vice versa? Also, how about your wife? If she's really a 'girly girl' (as you described her! lol), then she may prefer to join a club that has point sparring or light contact, rather than full contact. If so, Muay Thai is probably not the best choice for her. Well, the best plan is probably for the both of you to go along to each school in your area and watch a lesson - maybe even try a couple too, before fully making up your minds. Make a list of the pro's & con's of each school and decide what sort of 'feel' you get from each place. Could you see yourself doing what they do? Do you think you could stick with it for more than a few weeks? Does the instructor seem competent? Do they seem welcoming? Is the main instructor the person who'd be teaching you, or would you be taught by a lower grade? Are they willing to answer any questions? What about prices (and contracts!)? Are adult and childrens classes separate? If not, would you mind training with the kiddies? Also, ask about any 'hidden' charges - eg, grading fees, the fact that you may have to buy special uniforms from that school, registration fees, association membership fees, insurance, etc etc. Finally, if you join a school that has a grading/belt system then it might be worth enquiring roughly how long it takes to get your first grade and also how long it generally takes in that club to get to black belt or equivalent. If they promise you things like "you will get your black belt if you train here" or "you'll get your black belt within 2 years" (or another length of time that seems short) then it's probably a McDojo/belt factory type of school. Good luck in your search for a club!

Here's my Aikido club, although the instructor isn't teaching at the moment and might not ever start again. *cries* The website's not been updated recently. Oh, and I've trained a couple of times with this club too.

Right, I've had a pants day, so I'm starting a thread for anyone who wants to moan, gripe, rant or generally complain about the little things that get you down. It'll not make them go away but at least you might feel better for getting it off your chest! Oh and if anyone can tell me how to stop my finger bleeding after I speared it with a screwdriver whilst putting a bookcase together, I'd be most grateful. *curses Argos and flat-pack furniture* My complaints for today (in no particular order) are: *microwave ovens that heat up packaging and plates to such a degree that you end up dropping the plate onto the floor when you pick up the cooked items. *torrential rain and gale-force winds, along with the thunderstorms that cut off my electricity yesterday. It's July for heaven's sake!! lol *badly designed flatpack furniture (yes Argos, I do mean your goods) and my final moan of today... *banks that send you a letter asking you to phone them and the proceed to put you on hold for half an hour (at your own cost!) whilst they try and figure out why they sent you the letter in the first place. So, anyone wanna gripe along with me about your grumbles for the day??

lol, sorry Monkey.

*coughs* Shorinryu Sensei, you're gonna have to give us the link if you want people to visit the site... As for my association websites...*points to signature*. Please excuse my karate club site, its only half-finished and not brilliant. I've just not got enough hours in the week to work on it, though!

Well, I started teaching beginners classes in my Shotokan club when I was a 2nd kyu brown belt. My beginner students didn't suddenly become 10 times better the minute I achieved Shodan. Similarly, if I ever own my own club and one day make it to 4th dan, my teaching ability isn't going to dramatically improve the second that I'm awarded that 4th dan. The skill of an instructor is far more important than what number they hold, even if Joe Bloggs on the street who has never done any martial arts thinks opposite.

Sorry to hear about your ankle, Beka. I hope you manage to get it sorted out and that you can still do Cuong Nhu.

Good post lupin! Sounds like that is a good school. After reading your post, I'm sold! Go to that MA club! lol Seriously, if what you saw impresses you enough for you to keep thinking it over in your mind, then it's probably the place for you. You could try it for a few sessions, anyway, and see what you think. Hey, maybe even do both arts at once, if the other guy impresses you too!

Well, you could try asking around at work to see if any of your co-workers do Martial Arts - you may be surprised at who does MA or knows someone who does. Alternatively, phone up local sports centres, community halls, church halls etc etc to see if they do martial arts classes there. If they don't, then you could be cheeky and ask them if they know of anywhere in the area that does! lol A further option would be to take out an ad. In the UK, local or regional newspapers often provide a free service for private (non-trade) small advertisers to sell unwanted goods. There's usually a 'wanted' section too. If you have something like that in a local newspaper in your area you could put in an ad saying "Wanted- quality martial arts instruction in the Sacrament area. Instructors please phone xxxxxx with your details" (or something along those lines). I hope you manage to find a Martial Art that you and your wife both enjoy!

Get some specific stain remover on it ASAP. Rinse the bloodstain through in COLD water and apply the stain remover. Leave to stand. Then throw the gi in the washing machine with more stain remover (I find that colour-safe washing bleach [sold as Ace brand bleach in the UK] is good to use with white gi's) and wash as normal. I did that with my gi when I tripped up one karate class and ended up cutting my head open. There was blood everywhere on my gi! It washed out ok, though, and you couldn't tell that there'd been a massive stain on it.

Same as in a my friends TKD school - he makes his own belts for junior grades. The junior black belt is half white, half black - made in the same way that Pacifishore's school make their brown/black belts. I've never known of a blocked black & brown belt before. I've only ever seen or heard of black belts with brown stripes or vice versa.

Hi bullydog, welcome to Karate Forums! Good to have you here.

Hi! Welcome to Karate Forums.

Hi! Welcome to Karate Forums. Good to have you here.

I agree with luckykboxer - I too was excited, uneasy, awkward, anxious, eager. I tended to feel bewildered and confused for my first few weeks/months in MA and occasionally asked myself what I was doing there wearing what felt like a pair of white pyjamas and a white belt and doing things in a language I didn't know or understand. Plus, everyone else there seemed miles better than me, even the other beginners. I felt like I had 20 pairs of arms and legs at times, I got so confused about which hand was doing what and where I should be at a particular time. However, I think everyone feels a little bewildered doing MA for the first time, probably even more so if your first exposure to MA is with a traditional school or art. I'm sure a lot of beginners go through the "Bowing? What's all that about then?" stage, where everything seems wierd or like it's from another world. It's amazing how names and actions soon become routine, though. It's an exciting time staring MA for the first time, or taking up a new MA. Everything is new and bewildering but you've got a clean slate and don't have to live up to expectations of what a particular grade should/shouldn't do. There's so much to learn and take in, and it can be overwhelming at times, but it's a fun journey - a journey without end too, as there's always something new to learn or discover or think about.

Travelling to Europe used to take you weeks one hundred years ago?? Blimey, Monkey, I didn't know you've been around as long as that! *Bows to very ancient Monkey*

Good luck for when you take your purple belt test. I hope you do well!

How similar are the TSD forms of Bassai to the karate versions of Bassai Dai and Bassai Sho?

Thanks!

Good link, thanks for sharing!

Absolutely - I totally agree that there is always room in life for a beer or 3! (even if this morning I am feeling the after-effects of one too many last night....) Hic!