aefibird

Obviously Sum Ting Dum is a popular style in Hollywood...

lol, I think the answer is to stop reading MA books before you go to bed. If that doesn't work I think that you'll just have to accept that you're hopelessly addicted to MA and you're gonna keep on dreaming about it!

In a course I went on a couple of weeks ago we were doing the application for Bassai Sho. For the part straight after the opening move (the bit where you turn into back stance and hold out your hands as if holding a staff) I've heard 2 main applications for this. The first is that you are defending against a strike by blocking with a staff in your hand and the second is that you are defending against an attack by a staff by actually grabbing the staff. Which application do people tend to practice/work on in their clubs? Which do you prefer?

By not fighting the guy you won't end up looking like a wimp. Just because you're choosing not to fight doesn't make you a wimp. However, it sounds like you just want to give the guy a good pasting regardless of what anyone here says, so just make sure that you win the fight if you do! If you lose then you'll certainly give the guys ego a good boost. Warlock's idea of an orgaised bout is a good one - it would get rid of the agression on both sides and give you the chance to 'prove' yourself. Plus, if it is organised, a teacher (gym or PE instructor would be the best choice) can step in for if things get out of hand. Other than that, invite the guy and his mates to your MA class. If they're up for sparring then MA would suit them and probably help them to grow up a bit & realise that going around trying to bash people with rocks isn't the greatest idea in the world...

The 0-10 'worst-ever' to 'grandmaster' was just a rough guide. It's hard to put a numerical value on ability and progress, but I was just trying to give a general guide to a scale so that people could rate their MA abilities, if they so wished.

Good luck with whichever you decide to go with. You seem to have a great choice of schools & instructors in your area (can I bunk with you & CloudDragon too??? ), I wish I had that much choice in my area. The only other advice I'd go for is to try out as many classes of each before you make up your mind. Although the first school you listed does seem a tad on the expensive side it does give you the option of learing other arts, rather than just one. If you feel that you'd like to maybe study more than one art (not necessarily now but possibly in the future) then you might be better off going to school like that. Another factor to consider is things like uniform - check if you have to have a specific MA uniform from each school. The training costs for a particular place may be low, but there may be extra 'hidden' charges, such as the fact that you have to pay zillions of $$$ to grade or pay an astronomical amount for a uniform from that school. Also, how far away is each school to you? I know they're all in your area, but is one easier to get to than others? If you're planning on travelling by bus to get to classes then you probably don't want to choose the place that's furthest away. Also, what about training times? If one school sounds great, but trains at times inconvenient to you then that's another factor to take into consideration.

Looks good, what's it for, though?

Hey, if you do get chance to train in Lua (or any other Hawaiian art) then don't forget to tell us what its like! I like reading about different arts, especially if it's one that I don't know a lot about.

I think that mixing styles can be a good thing, unless a person is doing lots of styles at once and not really getting a good foundation in any of them. If you love MA (as I'm sure we all do on here) then it can be tempting to want to do as much MA as possible in as many styles as possible. I know that there's lots of MA styles that I'd like to learn or at least try out, but if I did them all, fisrstly I'd run out of days in the week in which to practice and secondly I'd get very confused with it all. So I think that combining a couple of styles that are different enough not to get them confused (such as a grappling art & a striking art or a weapons & a non-weapons system) is fine and can help a persons martial arts development.

Cor, we're all a bit bitter and despondant around here lately - I guess true love doesn't reign on KF.... :-/

I think it is possible to become a good fighter without getting many (serious) injuries, but with any martial art there is a risk of injury, usually bruises or sprains. As long as you & your training partners aren't battering each other full contact without padding every second of every training session then you should be ok and generally survive training injury free or with minimal injuries. If you're worried about your teeth then get a decent mouthguard and wear it even if others in class don't. I'm rather attached to my teeth and buying a mouth guard is better and a lot less costly than dental work to try and fix them. Even if you get the mickey taken then its better to wear a mouth guard if you're concerned about getting hit in the teeth.

Heian, would you say that there's more of a focus on sparring and street defence than on kata in your dojo, or is the balance between kata & sparring pretty equal? Also, do you do much 'sport' type fighting or is more geared towards self-defence than point sparring? Thanks.

Ant, if you feel you're gonna stick with karate then I'd buy a decent gi. I don't think there is necesarily a time when it is 'too soon' to buy a good quality gi. A decent gi of good quality will last you for ages, unlike these £15 jobbies from JJB Sports (or whatever). I generally wear Blitz red label gi's (their 'Silver Tournament' brand) as they're of a good weight and don't tend to shrink in the wash. Plus, they give a good snapping sound when you do punches & kicks, which always makes a karateka look impressive . They even come in half-sizes, so you can get a half size too big to account for any shrinking. I've had 3 of these gi's, though, and they've never shrunk on me so far. The only trouble with them is that, because they're of a heavy weight, they can get really hot to wear in the summer. I keep a cheapo gi on standby for when it is really hot in the dojo.

If you don't want to fight him, then I'd recomend reporting him to a teacher or other adult. If the guy keeps on threatening you (especially outside of school) another option would be to report him to the police. If you do get into a scrap with him (and I wouln't recommend starting a fight - that could land you in more trouble than is worth, both with school authorities and also with the police) then being quick and landing punches and ducking out of reach is a good plan. Use your training to your advantage - if he's never trained in martial arts then it's probably a good thing for you. However, see if you can sort the situation out without having to fight him. The guy sounds like an idiot and a brainless j**k and isn't worth you getting into trouble over a fight.

As Warlock has demonstrated! Wow, WW that's an impressive amount of resilliancy. (is that a real word or just one I made up?? ) In a fight I'd suggest trying to strike the eyes, nose, throat, groin - basically any vulnerable spot that will cause your opponent maximum pain and give you a possible chance of escape or a chance of landing other blows.

lol, can I join you in that corner on 'The Other Side' along with all the other people that don't know what they're doing?? Good post, though. You're right- there's always something to learn & improve on.

Sorry, never heard of it/them.

It all depends on what you're looking for in a Martial Art and why you want to train. Also, why did you leave TKD? Was there something about the style that you didn't like? If so, there's not a lot of point in possibly training in a style that has the same or similar elements. Going to have a look at each shool would be a great idea. Then that will help you to make up your mind based on the quality of the instructor, and also things like when classes are and prices of instruction. Out of the list, MMA would leave you more 'rounded' as a fighter but Wing Chun and Taijutsu are well respected styles and will give you good MA skills if you get a decent instructor. Really, it all depends on what you want from MA. If you decide that then deciding which martial art to do would become easier.

Depends what you want from karate. Kyokushin is full contact sparring, whereas Shotokan often isn't, although there are exceptions to this. Like most styles, it rather depends on the school than the style. My school is very street self defense focused (plus my isntructor has trained in other karate styles & other martial arts, so he incorporates this into lessons), but some Shotokan clubs are very much kata based. Same with kyokushin - some are focused towards sport/tournament fights and some have more of a 'street' element of self defence in them. I'd always recommend a good Shotokan club to anyone - Shotokan is my first style and I love it. I have no hesitation about recommending it as a form of self-defence, especially if you get an instructor that knows their stuff. However, the same is true of Kyokushin - a great style if you get a good instructor. Just out of interest, why do you ask? Are you thinking of starting Shotokan or Kyokushin?

No probs. What were they like? Difficult?

If your hips are sore after doing specific techniques, then get your sensei or a higher grade than you to watch you do them. If your hips hurt aftr side kicks (for example) then it may be the way you are doing them that is putting pressure & stress on the joint. If you're kicking is fine and the pain is still there then I'd get it checked out by the doctor. Plenty of very hot baths can help sore muscles (as well as those massages ). Extract of Sage is reported to be good for aching muscles & joints. I hope that it goes away soon, BritNoob & Random_Player.

Congrats on reaching your goal! Let us know how you're getting on with the next goal.

Hi! Welcome to Karate Forums.

Hi Heian, welcome to Karate Forums!

The trouble with such a poll would be that there would probably always be some karate style that inadvertantly gor left out - not necessarily intentionally on the part of the poll's creator, but more probably accidentally, sometimes due to lack of knowledge. For example, until I came onto these forums there were at least 2 styles of karate (Rich_2k3's chosen style of Trodai and Krunchyfrogg's style of San-Ken-Ryu) that I'd never heard of before. If I'd been compiling a poll when I first came on this site then I wouldn't have included them, simply because I'd never heard of them before. Now, that doesn't mean that they're not good styles ('cos I'm sure they are) or that they don't deserve mentioning in any list of karate styles ('cos they do), it's just an example to highlight why polls listing 'favourite' or 'best' karate style aren't always a good idea. Like many things, it's a good idea in theory, but might provoke too many arguments if carried out. :-/