aefibird

Well, at least if a judge has done several different styles then they will have a slightly better understanding of the kata form other styles. However, what if a competitior does a kata from style X, but the judge has trained in style Y and Z? Also, what if the judge has a personal bias against style X? Certain people seem to dislike other styles (for whatever reason) and even if they try hard to judge fairly, bias will still creep in. Unless kata tournaments are kept for one style only (no open tournaments) then I think that Kata competitions will never be fair. Hey, that's just how life is!! Hmm, and even if tournaments are only from a single style you get a lot of variation within that style. When I was first learning Jion, I got 3 different pieces of advice from 3 different Shotokan karateka on how to do a particular technique. That advice was all from people within the FSK (my org). Just imagine how much contradictory advice I would have got if I'd asked another Shotokaner from outside the FSK!!

The head of my association uses them in his dojo. They're not a punishment, but used as excercise.

If you wanna create your own system then that's a good thing - most of the major MA systems were created by students breaking away and doing their own thing - but I'd make sure I was proficient in at least one art before trying to create my own, especially if you're (meaning 'one' not 'you' in particular!!) gonna teach people your new system or even charge them to learn. Just ask yourself WHY you want to create your own style. What is the reasoning behind it - why is there a need for you to try and create a new system? Also, are you doing anything radically different from any other style? If your new system looks like very bad TKD/karate/kickboxing, then that's probably because it IS very bad TKD/karate/kickboxing/whatever.

LOL, my karate sensei actually tells us to practise on the toilet!! He says that while were there we might as well be practicing blocks and stuff. Hmm, I ^think^ he was joking... Actually, I do actually practice in the bathroom sometimes. I stand in kibadatchi (horse riding stance) when brushing my teeth. There's a little corridor between my bathroom and the rest of the upstairs rooms in my house, so I often practice mae-geri (front snap kick) along there. My house mate thinks I'm utterly daft, but, hey, I KNOW I'm off my trolley but at least I'm doing a bit of practice!!

I know that planning for ten years time is hard, but I was just wondering if anyone had long term goals that reached that far! Personally, I'd like to be nidan or sandan in Shotokan and shodan in Aikido. I'd also like to start Kobudo training or BJJ, but that's a bit of a 'pipe dream' really - that's planning for if I win the lottery and don't have to work again!!

Neither my dojo or my organisation practice breaking (we are all shotokan style). However, my karate instructor has been part of breaking demo's in the past, even though he doesn't really agree with it (he ws pressured into it by one of his instructors). I'm still a bit undecided with the whole breaking issue. I can see that is is a useful training aid, however, the whole "boards don't hit back" stance has a point too. If you're gonna follow the "boards don't hit back" line to its logical conclusion, though, then why do we use kick/punch bags?? They don't hit back either!! lol I know a TKD sensei and he trains his students in breaking - but they actually use solid objects, rather than those re-breakable boards. Breaking is only taught to high grade students too, which I think is a good thing.

I've tried looking up kobudo kata on the internet before, but never come across much useful info. My karate style doesn't have weapons training at all, but a BB friend of mine has offered to teach me tonfa and sai basics. Try doing a search on google, that was how I found out my info on tonfa and sai kata. Ideally I'd love to join a club that teaches kobudo, but there just aren't enough days in the week! Maybe I'll start kobudo one day... Good luck with your search.

Cool! Do you enjoy studying in England? Is martial arts in the UK much different to what you're used to?

Some of my favourite smells: vanilla apples cinnamon my tack(that's saddle & bridle to all you non-horsey peeps!) anything baking petrol new hay fresh bread chocolate (this is a wierd one) the smell of a new glossy magazine CK One scent

If you could go back and live your life again, would you choose to do the same martial art(s) as you do now? If so, why would you stick with it and if not, what would you have chosen instead? If I could have my life again I would have started MA earlier and tried harder to persuade my mum & dad to let me train in judo with my brother (my dad and bro both trained in judo but I was never allowed to because they thought it was too dangerous for girls! BAH). I think I still would have chosen to do Karate and Aikido, though, as I love my MA's dearly and couldn't imagine giving them up.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time? I mean, in terms of your martial arts training? Do you want to have started another art or got your black belt or won competitions or whatever?

I think that's a problem found by a lot of martial artists. Whatever style you do, if you wanna do another one you can almost garuantee that there isn't a club for miles around. :-/ Even if the style you pick is very popular then it will be 'Murphys law' that the nearest club that teaches that style is about 100 miles away... Superleeds, if you want to try BJJ or similar, then what about Judo or Ju-jitsu if there are no BJJ, ValeTudo or Shootfighting clubs around? Good luck in your search!

And for all of you who have a partner/parent/friend who complains that you spend too much time at the dojo then here's a great quote that I read today in Martial Arts Illustrated magazine. In an interview with Tom Mayes (MMA champion) he said: "I have a good saying framed on my wall, though, 'Obsessed is a word used by the lazy to describe the dedicated.' I stand by that" I thought that was a great saying.

I agree with Delta1. Often in sparring men try and use brute force to win the situation where women tend more to rely on technique. Obviously this is a generalisation and there will be women who go in with strength and force and no technique and conversely there are men who are very technically skilled and use their techniques to overcome opponents. When I started Aikido, my instructor said to me that women beginners usually progress faster than male beginners, as men try and use force and strength to overcome their opponent, rather than concentrate on the technique. As women aren't usually as strong female Aikido beginners learn techniques faster because they're not relying on strength to do the job for them. Hey Delta1, whaddaya mean that us women have a more devious nature than men????? I can't think what you mean....

Natural, your English is ten zillion times better than my Taiwanese, Korean or Thai! My Chinese is very very very basic and a lot worse than your English. Top marks to you for your language skills! This is a bit of a personal question and feel free to not answer, but can I ask why you moved to England? (eg to be with family, to study, etc). Thanks.

Ohhh, yeah that excersie where you do a 'kibadachi' up against the wall is a right one for leg training! In my karate dojo sensei calls it the 'ski squat' - the students call it the 'killer'. Do you do jump squats? I dunno what they're properly called, but they're the ones where you are down on the floor as if you are going to do push ups, but you 'jump' your legs back and forward - up so they almost touch your chin, then straight out again. A friend of mine is an ex service-brat and her dad says that in the Marines (Royal Marines, not US Marines) they call that excercise 'the ba****d'. I can understand why!

LOL, you can't get much worse than the 'eternal darkness' one...

In Aikido we flip to get out of certain techniques. We practice by holding onto our sensei's outstreched belt (whilst it's still tied around his waist!) with one hand and flipping over that hand and landing on the mat. You have to keep hold of the belt all the time or it doesn't work so well. Also it simulates someone grabbing hold of you and you flipping out of the technique. We mostly use throws and rolls, but flips are useful too. Plus, if you can do it properly, it looks cool!!

Just remember to keep your chin tucked in when rolling and try not to roll right over the top of your head - even when doing a forwards or backwards roll you want to try and roll over one or both shoulders. Your own body weight should take you forward wth the roll, it shouldn't feel forced. try not to roll too slowly, it can make the roll 'come apart'. Lots of momentum helps rolls to flow smoothly. Start by learning to roll from kneeling, then work up to standing rolls. Practice on thick mats to start with - it will help to give you confidence in rolling. Getting injured when learning to roll isn't fun and can put you off doing rolls for good. The best person to ask about how to roll would be your sensei or an experienced person from your school. They will be able to demonstrate and watch your technique.

Here's a quick, true story about why in-dojo dating isn't always a good idea... Girl A trains at a small club. One day Boy A joins same club, becomes friendly with Girl A, they start dating. Boy B (the club sensei) finds out and gives a small piece of advice to Girl A - that Boy B is actually MARRIED! Girl A doesn't let Boy A know that she knows his secret but waits until the next freestyle sparring session in the dojo. She partners up with him, 'accidently' kicks him in the groin, sweeps him to the floor and then proceeds to kick the living daylights out of him before phoning his wife to tell her what a lying * her husband is. That didn't happen to me (before anyone asks!), but its a good story to show why dojo dating isn't always a great idea - if it goes wrong you could end up with seriously kicked butt!!

In answer to the question "Are you content with yourself?" , then I'd have to reply no. I'm satisfied with how far I've come and how much I've improved, but I know that there's always room for improvement in my training. Hey, I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets cranky when I can't go to the dojo!!

A combination of dojo and home training is the best approach. I'd say train at least twice a week in the dojo to get any benefit out of your MA training.

If you train in more than one style of martial art, then how often do you train in each of your styles? At the moment I train in Shotokan 4x per week (one of those where I teach), freestyle self defence is 1x per week and Aikido is 1x or 2x per week (my Aikido dojo is miles away from where I live and takes me ages to get there).

Try putting all your effort into getting your black belt. That should give you an incentive and help you to work through the 'boring' classes. Also, if you're not doing much sparring (or not much sparring of the type you'll need for your black belt) then maybe you could have a word with the instructor and tell him you're worried and that you think you're not covering what you'll need to know to take your black belt. I wouldn't suggest going and telling him you find the classes boring, though!! Your instructor should be a good place to start when wanting advice and if he/she is a good teacher then they should be receptive to comments and questions from students.

I don't know how many 'average citizens' I can defend myself against. Thankfully, I've never been in a position where I've had to ever use self defence (well, not since I stopped getting into 'fights' at school ). I would hope that my years of dojo training would help if I ever needed to use Martial Arts in a real street situation. I can hold my own pretty well against the big guys at my dojo (I'm only 5'2"), so that's gotta count for something, but really, you only find out how good your self defence skills are when you have to use them for real and by that point it is too late to make them any better :-/