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Yes, it is but parking is a nightmare!!

No.. but you're right, she is cool. I saw No Doubt when they supported Green Day at their day-long festival/gig in Manchester. She climbed up the side supports of the lighting rig on the stage and sang right from the top, probably about 20 or so feet above the stage. One cool woman!

Improved health Increased stamina Greater sense of self-awareness Improved self-control Greater social network Sense of community and belonging Greater self-esteem Increase in knowledge I'll let someone else chip in now with a few others.

That happened to me and a couple of other women from my club at a competition we entered. We were all in the same kata category together, but ended up missing it because they didn't call it so that competitors could actually hear. There were three of us from my dojo who missed the call as well as three other people. In the end first and second place (there was no one else, because we all missed the call) went to two people who happened to be from the club that was running the competition. My friend from the dojo (who missed the category) is sure that is was a set-up and that it deliebrately wasn't called. I'd like to believe otherwise, but it's too much of a coincidence that most (about 95%) of the other categories were won by students from the organising club. *grrr* I hate it when referees etc are biased. It's much better to lose fair and square to someone who is better than you than to lose to someone just because the results are fixed. Good luck for your next tourney, Mu Ryuk!

Good for you CheekyMusician! Are you gonna keep going?

Hi Karate KI. There's a sticky thread at the top of this forum all about stretching. Click here to go to it. A couple of points to remember about stretching: it's better to stretch every day, and stretching is more effective when your muscles are warm. So, do a bit of jogging on the spot before you start your stretching routine to make sure that your muscles aren't cold. The more often you stretch, the easier and better it will get. Good luck!

We don't have an official rule, but people tend to keep their finger and toe nails cut out of respect to their training partners.

Do you always wear bag gloves and/or hand wraps when working the heavy bag?

Anything that involves hill work would be good.

Well, we're quite a small club anyway. It can be a bit of a pain training in a small place, but it's cheap and the karate club is the only one that uses the room. We also have separate changing rooms and a dedicated weights room. Training is OK when we're training empty hand- there's just about enough room, but there's not really enough room to do staff training in there unless there's only a couple of folks.

You don't know much about MA... if you think that Sai are for toasting things on a BBQ. if you think that Ki is what you open a door with. if you think that you need to wear white pyjamas to do karate.

Hello there kenttiensankar! Welcome to Karate Forums.

Here's some links to good books that may be of help: Karate's grappling Methods Throws For Strikers Bunkai Jutsu The Bubishi

Also, some styles can be contradictory to one another when mixed. For example, they may have different ways of generating power or use stances that contradict one another. MMA is a good idea to train in ideas and concepts that aren't included in your original or base art, but sometimes it can do more harm than good and leave people with a watered down version of each of their chosen styles. MMA can be a good thing when used effectively, though.

Try find space in local wood or forest or an empty corner of a park. I practice sometimes in my back yard, but it is too small to be able to do much, especially when I want to practice Bo kata. I usually go up to my mum and dad's house and practice with my Bo on their lawn as they have a bigger garden than I do. A group of us have occasionally rented a sports hall for the morning and trained in there. Our dojo is great - lots of equipment etc, but is too small, especially if people are training with weapons. That's why Sensei only gives priave weapon lessons, rather than teach them as part of the regular class. The dojo is too small to have more than one or two people swinging Bo or Nunchaku.

I prefer hook shots with my left too, although I'm right handed. Uppercuts don't tend to feel natural to me, although I try and incorporate them into my training. Yes, BOB bags are great for practicing on, as it gives you more of a feel for hitting a person, as opposed to just a heavy bag.

Good luck for your fight!

Keep at it - the more you train the better your stamina will get. Even if you only do 10 seconds more each time you train, it will soon build up. You have to tell yourself that you can do it - if you think that you can't go on then you won't. Add running, cycling or swimming to your training if you don't already do so.

As well as taking acting lessons (either at school or privately) you might want to consider signing up with an agency that specialises in supplying extras for film and television work. These are the people that stand in the background in a crowd scene etc. It can be good way of getting your foot on the ladder of acting. Also, it can be well paid for not a lot of work. If you want to be a MA specialist actor then make sure that your MA skills are the best they can be. There'll be 1000s of people out there all wanting to be MA actors - you have to show that you can do Martial Arts more skilfully than they can. If you'd eventually like to do wire-fu type MA films then a course in acrobatics or gymnastics will help you too.

I didn't watch it, but all I can think that they mean is that the skeleton of MAists is stronger because of the exercise. Impact excercise builds stronger bones. One of the things that women (who have a higher risk of osteoporosis than men) should do is jump up and down each day. I can't remember off-hand how many times - I think it's about 20 times a day. It's supposed to help build stronger bones which cuts the risk of osteoporosis and other bone diseases.

There's always been people trying to cash in on the sucess of Bruce Lee. His image sells stuff - so everyone wants a piece of the cash cow. I've not seen "The Image of Bruce Lee", but I have seen a couple of things with Bruce Li in them - not bad, actually.

There's cross overs in many martial arts, although a lot of it is downplayed (as Master Jase has written). As long a a practitioner is learning, developing and having fun the origins of the art should matter - certainly it shouldn't matter as much as the actual content of what they're learning and whether they've got a good instructor or not...

Good luck with your sparring taekwondomom! I'm only 5'2" but can beat guys of 6' and over. Being small doesn't necessarily mean that you can't spar/fight effectively. If you think you need specific advice about your techniques then ask your instructor.He/She may pair you up with an experienced higher grade who will help you to develop self-confidence and sparring ability. Remember, it won't happen overnight. I had a very bad experience in my first competition (I was an orange belt, the first colour in my style, and I was against a black belt who made mincemeat out of me even though she could see I was a scared beginner). It took me a long while to recover from that beating, but I managed it and I'd like to think that I learned a lot from that experience. Even if nothing else, it taught me to spar at the level of my opponent and not just go all out just because I can. Anyway, I digress. Good luck! Oh, and welcome to Karate Forums! Good to have you on board.

I also agree that XMA and traditional forms should not be in the same ring together. It can be very frustrating for a traditional stylist to work hard ton their form for a competition, but to lose to someone who we technically inferior but included backflips... There should be a place for XMA - but not mixed with traditional styles. I agree with you about the Discovery Channel too. Over here in the UK it is becoming less and less informative and more of a plug for whoever has sponsored the programme. I watched a show last week supposedly about the history and science of trainers (sneakers) and it was just a huge plug for Nike, rather than anything informative or factual.

June1, I use Shuto to open doors. Try it, it's good! I'm utterly obsessed with MA - to the point where it is often the last thing I think about at night and the first thing I think about when I wake up.