aefibird

What are some of the good points and the bad points of your martial arts school?

A mix of grappling and striking, such as Muay Thai and BJJ or a Kung Fu style (my vote is for Wing Chun, but I'm biased!) mixed with BJJ. A weapons art would also be good to have - something like Arnis or Krabi Krabong.

I didn't but I was nervous for all my karate tests - I'm just not very good with practical examinations at all. I much prefer written tests (which isn't that much good in a martial arts grading!)

Have you ever ridden with one?

Me too! Can I join you??

Hi Rockuman! Welcome (back!) to Karate Forums.

Yes, an excellent book! Get it anyway!!

If you transfer from one style of karate to another then it is more likely that you will have to start again as a beginner than if you transfer from one I-Ryu club to another. However, even if you do find that you have to start again as a white belt, don't worry. Several people on this forum have found themselves within that position and I'm sure that they'll be able to share their experiences with you. Also, if you do have to give up your rank, then your previous training will stand you in good stead. You'll not be floundering though confusing terminology for a start!

Welcome back!

That'd make a great article AnonymousOne! Excellent post.

Yes, "because my Sensei tells me to" is as good a reason as any!

Hi BlackBeltHorseRider! Welcome to Karate Forums. Good to have you on board. I love horse riding too - do you ride any particular stle or enter competitions at all?

Just out of interest, how much will it cost you to get TSD burned on your staff?

Maybe you could try out your friends school for a couple of lessons - you never know, you might like it after all. Even if you don't then you'll know for sure that that place is NOT for you. If you decide that you don't like it, there's not a lot of point in you attending for more than a couiple of lessons - save your energy for training in a school that you do like. Other than that, you need to do a detailed investigation into what is available in your area. Then go and train in a few classes of each until you know for sure which one is the one for you. You'll probably get a good 'gut feeling' about a particular MA school - that'll most likely be the place for you. Just out of interest, which martial arts are the ones that you're most interested in?

I'm thinking of buying a new GP saddle for my horse (12y/o 15.2hh IDx gelding). However, I was thinking of buying a synthetic saddle instead of leather. This is for two reasons: 1) cost - they're usually cheaper 2) my horse is a part-time riding school horse for the Riding for the Disabled Association. They are currently loaning both him and his tack. Most of their other school horses have synthetic saddles, which are better for disabled people (children especially) to use, apparantly. I've ridden on synthetic before and found it OK. I prefer leather saddles, especially the look and feel of them, but you can get 'leather look' ones now - they don't look half as cheap and nasty as when they first appeared for sale! Does anyone here ride with a synthetic saddle? What do you think to it? Are they suitable for use every day or do they wear quicker than leather? Which brand(s) would you recommend? I was thinking of buying a Thorogood synthetic GP saddle. I usually ride a couple of times a week and compete infrequently. The remainder of the time my horse is used as a riding school horse - about two or three lessons a day, for roughly 3 or 4 days a week.

Yes, I would like to see other peoples tatts. I'll post some pics of mine when I actually get round to having some decent photo's taken of them...

Sounds great! Will he be visiting your dojo again?

I did a grappling application with my beginners class on saturday using the opening sequence of Heian Nidan - that bit of it where you have both arms raised, then crossed then one outstretched punching. The 'crossing arms' can be a useful grappling technique, for both stand up and ground. There's also other areas in H. Nidan that can have grappling applications.

Many of the opening moves in kata can be open to interpretation. For example, I've heard about 6 or 7 different applications for the opening hand position in Bassai Dai, ranging from the very likely to the plain ridiculous. I agree. Even if a student doesn't understand the meaning of a particular movement or position there will be an explanation for it somewhere. Personally, I don't tend to agree with the "spiritual" applications that are often attatched to certain techniques - I prefer to see kata as a fighting tool and therefore every technique has a useful application. That's just my opinion though, and others may prefer to interprate kata with a more spiritual outlook. That's one of the reasons why there are often may different interpretations of particular movements within any given kata - even within the same style.

Dux Ryu, good luck for your first class! I hope that you enjoy it! Don't worry about your first few classes - you're bound to be nervous, most people are. However, just try to relax and try to have fun. Everyone has been a beginner at some point in their lives - we all know what it's like.

Practice! Sorry, that wasn't really helpful was it... Anyway, try practicing your shuto from a stationary position - forget about moving forwards or backwards for the time being. Try to get your hand technique correct before you add your feet to it. Make sure that you keep your elbow in the correct position (how your instructor has shown you) and that you don't twist your arm or have it at an odd angle. If possible, practice striking shuto on a heavy bag or wall bag (or just find a convenient relative to practice on! lol). By practinc g shuto without moving you'll be 'drilling' your body as to how it feels so that when you add moving about into the equation it'll not feel so much like patting your head and rubbing your tummy... Once you've got to grips with what the hand position feels like (it should start to feel natural, not bent out of shape) then practice your back stance. Move forwards and backwards in back stance without using your arms - cross them on your chest or place them on your hips. Try and get the correct feel of the back stance and make sure that more of your weight is on your rear leg than on your front one. In my dojo the weight distribution is 80/20 for back leg/front leg, but it'll probably be different in your dojo. Ask your Sensei if you're not sure. Once you feel more confident with your stance then try addin the shuto. Just do one at a time until you feel confident with it. then practice doing two in a row, then build up to three. Make sure that you practice equally with both sides of your body and practice moving in all directions too (start with forwards and backwards then see if you can step at an angle and perform shuto at the same time). As for the "snap" - try working out your arms using resistance bands/elastics. Also, practice shuto at varying speeds and tension. Keep working on it and I'm sure you'll get it right! Good luck for your training!

Please post the link, Daisuke, I'm sure there'll be many people on here who would like to see it!

Good job!

Good luck to you for the test USAF PJ!

See your doctor about. it. Also, try and practice using your right side more when breakfalling. Although most people naturally favour one side to the other (I prefer my right when breakfalling) it's always a good idea to try and use both sides of your body equally. The fact that you generally use your left side when falling could mean that you've placed extra unnecessary strain on your arm and that could be one of the reasons for your "JuJitsu" elbow.