aefibird

Thanks for the info! Yup, if I'm ever in the Gloucestershire area I'll be sure to come in for a blue belt! Feel free to join us for a purple belt if you're ever anywhere near South Yorkshire!

I think I'd attack first if I knew that the other person was about to attack. If the situation was uncertain and there wasn't a 100% chance that the other person was going to attack first then I'd prefer to try and calm the situation down. Or, I'd wait and see what the attacker was going to do and use my defensive training to defend against an attack. However, it's hard to know what you'd do unless you actually found yourself in a situation - every incident will be different.

Hi Kev! Welcome to Karate Forums and welcome to the wonderful world of martial arts! Good to have you on board.

Hi there! Welcome to Karate Forums. Good to have you on board.

Hi! Welcome to Karate Forums. I hope that you find the information you're looking for.

Hi there! Welcome aboard. Good to have you on Karate Forums.

Hi Pineapple! Welcome to Karate Forums. Good to have you on board.

Good luck!

Congratulations on getting your yellow belt MissG! Even if it does make you look like a wasp... Just out of interest, do you have to 'test' for your power stripes or does your instructor just award them to you when he/she feels you're ready to recieve them? My karate grading system is as follows: 10th kuy - white 9th kyu - orange 8th kyu - red 7th kyu - yellow 6th kyu - green 5th kyu - purple 4th kyu - purple with 1 white stripe 3rd kyu - brown 2nd kyu - brown with 1 white stripe 1st kyu - brown with 2 white stripes 1st dan onwards - black It's a system used in a lot of Shotokan clubs, although my style isn't just Shotokan but is mixed in with other karate styles that my instructor has trained in. Personally, I think we (my association, that is) should ditch the stripe belts, as I think there's too many kyu grades on that list. Getting rid of the 3 white striped belts would bring the number of kyu grades down to a better number IMO. lol, maybe we should swop styles - I always wanted a blue belt when I was coming up through the kyu ranks, as blue is my favourite colour!

Great post Gloi! Just out of interest, where abouts in England are you from?

Great answers! Thanks everyone! I started the beginners course earlier this week and I'm really enjoying it. Apart from my tendancy to 'karate-ise' everything (my karate stances are wrong for TKD for a start! lol) I'm learning a lot and seem to be doing well, according to the instructor. I'd love to keep training in TKD after the beginners camp is over, but there's not much chance of me being able to fit in training in TKD along with my other MA training. A pity, since I'm enjoying it so much.

Nice clips. I especially liked the one of you all performing Tae Guk Oh Jang together with the bo and the sai. Good demo!

I sometimes use specialist washing bleach (such as Ace) for washing my heavy weight gi, but I generally don't bother unless there's a lot of dirt on them (or bloodstains!)

I prefer hanging bags, but out of the XXL and the Bob, I'd say to get the Bob.

Take them to the small claims court - you should be reimbursed for postage and for the fact that you didn't get your goods when you ordered them. The local Citizens Advice Bureau should be able to help you if you decide to make a claim. Good luck! I hope you get your money back.

My nerves got worse over time. I was bad enough when I tested for my first belt, but I was shaking like the proverbial leaf when I went for my blackbelt! I even forgot the name of the kata I was performing and I managed to trip over the bottom of my gi on the way into the testing place, which did nothing for my nerves...

Well, good luck with your training. Keep going, and I'm sure you'll be able to perform your form correctly whilst under stress. Good luck and keep training hard!

I agree with all the people who wrote running - I HATE IT TOO!! I also dislike bunny hops and doing prolonged periods of horse-riding stance.

Cool! Nice to see that Santa has something to do for the 364 days of the year when he's not out working with the reindeer. BTW, surely it should be Claus style Tai Chi, not Chen....

Keep trying ebay (many sellers will accept personal cheques, cash or postal/money orders), or place an advert in you local/free newspaper.

Go for it!! Even if you haven't got much spare time to spend together (and you won't have as you both have kids) then you could meet up for coffee at lunchtime or have breakfast out together one weekend. If you both like one-another then you'll find the time to see each other. Good luck!!

Nice pic! Christmas Greetings to you too!!

Well, aside from growing a beard , I'd suggest that the best thing for you to do would be to go see a dermatologist. He or she would be the best person to deal with your skin troubles. Other than that you could try making sure that your razor is really, really sharp (maybe use a cut-throat razor?) and bathing your skin afterwards with Aloe Vera (use fresh Aloe, rather than something from a bottle). The bonus with Aloe Vera plants is that they grow well in bathrooms... I know, I have a AV plant in my bathroom that I'm sure could be used as the double for Audrey II. Change your razor blades on a regular basis and make sure that you're not using any tubes of creams or gels on your skin that have been opened for longer that 3 weeks. Try making your own shaving gel/cream from natural ingredients. As for your body wash, you could make your own with a handful of oatmeal, honey and hot water. Good luck!

Wow, it seems ages ago since I submitted this!! Thanks to Patrick for posting it and thank you all for your kind comments.

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. I've just got back from a pretty rigorous self-defense training session at my karate dojo and I wanted to share it with you all, as well as a few reasons why I love martial arts. Firstly, I love martial arts because they have helped me to feel good about myself. Before I started martial arts training I was painfully shy with a very poor sense of self-esteem. I also suffered from an eating disorder and I would self-harm on regular occasions. Now, obviously, a couple of karate lessons didn't immediately mean that I was instantly cured, but karate (and my subsequent aikido training) has meant that I no longer have such a negative image of myself. I was born 12 weeks premature and was in the special care baby unit for the first couple of months of my life. Because my lungs were under developed when I was born, I've had asthma ever since. I also suffer with allergies and hay fever. Because of this I was never very good at sports at school. I could never seem to get enough breath to last out a game and as for running… well, lets just say that I'd have needed an oxygen tent for running anything above 100 meters! I was always the kid who was last to be picked for any sports at school, so I never really got the chance to find out if I was good at anything. Plus, the comprehensive (high school) that I went to was very sports orientated. The PE staff didn't seem to want to know you unless you were good at sports. Consequently, because I was always last or near the back at everything sporty, this really affected my self-image. I began to feel that I was useless and hopeless at everything I did, even things that I was previously good at, such as English and Science. This downward spiral of negativity continued right through my teens and onto when I left school. I signed up for university but quit after a year as I felt that I couldn't keep up with everyone and that I was no good at what I was doing. I was prescribed anti-depressants and told to rest for a while before deciding what to do with my life. After leaving university I bummed around for a year or so doing various odd jobs before bumping into a friend one day whom I'd not seen for a while. She told me she'd taken up karate and showed me a bit of what she was doing. I was intrigued and wanted to know more, but at the back of my mind I was being told by my “demon” that I was no good and that I'd be no good at karate, either. My friend eventually persuaded me to come along and I really enjoyed my first session. After a few weeks, I began to feel better about myself. I'd told my instructor about my asthma and he was OK with it, but I could feel that with the regular exercise I was now getting that it was beginning to improve. I no longer needed to use my inhalers as much in class or at home, either. I found that I was naturally drawn to Shotokan and that I picked up the techniques quickly. Soon after joining the club, my instructor asked me if I wanted to grade. I immediately said “no, I can't, I'm not good enough”, but he persuaded me to take my first grade and I passed! I was very nervous beforehand (I still am nervous with karate gradings) and I was convinced that I was going to fail, but my instructor had confidence in me and told me that he knew I would pass. In my karate organization, we are examined for belt grades by the chief instructor of the organization, not by our own Sensei's. I was terrified before the grading and was convinced that the examiner would just laugh at my efforts, but he seemed pleased with me and tried to put me at ease during the test. Getting my first colored belt was a real achievement to me. I know that some people don't put much value in certificates and grades and the like, but to me that first grading is more important to me than when I passed my shodan. It was a real turning point in my life and my confidence in my MA ability and myself has grown 100 fold. An example from tonight's class on how the MA has boosted my confidence was when a lower grade asked my instructor to show him a technique. He looked over to me and said "Go and ask Rachael to show you – she can do that really well." I was gobsmacked that he said that and probably blushed the brightest red ever, but it did me good to hear my Sensei say that. Only a few years ago I would never ever have imagined that anyone would ask me to show them anything. Now I'm an assistant instructor at my club, a black belt and the club secretary. It's due to the confidence that the martial arts has given me about myself and my abilities. The second reason that I love the martial arts is that it encourages a person to think. At first, students at my club are really encouraged to ask questions, to which they will be given a (hopefully sensible!) answer. After a while, though, Sensei will encourage us all to think of the answer ourselves. A few weeks ago I asked Sensei a question about the application (oyo) for a part of Kanku Sho kata. He looked at me and said "What do you think it means?" I went away and thought about it and tonight I told him what I thought. He smiled and replied "Very good, keep on thinking!" Martial arts encourage students to think about their actions and reactions. Instead of just “going through the motions”, the martial arts require that a student has to use their brains as well as their fists. Thirdly, I love the martial arts because it develops awareness. My instructor regularly tells us that the best form of defense is not to be there – i.e., be aware of possibly dodgy situations and stay out of them. This goes for training in the dojo, too. Awareness is a major skill needed in fighting/sparring. It's no good just throwing punches and kicks wildly; you have to be aware of what your opponent is doing at every second, as well as being totally aware of your surroundings. This means being mentally aware and alert, not just physically aware of something. We were training in kata last night and Sensei got us to perform a kata with our eyes closed – one person at a time. It was amusing to watch people go wildly out and miss the shape of the form entirely. One lad even Shuto-uke'd the wall – he was very close to it, but hadn't realized. Hmm, we need more practice at developing awareness I think! There are plenty of other reasons why I love martial arts (it develops fitness levels, it teaches defense skills, it instills discipline, its good for you socially), but I thought I would just share 3 of my reasons as to why I love training in the martial arts so much.