angelica d

I agree, there are some amazing fighters at my (traditional) shotokan club. Anyway, I wanted to do a martial art and the only ones I had heard of at the time were karate and kung fu, and there was a karate club about 3 miles down the road so I joined. I fell in love with it immediately, but I also would love to try some other MAs - judo and aikido especially.

Well I have to choose between going (its still a long way, even from York!) and going sailing. Ooh its a difficult choice. If the choice was between actually doing karate and sailing, I think karate would definitely win. But seeing as its only watching....well I've got three days to decide I guess. I am so indecisive, I drive myself mad!

Just wondering if any of the UK guys are planning on going to the 'Seni 04' Martial Arts weekend in Birmingham this Saturday and Sunday? I found out about it at another tourney I watched, and it seems like fun. There are going to be loads of demos and some competitions as well (although I'm just watching and videoing it!) Maybe see some of you guys there then?

I agree, it seems like what you're doing is perfectly healthy and I reckon that by 17 most people have done all the growing they're going to do. Topic's right, it is in your genes, but believe me it is possible to stunt your growth. I lost four or five inches of my predicted adult height when I had an eating disorder in my mid - teens. Anyway, 5'10" or 11" is quite tall already IMO. Its not like you're gonna shrink by weightlifting so I don't see the problem!

Its not PC but . . . hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahaahaha!

Yeah, aefibird, that's popular round here too. Although I've never had a chat up line used on me - ever! (although judging by some of the ones i've read here, i might be lucky!) I've always had to chat the guy up ... usually when very very drunk (that's how I got my fiance!)

I can do full box splits after a long training session, or when I'm feeling particularly flexible. As for the front splits, I can do them with my right leg in front but not my left leg. My left leg can't do anything!

What kind of tournament are you thinking of entering? Are you confident of your own ability? Do you want to do kata or kumite? (I'm guessing kumite but just making sure!) It depends on so many things. For kumite, my advice would be, get out there and watch, videotape some tournaments in your area. Then you can make an informed decision as to whether you are at the right standard. With kata you don't have to worry about getting hurt (unless you trip up, my worst nightmare) so just go along and have a go, you've nothing to lose. Hope that helps!

I wear a Blitz silver tournament gi most of the time, but I also train in another Blitz gi, about 12/3 years old so I have no idea what its called! I also have two old lightweight Hayashi gis, but I never wear them nowadays. Once I first tried a heavyweight, there was no going back!

cheers everyone, even now I still can't believe it! Yeah, it's done wonders for my confidence, and I'm hooked too!

Yikes, mine is seriously wierd! God/Goddess type: God of Disease Worshippers: Proletarians Show devotion by : Sacrificing each other

Best exercise: swimming Worst: running IMHO - last time I went running my knees and ankles hurt for three days!

I found tekki sandan difficult to pick up - the arm movements are all so similar it left me really confused! After many attempts I could remember it completely...but because I haven't done it for a few weeks I think I'v forgotten it again!

Welcome to the forums!

Hey there!

That's a good enough reason IMO! I'm also bored, I'm supposed to be training tonight but my blister is hurting alot and I'm so tired from the weekend I can hardly move. So I'm feeling angry at myself for not going...but not so bad that I can't do a survey thingy! Umm I like tattoos on some people but I don't think I'd get one myself cos I'm a wimp when it comes to things like that. And I'm also thinking of the future...it'd probably look gross when I'm 70! What do the rest of you guys think?

Thanks guys! I did heian sandan ... was torn between that and some of the others because I really hate those double blocks at the beginning. But I love the three mikazuki geris and am good at them so thats why I did it. Am relieved its over though, I was really stressing and worrying I was going to forget my kata or fall over! Now I've got a grading to worry about - and I've just got a horrible blister on my heel cos I walked a long way in some stupid boots (I was asking for it really. I really really hope it goes by sunday! Pity you couldn't make it aefibird - there's another one in the summer and some more in october I think so maybe see you then? There were some funny incidents on the day - we watched the kiddie sectiion first of all and one of the boys had a really piercing, loud and very long kiai - like, HEEYAAAAAAAAAAAA! And whenever he did it, some tiny kids in the sparring comp on the other side of the hall copied him! I felt sorry for the guy, but it was soooo funny!

Well done ! I've got my orange belt (8th kyu) grading next Sunday and am quite nervous, but quite excited too . We have to do heian shodan and nidan, lots of basic techniques and simple two part combinations, and gohan kumite. There's about five of us taking the grading at that level, and we're all good friends so it shouldn't be too scary I hope!

Last week my fiance (and assistant instructor) told me he was entering the Yorkshire Karate Championships, and he asked if I wanted to have a go in the kyu grade competition. To be honest I wasn't very keen as I hadn't prepared at all and had never done anything like it before. I said yes in the end (despite being ready to drop out of it the night before) and we both went along to it yesterday. It wasn't a huge competition but I was soo nervous I actually couldn't feel my legs! I found out I was competing against people quite a few grades higher than me, and that didn't help my nerves. Still, I did my kata and in my complete and utter amazement, I came first!!! I can't even remember doing my kata though - my fiance showed me the video and we had a bit of a laugh afterwards. In his competition, he came third (by 0.2 points, and there were alot of good katas in his section) so we're both really pleased! Did any of the Yorkshire people go to the event? Just wanted to share my experience with you all, I'm still over the moon!

When we're learning a new kata we can have practically a whole lesson dedicated to it (recently we've done chinte and tekki sandan) but usually kata form a big part of the lessons anyway. Sometimes we go through the heians twice each as a warmup, and sometimes we do katas in more depth (5+ times). We startb by doing them really slowly to count, with the instructors correcting the details, and progress to full pace in our own time.

I was recovering from a long illness, and I had had to give up the speed swimming and dancing that I used to love. I wanted to start something that I'd not tried before, and found a karate club down the road from me. I immediately was hooked and have never looked back!

Shotokan White Red Orange Yellow Green Purple Purple&white Brown Brown&white (2 stripes) Brown&white Black ...I think!

I agree, plus swimming is more relaxing and you can think at the same time - makes me more inclined to do it for longer. Although jumping rope could be beneficial as well, think of your joints! Unless you want horrible clicky, creeky knees

Hey there!

My mum used to have a pilates video, and I tried it a few times. Apart from the annoying presenter (aren't they all?!) I found it was quite hard work but I got better at it over time. However, it was, dare I say it, rather boring. I think yoga sounds slightly more fun.