italian_guy

Yellow, in Goju ryu, testing for Orange soon.

Goju ryu has it.. our stances are higher than in Shotokan... We have mostly Zenkutsu dachi, Neo Ashi dachi, Hon-Zenkutsu dachi, Sanchin dachi, Sheiko Dachi.

Congratulations.

Welcome back, and best wishes... See it was not that bad after all.

I agree with all the other posts... you don't have to be perfect to be promoted ... just good enaugh... the rest you will learn. There's no better judge than your own Sensei.

Another related question may be is your tatami/ring personality similar to your actual personality or is the opposite? For me is the opposite. I tend to be aggressive in the tatami and very peaceful outside a sort of Dr.Jekill/Mr.Hide effect.

I'm quite happy with both my choices (see profile), I'm slightlym more happy with karate.

I wish I have started MA before. In my twentys for example. Now I would be something like 20 years in MA. And starting earlier I could even compete in turnements... now in my 40s it is a little late for that.

I agree, self defence is just a side of the story and, for me, not the most important... fun comes first, exercise come second... and self defence comes third.

The nice thing about sparring is that you never actually lose. If you do better then your sparring partner you have the confirmation that your technique works, if you do worse you can learn from your mistakes. At the end is not much of a fight against somebody, it is a fight against your weaknesses.

Hi thruhiker, even if you've been here since some time (Oct. 2003) welcome to KF.

Welcome to KF, which tai chi style do you practice?

I agree with SR. Video may complement your training, they give you extra information on a lot of thing. History, general training, techniques, sparring combos etc. They should never substitute dojo training but I think in your situation they are a positive thing. Extra advice... I think you shuold consider to join a dojo that does at least 2 classes a week.

My class train 3 times a week, unfortunately due to family reasons I can attend only twice a week. In order to overcome this problem a take two classes in a row ( traditional and sport karate class) for a total of 2 1/2 hour for a session. In the traditional class we do warm-up,stretching, kihon and kata or kumite or drills or bunkai depending on the period. Then I join the sport karate class after their warm-up (I'm already warmed-up from the previous class) and we do power training and sport point sparring.

It may also be Tai Chi Chuan. The martial version.

Nice idea!!!

We also do left hand closed in a fist and right hand opened that surround the fist. Like the first salutation that iron dukee described in his first post.

Hi, what's your personality when sparring? I tend to be an aggressive figher, just the opposite of my personality outside the dojo. Maybe is because of my previous kickboxing experience. Of course we adjust our fighting attitude depending on the opponent but please select the third option only if you feel really a very balanced mixture of aggressive and counter behaviour.

In karate we use horizontal, In TCC a mixture of both vertical and horizontal.Never used the 3/4.

Karate: Good: 1)Friendly and knoledgeable instructors 2)They allow me to take 2 classes so I go twice a week but my class lasts 2 1/2 hours. 3) Very nice karate style. 4) Very inexpensive. 5) Interdisciplinary teaching (frequent seminars on other MAs) Bad: 1) Not so close to my house. Good and Bad: I'm the oldest student (by far) so the workout for me is quite demanding. On one side is good because it forces me to push harder on the other it is not taylored to my needs and capability. Tai chi chuan. Good: 1) Very knolegeable instructors. 2) Quite close to my house. 3) Friendly atmosphere between students and some instructors. 4) Side courses (Instructors, Tui Na, other Kung fu styles, referee etc.) Bad: 1) Combat application starts at quite high level (after minimum 2 years of practice) 2) They don't allow me to take 2 classes a day. (They used to allow but now they don't allow me any more)

Welcome back to KF.

Welcome back and congratulation for your 41st anniversary of training. Since I started at 42 I really don't think I will reach your level.

Hi aefibird.... you're impressing.

I agree. If you mean the more widespread throughout the world I would bet on karate (here in Italy and also somehow in the rest of Europe TKD is not as popular as in the states). If you mean the style with more practitioners I would bet on Tai Chi Chuan.

Hi aefibird, I'm doing TCC since 1 year... I train in yang style. I've never seen Wu or Sun Tai chi chuan in action... about differences between Chen and Yang I base my knoledge on a DVD I have that shows both Chen and Yang style of combat and some forms. I think that Chen style is more striking oriented while Yang looks more grappling and arm-lock oriented. Regarding the movement Yang looks more soft and graceful while Chen look a little harder (however we are speaking about Tai Chi). I've made a thread about this on comparative styles some time ago but received no good clue.