italian_guy

Another option is make the transition to kickboxing. I think you will benefit a lot from your previous Karate experience.

Definitly, the form have so many details that if done not correctly may make the entire exercise useless or even harmful. Learning TCC application self-defence application with videos is even worse. Videos in Tai chi are hard to use even as a supplement, while in other martial arts they may be used (as supplements).

I agree, you may also add one or two round shadowboxing with weights (use small wheights 1 or 2 kg 2 or 4 lbs) , followed by one round shadowboxing without weights. (and feel the difference) Pay paricular attention in NOT overextending your arm when doing it.

No big problems from kickboxing to karate. Kicks are executed the almost the same way. The guard is slightly lower in karate but while sparring I keep my old kickboxing style guard, I feel more protected.

On my karate class it's myself (43). I started karate in april afer more then 1 year in kickboxing. Sometimes (like yesterday) I feel I cannot follow very intense workouts but this does not happen very frequently. On my TCC class the oldest will be around 55-60 and he's doing ok.

Hello, fellow goju ryuer Osu A class with one student only... how can your instructor survive?

No, it is not martial art, it is not even a martial sport (because it is obvious that it is staged) It is a martial entertainment, you can see it as a short action movie with no plot just fighing scenes.

The reason I do martial art is mostly for fun and self-improvement. The fun comes from the fact that I like every part of it I like practice basics, forms, sparring self defence ... every aspects of it. The self improvement is because it helps me staying fit, focused, improve my attention, balance, coordination etc.

Good Article WW my congratulations. It suggest me two considerations: one is related to the first part of your article and the other to the second one. Sometimes I feel ashamed that in Italy real fighting sports are disappearing from the media, even boxing that used to be so popular here is rarely found on our tv programs now and when they show it, is not definitively on prime time. This may be not good for the popularity of this kind of sports and for MAs as a whole On the other hand if we really have a deeper look on what is shown today in the media maybe this lack of exposure may contribute to preserve the genuineness of the MAs themself. So-called reality shows with no reality at all in it domiminate the stage, and professional wrestling that receive a relatively high exposure can be considered the reality show of fighting sports. So at the end is better not to be a part of today showbusiness and preserve the art as it is; an expression of the body through fighting. The second consideration is about the legacy of the old masters. Time has changed and the old model of the inside or in-house students is not applicable any more. I think it is time for the old masters to re-invent a model to pass their art to the future generation. I think it's their responsability to do this, if they fail in this battle their art will be lost. What we can do to help them is showing our dedication and our passion for the art, but it's up to them to invent a way to pass the art to the future generations.

... followed by a gedan barai and gyaku tsuki.

Yep Sanchin and Gekisai are my next katas.

We have two different classes one for traditional and another sport style. I do traditional, we do mosly kihon, kata and bunkai on the traditional class but time to time we also point-spar. I think that when my technique will improve I will try also the competitor class sometimes.

I agree with that too. I think that even if kicking tecniques may be somehow different from a MA to another (e.g. kicking in Tai chi chuan is completely different than in Goju which is still somehow different then in kickboxing) if someone has practiced leg strenght and flexibility in one art it should not appear sloppy even if the tecnique changes.

No I don't think so on amazon is about 12$. It is a good book maybe a little too extreme in some views but not much.

Yes, I think you are the first slovenian who shows up on this furum. Keep posting!

Welcome to KF

welcome jos

You're surely welcome.

Welcome to KF, I also study goju ryu here in Italy. Best wishes for you belt test. keep us posted on how it goes. Osu

Not a girl, welcome to KF

The thing that I find strange in dear John story is that a school allows you to test every week. In all schools I've been, there is a definite period (usually one months before the actual test) when the entire class focus with the preparation of the exam and this happens only twice or three times a year. For the rest of the year we do not care about exams we just care about learning and improving our technique and our fitness. I think that school that makes exams too often focus too much about the grading process, that should come IMO in due time and with the due importance (which is not overwhelming).

Congratulations Rotten, BTW ramy congratulations also to you for your nomination to KF Senpai

Welcome to KF.

I vote for good old bruce although I like them all!

Hi Nicholas. Welcome to KF!