italian_guy

Hi, the town where I live is not in your travelling path otherwise I would have raccomended my dojo. Anyhow Kyokushin karate is very hard to find in Italy we had a vistor from Romania in my dojo with the same problem but even my head instructor could not give her any pointer.

I have a collegue who became regional champion in kickboxing (ok not world champion .. however) and he started at 26.

Bruce Lee has a very important part in my MA inspiration I was a kid when his movies came out and I liked it so much but I lived in a small town and there weren't any MA school in my place furthermore I wasn't definitively athletic so I thought that MA was not for me. Many years later ( 3 years ago) the Gym where I did exercise to stay fit and lose some weight opeed a kickboxing class and I gave it a try .. and now... here I am.

I see it as a very important milestone in my journey... not the end of it! (I'm not a bb I'm almost half-way in the white to black journey) I agree that is not just like a colored belt, it is a turning point but I think its value must not be exagerated.

Yes very nice read. Thanks Treebranch

Same for us. The Only difference is that sticks were not rubber but padded rattan sticks which are more rigid. What do you mean?

Mouthpiece, groin protection, shin protection and karate sparring gloves.

Since many new karatekas joined the board recently I would like to bring this topic up again!

Ah ok ...sorry

Wow it should have been tough! How much was the donation?

Yes, it should be tough, he started going there to watch and to get private lessons from some of the partecipants and then after a few times he started sparring, he has not yet joined the dogs (he has no nickname yet) but he goes to every gathering of the european branch.

Bruce whom? Bruce Lee you mean? He did a lot of kung fu styles when he was young (mostly Wing chun, Hun gar, and also Tai chi) but then absobed techniques from various MAs and created is own style: Jeet Kune Do.

If you look for self-defence internal MA are not raccomended. It will teach you self-defence like all MAs but it will take a lot of time to apply the principles to self-defence so this rules out Aikido. Ju Jitsu is better but it is mostly a grappling martial art with a percentage of striking techniques that changes from school to school (it can range from 10% to 50%). If you want a striking art with self-defence application I raccomend Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thay, Kyoukushin Karate (or any kind of karate, kempo or kickboxing with self-defence applications) or wing chun.

Agreed. The beginner's sparring session is light contact but continous... then becomes moderate/full contact (with paddings). I agreed that some of the principles aren't new but the overall picture has the dignity to be considered a new MA. I give you an example.. you can trace back the roots of karate (expecially the style I'm studing i.e. GoJu ryu) down to china and to several chinese styles but you cannot say that Karate is a sort of kung fu variation or adaption you should consider it a different and separate MA. Yes it depends on the rules. A good JKD expert even if it is mostly trained for street fight is able to fight in various competitions... He can be a kickboxer although JKD teaches mainly low kicks... I know several people in my JKD school that have successfully competed in Sanda or in full contact stickfighting, my sifu goes regularly to Dog Brothers gatherings... and one female student from my school has won many Submission grappling competitions and so forth.A good JKD MA with a lot of experience can fight with a lot of rules and adapt...

A deep bow.... Osu!

From what I heard Goju and Shorin were for specific body types. I imagine others work better for certain body types too. Now I need to find a style that specifically adapts to and old and fat man's body...unless I can get off this computer and actually do some real exercise. Slowing down on food intake wouldn't hurt me either! Yes I heard that too but I do not agree. From what I know up to now I didn't notice this, if there is somebody who is 'old and fat' as you said and want to start karate he needs to talk to the instructor and get a special training program... and in parallel start a diet! (you cannot become younger but you can become thinnier).

"Use what's best for you" is one of the pricinples but not the only one.... There are a lot of them in the tao of JKD and all of them are applied in a good JKD course. I can give you few examples: strong side forward, (usually) in JKD, when you learn striking (or JKD kickboxing) you learn to fight in right guard, (then also left guard but right guard should be preferred) no forms and no uniform (you should practice in street clothes) and many others....

A good athlete is not necessarily a good teacher and vice-versa. Forget about trophys and look at the quality of the instruction. Read this beautiful and inspiring story: http://www.24fightingchickens.com/2005/10/15/the-master-and-the-champion/

Go Ju ryu is my favorite. It is mostly striking but with some grappling (let's say 30%), external with some internals (ki kung katas Sanchin and Tensho), it has the right mixture of ingredients for me. I know Shotokan because of my son doing it but I prefer GoJu.

Never rented but I've bought some. I like to watch them, they are useful supplements, of course they do not substitute actual training, but they may be helpful.

I liked the Karate kid serie, and I agree with Mr. Mike about kickboxer (I was watching it last night) Very nice MA action movie.

Double ranking, double congratulations!!

In our organization Shodan Ho has a somewhat different meaning. It is the last exam you take in your dojo and it means that you are ready to go for the actual shodan exam that is done at the regional headquarters of the federation. After shodan ho you can wear a black belt but only in your dojo (not in turnements or demonstrations) it may be called an unofficial shodan. Usually the exam for Shodan Ho is even harder then the Shodan exam because your Sensei do not want to lose his reputation presenting, to the external panel of Senseis from other schools, a candidate which is not adeguate; so it is somehow an overtest.

Congratulations MartialArthur.

Very good article about the social side of training... Can you tell me something about your art? Is it sriking or grappling? where does it come from?