italian_guy

Yes I agree that Tai chi chuan is good for fitness if you mean general health. But if you look for some aerobic/anaerobic kind of exercise I think you should try Karate or Kempo. If you are flexible and agile TKD or Northern shaolin kung fu can be a valid choice also. In any case shop around see what's available and then take your decision.

I think you show good spirit and sportmanship in writing your post. Usually people post results in turnements only if they win or go close to win. I'm glad you enjoied yourself and keep going with this spirit Victories will come I'm sure. Keep going Dijita

Welcome to KF. We have two Romanians now!

Whatever.... This is true but how much do you use the back of the glove? I never did during actual sparring.

Whatever.... This is true but how much do you use the back of the glove? I never did during actual sparring.

In my TMAs classes (both in Tai chi and karate) there is a prevalence of women. In kickboxing we were mostly men.

Welcome.

Welcome to the forums. Which style of Tai chi are you practicing?

Welcome to KF.

I think you can get lots of informations on different arts or styles looking at old/present thread in this forum. Concerning my personal experience I would say that kickboxing and karate are both good for fitness (maybe between the two, kickboxing is a little better) kickboxing is a little faster to learn at basic level, karate takes more to learn but is richer in techniques.

Keep trying Dijita! If you do something where there is a taugh selection you need to be used to some failure. (I'm doing a job where initial selection is hard and is also hard to stay at high level). But you never actually lose if you don't quit, so work hard for your next opportunity. Best luck

Very good and intense article. My congratulations. Since you decided to share your story with us let me make my considerations. You have done the right thing in leaving your dojo even if it is painful. You have my deepest symphaty but things couldn't go on as you describe. But now let me give you an advice (I'm a relatively old fart and old farts like to give advices) GET BACK TO MA as soon as possible, stop your inactivity before you become depressed. Try to find another TKD dojo if is possible, but if not, find some other MA school and start from square one, with your dedication, your experience and your talent you'll learn fast whatever art you'll choose. Don't let them discourage you. As soon as you find another place where you can express your dedication the last part of your experience will become just a memory. Yours in MAs. italian_guy

Welcome to the forums.

Thanks for the useful advices.

Kickboxing was my first martial art and make me fall in love with MAs but after some time you realize that it is mostly a martial sport and if you don't go to actual matches it loses some of its meaning. Since I'm too old to compete (43 in two weeks) I wanted something that aside "jitsu" has also "do" side. Yes it looks like a different way to fight in karate you have to fast (to take the opportunity) and cautious (not to give opportunity to the opponent) while in kickboxing you need to be more aggressive. It is not that I would like more contact just that I'm used to have more contact and I just have to light it up. No, the way they move while sparring it is not much different from the way we moved in kickboxing... they use high stances and kickboxing-like footwork. I would not say it is stiffer. Thanks for the correction.

I usually go Shhh or Shhha. I know somebody who whistles.

Period like that happens... To me they happend mostly in change-of-season periods. So no wonder why they are happening now.Here in italy the weather is changing, now it turning to a better weather but is still not stable and people (also myself) feel odd.

Hi, at the end I decided to quit my kickboxing lesson and start with Karate, I found a university goju ryu dojo very nice and inexpensive (I have a promotional 2 months free lessons) so yesterday I started. The first day I was expecting to stay in front of a mirror with some senior student or instructor to learn the basics, instead since the main instructor knew that I have a one year experience with kickboxing he wanted me to spar the first day so I did 3 point sparring light-contact-to-body no-contact-to-face matches, it was a little strange for me to stop at every hit but it was fun anyway. My concept of light contact was heavier then their concept and somebody complained but at the end everything was fine. I just wanted to share this little experience with you all. Bye (oh sorry) Oss.

I pick Chuck Norris, Bill Wallace, Jackie Chan and Dan Inosanto. ... But it must be light contact sparring.

Congratulatons. Belt systems may have some disadvantage but sometimes getting a good reward from someone more experienced is a good help in our MA path.

Excuse my ignorance but can anybody tell me something more about hapkido? Is it grappling, striking or both? Is it Japanese korean or what else? Thanks a lot!

I'm glad to see that my old thread about tai chi is still on. By the way I'm doing Tai chi since January and I think is a good exercise, as martial art I think it needs quite long time to learn effectively but still is fun and in the long term it is quite effective. No it is a full featured martial arts with strikes, throws and locks (both standing and on the ground), it has also weapon training (usually staff sword and sabre).

Welcome to KF.

Advice number one. Don't start learning a martial art from books (even from tape or internet), those supports can help you completing your MA instruction but they never are a useful substitute. Advice number two. See what's available in your area, visit the various school and choose what suit you best. Advice number three. After a while (this is a very personal opinion and not everybody I guess are in agreement with me) all martial arts gives you good self-defence skills but some styles are more self-defence oriented then others and you learn self defence skills faster. Those IMHO are: 1)JKD 2)Krav-Maga 3)Wing Chun 4)Thai Boxe 5)Kickboxing 6) Freestyle self defence. .... In no particular order.

Yes You have understood what I meant. I tell you more. Few days ago I returned to my kickboxing class after a 3 weeks stop. I was expecting to fall into pieces after 30-40 min of the usual hard training, instead something strange happened, not only I did everything quite well but also I succeed for the first time in doing a decent spinning-hook kick. That really puzzled me . So keep practicing the basics! Results comes up when you don't expect and sometimes even a stop in training can be useful.