username237

there were millions of reasons that i left my shotokan club but i do not regret doing so. Shotokan is a fine martial art and i very much enjoyed learning about it. however it just wasnt for me anymore.

yeh thanks

im totally stuck on one of the missions, called 'farewell my love'. anyone have a cheat for skipping missions, or any other cheats for moving the game on a bit?

im a litigation executive for a large firm of solicitors. basically, my clients are involved in RTA's that were not their fault, and i sue whoever is responsible!

i ruptured my achillis tendon just doin some footwork. Im in a pot/on crutches. Its not too bad at the moment, althought im having my foot reset in a different position on friday so thats gonna hurt!! It'll be in pot for about 3 month. For me, TKD is harder than shotokan. Thats prob cuz i did shotokan for years and ive not been doing TKD for that long. but TKD is quicker and i prefer tkd fighting to shotokan. Shotokan katas however, are so much better than TKD pattterns.

hi guys, ive been away from karateforums for prob over a year now. ive had a hectic time recently, busy job, new home, new martial art!!! (ive quit shotokan and taken up taekwondo). im off work with a martial arts related injury so i thought id come back and say hi and involve myself in some of the real interesting chats that i know take place here! Hope to speak to you all soon!

thats great, really well done!!

my favourite drink is pernod and fresh orange. Also works with absynth if you cant hack the stuff neat. Also, dooleys and milk is nice. my worst is a cheeky vimto, it brings back awful memories of my 20th birthday when i had 2 pints of it to finish off my night (i was already fairly drunk!) and well lets just say was ill for quite a while LOL!

i no what you mean, when i first started taking taekwondo gradings i seemed to be the only one keeling over through lack of oxygen! I was so stiff when i was going through basics, patterns etc that all my energy was just drained out of me and i wouldnt even have the strength to last out a fight. People would come upto me and say "your techniques are really good, i bet you did shotokan before this". Id ask them how they knew and they would say "because you move like the majority of shotokan students, powerful but rigid." It does get easier through practice, and people like yourself putting in the effort to research is really good. if you're stiff, it tends to affect your breathing. my taekwondo teacher has a phrase for such people, "If you dont breath, you die." Simple but true!

HI everyone, i wouldnt normally have anything to do with DIY research but im starting to get a bit worried!! Let me fill you in... at training the other day i ruptured my achillis tendon and im now in a pot/on crutches. I live with my parents at the moment but am currently in the process of buying my first home with my boyfriend of 5 years. Most of the searches have come back from the solicitors and it looks like we may even have the keys in a couple of weeks. im off work with my injury and im relying on mum and dad for just about everything. When we do get the keys i will not be able to move in cuz my boyfriend works mon/fri 9am/5pm and as such there would be no one in the house to help out if its needed. My boyfriend has said he wont move in until i do, which i think is nice. We have decided however, that as he is a bit of a handyman (he's a plumber) he is going to do up the house bit by bit so that when we do move in it will all be sorted. He has been thinking about adding an extra room to the house which i think is great, althought we're on a bit of a tight budget at the moment. Its originally a 1 bed terraced, but the bathroom was turned into a 2ndbedroom and there is an extension on the back which is now the bathroom (sounds odd but its really nice!) We've got a loft and a cellar. My boyfriend has had an idea to turn the cellar into a room, and his initial thought was a bedroom, which i didnt like the sound of. I mean, no windows, it will dark, might get cold and damp. But if we were to turn it into another room in general, it would add value on the house. Although i'd rather have a loft conversion my boyfriend thinks its a lot more expensive, and we would need a new roof cuz ours isnt in the best of shapes. My main question is this, has anyone ever had a cellar conversion done? Whats it like, is it expensive, was it worthwhile, is it something you might need a specialist in to do, or do you reckon someone generally good at DIY could tackle it? Id be grateful for any advise, or shared experiences.

i did shotokan for 13 years and got to 2nd dan. I switched to tkd just over a year ago cuz i wanted to try something different. I couldnt believe just how different it was! i am still getting used to the switch now, and believe me it hasnt been easy. I dont think i will ever lose the karate in me. the main thing that my taekwondo teacher was constantly pulling me up on is that i was stiff. in every move i did i was concentrating too much on power, but when you're fighting someone that does taekwondo they are so relaxed about it, and when they do attack it is quicker and a lot harder to defend, which is why i think taekwondo focuses very little on blocks. the main problem i had was that when someone was coming to attack me with a kick, i had been taught in karate to block and counter. i am being taught in taekwondo to move and counter, and that blocking should not be used as the main form of defence of a kick, as you are much more likely to get your fingers broken! I unfortunately learnt that the hard way! I think that if your friend is anything like me he firstly needs to loosen up. shotokan is quite powerful, but doesnt really focus a great deal on quick kicks! Moves can be just as powerful, if not more, if your friend relaxes when fighting, and uses extra hip movement when attacking. Thats another thing that shotokan doesnt really focus on as much, but your friend will need to learn to kick from his hips, and not his knee, if you know what i mean! your friend does have one advantage though, i'll bet he is good at gauging when to through a punch! although taekwondo focuses little on punches, they do score and some of my opponents say ive got 'cheeky punches' cuz they were my best form of attack in shotokan and i find it relatively easy to see an opening not right for a kick but perfect for a punch, and its not really taught that much at my tkd club. im by no means an expert, im just relaying my experience. i hope it helps.

i know from my own experience. DONT DO IT its the worst thing you could do. Imagine if you split up on bad terms you will not be able to face training with her. If you are serious about your training then dont give her a second thought no matter how much you like her. I know that sounds really harsh but trust me its the best thing you can do, there are millions of girls out there, it wont be so bad if you forget about this one.

well its a good job i werent planning on keeping up with my studies as i failed both my law and practice exams!! Lets hope im a better bobby!

I was just wondering how everyone has gone on with their results today! Myself, I didnt do A levels this year, I did AS last year and left to pursue a law career and so im waiting for my 1st year ILEX (institute of legal executive) results. Mine come either tomorrow or saturday so wish me luck! In saying that, all being well im joining the police force by the end of this year so i wont need it anyway! And to everyone that did well, WELL DONE! To everyone that did bad, better luck next time (if you decide to retake that is!)

cant say ive ever seen 1 before, r they expensive?

i was a competition fighter and was good with my legs. As soon as i started TKD I noticed that there was a lot more use of legs than fists which suited me fine. Theres a lot more spinning kicks and jumps but i seem to be picking this up ok. I was also quite good at picking up katas very quickly and learning the patterns is almost the same. Most of the blocks, kicks and hand techniques are very similar too. TKD does seem to be more laid back compared to karate so i just need to learn to stop being so stiff when i move! I think thats about it really!

im almost certain there will be someone that wont like it. But I believe that i've earned that grade and will prove it to them. Then they will have nothing to moan about

i started taekwondo a couple of months back with my mum. Before this we did shotokan karate for 12 years. I got to my second dan, my mum got to her 1st dan. We took our first taekwondo grading today and noticed that our grading seemed to be a lot harder that the last lot of white belts. When it came to finding out our results I was pretty confident that we would get our yellow tag. Instead it turns out that i have been awarded my green belt and my mum was awarded a yellow belt. What a shock to the system but we've both taken to the sport very quickly and know most of the basics from doing karate for so long. So I cant see a problem with double grading, as long as people genuinly have the ability to perform as the grade they are going for!

ive noticed that most people that own saxo's are the boy racer types. I think they are lovely cars but idiots rag them around and thats why the insurance is quite high for them now. I could never risk buying a 2nd hand saxo. (apologies to all nice people that own saxo's and dont rag them around!)

As if I can afford a Lotus!!! Im barely a student! I work with insurance companies and direct line are really good. They were not as cheap as liverpool victoria though, in fact they were about £800 more! Diamond are ok if you're a lass. I think im sticking with my black arosa 1.4tdi but if i change my mind or win the lottery i'll let you know!!!

well guys im changing my mind again!! My driving instructor turned up to my house today with a new car, a vauxhall corsa 1.7TDI. Ive never driven a diesel before but I was mad impressed!! The trouble is i know they are so much more expensive and the insurance goes up on them 2. My boyfriend had a corsa and it made his life hell so I would never buy one but id certanly consider paying the extra for a decent car with a diesel engine.I dont suppose anyone knows of any decent but cheap insurance companies do you?? I hear liverpool victoria are good.

i could NEVER own a yellow car, its not me at all. Im not one for standing out in a crowd. The grey isnt like a dull boring grey its metallic and looks really good when the suns on it. I think i'd still go for silver though, hide all the scratches i'll no doubt get on it when i get let loose on the road lol!

now that is a hard question!!! I initially wanted black but everyones telling me not to bother as they start to look mucky really easilly unless you wash it all the time! They have got a light yellow, a dark yellow, a green, a sky blue, a silver, grey or black. Im stuck between grey and silver now, but they're both metallic so that means more money to pay out, its an extra £275 which is quite steep considering the size of the thing!

i think im settled on a 1.0s seat arosa, ive been to a few showrooms and had a look and for the price it isnt bad at all!

i did shotokan for about 13 years! Not bad to say im only 18!