Dijita

I have a feeling that you might tear into me for this, but I find tournaments a great way to measure what I have learned. It's amazing how much I think I know. For example, I learn techniques in class and can perform them well. However when I go to a tournament it really shows me what has actually been learned to a point that it is instinctive. The things that I learn and think that I will use in a tournament completely slip my mind. Adrenaline, stress, nerves, and pressure will strip away any skill that is not engrained into your brain and your muscle memory.

I get the same thing, and I have almost no arches. I've always had flat feet since I was a child however. If this is a consistant problem for you, I recommend seeing a doctor about it. If you have had good arches your whole life and they are starting to "fall" then you need to see a doctor and invest into some specialy made orthodics for your footwear. Take care of the problem now before it gets worst. Trust me you don't want flat feet, it will pain you in many situations.

Although flexibility does come in handy when trying to get some added height to your kicks, you'd be surprised with the correct technique how high you can actually kick. It's important to make sure that you are rotating on the ball of your foot and not the heel. When you execute your kick, your planted foot should be facing the opposite direction. Make sure your knee is bent and that all your weight is on the ball of your foot (your heel should be slightly off the ground).

Alberta Health Care covers part of it. You may also have it covered by your work if you have benefits through that. It was $50 for the first visit because it included a consultation, next visits will be $35. I suspect I'll only need a few more treatments.

Holy cow! This is a miracle treatment. First thing I want to clarify... this is a PAINFUL procedure. It wasn't what I expected. The doctor literally stretched out my muscles with intense pressure. The leg problems that I have been having since December felt 10x better after the first visit. The doctor told me that it won't take very long for my problem to be healed. The doctor was very good at having a discussion about my problem and how it is interfering with the things that I do. I was really impressed at how easily he was able to tell me where all my pain was just based on telling him how I first got the injury. The consultation was about 15-20 minutes. The actual procedure was about 15 minutes I would guess. Anyways, it's blowing me away at how effective this is. hobz, Active Relase will work VERY well for shin splints. Many of his patients are people who have shin splints. I see that you are in Calgary. The place I went too is called "The Art of Chiropractic" on 1457 - 17th Avenue SW. The doctor's name is Robin.

Ya I took a good hit to the face at a tournament and bled all over my gi. I was out of town so I didn't have a chance to soak my gi and the blood set. Oh well. Most important thing with blood. Soak it in COLD water as soon as you can. Then it'll wash out easily.

If you're interested. I know this is outside your dates. You could check out the The 2005 All American Karate Championships on June 25th. http://www.kyokushinkarate.com/upcoming/docs/upcomingevents.htm

I agree that too much dependance on a chest protector makes you not put enough importance on blocking skills. The design of the chest protector my daughter uses leaves her stomach open, so she definately has an incentive to block to stop something from knocking the wind out of her. As I mentioned her breasts are developing and protecting them while they are at this very sensitive stage is important. Kyoshi (head sensai at our dojo) mentioned for girls at this age if they do not get this style of protector they tend to over protect their breasts and this is not good either. Is there a link to the one that your daughter uses?

http://www.activerelease.com/about.asp Has anyone ever used Active Release Therapy for an injury? I've been having an annoying problem with my shin area since December. I took a hard blow just off to the side when I was blocking a kick. Hurt preety bad, and it always feels agitated. Now it doesn't even take a hard hit in that area, even if it feels "healed", to make the intense pain come back. It's frustrating because I am missing tournaments because of it. Last tournament I was at, I was brought down by blocking a kick. Anyways, doctor seems to think it might be stress fractures. I think it is tissue damage. My friend swears by this sports specialist that does active release, so I booked an appointment with him after my bone scan next week. Just wondering if anyone has any opinions or experiences with this type of treatment.

That was really well written and I enjoyed reading it. I agree with most of your points especially the points in regards to many people not fully realizing the imporance of Kata. Well done.

I don't think some people need to know the Arts. To most people, movies are just a form of entertainment. You can't fault a person for not knowing if they've never been a part of it.

Tip #1 Use bag gloves. I was an idiot and forgot my bag gloves, I thought I would be alright, now my hands look horrible. I learned my lesson.

Keeping a journal is also handy. After every class, as soon as you get home write down what you learned in class. I just started doing this, this week and it helps a lot. While writing it, it really makes you think and visualize what it is you are doing. Now I'll start building a book that I can always go back and read to practice anything we've previously learned.

EvilTed, Thanks for the invite. That would be fantastic. Unfortunately I do not have the skill to fight in an open tournament like that. Someday though. If you are fighting in this tournament, I wish you luck! I will more than likely fly to Los Angeles to fight in the Freshman tournament. I'm not sure if you have heard of it. I believe it will be in October, later this year. Osu!

Turns out he is doing GoshuRyu (sorry if I spelt that wrong). I got someone on this board though that knows of a Kyokushin club in your area to PM you.

Generally in our style, there is no gender division with the kids up until age 12 or 13 I believe. There are weight divisions however. It is contact sparring with a lot more rules compared to the older divisions. Full contact to the body only, and safety equipment is worn. I think this is a good way to handle it. For the most part at this age, there is no benefit in being a male because the bodies haven't developed. As long as the weight is the same then I think it is preety equal grounds. The only disadvantage I see, is that at around the age of 13, I think the guys ego starts to get a lot more fragile. So if they get beaten by a girl at that age, a lot of times they can get preety upset. However, that is probably something good to learn.

Whoa, that is so weird. I have a friend in Memphis who said he was joining Karate. He is completely new to martial arts and wanted to do something with his wife to get in shape. Anyways I asked him what style of Karate he was doing and he didn't know. All he could tell me was that it was out of a church and that the guy who teaches is very "serious". He has his first class tonight, so I I'll talk to him today and get him to find out the details for you. It would be such a coincidence if it is the same guy that you are referring of.

Thanks for the videos!

Tournaments are a great learning experience and inspring. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself.

I guess it could come in handy for couriers. However I can't see enough couriers rushing to the class to justify it. Who knows.

Wow, that's so weird that the two styles you chose are the only two styles I've done/currently doing. I trained in Kuk Sool Won for about 2.5 years. I really enjoyed it and the only reason I left was because I was starting to compete on a more professional level in my mountain biking and therefore it demanded a lot more of my time. Kuk Sool Won consisted of a lot of forms, and A LOT of throwing/self defense techniques. We often times spent 30 minutes each class simply doing breakfalls in order to teach us to fall and be thrown properlly to avoid injury. As far as tournaments go, where I trained, there were a lot of different categories to compete in. There was always a self defense division, a forms division, and point sparring. Now I train in Kyokushin. I honestly have to say, personally I enjoy it a lot more than Kuk Sool Won. It is a lot different. I find the classes to be much more physically demanding as there is more cardio involved. Kyokushin conditions your body to being hit and it trains you to learn different fighting combinations. The nice thing is that even though there is a lot of fighting focus there is also a very traditional element about it. We do Katas which is just like forms. Kyokushin focuses a lot more on striking and blocking than I found Kuk Sool Won to do. If I were you, I would try and watch/participate in both classes and then pick which one suits your needs. Oh and one more thing, don't use your age as crutch. I believe you could do either, equally as well. It just takes a lot of training to condition your body for either.

I'm telling you, cloth pads rule! Cheap, easy to clean, and not too bulky.

Do you know anyone in your class about your size? Find out what size gi they have.

Osu! I noticed you are from the Armstrong Dojo. A lot of good people there and great instructors. Personally, and most fighters that I have spoken with, like the cloth type of shin guards. They are really cheap too. About $30 should get you set up. I'm not sure what age you are, but if you are under 17 then I beleive you are required to wear shin guards in a tournament. If that is the case, just make sure that whatever shin guard you want to get is approved by the instructor first.

I like that idea of using something that is built into a sports bra. Like you, I hate the big ones that cover more than your breasts. That one with the link, looks interesting, but I don't think I would be allowed to wear one with a hard plastic insert.