Fish

Last week in class our sensei dropped a medicine ball on our stomachs as we were tensing - same idea, I think this is used by boxers.

It reminds me of those people who always swim in open water on New Years Day. What a way to start the year!

Don't forget that some of the moves may also be grapples or throws

Sometimes motivation comes after you get started. E.g. you have a good exercise session, so it makes you feel good, so you look forward to the next one - then you get into a virtuous circle of training regularly, feeling good and enjoying training. Demotivation can work the same way - when you're not training you get used to not doing it, fall into the habit of being unfit and it becomes harder to break that habit the longer you let it go on. So take the first step, and hopefully you'll find the motivation to continue. If you want to get fit, start by walking for 15 minutes each day. Gradually build it up to 30 minutes, then start running (gently) for part of it, alternating running with jogging. Keep increasing the running component until you can run the entire 30 minutes, then start running faster for some of your runs. There's no pill you can take to make you fit, unfortunately, you just have to put in the effort.

I know what you mean about the doctors - I waited 2 hrs earlier today (despite having an appointment) because the dr was overrunning, only to be told I was fine and they don't need to see me!!! Now that they they could have told me over the phone!

Took and passed my 1st kyu test last week: basics, kata, ippon kumite and then tough sparring including a 3 on 1 (3 onto me) against two black belts and a 1st kyu. Tough but a lot of fun! Now the training for shodan.

One thing I find is that the muscle soreness after a tougher than usual workout often occurs on the second day after the workout (not the day after). Eventually, your body will get used to the level you're working at the moment, and you'll be less sore in general, but you may still get sore after doing a harder workout than usual or after doing one that targets particular muscles more than usual.

I'm a (former) distance runner. Do 2 things: 1. Increase the distance you run on your longest weekly run gradually until you can run between at least 3 or up to 5 miles. This will build up your endurance. (I personally think 5 miles is quite enough for martial arts). 2. Once a week, do an interval training session: run say 200 to 400 metres as fast as you can, then jog for say 400 to 800 metres as a recovery, and then repeat up to 8 times. This trains your body to go faster than it is used to. A heart rate monitor is very useful for this sort of work, because you can monitor your work rate more accurately.

When do you rest and how much rest do you get in any week? Remember the golden rule: stress + rest = success. If you don't rest, eventually you will get an injury or your immune system won't cope and you'll get sick, which will put your training back.

In our club it's called tobi sokuto, but I think it is the same as yoko tobi geri - jumping side kick. Thanks for the advice.

I'm having trouble with this kick, which I need to learn for my next grading. I'm finding it hard to jump high enough to perform the sokuto kick before I hit the ground again. I'm worse starting from right stance than from left. Any tips as to how to perform this kick correctly?

Hi. I practise Wado Ryu. I think the two styles are quite similar as Wado Ryu developed out of Shotokan. I think the Heian/ Pinan Kata are basically the same. I hear stances are lower in Shotokan than Wado, and there are some techniques in Wado that don't feature in Shotokan, but I would think you could adapt.

yokogeri is a kick to the side. Sokuto geri is a kick with edge of foot.

I don't have a problem with it, but nor do I feel it adds anything of great signficance to my training.

On the .05 volt thing, maybe your sensei is trying to explain Chi in terms of the more modern understanding of the chemical electrical stimuli happening inside the body. Certainly, my sensei does not believe in Chi as a spiritual dimension, but does teach that what the ancient practitioners understood as "Chi" does have a proper foundation in bio-mechanics.

A low kick can double as a sweep - taking the leg away and putting your opponent on the ground giving you time to run. A body kick is more easily seen coming and puts you off balance - high risk in a real confrontation.

On Saturday I broke a 4 year stint during which I've done almost no cycling (having been a regular cyclist and runner before) by doing a 25 mile hilly training ride with a friend. Boy, did it hurt! But my heart rate was never above 75%! I can see those hills will be good for my strength as well as my overall fitness. Of course, I made sure I stretched properly on Saturday and Sunday, which has helped a lot with recovering.

How long ago were you ill, and what with? There can be a long recovery from some illnesses, and you need to be careful that you don't overly fatigue yourself if you're still recuperating.

Some interesting links there, thank you.

I want to start building up my cardio fitness. I know both cycling and running will be good activities for this. What I am wondering about is" (1) which is likely to have the most negative impact on flexibility? and (2) I know boxers use running: is that because the specific leg muscles it trains are those used in martial arts? I can gain leg strength and flexibility in other ways, but I want to substantially increase my cardio fitness as part of my training towards my black belt test, which I hope to be taking in about 18 months to 2 years time.

Between 6-8 months from 8th to 1st kyu, depending on ability, time spent training, motivation etc. Could be a year or more from 1st kyu to shodan. Once you hit 3rd kyu there's suddenly a whole lot more to learn, and perfecting the techniques becomes more important.

In wado-ryu, Pinan Sandan uses mainly shomen neko ashi dachi (forward cat stance), shiko-dachi (sumo stance) and zenkutsi-dachi (forward stance).

What other commitments do you have? Of course full time athletes and sportsmen train more than 5 hours a week. But its their job to do so, and they will have a coach whose job it is to regulate their training scientifically so they correctly balance stress, rest, nutrition and hydration etc to bring them to peak performance. If you have other commitments (job, school, family or whatever), then you have to be realistic about how much time you can give to your sport, and you have to make sure you have adequate recovery time. You will not improve unless you do so.

I find it much harder to kick with shoes on (except the lightweight MA type shoes)

Angry White Pyjamas by Robert Twigger Waking the Dragon by Goran Powell Not books on the history of the arts (Aikido and Karate respectively) but very interesting biographies of two students exploring their motivation.