BritNoob

Yeah congrats Matt Blake. I'll be really chuffed when I get my first belt. I hate being a white belt :/

This is all very worrying to me. I've just started Goju ryu and I've never heard anything about this before. Is there actual proof that Sanchin causes health problems?

I did something to my back on Tuesday (I was ony reading the paper!?!) and it got worse that night. I haven't been able to move the top half of my body since, I have shoting pains right down to my wrists. The doctor told me it's a muscle spasm but just like most NHS doctors he didn't really explain what caused it or how to deal with it ("take some painkillers and get on with it"). Anyway, it has been very painful and I've even had trouble sleeping. I still can't drive or turn to the side or up and down although today I can notice a slight improvement. Tonight i will have to miss my 2nd karate session (I was also planning to go the Tuesday it happened). I'd like to know if anyone else has suffered one of these and what caused it. I've Only been learning Karate for 6 weeks and before that i did almost no exercise. I've only been going once a week to begin with but I have been doing daily warm ups and some stretches at home. I've basically just done the same kind of warm ups we'd do in class. Would doing too much of this have brought the spasm on? I do exercises like shoulder/arm rolling and twisting at the waist and hip rotation (I don't know the actual names for them, hopeflly you get what i mean) quite a lot, if my body wasn't used to it could this be a factor? I've been trying to do lots of sit ups and press ups too, just so i can catch up with the other students i train with. Advice from you guys would be greatly appreciated. i'm really worried i might do it again. If i was in work full-time (I'm actually a house-husband/full-time Dad) i would have had to take a week off, I've not been able to do anything at all. Thanks in advance, all.

I recently had tennis elbow (unrelated to Karate) and it's recently flared up again despite not doing the activity that originally brought it on (drawing too much would you believe). I was wondering if press-ups or any other karate exercise may be causing it to return. It is very irritating. Has anyone else had this before? It is very small repetitive movements that cause it so I can't see how press ups or weights (I so some lifting at home, nothing much at all) would hurt it.

As you might know I'm new to MA and looking after my body in general (too many years sitting on my * playing video games and eating junk food ) so over the next few months expect plenty more newbie questions I've started for the first time in my life actually checking the packets of food I eat to check fat, sugar, calories, protein etc and I'd like to know exactly what to look out for. I'm skinny so I'd like to build my body up a little but at the same time I want to lose the love handles I've built up since I hit my twenties. So I guess fats are bad, saturated even more so, right? But what about carbohydrates? Are they good or bad? I'm guessing the sugared and starched carbs the packets mention are bad, but I notice bread has alot of carbs. I'm in the process of gradually altering my diet. I used to eat several bags of crisps a day and plenty of chocolate in between 3 unhealthy meals but now I have almost cut out the crisps and only have occasional bars of chocolate. I eat plenty of apples and bananas and yogurts (I try to go for lower fat ones) but I don't like fish so I'm missing out there. Are dairy products like cheddar cheese good for you? Is full fat milk going to do me more harm than good? These are a few questions that I'd love to know the answers too, apologies if they're a bit silly.

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'm generally a pessimistic person too, so I have a tendency to let things affect me more than they should. I would concentrate on my strengths but i don't currently have any lol. It's still very early days though. It's all so new to me still, I don't know what most of the japanese terms used mean - although I'm working on learning my numbers. The instructor says where to aim the punch (for example) and uses the japanese for it and I have no idea, it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad if there were other students at my level but I think I'm the newest by at least 6 months. Even the other white belts seem way ahead of me. I think what contributed heavily to the lesson being poor was because it was my first wearing a gi. It was very different from wearing a thin T shirt and jogging bottoms and i was constantly adjusting it and fiddling with it :/ What we were learning was brilliant, I still managed to pick up some good stuff.

I'm still very new to karate, today was only my 7th lesson (hour) so I'm still at the stage where I feel very out fo place and often question what I'm doing and if I'm kidding myself thinking I can progress. Anyway, todays training didn't go well, no particular incident made it a bad session, i jus seemed to be so far off the pace it was unreal. I seem to be the only one who can't do stuff, and I know that it's mostly because I'm by far the most inexperienced student there, but that doesn't make me feel any better. It's very basic stuff like getting used to the physical side like grabbing, it's still very alien to me. And the fact that 7 lessons in I am still more often than not looking around at everyone else during the katas. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want instant results, it's not that. I'm prepared to work at it for years and I understand it takes dedication, it's just that sometimes it feels like no matter how long I try I'll never pick it up. What do you guys do after a bad lesson? Is it a common thing? Do you ever feel down? I can't wait for the next one so i can put things right.

Didn't he just do that though?

I saw there was another 'sore after training' thread but I have a very specific problem. I've only had about 6 lessons in Karate so my body is still very new and unaccustomed to the training. This week we concentrated on kicking (it was the first time that I've properly been shown how to do a range of kicks). We spent the entire session kicking. I thoroughly enjoyed it but now a couple days later my hips are really sore. Especially the right one which i must have used to kick with more. It hurts all around the buttock area and is sore when crouching and putting weight on it. It's not painful as such, just tender. Is this normal? Is there a muscle there or is it the joint itself which is probably playing me up? When i do the hip rotation warm-up exercise I can notice it too, it isn't a smooth motion at all. I know it won't last long, and I probably just over did it a bit in training but I'd like to know if it's common when starting out.

I am learning Goju-ryu Karate which is not competition-based like Shotokan. It is more self-defense and has higher stances and more circular movements. I am very new to it but I love every minute of it. Even the days of aching after training

That's good to hear. I was wondering about milk while we're on teh subject of diet. I hate skimmed milk and only drink full-fat milk but for the first time I checked the ingredients breakdown on the bottle and jeez there is a lot of fat in there! I take it you all drink skimmed?

Since I began training in karate 1 month ago i have started to worry about my poor diet. I've always had a sweet tooth and I love things like chocolate and sweets. I've started to eat Muesli for breakfast instead of things like Pop tarts and Coco Pops and I eat plenty of apples and bananas and low fat yoghurts. Are chocolate and sweets really bad?

Hi, as a few of you might know I've just started Karate and I was recommended this book. It arrived today and it seems very interesting, I was just interested in other peoples thoughts on it. It's the version translated by Patrick McCarthy by the way.

Some great feedback here, thanks again. I would go 3 times a week if I could, but my club only does beginners class once a week. When i am more experienced i will attend their other classes. I do warm-ups every day of the week and the limited amount of stuff I have already learnt I try to practice. What should I expect to achieve in the first year of training? How long should it take to get to yallow and then orange belt? Also, someone made the point about club tournaments, the club I train with don't do it for competition. It's more for self-defence I guess.

My body couldn't take 3 times a week to begin with. I ache afterwards and my body needs time to rest. I push myself far harder suring the lessons than I ever have before.

Although it's the only dojo I've ever trained at I am confident it is a good one. It certainly doesn't fit the description of a McDojo posted elsewhere. I'd also like to ask (while I have you all here ): do you think once a wek is enough for the complete beginner? As I get better I plan to go twice weekly at least but for now is once adequate?

Thanks for the replies, all. I am 6'2" and very slim but I hadn't previously thought my build would be a big problem, I thought I would build myself up the longer I trained. Both the styles we practice are the okinawan styles I believe.

I only started Karate 4 weeks ago and I was wondering whether you have to be a certain kind of person to do well at it. The reason I ask is because I'm not generally a sporty guy, I don't usually like confrontation and I'm not a particulary competitive or confident person. I am eager to learn Karate but I feel out of place and often ask myself if I'm right for it. I see the more experienced students at my dojo and I wonder if I have it in me to get to their level. Do you think it is possible for anyone to get good as long as they try hard and attend on a regular basis? Or are some people not cut out for it and just can't be taught? I'd like to think that a good teacher could make anyone good as long as they want to learn.

Yes, I'm very self concious of my own awful posture, I always have been. I'd like to hear some advice on how to improve it.

Isn't that just to show how many posts you've made?

I play the piano and I have just started Goju-ryu Karate. I'm not a brilliant pianist, just been teaching myself for the last 3 years.

I'm the skinniest guy you could ever imagine. I'm 6'1" and about 11st (not sure lbs?). I've only just started Karate though (a few weeks only) and toughening and building myself up was one of the reasons I wanted to learn a martial art.

Very handy, thanks!

I've just started Karate and I'm very unfit. I thought i'd post in this thread since it's knee related. I have a problem where my knee hurts if I put weight on it. It kind of clicks/pops when i extend it after bending and there's a fair degreee of discomfort if i do squats or any kind of crouching. It's not a constant problem, it seems to come and go and onl;y lasts a couple days. Luckily I haven't had it on the day of my karate session so it's either good luck or the warm up is clearing it up. Any thoughts? I've only had 4 hours worth of Karate lessons so i'm about as new as you can get to it so i'd appreciate your thoughts.

I thought i'd post this here rather than open a new thread. I've always had knees that click nearly every time i bend them but they've never given me too much trouble. However, occasionally the left one is painful if I bend it and put my weight on it and it kind of 'pops' (not painful as such, just irritating)when i straighten the leg, rather than when i bend it which is when they usually click. I was wondering whether anyone else suffers from anything similar and whether it will seriously hinder my training. i don't know if it's due to not being warmed up or a lack of exercise or something like that, as i've been to 4 sessions now and it's never happened when i'm training so maybe the warm up gets rid of it. It never stays for more than a couple days. I know it's said that you should consult your doctor before starting anything like Karate but is that really nessecary(sp?) for someone of my age? I always thought it was kind of a disclaimer just so they couldn't be blamed if you injured yourself because of health problems.