Bleeding Lion

umm, i thought that real training began when you were white belt, and that black belt represents an advanced student, ie someone who is good technically but has more to learn.. From white to black you are given the tools to train. nothing more.

its all about the layer of fat above your abs, and if you wanna know its 8 that comes naturally, not 6. A 2 pack im not sure, but 4, yes, it happens. bo0mer: if the sticky post didnt help you then i dunno what to tell you. you'll have more insight perhaps at forums.menshealth.com

>> Hattori Hanzo Good one, i didnt think about that

first of all, im no expert. if i were in your shoes, i would not stop MAs or any current physical activities im doing if i my body can some of it. I would change them like others suggested but i would never stop. If it hurts then i slow down, if not, then i keep going. Its all about what your body tells you, as long as you're willing to listen as objectively as you can.

the ladder thing is too funny lol

^^^ So so true.

congrats. how much experience does the white sash require?

yeah purple is pretty unusual for me too. i think the colors dont matter anyway, they change everywhere. where im from in shotokan its always white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black, but in your school its seems like you stay white for a pretty long time. the only thing many arts have in common is just brown before black.

very good topic indeed. I played lots of sports through high school. soccer, volleyball, handball, basketball, track and field, badminton, gymnastics... i was pretty good in gymnastics, that helped a lot with balance. basketball and soccer helped with footwork and leg power (im 5'8 and i can dunk). but when i started goju ryu a few months ago (im 20), i was tired of everything really, i wanted to try something new, and i wasnt in that good of a shape. out of everything i think gymnastics probably helped me the most, i perfectly know my body, i know what i can or cant do.

im busy but i love to do some karate at home, so i just do all the kata i know, linked with some sort transition moves. i know around 7 katas (not including those with only minor differences), i do that routine 4-5 times, so it takes me about 20-30 min with some breaks.

wow, good post shorin ryuu. skeptic 2004, i really like the analogy between shodan and being 18. I didnt know about the fact that passing shodan was not an idealized event in japan/okinawa. i think it makes sense, its just going one level up after all, its not like from that point you can become a super sayan or have superpowers.

theres an article on that i believe, "choosing sides". Personally, im left-footed and left-handed. everybody in my club fight right foot forward like suggested in the early katas (hookyu katas). i do both and dont mind any. versatility is always a good thing. im trying to have kicks and punches with both feet equal. i dont think its a good thing when you're in a fight (real, sparring, whatever) and you have to change sides to kick or punch. your strikes would be much faster if it can come from both hands/kicks without any stance adjustment.

I got an original one: It would be nice to be trained by myself 40 years from now, provided that the 'future me' has never stopped trainning. An older, wiser version of myself would be the ideal teacher because he would perfectly know how im thinking now, what mistakes im doing now and more importantly how to correct it efficiently. tricky uh?

im gaining self-confidence. im still the shy and introverted guy but there has been a difference between now and when i started. my attitude thus changed, and i can say the same for my ego, but all is in a positive way. my abilities pumped ego, but not to the point where i feel the need to show something to people.

Hey guys, Im in a tradditional okinawan goju ryu dojo at my university. We have been given permission to spend about $500 on equipment, so i would like to have some suggestions. This is what i got so far: - bo staffs. we dont train with bo just because we dont have enough - fingerless gloves. for sparring competitions - padded gloves - headgears Thats about it, we're pretty tradditional (i.e. no heavy bags etc..) but im quite sure i should have something else on my list. ideas?

granmasterchen: very well said. i sincerely think that if you do not believe in kata then your instructor does not properly teaches it or you do not properly learn it. Most people who criticize kata do them as if it is just a collection of moves, they dont put themselves in the situations the kata requires you to in order to gain knowledge from it. When you do a kata as if it is just a series of movements, with no insight, no power, no focus, it is not a kata. It is a dance. And sure unless you do capoeira, you wont learn much from a dance. When I do a kata like seyunchin kata twice, im already sweating and breathing heavily while other students, even higher belts, dont break a sweat. You might think im out of shape, but im in a much better shape than the students im refering to. Sometimes people do katas but dont even fully understand the techniques in the katas. In my art, shoreishobukan goju ryu, hookiyu kata#1, which is the first one you learn, has much more than a hundred hidden techniques. You can guess higher katas are even deeper. If you cant give me two applications for every move you're doing in the kata, dont criticize it as you have not learned it yet. If i really wanted to, I could take this whole summer and "learn" just about all the katas in my art up to 4th dan. Now, by "learning" i mean just emulating my senseis move. Guess what, it will do no good because this is not what kata is about (i.e. just doing a bunch of moves). Just a question, why do you think there is a big difference between, say a 1-year student doing a given kata and the same student doing the same kata 2 years later? What has the student learn over that 2-year period (if dont properly of course)?

i dont know exactly what it means, im not a black belt. let me go about what i think it should represent: - you've mastered the basics. notice i didnt say "learned" but "mastered". - you can apply these basics in a fight, real life situation or sparring sessions. you can apply them correctly and get results. Not that a bb means you win everything but i thing you should be able to give a good fight to at least people of your size. - you can correct people of lower grades. not necessarily teach, but you can be an assistant for example. - you learned all the values your institution promotes (respect, perseverance...etc)

possible origins of the myth: 1. its because its the last color in many arts 2. stupid black belts showing off outside the dojo ("be careful, im a black belt!"). worthless... 3. what the public sees: the instructor is a black belt ---> if he is the instructor, then he has a bb ---> if one has a bb, then they can teach --> if they can teach, well then they are masters.

8th kyu

how much are you willing to pay i'll mail you one.

Wow, thats crazy. The lincoln dojo is my hombu dojo too, so for shodan i will eventually have to test there. anyway its not going to happen before another 3 years at least, im just hachikyu lol.

brrrrr.... that 2nd movie makes me want to forget about leg kicking for good....

what makes you think you need it?

Where are we going? Looking back at the history of martial art and analyzing its current state, I cant help but asking myself 'What is the future of MAs?'. Im sure this topic has been addressed before, but I didnt find a topic on it. Basically Im wondering about a few things concerning martial arts at this moment: 1- Many arts get fragmented a lot. What I mean by that is, for instance, in goju ryu, we have at least 5 different organizations (meibukan, shorei shobukan...) with their differences . I would expect more of this in the future. What impact does it have? Is this a threat or is it just inoffensive? 2- XMA (extreme martial arts): though I think there is always room for any new form of MA including XMAs (great demo of physical ability btw), how do we balance combative arts and 'demo' arts? My concern is more for the general public...How do we fight the misrepresentation of MAs as just a bunch of fancy moves? 3- This is an extension of point #2: what about MMAs?. How do we then balance tradition and innovation? I believe everything is improvable and more importantly, everything has to be improved. How do we then improve MAs as the same time as we keep its traddition? For example, in arts using katas, is it acceptable for senseis or perhaps shihans to create new katas just like some previous masters in the lineage did? 4- How do we perform quality assurance? I read many complaints of styles being watered down, how do we prevent this? For example, is it ok for a 1st degree black belt to open a school? If it continues, How will, say karate or TKD look like 2 centuries from now? Of course Im looking far ahead but it is just a thought. Anyways these are just random thoughts running through my head. Since I started in MAs not long ago, I dont have many elements of answers really. I just want to know what other more experienced people here have to say about any of these points.

you can always combine every kata you know to form a longer one. I saw somebody do that, he just created a few transitions between katas. that looked pretty sweet.