hammer

That's a case where being polite and respectful means a lot. You take the opportunity to talk with them about what you've found, your thoughts on it, explain why you are jumping, etc; and a good instructor will wish you well and tell you that you are always welcome back. From personal experience, not all instructors would be that gracious about it...and I'm guessing some students would rather not deal with the potential for grief. FWIW I know my current instructor would welcome input/feedback from students who are leaving (he's had cases where he didn't get any). Think he would like to know so if there are issues he can correct them.

I use Runkeeper as a training tool (free app) and it does pretty well for me. My phone has issues with the charging port if I sweat too much, however, so I may get a GPS running watch at some point. I only do time and distance and I don't enter MA workouts but there are all kinds of options. Not sure how it compares to MapMyRun.

Thanks everyone...nice to see when the training pays off. Was talking to my instructor after last night's class and he knew someone who went to class later in the day after running the Boston Marathon. Some might say dedication but I think it's a bit crazy...

This, although I'd work up to using the ankle weights. I have a love/hate relationship with rising side kicks...tough to get the height up, especially on my right leg, but there's nothing like them to loosen the hips up.

8/10 13.1 mile race. First half marathon, time just over 2:12:00. Was a pretty hilly course so while a sub 10:00 pace would have been great I'm not complaining about the time. Too tired for anything else.

Great post.

Thanks everyone...this certainly wasn't my first MA belt promotion but the bar is definitely set higher here than in my previous school. Makes the promotions more worthwhile.

In a new style. Knew that Sempai was going to test a few of us at some point but I didn't know until after a basic warm-up at last night's class. PT tests went well, better than I expected. Kihon was fine except for a few times when I rushed and got confused on the techniques. Was reminded to focus on breathing which helped a lot. Kata was fine as well except for a few confusing moments on terminology which had me starting on the wrong side. Funny how one can even get tripped up on basic kata... Didn't get to kumite but we had done some more spirited rounds a few weeks ago. All good though, looking forward to learning some new kata and other "stuff".

Monadnock Half Marathon in Rindge NH. No I'm not running up the mountain...but the course does look a bit hilly.

Week starting 27 July: Running 4 days, total mileage just under 30 miles. Tapering down for half marathon a week from Sunday. 2 workouts, emphasis on kihon and kata, have a test this weekend as a part of a Gasshuku. Fortunately for me it's my first test in Kyokushin so I don't think it will be TOO tough...

Where I go the young kids (ages 4 - 6) classes are 45 minutes, the kids (ages 7 - 12) classes are 1 hour, and the adult classes are 90 minutes. I'm fine with the adult time as long as the classes keep up on the pace, which they do. I was in a school where the classes for all were 2 hours. My son was there when he was young and that was definitely too long for him.

Congrats!!

Personally I like to focus on one style to prevent confusion on techniques, but to each their own. Would also think that it would get expensive to pay tuition to multiple schools. Agree with others to let the instructors know first. Any decent instructor should be fine with it and some will likely appreciate having a student with a more diverse MA background.

I know of someone who returned to MA after open heart surgery. He avoided a heart attack (think he just had some angina and shortness of breath when the blockages were found). Have not seen him lately but the last time I did he was doing very well. Unless the heart attack was severe with lasting significant damage I'd think that a return to physical activity would be a good thing. You may not be able to do as much but I'd hope that your Dr. would say no to any MA workouts. Hope you recover well (and quickly if possible)...

Not enough room at home to do much and I can only get to 2 classes a week. Have a half marathon in a few weeks that I've been training for which has involved 5 runs a week and upwards to 40 miles/week. Once that's done I'll cut back on the running, would like to settle down to 3 to 4 runs and about 20 miles/week. Need to set aside more time for strength training, though...that's been lacking. Does anyone have an individual program of floor exercises that they do in a smaller space without much equipment? Looking for something that will build up overall strength and that has a good amount of core work.

For this week so far... Sunday: 14+ mile run Monday: 90 min karate class, leg work and kicking katas Tuesday: 7.5 mile run (tried to maintain 10K pace but it was warm and humid so I was slow) Wednesday: 4 mile slow run in AM, 90 min karate class in PM, hand techniques and katas Thursday: 8 mile run (1 slow/3 fast/2:00 slow/3 fast/1 slow) To be done: Friday: rest day Saturday: 6 mile slow run No karate classes next week, school is closed. Will keep up on the running program and work in some more push ups and core work.

Thats great the your instructor is very talented and has the skills of a 5th dan. Do you think he/she will grade soon? Can't speak for his skills/experience relative to his rank by Kyokushin standards...just saying that he was as good as at least some of the 5th Dans at my previous school. Not sure when he's up for testing for Sandan but according to the syllabus he needs to have a minimum of 3 years at Nidan.

The school I go to is run by a Nidan which is no issue at all IMO. Kyokushin standards are pretty high and his knowledge and skills are easily in step with 5th degree BBs at the last school I was in.

Back into training after a week of vacation... Sunday: 14 mile run (long training run for half marathon) Monday: 90 min karate class, kihon and kata Tuesday: 5.5 mile run containing 12x400m "fast" intervals Wednesday: 6 mile run in AM (very slow, was warm and humid out), 90 min karate class in PM, leg work To be done: Thursday: 7 mile run (1 slow/5 fast/1 slow) Friday: rest day, may do some push-ups and core work Saturday: 6 mile slow run Looking forward to the half marathon but am also looking forward to dialing the running back to a more sane level when it's done.

There should be no further arguments/discussions about rank, this person should no longer be a student at the school. Refund all dues not "used" and show her the door. Keep the video as evidence in case she considers suing. Can someone call her now?

At this point the student needs to be OUT. Sorry it has come to this.

Unless I don't have other schedule conflicts, I get to two classes a week (3 hours). I'm also training to run a half marathon in August so I go out for runs 5 days/week right now. That's getting to be a bit of a grind and while I'm looking forward to running the race I'm also looking forward to easing off on the running afterwards to a more sane level. I also should be doing more floor exercises and/or strength training but that will likely wait until after the race as well. Have been told that I should be testing in early August (week before the race!) so I at least have to have fitness levels up for that. Tough part about getting older is that one has to listen to the aches and pains more to prevent the good soreness from becoming an injury. I'd agree with others that the amount of training that one can/should do is dependent on the individual. Doesn't do you any good if you get burned out and/or injured.

Just wondering...are there rules that regulate standards for instructors of other physical fitness activities? For example, is there official certification of Yoga or Pilates instructors? Also, those who have BBs with some kind of certification, how can everyone else know what that certification means? Also, does having no official certification mean that one isn't an excellent MAist and/or instructor? As far as government control, maybe some kind of requirements for disclosure would be in order. Don't regulate what is required but require instructors and those who own schools to disclose their credentials. Just a few thoughts...

I also learned the ITF forms without sine wave and there was a definite tempo to moves within each form. We also had differences in moves which AFAIK was personal preferences of the GM...we were always told that "this was how the forms were originally done" but without any reference material outside of the club I had no way of really knowing.

Never heard of the term when I was in a TKD school but in Kyokushin it's used all the time...will just have to keep in mind that in most other Japanese MA styles it's not an appropriate term.