vertigo

I really don't know.. I guess the questions you have to ask yourself is : Is it worth it to me? Do you enjoy training more than you enjoy the money you save on gas to transit? Are you leaving a family behind, spending less time at home? I guess all I'm saying is, weigh ALL the options carefully, and decide what is most important to you (depending on the cirumstances). Good luck with your decision.

Go Vikings! Now if they could only wake up during the SECOND half of a season, they might really have something going...

- inflatable dart board - a dictionary with an index - buying that option for air conditioning on your motorcycle - double sided playing cards - salted bandages (ouch! ) - second hand fireworks (who can turn down a deal like that?)

My belt seems to fit pretty well.. I've never noticed it being too long or short. Running off 1kickKO's post, I'm in the same situation... I've only had my orange belt for a little over a month, and I wish it had the consistency of my white belt, which was well broken in

It seems to me that understanding the applications of the movements in kata helps me ALOT.. for example, when first learning heian nidan, it was rather tough for me to visualize how certain movements were effective. Then, one day in class (I'm in a class with only a handful of orange belts and mostly white belts), Sensei decided to cover almost every application in the kata, with me as the 'attacking dummy'... My kata's never been the same since.

can't argue with that logic..

I think the oddest dream I can recently remember is the dutch invading the U.S..... they came from the west coast and worked their way east... somehow ending up in my hometown (250 or so people in ND, not a place you see an army coming into).. I remember sitting on my porch watching the fight in my alley, and a grenade landing next to me but not going off. I then went downstairs, turned on my TV, and they were already in Michigan... quick dutch, they were I almost never dream.. so something this intricate was kind of odd for me. My dreams never usually have anything to do with anything though... completely random, usually VERY strange. Realistic, but off... like the dutch invading...

oops, my bad.. Yeah, AngelaG's right.. those were just the kata we need to get to shodan.. past there? I have not a clue what we need to know..

hmm... I'll have to remember that one... it's right up there with "Never think you can usurp the throne of the family cat... he rules his domain."

Go Twins!! Sorry Patrick, but seeing as you're a Yankees fan, I'll have to boycot these forums until you turn from your evil ways.... j/k

vertigo - what happens to me when i turn too quickly on kata and nearly throw myself to the ground no, that's probably not it I really don't remember, it's just a name I used when playing computer games on a network...

Good call, Red J. This is exactly what I do.. am involved with the shotokan karate club at my university... even though they also have Judo, TKD, etc.. You might be surprised how much your college can offer you. Good luck in your search.

Religion has never had any effect (at least detrimental, I suppose..) on my training. I have never seen nothing problematic with being Christian and training in a martial art. My entire family also supports me 100%, and thinks it's great I have something to get involved with here on campus.

colors? umm... don't have any as far as I know... So closest thing we have is maroon and gold (U's colors)

(all kyu ranks) 9th to 8th - Heian Shodan 8th to 7th - Heian Nidan 7th to 6th - Heian Sandan 6th to 5th - Heian Yondan 5th to 4th - Heian Godan 4th to 3rd - Tekki Shodan 3rd to 2nd to 1st - Choice of Bassai Dai, Jion, Kanku Dai, Enpi That is as far as I know for our belt testings

Very well thought out article. I have never seen any problematic elements of being a Christian and a martial artist, nor have I run into anyone who frowns upon that connection... Sounds like a TKD group (my sister trains w/ them) in my home town is having the opposite problem.. They have already been kicked out of one church basement into my church's... And it sounds like they are catching flak for that also! Ridiculous. I almost guarantee that none of the people raising concerns have been to their training nor know anything about TKD. I hope that if serious procedures (e.g. church council meeting) come about, I'm back home so I can go to bat for those guys... good group of kids, not a thing wrong with their training; yet, in a small town, ignorance breeds problems...

wow... this is crazy... I have never heard of anything like this before. I agree 100% with most of you, this was completely unacceptable. and good job pineapple for not participating and leaving behind this ridiculous behavior.

Agreed. In my experience, trying something like this actually works... seems it is much less fun for others to make fun of someone they think is nuts, who says thank you when annoyed also agreed though if they start throwing punches, take em down. never provoke though! don't antagonize them into throwing the first punch just because you want to fight them. "There is no first attack in Karate" (regardless of what art you practice, I generally assume most follow this general idea [if i am wrong, someone PLEASE inform me.. i hate giving bad info ])

not that this has anything to do with anything... i just thought that this would be particularly painful anyway... I would think that it all depends on the situation.. (which has probably already been stated) if someone gets mad at me and just wants to throw a few punches around, a shot to the solar plexus to knock his wind out sounds pretty good... additional shots elsewhere if necessary normally, I would say a groin shot is pretty safe... however, I can see how in a high energy situation, that wouldn't be noticed.. (although I've never NOT noticed it ) In a life or death situation? Hmm... assuming the person is unarmed and for whatever reason wants to kill me, anything around the face and especially the neck would be the first areas I'd want to attack. I guess specifically I'd think the larnyx is particularly vulnerable.

No laughter here, I'm the exact same... even the choir part! Anyway, back to topic... again, I am no where NEAR a master... but I'll try my hand at the question anyway. (by the way, good topic, traz) I really don't consider myself a natural athlete or a natural at karate for that matter. The only real "sport" I consider myself skilled at is golf (but when you have been surrounded by the game your whole life, that's what it does to you ).. I do consider myself to be in relatively decent shape, though. There is one character trait I have that I attribute to any success in anything I do - I'm stubborn. "Now wait? Isn't being stubborn a bad thing??" Well.... maybe But concerning, in this case, MA, I find it to really help me out. I hate quitting, plain and simple. If I can't do something right away (say a new technique or kata), it frustrates me, and forces me to work harder until I get it right.

I'm a freshman at University of Minnesota

I have a 12 year old miniature beagle... who is WAY too smart for her own good she's opened my fridge to get to a bratwurst before...

Easily, my greatest achievement was starting. If you would go back to August 2004 and tell me I was going to join a Shotokan Karate club at college and pass my first belt test in December, I would have LMAO at you... but it is the one thing I am SO glad I started. A nice second is passing my orange belt test, even though I didn't feel I did well. Another achievement may be in the works (I hope) we have our first tournament of the spring next saturday

Yes; at least I'm used to. However, we control distances to the point where our punches come just short (as short as possible; so as not to injure our sparring partner). I have never tournament sparred, and it may go full contact w/ pads there, but I wouldn't know... but all the one/three step sparring I have ever done in the dojo, we go full speed, of course without contact; which I realize has some inherent disadvantages which have already been discussed; mainly the lack of contact, which is where pad sparring may come in... as I've already stated though, I don't possess this knowledge yet.. ask me in two weeks after our tournament

At the moment, I prefer kata, as I'm still a beginner and have not really done much kumite past three-steps (I've semi-free sparred once). This semester, we have moved to a little more intermediate one step kumite (which is nice, as its much easier to practice a technique with someone to target). I'd like to see a little more kumite, as it forces me to (for lack of a better way of wording it) concentrate a little more, without losing every bit of technique... for example, when I semi-free sparred, I tried blocking a slow front kick with a downward forearm directed at the kick (like an upward block going down?) ... I know a little better now