vertigo

I actually live near Bismarck (when I'm not at school in Minnesota)... and I'm fairly certain that there is not one.. I could be wrong however, because I never really paid too much attention to martial arts before I got here and started . Ummm... all I've ever heard of in the Bismarck area is TKD. There could very well be other styles though, I was talking to my sensei the other day after my test, and he said there were a few good shotokan clubs in North Dakota, which I wasn't aware of either, even though I had looked for them online (to see if I could train over the summer... no luck though; none in Bismarck) I ran a search online for the Bismarck yellow pages; and only found one that could possibly be non-TKD (if you feel like taking TKD, though... that'd be easy to find) Dakota Martial Arts 214 N 24 St Bismarck, ND 58501 - 4920 (701) 223-8562 I have no idea what this trains in... but its a start Good luck in your search.

Here we go.. my work of art http://artpad.art.com/gallery/?ifxsxsycx38 edit: make sure replay speed is fast.. it took a while to draw real time

Not yet Umm... how they keep classes fresh? We do a fair amount of partner work, going through one-steps with different moves and applications. When I first started, a nice partner drill we worked on was with outside and inside blocks... you'd face your partner, and you'd each hold a block out against the other's. Then you'd slowly increase the pressure, trying to find out where you can get the most force from. I thought that was pretty cool. We go through kata, and from my point of view, I learn something different almost every time I do it... still finding things to work on and fine-tune (but this may not be the same for everyone.. I'm not sure if that qualifies as "keeping it fresh"). I don't know I'm just throwing out ideas... I haven't really been bored with "same ol' routines" yet (but I guess I've only been doing karate for 7 months )I just try to fine-tune whatever I'm doing at the time.

I played basketball and golf in high school a lot... I'm not quite sure if it really helped me with picking up the techniques faster; however, I think coming into MA in good shape helped, and I was used to pushing myself through challenges.

Even though I already posted on this thread about 6 pages back, I'll post again, cuz I just passed my rank test this morning, and am now a 7th Kyu in Shotokan . (Belt color doesn't change though, still orange, which is kinda nice... more time to break it in! )

Welcome to the forums, Jennifer! Enjoy your stay

I'd have to agree with most of what's been said above.. (1 year?? that sounds like a very short amount of time; but if you're working on it literally every day for hours on end... I guess you never know) I heard my sensei mention this once about becoming a black belt, and I kind of like it : "Once you get a black belt, congratulations! Now you're ready to learn."

Congrats, scottnshelly!

Welcome to the forums, Ridge_hand

Only two days per week right now... my schedule prevents me from going more often. I'll be able to go three days a week next semester

Welcome to the forums, hedkikr

Isn't that a little cruel?? Who would invent such a word!

I'm afraid of heights... even though this is common, I find it very irrational I know that the odds of me (for example) falling out of an entirely enclosed observation deck of a skyscraper are about the chance of me getting pushed over by a fly Yet, still, the fear is a little bit there. Fortunatly, I can overcome it very quickly for incredibly cool things involving heights... i.e.- Climbing the Eiffel Tower by stairs, hiking along some mountains in Switzerland... (I loved that Choir Tour! )

I only competed in 2 this year, both in the spring. There were two in the fall that I could have competed in, but with only a few weeks of experience at that time, I figured I'd wait a while They're all collegiate shotokan karate tournaments; I've done kata and kumite both times, and threw in a team kata at my most recent one.

Seems like when I'm practicing kicks and have trouble with my balance, I work on doing them slower. If you can do kicks slow, it's easier to do them fast (I think maybe this just works for me) Just an idea. Good luck... keep up the work, you'll eventually get it one way or the other

I also don't have a gun, nor do I really ever forsee carrying one. If I was ever faced in this situation, I'd simply give them the money they wanted. If it became apparant that they (for whatever reason) were intent on killing me, then and only then do I try to disarm them or fight against them. No amount of money is worth your life. Just my thoughts

Welcome to the forums

Welcome to the forums, Tom.

Not a bit. Trust me, I've made a fairly large fool of myself in the two tournaments I've been in. But that doesn't matter at all... everyone is on the same playing field, and you're just there to learn. If you make a mistake, oh well! Shake it off and chalk one up for experience. I almost guarantee no one will think any less of you for making mistakes. Good luck

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Welcome to the forums, PatC

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Welcome to the forums, Chaos.

Welcome to the forums, Brandon

Welcome to the forums, Steph