jarrettmeyer

The only problem with reading a lot of literature is that you get a lot of viewpoints, each with their own supporting data. I can also find plenty of books on my shelves that back up Aodhan's statements. Try various alternatives for that protein shake. (See my sig.) To offer another opinion, I've seen some that say to drink 1 hr before working out, so that the protein is available in the bloodstream after working out. So whether it's AM, 1 hr before, 1/2 hour after, or some alternative, one of them will work best for you, your regimen, and your daily schedule.

To further the complicate tufrthanu's response, our style of Goju uses lots of grabs, locks, and throws. Nearly every kata includes grabs as part of its bunkai. In class, we spend far more time working joint locks and throws than strikes. With that information, would you consider Goju a grappling art?

Although nutritionists will differ on the subject, a lot of current diet research is starting to suggest that our eating habits are backwards. The current idea is that (for Americans, anyway) breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day. Eat the eggs, bacon, and pancakes. These are the only calories that you consume that have a chance to be used through the day. Any fat intake that you have should be during breakfast. Lunch should be protein. Easy on the fat. Easy on the processed carbs. Dinner should be tiny. Nothing more than soup & sandwich. Keep low on the fat & carbs, since these will probably be converted to fat while you sleep. Fiber and protein make you feel fuller longer than fat & carbs. Finally, no eating 3 hours before bedtime. In answer to your question, protein shakes should be consumed before you workout. If you're not going to workout that day, then it should be consumed in the morning.

That's what I was taught, too. You're looking for quality. For bulk muscle (which I don't do anymore), I would do 2x8. When the 16th is just as high quality as the 1st, you're ready to increase the weight. You have to know body and not lie to yourself. A lot of people like to get to heavier weight too early and will cause more harm than good. For lean muscle (which I do now), my trainer has me on 3x15. Same rule applies, when the 45th lift is just as high quality as the 1st, you're ready to increase the weight.

Before I started karate, I was doing pilates. It took about a month for me to make it through a class. I switched from pilates to karate, because I needed more sweat and something more hardcore. The week of May 30, our school was closed for Memorial Day and Sensai took a vacation with his wife. Since I wasn't at the dojo, I thought I'd run on over to the gym and go to a pilates class. Wow! My core had gotten weaker! All stabilization I used to have was gone. I thought I would walk in and be bang-on, but I was seriously behind. I could do the situps and straight-on work, but my angles were terrible. Why? I don't practice angles and slow, stable movements as part of my karate instruction. (I've added more angles to my training since then.) I am writing this to stress the importance of cross-training and multi-training. Even though I work out daily with cardio and light weights, I am finding things that I am unable to do. My failure was my ignorance. I thought that by training to improve in MA that I would improve in other disciplines. This is, obviously, not always the case.

There is something to be said for training and your body's ability to recover from minor injury. When I started MA and working out, I had to take at least two days off in between. On the third day, my body was still sore, but I worked out anyway. A couple Aleve would see me through. That was 10 months ago. (Wow, I can't believe I've been at this for 10 months!!! I'm eligible for yellow belt in September!!!) Now, I've changed my eating. I get a lot more protein and fiber into my diet. I've switched to organic milk/beef/eggs. When I eat fast food, I have a salad, instead of cheeseburger & fries. I workout cardio & light weights daily. I still get winded more easily than I'd like, I still sweat like a horse, and the next morning my muscles are just fine, ready to do it all over again. My wife points out bruises on me that I didn't even know were there. My pain management has improved. All of that anecdotal evidence is to support my conclusion that working out regularly definitely helps for pain and physical recovery. (At our dojo, we had a 49-year old nidan get surgery recently to repair a bone spur in his knee. He was told by his ortho that he would be down for 12 weeks after surgery, and light workouts for another 12. He was back in the dojo after 2 weeks, and going all-out 6 weeks after surgery.)

That's a nice progression, scottnshelly. It makes a lot of sense, and it shows that we must consider fighting to be an option. We train to fight. We must be prepared for that possibility. We can do what we'd like to avoid it, but we must be always prepared.

I am working on Pinan Nidan. Of the first 3 Pinans, I have to know Nidan for yellow; Nidan and Shodan for orange; and Nidan, Shodan, and Sandan for green. That includes bunkai for the listed kata.

I think this has to do with the general attitude of the kf.com membership. This site has attracted a collection of anti-McDojo, traditionalist, hard-working martial artists. If a poll specifically targets a certain demographic, the poll will be skewed to reflect that demographic. We practice kata/bunkai every class. We practice sparring only once every 3 classes (1x/week).

I would answer a little differently... The three original styles were Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te, named for the locality in which they were taught. From these three, two styles become predominant: Shorei Ryu and Shorin Ryu. There are others on this forum who could write books, I'm sure, but those are the basics.

PBI is right about the traps. If your sparring rules allow traps (ours do), then the trap can be very effective. Jamming the front arm and moving slightly behind allows your opponent very few options. Either he has to withdraw or kick you. In real life, you could do many, many more things - throws, joint locks, etc. Our sparring rules limit the possibilities.

In the 1950's a psychologist named Benjamin Bloom broke down the levels of learning into the above 6 levels. The first three levels are concrete. They require no independent thought by the student, and they can be learned by study and practice. The most basic level is knowledge: the ability to recall facts (rote memorization). In MA, I would equate this to all the students standing in line and doing punches. You can teach beginning at comprehension, because that means that you can explain how to do a technique. (It would be pretty poor teaching, but you could do it.) Finally, application shows you know how to use the technique. The last three levels are abstract. Here, the learn breaks down (analysis), rebuilds (synthesis), and eventually evaluates. I don't think that creation is a completely new style, but more along the lines of what Sam said: creation of new application. Shorin Ryuu once wrote a post on kata/bunkai that made sense to this topic. The more you break down a kata (analysis), the more you fully understand it's bunkai (synthesis). Finally, there is evaluation. Sam is correct, this is an expert level. As earlier stated, I still don't know what that means in MA, yet.

We have that rule for face and groin contact. Kiai is required.

Typically, larger opponents telegraph more. Because of more mass, you should be more aware of weight shift. Whether weight is on the front or rear leg limits which techniques I can perform. The only way to stay balanced 100% of the time is to stand there. If someone is baiting you, then you need to quit taking the bait. Smaller fighters must learn to become good at baiting their opponents, and they must make sure that they are never baited themselves. Big guys are usually very linear. Because of mass, momentum builds up. Cutting angles will help you immensely because of a longer physical reaction requirement. I can see you moving to the side, but I must use more force to create a change of direction.

Always, always, always question. Question everything. Look at the 6 levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. I've been applying this to my karate skill. 1. Knowledge: recall and duplicate. Ability to do a technique. 2. Comprehension: classify, identify, and explain. Ability to explain how to do a technique. 3. Application: demonstrate and interpret. How to use the technique on an opponent. 4. Analysis: experiment and test. Why does the technique work? When doesn't the technique work? ~~~ 5. Synthesis: creation. 6. Evaluation: appraise and judge ~~~ I haven't yet figured out what levels 5 & 6 mean to me yet, but I'm young and still working on #3 and #4. Thats the level that I'm at right now. I do know that if you want to get to #5 and #6, you have to get through level #4.

I love the music analogy! You'll learn completely different things. After 10 years at Juliard, you will be 2nd to none at your instrument. You'll know every in and out of musical theory and practice. But I've seen some very well trained musicians who just can't jam. But, those who can jam are very limited. Example: He can play some kick-butt blues in E on a steel-string, but he's screwed in the key of F on a dobro. The Juliard student will have the same improv skill regardless of key, tempo, instrument, or style.

This will sound really simplistic, but if I want to win, regardless of sparring, ring, or street, then I have to ... a. Make you fight my fight. b. Be better trained than you at my game. How many grapplers are good enough to take a few shots, get in, get the takedown, and grapple? Grapplers, in fact, study this as part of their practice routine. It is an integral part of their art. How many strikers practice keeping a grappler from grappling? If I study MT, then what am I going to learn/do/add to my practice to make sure that the bjj practicioner cannot get his hands on me? Now that we've decided which fight will be fought, who's better trained?

Isn't there a mental part of training that would teach us not be arrogant, angry, and aggressive? Thus, the presence of these emotions dictates that we are, in fact, untrained. Comments? You say your uncle was untrained, but then say he grew up fighting. How is that experience not training? So is training only the act of working out in a dojo, or is it the sum of our life experiences? If you take a more universal view of what constitutes training, then training is everything. Everyday - sitting at a desk job, doing homework, running in the woods, practicing kata (or not, since that's not for everybody), working a heavy bag - we are always adding to the sum of our life experiences. There are a lot of people just making it day-to-day on the street. Everyday, they are training. Just different training.

We do the same thing! We go a litter earlier. Two line drills are required for Shodan. Single line drills start at blue belt (5th kyu). Sensai makes a very clear distinction between self-defense and sparring. Sparring is a game: I can hit you with a clean, controlled technique before you can hit me. We work full-power on specific techniques. (Example: You know your attacker is going to throw two jabs, followed by a cross.) We work full-speed on any technique, but it's under controlled power. Do to safety concerns, it is very difficult to practice full-speed + full-power without someone getting hurt.

The only "test" we have at our school is for the dan ranks. For the kyu ranks, we are always being tested, and you gradually get signed off on material as Sensai sees fit. We have three promotion ceremonies per year to reflect the progress made, but that's not really a test. Even for the dan ranks, you're not going to test unless you've been well tested already.

We practice forms blindfolded/eyes closed. Put that blindfold on, and even transitions from backstances become rather tricky. The blindfold is used to teach us to rely on our whole bodies for information, not just our eyes. I find it amazing how two rather small organs can so dominate the nervous system. I should probably go back and do this again. Although the techniques in my kata are far better than a month ago, I feel like my transitions are too rigid.

I am convinced (now, that is, not so until I made it to college) that everybody needs something physical in their lives. Whether it's soccer or basketball or track or martial arts, kids need a physical hobby. My wife rides horses. She loves every minute of it. I like horses, but if I were never to see one again, I don't know that I'd care too much. They can have as many mental hobbies as they'd like - music lessons, model building, whatever. I would tell your kids that it is okay if martial arts is not your thing. All you can do is support whatever it is that they do find. (That can be quite tricky when some hobbies cost a lot more than others.)

We used to allow belt skipping, but now we don't. We used to have a promotion every 4 months, and you could promote as much as you had graded off. If you were graded off from orange to purple, then you could skip green and blue. That's not so anymore. 1 kyu every 4 months, with a 48 month minimum between 10th kyu and shodan.

It really comes down to trust. I have found that as I learn to trust in myself, I have really learned to relax. I also had a problem learning to hit someone else. I always knew that I could hit hard; I never practiced striking with control. I can kinda understand what you mean by squinting. I don't squint, but when I am really relaxed, my eyes are slightly closed as compared to normal.

Way to go 7*. I'm surprised that this made it 2 pages before someone pointed out that blinking is natural. Blinking should take about 1/20 of a second, and you naturally blink 14-18 times per minute. If your opponent can throw a punch in that time, you're done anyway. The fastest hands out there are 4 strikes/second. If your eyes are closed for a longer period of time, then this reverts back to being afraid of getting hit. Padholding is a great solution for that. We're starting to get into some full-force, no-pads work. I am going to throw a forward punch full force straight at your nose. You are going to block it full force and counter with control (because at my level, I will not yet counter-counter). You will learn to not close your eyes by trusting yourself. If you do not trust your block, you will close your eyes. If you close your eyes, you will get hit.