jarrettmeyer

I can definitely see why people say MA completely takes over your life. Instead of just being a workout at night, I've also been stretching in the morning and practicing my techniques on the off nights and weekends. Getting out of the house is a great point, too! Even though I work 12 hour days, when I go home and do nothing I get irritated, depressed, and very grumpy. That single hour invested at the dojo somehow pays for the other 12! Plus last nice was really great. I made through my first practice without getting so winded that I had to ask Sensai for a break. I know to some of you that may not sound like much (or may even sound funny), but for me that's a huge win.

I've been posting for a while, but I've never taken the moment to introduce myself. I am very new to MA, and I am studying Shorei Goju Ryu under Sensai Terry. Although I have a few motivations for starting, my biggest has got to be physical fitness. I am overweight and out of shape. Already in this short time since joining the dojo, I have improved both quantity and quality of crunches and pushups. I hope to see that improvement with time. So far, things have been great! The good news is that I'm the only person in my class. This means that Sensai is very attentive me, and he his helping me greatly with my form. The bad news is that I'm the only person in my class. I go home drenched in sweat, and then I crawl up the stairs into the shower. Like I said, things are great. Also in the past month, several things have happened. (1) I am more awake during the day. (2) I sleep more soundly at night. (3) I am nicer to my coworkers. - Yeah, that one caught me, too. I think that it's stress reduction. Thank you, all, for your input.

You wouldn't have started if you didn't like. And you wouldn't keep up with it if you didn't love it. But that still doesn't answer the question. Why do you do MA? My wife brought me in as something we could do together. It quickly became a physical fitness program. Now it is fulfilling many roles: exercise, stress relief, fun, exciting hobby, self-improvement, .... So, now I pose the question to you. Regardless of your system, why do you do MA? (Edit) PS: I've even noticed that I'm more polite to people at work. More please's, more thank you's, more smiling. (If you knew me about two months ago, you'd know that smiling is really not my style.) What is that all about? I think it has to do with the stress relief and getting to work really, really hard at something other than my daily job.

That's pretty high for the skull. Unless you really are a block head. That was hilarious!! A good rule of thumb is that human bones LENGTHWISE can withstand 18,000 to 25,000 PSI. WIDTHWISE, they're typically only 1/2000th as strong. Think about snapping an ulna in two, versus crushing the ulna end to end. The skull is probably only looking at about 10 PSI to penetrate. It's a domed surface, which iolair can attest to it's increased structural stability. But much beyond that, and you will do something much more dangerous than break the skull. You will cause the brain to shift inside the skull. That will kill someone without even much of a bruise. An instantaneous shift of 10g will kill you. Dead. No more you. Fighter pilots maintain 7-9g for periods of 1 second or less and can potentially black out from that. This gets me back to technique. I'm convinced that most people walk away from fist fights because of bad technique. If you really know HOW to hit someone, then actually DO IT, and your opponent does not sufficiently redirect the attack.... I can only think of the possibilities.

We also do a little of this in Goju Ryu. We've done a little bit of grappling, and that is all about exercising control over your opponent's center of gravity. If you can get the center of the spine away from directly over the feet, then you own your opponent. We've started 2 joint locks that invoke the same idea. It's a real fundamental concept, though, to control your opponent's balance. In Freestyle wrestling, getting your opponent's feet over his head is something like a 5-point move. In a 15-point match, you can see the obvious value in a move like that.

I study Shorei Goju Ryu out of Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently a 10th Kyu.

Man, where are all of these dark alleys? I'm so glad that I live in Indiana. I'm not saying that we don't have gangs and muggers, etc. I can go to downtown Indianapolis which is well lit, has lots of people, and be just fine. Yes, there are even bad parts of Indy, and I am lucky enough that I never have a reason to be in those places. I've been in Washington DC, Chicago, and LA, and I've been in areas where one city block means the difference between walking casually with your wife on a well-lit street, hand-in-hand, taking a wrong turn, and being instantly anxious. I've always just turned around and said, "Oops, wrong way." But, importantly and luckily, I've always had the choice. It's sad to know that there are so many places that aren't safe for adults and children. Or even worse, it's sad to hear that there are MA students who purposefully go out looking for a fight to test their skills.

Way back in the day, we called it folk wrestling. In Greco-Roman, there's nothing below the belt. So no shooting the legs for a takedown. IIRC, in freestyle, getting the feet above the head is worth 5 points. The hip throw, crotch lift, and suplex demonstrate control over your opponent, and they all gain you serious points. In Indiana High School Athletic Association wrestling, taking your opponent's feet above his head is considered dangerous and it is an instant disqualification.

Don't you have minimum time-in-grade requirements? In my school, you can progress as fast as your skill/body/sensai will let you until you hit brown belt, typically 3-4 years. (Unfortuneately, my school is a little McDojo-ish with about 16 grades and half grades including belts, half belts, belts with tips, etc.) Then you must wait at least a year before shodan. My sensai said that you can always tell what type of student you have by this, and a lot of his students quit in the 2nd or 3rd month of ikkyu.

You can rest assured that the human body is actually incredibly frail. 12 pounds of force will snap that collarbone in two. 30 pounds of downward pressure will rip off someone's ear. 25 pounds of the knee bent laterally will tear the ACL. 16 pounds will break any of the fingers backwards towards the wrist. 5 pounds to the neck can break the windpipe. Your half-speed practice movements, delivered with correct technique, is enough to kill a person. If the same blow to the collar bone goes just a little south, all you do is tick the guy off and maybe bruise his ribs.

I'm on week 5, and I've only lost 2 pounds! (I weighed 250.5lb this morning.) For me, it is just a pain in the butt to lose weight. I've got my MA 3x per week. I make sure to stretch every day and practice my techniques at least 2 other nights. I don't know any kata yet, but when I do, I hope to start practicing those every morning & night. I've cut my diet coke intake in half and replaced that with water. I take carrots and shredded wheat to work with me so I can snack through the day. I find that I'm a lot less hungry, and I eat a much smaller lunch and dinner. I don't eat breakfast, but it sounds like that's something that I need to start doing. For what it's worth, I *feel* much much much better! I'm more awake during the day. I sleep better at night. My kicks are getting higher. I can do 3x more pushups and 2x more crunches than 5 weeks ago. Why, oh why, isn't the weight going away!?!

Double post

Most people these days go for any publicity. They'd rather have an opinion than have an educated opinion. Hate speech is a very easy way to do that. Did you ever notice that more easterners are tolerant of westerners than the other way around? Maybe that's a thread worth putting in the Internal Arts.

For our discussion a 100 mph impact will be the same whether is went from 0 to 100 in a fraction of a second, or it has been travelling at 100 mph for the past year. The impact creates an instantaneous deceleration on the striking surface. That's just acceleration with a negative number! That deceleration is recognized a transfer of force from the striking object to the object being struck. That transfer in force divided by the surface area is the pressure generated. This is also why you want to use a rigid target. Anything that absorbs the force will reduce the recorded pressure. If you hit something TOO rigid, then your metatarsels, tarsels, radius, ulna, humerus, scapula, and associated cartilage must absorb the deceleration. (Note: now we are getting more specific, and this complete destroys my linear acceleration from my previous model.) In this particular example, we were using PSI = Pounds per Square Inch as a measurement of pressure. You could also use MPa = Newton per Square Millimeter or any other number of units to represent pressure.

iolair is correct. Looks like someone studied his physics. A deformable object will absorb the result and lower the PSI value. PSI = POUNDS per SQUARE INCH Pounds = (mass of striking object in slugs) x (acceleration in ft per second per second) You can get a theoretical maximum, assuming linear acceleration. Take your total mass (M= weight in pounds/ 32.2) measure the distance your arm travels (L= in feet) and time how quickly your fist can travelled distance (T= in seconds). Also calculate the surface area of your striking zone. (S= in square inches). If you *could* get 100% of your mass into a punch, then your maximum possible PSI is (M*L)/(S*T*T). This means that you are able to get, literally, your whole body into a punch: hand, arm, shoulder, hips, legs, toes, spleen, hair follicles, metatarsels, etc. But that's why they call it a theoretical maximum. It's unattainable. Shy of a flying kick, some of your mass is maintaining a frictional coefficient to keep your stance planted on the ground. Some of your mass is counterbalancing your punch. Unless, of course, your punch is so wild that you unable to remain standing after you swing it, and you slide across the dojo floor as if it were made of ice. At least you can take a moment to see what this really all means. It has good application to combat. (1) Mass. The more of your body that goes into a swing, the more you can do. (2) Length. The further a strike travels, the more damage it does. (3) Square Inches. Surface area is in the denominator, so a smaller strike zone will create greater penetration. So, hit with the first two knuckles, instead of all four. (4) Time. Time is in the denominator, so a smaller number drives the amount of force higher. In fact of all the numbers, this may be the most significant, since it is squared. Caeteris paribus, a small increase in quickness returns a squared increase in force generated. Physics is wonderful!

This goes way beyond just weight loss and fitness. I am completely responsible for my decisions. Whether it is time/family/work/etc., I made the decision to eat that extra piece of cake and then go take a nap.

There are many factors that will help the Karate-ka. 1.) Physical talent - Some people are just good at everything they do, whether MA, football, soccer, baseball, etc. They are exceptionally coordinated. This is not me. 2.) Mental talent - (attempting to be humble) I have excellent memorization skills. Not quite a photographic memory, but close. I rarely get hit with the same thing twice. And I excel at memorization of what a technique *should* look like. That doesn't mean I can do it, but I know if I'm right or not without someone telling me. 3.) Physical fitness - This usually goes along with #1, but it doesn't have to. I've seen some very lean people who couldn't catch a ball. 4.) Training & practice - This one can supercede all others. You might not be fit, have good muscle memory, or have perfect recall, but with enough training, you can overcome all of these things! As for me, I started 3 weeks ago. I weighed 252 pounds, and I am down to 247 as of this morning. I am starting to mind what I eat, and I've only missed one day of exercise in that time. I hope to get down to 200. At 200, will I have a six pack and chiseled shoulders? Probably not. (That would be closer to 175.) But, 200 would be healthy, and that's where I want to be. My $0.02. -- Jarrett

The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.

I would say that my excess weight is a hinderance, but it does not eliminate me from MA activities. It also doesn't affect my learning new techniques (or at least it hasn't thus far). It also depends on what you call "learning a technique". Do you include with the ability to do a kick the ability to get your toes up to your eyes? The good news is that I am working on losing my excess poundage, and Karate is a big motivator for this weight loss. It's really a full circle. I started to Karate to try to lose weight and be more fit. Now I realize that I want to lose weight so I can get better at Karate so I can be more fit so I can get better so I can be more fit so I can get better......

I completely agree that humility cannot be taught; it must be experienced. Either you believe that there is more to learn/see/do out there in the world, or you believe that you personally are the end-all be-all of everything. It doesn't just have to be physical defeat, although that might be the most readily obvious to create humility. You also need to realize that there is so much more to learn. So much, in fact, that you will never learn all of it in your lifetime.

Excellent point, G95! This is definitely why I am getting involved in Karate-do: to make this part of my life. I need something that will push me. I need something that exercises me. I need something calms me. Movies are made to make money. If you can find a niche, than you get paid. More modern movies like the Matrix and the new Star Wars movies (esp. Ray Parks) will lure people into MA. Some of those people will want to kick butt within a few weeks, and they will go into it for the wrong reasons. Some of those people will really want to be able to do those techniques and they will work at it the rest of their lives. And then there are the 99% of people in between. Hopefully the good teachers out there will recognize this in each of their students, and teach that student accordingly.

There are many types of meditation. It depends entirely on what your goal is for that particular moment. Meditation can be as simple as reflection over the days events, it can be a relaxation technique, and it can be used when performing MA. My skill level is still very premature, but I find that I can relax and perform a technique slowly, striving for that unattainable perfection. But as I speed up, I lose that meditative state, and I start to get sloppy. Maybe that comes with time.

Slight variation to topic: I have a teacher, so I will use him for form and technique. However, does anyone know of a good book that will explain the history, development, and differences of the various Karate styles. Which ones make use of weapons? Which weapons? How long have styles been around? etc, etc. Thank you in advance.

I would never disagree that there are innumerable methods for communicating with God. Perhaps I was overzealous in my previous comment. Before starting MA (only a few weeks, mind you), I used to fence, ride horses, and do Yoga. When I stretch, relax, calm myself, meditate, etc. I feel part of something bigger. I know, that sounds corny and cliche. It's just that if I don't do those things, my brain gets in the way of everything I do. When I meditate, I can feel the horse's breathing, react to my fencing opponent's movements faster, and generally notice much more success in what I'm doing. Personally, that also includes prayer.

When reading this, I am reminded of how much being a teenager sucked. People are just mean to each other. People do Karate for different reasons. I started Karate for exercise and relaxation. Others do it for self-defense. Most adolescents do not recognize the tremedous value in teaching their skills to others and learning to positively critique others. At that age, I know I didn't. I was mean to a lot of people back in high school. I like to think that I grew out of my ignorance. The best you can do is ignore such individuals. If you start thinking, "I can take this black belt," then you've already missed the point and lost the mental encounter. Maybe you can, maybe you can't. At that point, you are now thinking of combative outcomes, and you are no longer considering any other logical alternatives to your issue.