Jinxx0r

One of my coaches once told me that you should start worrying when coaches stop talking to you and they stop nitpicking. When they're correcting you and showing you your flaws, it means they CARE about how you're doing it. When they stop doing it, or don't do it at all, it doens't mean you're good... it means they don't really care how you're doing it. It shouldn't take a calendar to determine if you're ready to move on, IMO, but organizations have to add them to keep unscrupulous instructors from advancing people without some practice time. My training is part of me, so time and tests are of no consequence.

IMO, yes. They may be a great teacher and understand the purpose of every technique, correct form and alignments, but that doesn't make them a great fighter. I liked the coach analogy. I had baseball coaches that KNEW the game inside and out, but couldn't hit to save their lives, but it didn't mean they couldn't teach me about the game. Same as MA.

My instructor tells us that our test is more a test of himself and his instruction than a test on us. It gives him a chance to see where he failed in his instruction. If you're a true MA, it's inside you... the color of your belt shouldn't define you. If it's really a part of you, it's impossible to quit. If you do quit it was never really a part of your life. I could never quit... it's part of me and my life now.

One of the reasons I practice my MA is to be able to defend myself or my family if I had to. In today's world I would be very hesitant to get involved for fear of being shot or maimed by some psycho. I've never been in this type of situation, so it's hard to say what I would do... but just thinking about it now... I would say it's stupid to put yourself into the middle of a volatile situation. It's different if you're confronted directly with it and you have no choice, but I probably wouldn't get involved. I'll probably get flamed for that position, but this is real life and not a movie.

I've never pulled a hamstring, but a few people have told me that it's the worst muscle to pull... that it's hard to get comfortable in any position you sit/lay in. I imagine the treatment is the same as any muscle you pull (and delta1 just gave you good advice for rehab).

Going down stairs actually puts more stress on your knees than going up (it's like 7 times your body weight going down stairs, as opposed to 2 times your body weight going up). It doesn't suprise me that it feels worse going down the stairs. Lunges are a good excercise if you do the correctly. Also, just like any excercise; if you've never done it before, ease yourself into it and find your limits. like the other guy said, you learned from your mistake (but don't give up on lunges, as they are a good excercise).

sounds kind of hokey to me... there are no secrets to weight loss. It doesn't take weird or extreme diets to lose weight. JMHO.

Where are you experiencing pain? Saying your leg hurts is too general. Also, nobody can diagnose you on a message board. Could be muscle, tendons, joint pain, ligaments, etc... Does it hurt during and after excercise? I would recommend the RICE method for injury. R - Rest I - Ice C - Compression (wrap the injury... like ace bandages) E - Elevation, lay down with your legs up. After a couple of days use heat (like a heating pad) if it's severe, like you can't walk, I would recommend seeing a doctor.

I study Soo Bahk Do, which is closely related to Tang Soo Do (I'm still not entirely sure why the name has changed). All of my training materials have Tang Soo Do/Soo Bahk Do on them. Anyway, the list of hyungs for Soo Bahk Do are: Ki Cho Hyung (1-3) Il, E, Sam Pyung Ahn (1-5) Cho, E, Sam, Sa O Chil Sung (1-7) Il, E, Sam, Sa, O, Yuk, Chil Yuk Ro (1-6) Il, E, Sam, Sa O, Yuk Passai Naihanji (1-3) Cho Dan, E Dan, Sam Dan You have to know all these for Cho Dan (24 total). They call a few of them optional, but don't go to your Dan Shim Sa without knowing them all, hehe (at least that's what I've been told, I'm not a Cho Dan yet).

most of our one steps and self defense drills focus on teh solar plexus... if you're trying to just stop someone taking away their air on the first move is pretty effective. It also doesn't take alot of force to do it either. Just a thought...

http://www.mustangmods.com/data/45/clintonfirm.jpg

heh... my training staff is a 6 ft' piece of 1" PVC pipe, filled with sand and capped at both ends. It's heavy enough to train with, but couldn't stand up to contact (it's good for wrist and forearm strength though). Cost me about 3 bucks for the PVC, sand and glue. I have a rattan bo for show, and a white oak (at least I think it's oak) for contact (not the rattan, but the oak).

I didn't even know being a ninja was a style... heh. I thought that was a hollywood thing.

I guess the difference between these would be the practicality of their techniques, the discipline in the training of those techniques for a practical use. I don't think a scripted event is training for real, physical conflict... there isn't really a conflict here if you know exactly what is going to happen the whole time. For the second one, I don't... it's just a gut feeling and I could be wrong.

Why to my questioning? or Why do it? I am just saying, given the amount of time spent doing this, couldn't the time be spent on something better? Back in the day, when fighting was a way to make a living, or as such payable competition now, but for the average citizen with a job, kids, etc.? Why do it. I was trying to see what the benefit to doing this would be. Thanks.

Get an 8 ft' 2x4... put it on the floor and walk it like a balance beam (on the 4 inch side), one foot in front of the other. Do it forward and backward. After this do it using the chamber for a front snap kick (knee up high towards the chest), then bring it down, one foot in front of the other, like a highstep motion. Foward and backward. Last set do this forward and backward using a roundhouse kick motion. Do 3 total sets of these. When you're done try doing this with your eyes closed (good luck, heheh... part of your balance is tied to your ability to focus on one location). I've been doing this for awhile and it's still very hard to do it with my eyes closed. make sure the board you buy is not perfectly straight (slight wobble) as this will help with your balance. After these excercises you can do the gymnast balance excercise: 1) standing erect, lift your right leg up and to the side. 2) with your leg out to the side, move it to the front position (like a 90 degree arc). Your leg should remain parallel to the ground. When you're done, the position of you leg is like a front snap kick. 3) Bring your leg down into a starting position. 4) Repeat with your other leg. you can also do this in the reverse. You probably won't be able to do this one without good flexiblity and some balance, so you can modify it by keeping your leg bent at the knee for this motion until your improve your strength, balance and flexibility. It's a good hip flexor drill too if you do it slow enough. The last one is a yoga pose called "The Tree Pose" or "Vriksha Asana". Here is a link that shows how to do it. It's simple and effective (well, not as simple as it looks, hehe): http://yoga.org.nz/postures/tree_instruction.htm good luck and enjoy. I do these at the end of my MA workouts (well, the yoga I do as an entire workout different from my MA workout).

Maybe I missed this, but what would be the point of doing this? (that's not a judgement, but a real question as I really don't see why).

geez... I left my degree in chemistry at home... my god, what is all that stuff, LOL.

you eat burgers for breakfast? I would say that's probably not a good thing... I guess trying to figure out the "PLOP" noise would be like me trying to explain the noises my car makes to a mechanic... hehe. If you feel bad you should see a doctor and let a professional analyze your diet. I can't imagine strange noises coming from your body is ever a good thing (I'm setting myself up for this one...)

I guess the true test would be how practical their techniques are outside of TV land. *shrugs* IMO, no it's not an MA, but a sport (and I use sport loosely). I think pro-wrestling lacks depth of technique, practicality, philosophy and the discipline to be a true MA. I see a true MA as a search for harmonizing mind and body... these guys come off as crush/kill/destroy in a steroid rage for no other reason than TV ratings. If you put these guys up against a true MA, they wouldn't last, IMO. They're big and intimidating... but it's not the size that matters... oh, wait... that's something else.

I do this too with ankle weights... nothing fast as I'd hate to hyperextend any joints, but the slow, controlled approach seems to give nice results. I also use wrist and ankle weights to go through forms (very slowly) then take them off and go through at a normal speed. You can really feel the difference when doing this and I recommend this. Just make sure you do it slowly so you don't screw up your knees/hip/elbow/shoulder joints.

Personally, I think it's cheesy and cliche... but that's just me. I see it as defacing my body and my goal is to tune my body and mind. I also think it's showing off and shows poor humility. *shrugs* JMHO.

I started so I would have some other activity to do other than working out because it got boring... now I workout so I can be better at MA. I like the discipline and learning new techniques... There is always something new to learn or improve.

until you miss and blow out someones knee, LOL. Free sparring to learn, no way you should go below the waist (free sparring that is, one steps are different). Too much of a training risk to do that in free sparring, IMO.