YODA

The term SHOULD be redundant. Unfortunately it is not so.

I don't meditate - never seen the point of sitting qietly comtemplating my navel. It always seemed a little selfish - sat there thinking "Me me me me". I do sometimes enter what you may call a meditative state though. When practicing long forms (some of ours last 8-10 minutes) or when climbing in the hills. I've had few strange events too - what I can only describe as "Wow moments" - an awe inspiring awareness of being at one & part of something bigger, well - more of an awareness that everything is one thing. Hard to explain. This has happened after very hard solo training out in the wilds - on more than one occasion. Strange, very strange.

Hi there & welcome Jahred

Ooooh - is this our first Ninja? Hellooooooo

He failed on his attitude & his basic skills. He knew the Black Belt curriculum - but when I asked him to demonstrate some of the basic drills etc from lower grades he had forgotten them. Unacceptable. Performing in a class environment is one thing. Performing under pressure is another. He didn't perform well under pressure - another reason he failed. I'm sure he'll pass next time - at least now he has a benchmark - he knows what standard I expect. Black Belt tests should be hard - and if everyone passes all the time then you need to raise the standard.

Of course they should

Well - the weekend didn't go too well. Too much food - WAY too much food Took my daughter on a trip to see a Scotish Castle she is obsessed with - overnight hotel stay - cooked breakfasts blah blah blah... Ah well - the diet is back on today

Here's the best piece of advice I can give anyone on gaining muscle mass... https://www.cyberpump.com Go there - read

Fat is a major constituent of the human diet but there are so many types of fat out there, some good, some bad, that no-one actually knows what they should be eating. You do need to eat fat and it will always be part of your diet but there are certain fats you can eat that will be of benefit to you system. Scientifically fats are chains of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms, as are carbohydrates, and they are grouped according to the number of bonds along the chain. Saturated fats are those without any double bonds, and it is these that have a negative influence on your blood cholesterol levels. You?ll find saturated fats in animal products and certain oils. Butter is a major source of there types of fats. Lipids with a single double bond are known as monounsaturated fats and are mainly found in nuts and seeds. Olive oil is high in monounsaturates and is a good alternative to vegetable and sunflower oil for your cooking purposes if you prefer monounsaturated fats in your diet. Polyunsaturated fats are those which contain more than one double bond along the fatty acid carbon chain. Omega-3 fats fall into this category and are available in many fish, such as tuna. It is suggested that your fat intake should be split equally between these three types of fat but too many of us are taking in excess saturated fats. You may not be putting on weight but these fats may be damaging to your arteries and can put you at risk for many diseases, especially certain heart condition. --- from Sports Science Online.

In that case SG it is not IMHO a martial art. It may well be "art" but martial it is not. It is about as martial as olympic gymnastics. That's fine until you get WuShu instructors advertising their art as the ultimate self defense art (as our local Wu Shu guy does).

So - with all this talk of cars - what do you guys & gals drive? For me it's... Car: 1992 BMW 525i SE - 6 Cylinder 24v thingie. Dinan Chipped too Bike: 1990 Kawasaki ZX-10. 1000cc of oooomph. Tweaked - very tweaked. 174mph last time I clocked it

Hip Flexor pulls can be serious - hence my advice. Every time you lift your leg you use the hip flexor! I reckon a combo of manipulation & maybe some ultrasound is needed.

You make sure to train hard ok? I'll be asking Sifu B for a full report on your progress when I see him in September

Ah! Errrrrr...... Movies? Honour system? Damn! Now I wish I wasn't so honest I'll give it my best shot - don't expect any miracles guys - I've always been more of a doer than a watcher

Hi VoodooRyu

"Im not lettin the insurance company know about the modifiacations Im gonna make." So, when you do something stupid (it CAN happen) and you hurt someone or worse, your insurance company will carry out an inspection of your car & discover the mods - at that point your insurance policy becomes void, the victim of your mistake will have to get their compensation from YOU not the company, and also you will be guilty of driving without insurance. Not good, not big, not clever.

Great stuff Brett What classes did you take this week?

Hi all I've put up a page on my website with a full report & photos from the recent gradings as mentioned above. Have a peek... http://www.cea.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ceaweb/steve-bb.htm

Hi 360 Would you like to take us through some of your side control variations? Maybe we can compare notes & each learn some new tricks?

"However, that does not mean that once you see an opportunity or opening that you should not take it with blinding quickness. " - Agreed, when you go for it - GO FOR IT "We also emphasize tucking the chin close to the chest so that the opponent cannot achieve a headlock" - Depends what you call a headlock. Tucking your chin is a great way to minimise the threat of a choke, but can leave you prone to spine locks & facebars.

Hey Sai - any questions you have just ask away.

Hi Bon Do you hold your mount or side control differently with thoughts about striking? Have you thought about how to minimise how much you weaken your base when you strike? What about which types of strikes allow most control of the position? _________________ YODA KarateForums Sempai 2nd Degree Black Belt : Doce Pares Eskrima https://www.docepares.co.uk Qualified Instructor : JKD Concepts https://www.jkdc.co.uk Qualified Fitness Instructor (Weights, CV, Circuit, Kinesiology) [ This Message was edited by: YODA on 2002-03-24 07:40 ]

Hey Bon Just work on those 15 inch Biceps and forget the tat. You'll look fine

Sounds like you've pulled your Psoas Major - the hip flexor. I think you should go see a good sports physiotherapist. He/She will do in 20 minutes what your body will take 3 weeks to do.

Couldn't have said it better myself