AnonymousOne

When you can do hand stand push ups with a 50kg weight tied around your body, I think you have developed enough strength for MA

Get a tennis ball and squeeze it with your hands over and over to strengthen them. It aches like hell after awhile!! This helps remove the pain in time

Front thrust Front snap Side thrust Side snap Back thrust Back snap Back thrust Roundhouse kick Crescent kick Downward heel thrust Jumping double front kick Jumping side kick Jumping front kick Jumping round house kick Reverse round house kick Reverse jumping round house kick Returning wave kick Several forms of foot sweeps (the are kicks) Rotating Jumping crescent kick (used as a block) * Note some of these are found in advanced Kata that some may not be aware of

In Okinawa, pre belt days, the master constantly watched every movement of the student. There was no formal test moment because the master saw as the student progress step by step. Ranking only came into Karate when Funakoshi came to Japan in 1921. The Okinawans saw no need for it.... So I guess the masters of old, for hundreds and hundreds of years were stupid and didnt see the big picture either. Man it must have been horrible being so dumb for so long

Grades are really irrelevent in my view. It never reflects the skill level of a student. The same rank of 10 students will reveal 10 different skill levels. I would prefer the old days with no ranks and advancement only comes when one has fully mastered a particular kata, and the advancement being the learning of a new kata. But I am an old fashioned kinda guy

I hate this argument, I really do. The individual martial artist wins or loses the fight when hes adequately crosstrained (such as today's MMA fights, for example). However, the fact that certain styles have produced an astronomically higher number of champions than other styles is obvious proof that some simply are more effective than others. Certain schools and styles simply are more superior to others and thats a cold hard fact of life. I totally disagree. Granted though there are a lot of rubbish schools in the west, but I have seen some people train in them very hard and develop a lot of skill. Pride in a school is nice but often unrealistic

It is said that Shotokan has the largest following in the world, if you consider that fame But what is fame in the MA?

The Style doesnt make the person, the person makes the style. All schools have their good and bad points and none are more superior. As for Kyokushinkai they have performed poorly in contest in my country. But thats because of the individual not the style

I've been in street fights and I don't feel any shame whatsoever. Does this make me less of a MA? Does this make me any less "serious"? Not everyone takes MA's for some spiritual or phlisophical life altering experience. Some of us take the martial part seriously. Does this make me less of a MA? Yes it does Does this make me any less "serious"? Yes it does You have missed the essence of Budo. "To win 100 victories in 100 battles is not the highest skill. To defeat the enemy without fighting is the highest skill" Gichin Funakoshi Something perhaps youth is yet to understand.

Never. Not once in 41 years have I ever seen that.

"Christians will preach about love - but will trun right around and attack others sin with hatered... and this is not how it should be..." If a person tries to judge you show them this John 16:8 When he comes [The Holy Spirit], he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: Then ask: Has the The Holy Spirit gone on holiday and appointed you a stand in? Christ said "Judge not" , the Apostles Paul and James said "Judge not". Do they not get the point? James 4:11 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 4:12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor? Mathew 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Each Christian is a Priest. (1 Peter 2:5, 1 Peter 2:9 ) A priests work and position before the Lord is very holy. Korah stuck his noise into the affairs of the Levitical Priesthood and Korah and others God killed. That's dangerous territory to play with

Legalistic Christianity will tell you all sorts of things. They will say you cant do MA, they say you have to dress up for Church, women cant wear make up, jewellery, or mens pants. They say you cant drink or smoke, cant wear a condom or take the pill. Cant eat meat on Friday or eat pork at all and all manner of things, NONE of which can be found in the Canon of Scripture. No wonder people wont look at Christianity! Many people superimpose their personal dislikes over the Bible and claim thats what God wants, but frankly they are Biblically incompetent baffoons. What God says, God says and let no man pervert or add to it! I have been in MA 41 years and been a Christian 25 years. I too have suffered at the hands of Churches, Pastors, and laymen who claim my Karate is wrong, but none of them have studied the art I train in and no nothing of its spiritual systems. I ask them "Is it ok if I do boxing" and the say yes. Then I ask why. They say "Oh because that has no spiritual foundation"... Then I ask "What spiritual foundation does my school teach?" They can never answer because the idiots just dont know. The answer is there is none!! Most of the accusations come from a lack of study, assumptions and a clear lack of Biblical knowledge! There is absolutely no evidence in the Bible whatsoever to prove that doing MA is forbidden and I challenge anyone to prove otherwise.

I wonder how Choki Motobu would have answered this after defeating a professional boxer in about 2 seconds flat?

The mind of the MA student must be like a sponge

Confucious say "Woman who fly in upside down airplane, having crack up" Confucious say "Couple have having sex near graveyard, f'ing near dead"

Best? Any street fight should be a shameful activity for any serious MA student. There is nothing good or best about a street fight.

Find a traditional Japanese or Okinawan school where your grades are recognised by the World Karate Federation and a school where the training is extremely hard and demanding. If the training is as easy as an aerobics class forget it, thats not real MA training. Shotokan, Shorinryu, Gojuryu and some of their derivatives are excellent schools. Trace the history back and find out if its a legitimate school in Japan.

Originally in Okinawan Karate, kicks were directed to lower levels of the body like legs, genitals and stomach. High kicks is a more recent invention that I would never recommend in a street fight. It looks good but is very risky. High kicks without power are somewhat useless. In our school the side kick (yoko geri), we consider to be a sandan (3rd Dan) technique because it takes many years to develop enough strength, speed and power to use it effectively. When I was young, I used to concentrate on high kicks only because it looks good, but now I am a geriatric old fart, I am more concerned with actual practical application. Although I can do high kicks rather easily, I rarely use it and if I do I may use in against a much lower grade. When sparring with higher ranking dan grades they are always on alert and its risky to attempt it. My attitude is that my fist is closer to someones head than my foot and my fist moves a lot faster. With my foot on the ground to maintain balance I can get my first to someones head much faster and maintain stability much more effectively. High kicks are not a requirement of our school in any fashion

any references? You would need dig into Roman and Grecian history at the library. Many historians have written on the topic

In my opinion generally speaking, a student with good basics and good kata will have good kumite. I feel its best to have a balanced training programme of basics, kata, kumite, strengthening (weights), road work (running) and plyometric exercises. One also needs to consider development of aerobic and anaerobic capacity. I feel balance is the key and this is the path I always lead my students down.

Sadly these days children exercise far less than they used to. When I was a child in the 1960's we were always outside running about doing stuff and making things. Today we have a generation that lives on McDonalds and blob out in front of the TV or computer games. I read some statistics a while ago comparing the weight and health of todays kids to some 50 yrs ago. It was disturbing. I started training at age 7. The school I attend is a very strict traditional Japanese school. The training has always been hard but we do build you up slowly and add more load as you are able to physically. The kids are asked to work hard within sensible physical guidelines and I feel the discipline they learn and the respect for other people they learn is an excellent learning experience. Sometimes kids dont learn this at home and they are sure not going to miss that at the Dojo. I was a severe asthmatic as a child and my teachers had to keep an eye on my somewhat abnormal condition. I was not able to train as well as the other kids then. But as the years passed and with new medication I was able to grow stronger and I had far less lung problems. Today at age 47, I am fitter, faster and stronger than I have ever been. All I can say is thankyou to the wisdom of my mother who encouraged my Karate training and thank you to my teachers for the excellent training I have received since I was a small boy. If it were not for them I shudder to think what my health would be like today.

Generally speaking I am best with 8 hours sleep. After a particularly grueling training session I may need a little more. If you want to recover quicker try taking Glutamine. Your body will tell you how much sleep you need. Be careful not to under train or over train. One needs to find a balance and work to that optimum level. This can take time and experimenting to find.

Oh I beg to differ... look up something called PCOS. No thanks

In our school we have a rule of thumb system for grading but in the end its the skill of the applicant that matters. To 1st Dan 3 years 2nd is 3 years after 1st Dan 3rd Dan is 4 years after 2nd Dan 4th Dan is 4 years after 3rd Dan 5th Dan is 4 years after 4th Dan and so on. 15 years to 1st Dan is something I have never heard of. I dont even know of a school in Japan that does that, but I could be wrong. As a general rule most Japanese schools are 3-4 years to get to Shodan but it depends on the quality of training and the commitment of the students. P.S. Getting coloured belts is not what Karate is about. Grades tell you nothing in this day and age.

P.A.L I could not agree with your more. Our school is Japanese based but trains in the same very strict manner as the old Okinawan masters. Some feel the schools training is too hard and too brutal so they leave. Later you seen them join up another school that has been watered down and they are wearing a shodan black belt and yet their skill is no better than a 3rd or 4th Kyu. The emphasis is placed on sport karate, high kicks and flashy movements but these people unfortunately are not very skilled. I have spent almost my entire life training and teaching in traditional karate and it breaks my heart to the see public get the impression that these schools leave. Basically they are heretics in my mind and these schools water the training down to ensure that they keep the large fees coming in that large volumes of students bring. It seems to me the almighty dollar is placed far ahead of what Karate is really all about. My son has a friend who was a shodan in a school that is called Combined Martial Arts Academy. Its an eclectic mix of many martial arts. Really the way they train is no better than Pilates with a few punches thrown in. He came to train with us one day (my son is Sandan) and he simply could not believe the different in skill level. We trained for 2 hours and then decided to go for an 8 mile run to finish off. He ran about one mile and flaked out. His cardiovascular system simply was not up to 3rd Kyu level let alone Shodan. He was certainly flexible and could perform high kicks but without any power, which in my mind is useless. After this training session he soon desired to train with my son and myself and attends twice a week at our dojo at home. Its been a year now and I still feel he is not ready to sit Shodan at our school. Of course, its a free world and people have a right to open a school and train people any way they wish. Sadly this concept will always be to the detriment of Karate as a whole.