AnonymousOne

I am sorry but I do not believe in modern day psycho babble which is an art called Excuseology. Therefore to return to some claimed experts socalled science analysis is a waste of my time. These days they use this art to make excuses for all sorts of things. I fully expect them to find a scientific claim to excuse pedophiles, murderers and thieves and God knows what else. That is the sad state of this human race. "Its not my fault the devil made me do it"... Well the devil is in the socalled science

I apologise but I wasnt judging any particular individual. However that is what I believe. I personally believe that being overweight is a choice. People committing suicide over it doesnt change the fact that they did not change their choices. Perhaps suicide was easier than facing the reality of a lack of self discipline. But that lack of self discipline isnt just weight. People lack this in all kinds of things like smoking, drinking, drugs, budgeting and on and on it goes. We all need to face facts at times. We are what we choose to be. I noticed you quoted the Bible. Did you want to get into a Theological debate concerning Biblical principles to repent of gluttony?

eating disorder hmmmm Personally I dont think there is such a thing. To me thats a cop out for laziness and indulgence and many make profit telling people its some kind of illness. People are over weight because they decide to be. Its all a matter of volition. People choose what they stuff in their mouth and nothing fattening accidently falls into peoples mouths. You can choose to eat properly and you can choose to exercise and you can choose to reject both. Modern psycho babble is just justification for excuseology Some people reject that and cling to excuses and stay fat

I have had this problem many times. It relates to your internal clock. For me there has been only one solution and that is to change that internal clock. I made myself stay up all night and all day and trained like hell to wear myself out. By 10pm I was had it and fell asleep. I woke up at about 6.30am and by 10pm that night I was tired again. You have to suffer alittle but it can be done

I feel it really doesnt matter where. Personally I like variety. Sometimes in my gym at home, sometimes on my lawn, other times running up and down hills in the countryside, other times in the woods, beach, heck anywhere will do. Changing the scenery is a good idea.

With a proper and balanced weight training programme over a 6 month period you should be able to double your strength in that time... at least When you can do several sets of handstand press ups with a 50 lb weight tied to your body I think you have somewhat arrived. Theres tons of info on the net about weight training. For MA I think its a good idea to follow the exercises for sprinters and throwers. Why? One needs bursts of power and speed rather an slow long endurance. This means the development of anaerobic capabilities rather than aerobic. This article of Evander Holyfields schedule is interesting and relates to this topic: http://www.sportsci.org/news/news9709/hatfield.html

Take Glutamine, its quite amasing

May I give some advice as an old koot who has been training for 41 years? I have to ask, why are you training? Is it not to develop your martial skills? That’s the purpose of going to a dojo. As for gaining spiritual growth I think that’s a matter for outside a dojo. No dojo I have ever seen is geared up to handle the depths and breadth of the human psyche for actual spiritual growth. That’s a vast field. I would go there to train and train alone and as for politics just don’t get involved. If someone says "Hey... did you know this..." or "Did you know so and so is saying this .....", I would simply reply: "I am sorry, I am not here to get involved in politics and especially not here to get involved in maligning another human being. I am here to train and train alone and what others do, is really none of my business. So if you don’t mind; I would prefer to live a peaceful life and allow others to get involved in pettiness. You don’t object to me living a quiet and peaceful life do you?” Or simply ask “Please explain to me why this is my business and why I am expected to be dragged into this when I only come here to train?” With some people you have to be tough. It is human nature to seek justification in these circumstances. People want to feel justified in their actions and thoughts and want to form mutual admiration societies. Be well above that. Walk with integrity and don’t lower yourself into the quagmire of mediocrity of pettiness, childish, jealousy, hatred, gossiping, maligning, and judging. Don’t worry about what others think. The second you do, you hand over control of your emotions to someone else to play with. Who is in control of your life? You or another human being? The martial arts student, should seek to love others, be kind, thoughtful, courteous, caring and non intrusive. Minding your own business is a hard thing to do, but it’s a noble and honourable thing to do. Stick to the training and leave the gossiping, maligning mutual admiration societies to themselves. Unless you own the dojo, the politics are really not your business. As for giving up? Why show the world you are a quitter? In the 1970’s long before I was a Shodan we had this guy who was a Shodan. He was big, he mean and he didn’t care about it. When our instructor wasn’t there or wasn’t looking this guy would beat the crap out of people. He was good too. I beat his wife in contest which I think embarrassed him because they both started training long before I did. Well the next time I sparred with him he beat me up good. It was a large class and our Sensei didn’t see what was happening as it happened. I came away with a badly bleeding mouth and contusion of the rib cage. I couldn’t train for a week. As I was leaving the dojo that night the Sensei saw the mess I was in and asked if I was okay and asked did I want to tell him anything. I said I was okay, I wasn’t and I also said it was just an accident, which it wasn’t. I went home full of fury and humiliation. But it spawned in me a new resolve. I swore to myself no one would be ever able to do that to me again. This was my first motivational seminar so to speak. A week later I was on night shift in my job and attended some daytime private lessons. I asked to see the Sensei after the lesson privately. This man was retired from contest, but was our countries undefeated karate champ 8 straight years in a row. He was highly skilled. I asked him what I had to do to succeed in karate. His answer was simple. “Do the most productive thing possible at every given moment in terms of achieving your karate goals. Do you have a goal young man?” He said. Of course I said no and he replied “Then the most productive thing you can do right now is find and set a goal”. That was sound advice!! I could have left the dojo. I could have stirred up trouble with the hierarchy of the dojo over the behaviour of this guy, but persistence and resolve led to greater benefits. To cut a long story short, I kept training. Eventually this guy left the dojo and stopped training. 15 years went by. We attended a weekend long training camp. There was about 300 students there from all over the country. We finally got to kumite training and were changing partners as you do. All of a sudden, there right before me, was this same guy again, he was now a probationary black belt and has been made to work his way up through the ranks again. Bare in mind I had not stopped training for 15 years, I had just recently returned from 2 years full time training in Japan (36 brutal hours per week for two years) and was now 4th Dan. I said to him, before the command to proceed, “Do you remember me?”… He said he did. He was still arrogant, cocky and full of conceit. His answer was somewhat belligerent. Being a senior grade to him I demanded he attack me with full force. So he did. The first time he did I foot swept him and left a sprawling mess on the floor. I told him to hurry and get up. He attacked again so I again foot swept him onto the floor. I must have decked him about 5 times I guess. Each time he got up he was angrier than the last. He wasn’t able to get near me. It was impossible because I had 15 years training ahead of him. After the kumite and before the change of partner I said “You need to move faster and be sure of your opponent. Never forget that an opponent can surpass you, do you understand me.?” He sheepishly answered “Hai”. I said nothing more. I didn’t need to. I got my pay back and he became a different student after that I am happy to report. Use adverse circumstances to propel you to greater heights. Stand tall, have integrity, train hard and achieve your goals. Don’t give in the negative and misguided influence of another people. May your training and goals be blessed!

In our school we train 2 to 2.5 hours per class. Classes are available 6 days per week. Warm up exercises are done first. Then followed by practising basic stances. This is followed by basics, then kata and finishing off with kumite, then the dojo is cleaned, everything except the roof. Its a tough two hours or so and most students go home so tired they are only able to rest or perhaps sleep. We train very hard in the exact same way as it is done in HQ in Japan.

Get several old car tyres, stack them on top of one another, stand on them and practise different techniques. At first you will wobble all over the place and may even fall over many times, but eventually you will learn balance. Its not easy to do but very rewarding

In our school a Shodan grading for sparring is simply measured by observation. This observation not only takes place in the grading but also for some time before. Its highly unlikely you would be allowed to sit for shodan unless they thought you could pass it. 3rd Dan grading requires the student to defeat 3 shodans in a row under contest conditions No further sparring tests are required after this. Teachers (Sensei) must be 3rd Dan or above. No exceptions

Practise your kicks 1,000 times per day on each leg. Cant do it? Build up to it When I was in Japan in the 80's we have one teacher that was obsessed with the number 1,000 and I hated him for it... I dont now Improvement only comes by high volumes of repetition in various formats. Keep training until you break the muscle down and cant do any more. Keep at it, soon you can do more and then keep training until you break the muscle down again and so on Break the muscles down, Break the muscles down, Break the muscles down, Break the muscles down.... Failure leads to success

With any punch if you want to get better at it: Practise it on its own Practise with a light weight, says 2.5 pounds with high repetition Practise it on a bag Strengthen your punching muscles through weight training Do any technique hundreds of times a day and it will improve dramatically ... in time There is no quick fix but hours of arduous training.

I have a tennis ball throwing machine linked to a computer software programme I had a friend custom make for me, that sends the balls at varying velocity, directions and intervals. No matter how good you get at dodging those balls that are fired at you, you can always up the settings in the software!! Haha You can either try to dodge the ball or catch the ball. Either way it helps with reflexes, evasion skills and agility. Very simple but highly effective. And yes it can and does bruise you!!

I have had this in several actual street fights. The first rule is to distance yourself from the attack by retreat or side stepping. In every fight your oponent always, without fail, leaves an opening. The more skilled you are, the faster your reflexes, the more often you see them. Inevitably they are there and you need to explore them quickly and decisively. Distance, wait for the opening and go in for the kill with full verosity.

There is no such thing as an ultimate art, there are only motivated people. People makes arts, arts dont make people. Give me person who has trained in traditional karate for 2 arduous hours per day for 10 years and you have a lethal fighter. Give me a person that has only done one hour per week for a year in any art form and you wont see a lot of skill. Thats the edge, not the school or style

Yes there is a special way to tie your belt and if you are a gorgeous female I will give private lessons on putting on and taking off your gi over and over. Repetition is the mother of learning darlings !! Haha Dont tell my Mrs about this post! Haha

Thanks Guys!!

In my country, most MA schools train 2-3 times per week. But the length and intensity of training various widely. Sadly, many schools have made there training schedules more palatable because there are so many schools today. In order to keep students and the money coming in, the training has been made easier. The traditional and often referred to as brutal training methods of traditional Japanese schools, is rare today. Even in Japan this can be found. In order for schools to survive financially they must retain students. Students have become clients rather than viewed as serious students of the MA willing to do all that is needed to succeed. In the end, it comes down to the motivation of the student. One may decide to just drift along with the pace of the classes in a school or one many decide to set goals to excel. If you decide to excel, you have to set goals and this includes having a rigorous and demanding self imposed training schedule. Of course one needs to decide what they want and then pay the price for it. Work, social and family considerations need to be made. My attitude has always been to do far more training oneself than what is done at the school. I view the school as a place to learn technique and at home as the real place to train. Some people don’t have the motivation or the self discipline, to get the things in life that they want. It all starts with a burning desire and no one can create that for you but you. If you work a day job, I would recommend getting up early like 6am and start running and building up to an hour a day. In the evenings going to karate class and if you don’t have one on that day, train in the same strict manner at home. Sit down and write out a training schedule, be sure in your mind that this is what you want and then commit to it with unwavering resolve. It all comes back to goals and desires and what you are prepared to pay for it. Gather around you supportive people and ignore people who are detrimental to your goals. Wives, girlfriends, friends and families members can either cripple you or help you. I would highly recommend people listen to the “How to Stay Motivated” series of audio tapes by Zig Ziglar. Questions 1. What age have you set for yourself to reach your full potential? 2. Can you write out in 10 pages or more what exactly your full potential is? 3. If 100% is your full potential, what percentage score would you give your current level of performance? 4. Accepting the difference between your score and 100%, what are you going to do to make up the shortfall…. And when? Those 4 questions “can” have a profound effect on your life!

Our school is a derivative of Shotokan but basically the same. Shotokan is an excellent school but lets not forget one thing. It is you that makes the difference. Do three to five times as much training at home as you do at the dojo (attending normal classes) and you cant go wrong but to be very skilled. Follow what is taught at the dojo Set up a weight training programme Do plyometric exercises Have a running schedule including anaerobic work Use various equipment such as a punching/kicking bag, makiwara, and anything you can create. For self training I recommend recording a lesson on an audio tape and following it. Perhaps ask your teacher if you can record a few classes and follow them at home. Personally I have used self training audio tapes for over 20 years. I keep setting goals to surpass what I was able to do in those self created lessons. Set the goal of being harder on yourself than anyone else can be. Train until you drop from exhaustion and begin again soon with the same strict regiment. For exhaustion and soreness relief take Glutamine

Interpretation of kata is certainly wide open. I have seen some very strange and wild ideas in my time. As for the begining movements - who knows? They may have had some spiritial connotation or even some battle uses. They are simply unknown symbols. Unfortunately, in the western world, kata training tends to have become quite secondary to other training methods. When I was a young man and first got my shodan back in 1975 I thought kata was a waste of time. Then I was challenged by my teacher to take a particular kata and practise it as hard and fast as I could for two hours straight. I soon learnt how hard it was and how much of it I had failed to grasp. We have to remember that kata are a sequence of movements that a master from a by-gone era has linked together fighting techniques and messages to pass on to younger generations. These are like books. A book has a page with information on it. In order for information to be passed down, its all categorised, put in its sequential order and passed on for others to read and study. This is what the masters of old have done. They have discovered many techniques that work and assembled them all together in a sequence of movements known as kata. Often in kata, a master has sent a message. The technique is not a fixed technique. The master has sent a message to explore that type of technique. For example in the kata Enpi, the main purpose of the kata is the attack with an immediate withdraw. The master who developed that kata obviously liked and taught the idea of fast attack with an immediate with-draw to assess the situation. This is a very old battle technique. But did this master mean to only use this particular technique? No I don’t think so. I feel that who ever developed that kata was sending a message to find all possible methods of applying that strategy to empty hand combat. Is it one technique? No. It’s a message to explore that strategy in every possible way. This is where I fear for the younger generation, who are discarding kata. They treat kata as an outdated training method and miss the very deep messages and techniques that masters of old spent their lives developing. In years of old, karate-ka were made to spend three years on one kata. I understand why. Some people feel kata is ineffective in battle. If you have not heard this story then let me tell you now. In ancient Okinawa there was a huge man who was regarded as the islands greatest swordsman. He was fearless and arrogant. He decided one day to attack Master Azato who was at the time, one of Okinawa’s greatest karate masters (he was a teacher of Gichin Funakoshi the founder of Shotokan). Yes with a katana (sword) and Azato was empty handed. So here we have two great warriors in a face of. One empty handed and the other, a master swordsman with his sword. Who would you have placed you money on? The swordsman was defeated and bought to his knees by an empty handed karate master. Azato had only ever practised karate the old way.. that is .. kata and basics. Practising kata, in that situation, was not useless to him. If it worked then, why will it not work now… for you??

Hi Guys. Been a very long time since I have posted here. Life has been so hectic of late. Work, training and family life has had me very busy. Just celebrated by 41st year of training... sheesh I am getting old. Haha. I am still training daily. Hope you are all doing well

Mine is Goora Abota Niw of Vanguard

1) Get well first 2) Set some new exciting goals

There are no rules in a real fight. Its life or death and you must use every means to destroy your enemy. Throw sand in his eyes. Poke him in the eyes etc. Use any means. Life is sacred, use any means to save it