AnonymousOne

Welcome and I would say good luck in your training but luck has no part, its all hard work

Well down here there are no such schools

The first time a human blocked and countered was when martial arts was invented. Martial Arts are thousands of years old and I think Gladiators had a great input on its developement. It is said that Greece traded with Southern India and Gladiator methods travelled there and then onto China and so on. Each step of the way it got refined again and again

How and why did you get to the ground in the first place?

Based on the Katas TKD has stolen from Karate, I would say there are many blocks

I say just lettem rip, its hard sparring when you are full of wind and getting it knocked out of you is not the way

I use weights and plyometric exercises

A GI pushup is where you push off the ground and clap your hands before going down again

To me Olympic Karate is an insult to Karate. Many Japanese masters have declined involvement and I agree with them

The purpose of a deep stance is to develop leg strength. When sparring a higher stance is used. In our school our stances are deeper than Shotokan. We dont attempt to spar with the same low stance because you dont have the same mobility. However one should have strong legs because one has trained in lower stances. In our school we also have a standard sparring hands position. This covers the body with one hand and allows fast defence of the head with the other. Its been a well thought out position in my view and is highly effective. All must use this position. When I was young I tended to dance alot and try and mimic Mohamed Ali, but today even though my fitness and skill is light years from those days, I tend to sit very still and watch and then move very quickly. I find it easier to watch my oppenents moves when I am not jumping around. I have noticed over the years that most high ranking Karate-Ka tend to do this, especially in Japan

Isnt wind sprints farting whilst running? hehe

Yes you bounce completely off the floor

I love this statement: "There aint no free lunch"

If a high ranking Karate-Ka can break 10 or more solid tiles this is what would happen to your body: If he hit you in the head your neck would break. If he hit you in the chest your chest would cave in. If he hit you in the solar plexus death is certain. It takes years and years of training to do this, but its absolutely possible and is definately not a myth. Tiles and bricks are far stronger than bones and thats why we test ourselves this way especially when we are young. I have no doubts a good Karate-Ka can kill with one strike, its easy to deny it especially when testing it for real is illegal and immoral.

Respect is never automatic, you earn it

Do GI pushups with a weight on your back

I have a simple question, how would you apply these stunts in a real fight against a highly competant and trained fighter?

Young people simply dont have the muscular development to perform the techniques properly. How can they teach what they cant perform, its a physical impossibility. I love young people because I am young at heart. I love to see them benefit in Karate and grow however I just dont think is possible for a very young person to be teaching. You cant put the cart before the horse. Any one who wants to teach before time is only really interested in the ego trip that 'can' go with teaching. People who train only so they can teach or to srutt around with a black belt have many lessons to learn. Put the ego aside and train for what its really about Patience, patience, patience [ This Message was edited by: AnonymousOne on 2002-02-01 17:30 ]

Why do we strive so hard to do the splits? Because people want to develop the ability to kick to the moon. This looks good but has no real value in a street fight.

I agree, personally I have never taken supplements. I just eat a healthy diet and drink lots of water after training. I know many guys that do take supplements and I see no differences. The great Karate masters of old had nothing to take and they were incredible.

After Heian.. Tekki Shodan Hangetsu Bassai Dai After Shodan its classified as free Kata and any kata may be chosen for grades above Nidan. It takes 3 years from Shodan to Nidan and you learn most of the Kata in this time. Our School also has 15 Kata's called Kihon Kata which is not seen in other schools. The purpose of these Kata are to teach one to get into and out of an attack quickly. Apart from these we run with all the Shotokan Kata with only minor differences to Shotokan, mainly deeper stances and other minor changes.

Our school teaches Taikyoku to adults and students after they get their first grade. After that its the 5 Heians, Tekki Shodan, Hangetsu and Bassai Dai for Shodan grading

Our Dojo has a policy of all instructors must be Sandan and thats at least 10 years training before they teach. Also you must be at least 18 to get Shodan. So really you cant teach until you are 28 or older. I think its important to have a high degree of knowledge and experience to teach. Its not predudicial, its just safe.

If size was important Miss America would be 500lbs

Thanks for that Its not my hypothesis, its a system developed and used by many Olympic coaches. It was developed in the 1950's and has been refined ever since. I agree to work anaerobically one must work within area, as well as I stated