ps1

You can never control what people think...only what you do! I agree.

Agreed 100%. Even if your goal is to travel the world and train at many schools, if you have the skill sets to back up your rank, no one will question you about it. You may even find that there are other certifying bodies out there who may be willing to certify your rank.

I disagree with those who are saying the article should be titled "should women fight men?" That isn't the point of the comparisons being made. I think the author makes those distinctions in order to relate the subject matter to something more tangible. I think the point of all his references is for us to determine what, if any, measures should be taken (beyond those in place for males) to ensure the safety of women fighters. To that I would say none! Women fighters are weaker. Therefore they aren't taking the same stress on the bodies (during a fight/when getting hit) as a male fighter. The abuse their bodies take is in direct proportion to the size, strength, and physiological differences that exist. So the rules in the ring shouldn't change at all. It's the rules out of the ring that need to be addressed. Certainly, no one who is pregnant should be allowed to train with any contact. Further, the use of testosterone, HGH, steroids and other performance enhancing drugs should be strictly prohibited and enforced. It doesn't seem to be enforced strongly with men (or maybe we just don't hear of it because the rules are already very strict...I don't know). But should they be allowed to fight...yes. That said, you'll never see it being as popular among the general public as male fighters.

Being an MS patient complicates the matter too. If the ice and rest don't help, you should talk to your doctor and ensure that your condition can't be made worse by what you are doing.

Board breaking wasn't a part of any of the arts I studied. However, when I was competing alot, I saw that many tourneys had the breaking division. So I decided to do it. I took third place in my division and was happy with that as the guy who took first broke 12 bricks with his head and the guy who took second was breaking panes of glass with his thumb. My break was two with a reverse punch, two with a side kick, one patio brick with a hammer fist and an iron palm to a board flat on the ground. I looked at it this way, I had fun and wasn't willing to do what it took to win first place. So I never did that division again. So I guess my answer is "fun." It's just fun to have tangible evidence of what your focused technique can do. Just..."fun." I will add that, for kids, it may be a good way to build confidence too.

You can work plenty of techniques with a guy who is bigger than you. He can certainly work them on you too. This is especially good for you. Afterall, any martial art worth it's name is designed to defeat the bigger, faster, stronger opponent! What happened is you fed off the negative energy. So instead of having a good, productive class, you both got nothing. You must put forth positive energy. Even (especially) when there a only a few people. They will feed off of your positive energy and next thing you know, there is some good training going on. When I have a small class, I look at it as an opportunity to focus on what I want to work while giving the other guy a private lesson.

Your insight is uncanny! This statement is amazing.

Not having trained aikido, I can not speculate. However, in Judo and Aiki Jujitsu, you do. Throwing is a very dynamic art. Beginners tend to start more rigid however.

In any martial art, the ability to create base is extremely important. However, in any martial art, the ability to move fluidly through many based positions is just as important. This is one of the purposes of kata...learning to move through many positions while keeping a balanced and based position throughout. To be more concise, yes it is good. But only if you wield your position when it is proper and hold your ground when it is proper.

It looks like a hybrid of jo and and kali. Interesting. I'd like to learn more about its history and verify the validity of the system's irish roots. Certainly, you should get hands on instruction if it's available. Kali is an effective art. Once you get a handle on that and understand its principles you'll be able to go back and get reference materials to supplement the training you already have.

Nice thread

Too close. The pushing and pulling should never have happened.

There are lots of supplements on the market. Virtually none of them require FDA approval and, therefore, sholdn't always be trusted. Your best bet is to first ask your doctor if such a thing is appropriate for you and if he has any suggestions as to which types. My suggestions are Glucosamine Chrondroitin for joints and potassium for muscles. Edit: I can't stress enough that you should see your doctor first. It really shouldn't hurt when someone pushes your knee for a guard pass.

I've met several people that can perform 20 kata. But they don't KNOW even 1. That is, they can do sequence of moves in the air, but don't have any clue why those particular movements were included or what they mean. Funakoshi Sensei practiced the three Tekki Kata for 10 years. But I bet he knew them well. Considering he created the Shotokan system, it's safe to say his karate was strong. You are young in your journey. Don't get caught up in quantity and concern yourself with quality.

Good luck

Sorry to hear that. I'm sure you'll keep practicing and be even better for when they reschedule.

The answer to your question depends on where you live. More specifically, what country? In the United States, there is no need for a license. However, many other countries do require one. The second thing would be the rules of your local government. If you're teaching, and being paid for it, you may be required to get a business license. These usually cost a few hundred dollars to attain. Lastly, teaching on public property could be another concern. Again, mainly if you're being paid for it. Many towns, cities and the like require people working on public property to acquire a permit or license to do so. This can cover a wide variety of things from panhandlers to movie producers to solicitors. Long story short, you should check the laws and requirements for where you live. The fines for these things can be steep.

I'm glad to hear there don't seem to be personal issues involved with the move. That certainly bodes well for your chances of saving your art in the US. I should also mention that I did not mean to offend you with my questions...you may or may not be surprised at how often these things happen for personal reasons. It's good to hear that everyone has the best interests of the students at heart. So, as far as I understand it, there are three issues that need to be addressed with new/ammended by-laws. 1. Allowing for the opening of a branch office that has the authority of the Hombu in its decisions. 2. Filling vacant positions at the Hombu or finding a way to allow those who did not move to retain their positions while still allowing for easy and free communication between them and the Hombu. 3. Ensuring the testing panels are still able to have the correct ranking and titled instructors both in Okinawa and in the US. Failing that, possibly amend the requirements for the panel and set requirements for what ranks/titles need to be attained only in Okinawa. This is what I've pulled from the conversations so far. Are there any other issues that have come up in the situation? Any new developments?

I'm sorry, how does this contrast itself from shotokan? I don't remember my karate training including anything that says to be stiff and rigid.

I think that there is a hole in pretty much everyone's guard game, and it is a pretty low percentage in which you see most fighters get finished in someone's guard. I think you may have missed the point of my original post. I am not saying that you should/will submit everyone from your guard. Rather, the guard is far more dynamic than that. It is a launching platform from which you can submit a person, sweep a person, or simply get back to your feet and defend yourself from that position. Further, any practitioner of BJJ should be prepared to use any of those three options at any time from the guard (closed or otherwise). So the hole only exists if the practitioner does not understand when to do what. As to your comment, I don't see it as a hole when a fighter doesn't get submitted from the guard. I see it as one of the other two options being employed. The only time a hole is exposed is when a person gets beat up while trying to use their guard or gets their guard passed. Look at it this way. If you're in the guard that probably means that you were taken down (in a fight/mma). So, in this regard, you're already late. By keeping an opponent at bay and not letting them hurt you, you have successfully defended yourself. Self defense is never about hurting someone else...it's about preventing them from hurting you/your loved ones.

Really not different than the way they were hitting each other in the original as well.

This is very much the case. As a white belt (0 to 2 years of training), the guard is usually used simply to keep a person from getting around you. They fight hard to keep the feet locked and rarely attack efficiently from the position. Blue belts (1 to 3 years of training) usually do a better job of attacking from the closed guard, but get lost once the guard is open and lose focus. They tend to see different guards as separate. Purple belts (3 to 6 years of training) begin to start seeing the bigger picture. They realize that they can open up, get the grip they need and go back to guard. This understanding causes them to become much more efficient at attacking from the position. Brown Belts (6 to 10 years of training) start to apply the bigger picture. The various guard positions flow into one another, setting up techniques and applying defenses with good timing. Black Belts (9 + years of training) are even more smooth in their transitions and finish their submissions/sweeps/escape attempts at a higher percentage. In addition, they begin to solve more problems on their own, without the need of someone to guide them through every technique variation. Excellent! Well, it sounds like I really need to get the ball rolling in my ground game, so that I can start figuring this stuff out. And we're only talking about the guard. Now remember that the same rules apply universally though all positions. Guard, Side Control, Mount, Rear Mount on both top and bottom of the position.

Good luck.

Congratulations!!

As far as the Yudansha student base... The overall mood is starting to turn from total and utterly bewilderment to one of a feeling of great optimistic about their future. Yes, they are complete aware of the whole situation. That was decided by our San Dai-Soke right off the bat. It's to be understood that the student base would have any animosity towards the Hombu's totality. I was full of animosity when the news/information was first brought to my attention. But, what is one to do? Fight or flight? I decided to fight right from the onslaught. The student base has quelled its animosity towards the Hombu because someone is standing up for them across the board. Nobody to my knowledge has threatened to leave the Hombu. I hurt a faint murmur from some of the student base, but that faint murmur has subsided completely for the reason(s) I've mentioned in the last paragraph. However, not one of the hierarchy Yudansha's have ever whispered that they wanted to abandon ship. It is nice to hear that you're standing up for them. However, if you don't mind me saying, it seems there have been problems ever since you stepped down. You're now putting yourself in a position of leadership once again. A few more questions: 1. Do you think your San Dai Soke left because he was tired of you? Afterall, you were the head instructor and not him. That's sometimes a difficult pill to swallow. Moving the school puts it back into his hands. 2. Do you feel the leadership views you as "wishy washy" because you stepped down and now, after things change, you suddenly want a say in how they go again? 3. You have presented yourself as the leader for the system's students in the US. Are you prepared to take up the reigns and come out of retirement if and when a US branch is established? Or will you do all of this only to leave the US affiliate at the mercy of the same people who picked up and left in the first place? I realize these are deeply personal issues to you. I understand if you don't want/choose not to answer me. I simply find the situation very curious. I have seen several martial arts organizations dissolve under varying circumstances. Inevitably, the most destructive force to all organizations is the death of it's founder. That, coupled with the retirement of the head instructor, seems to be almost insurmountable. I find your actions in the situation very commendable. It's good to see you're fighting for your students. I hope your fight turns out for the best.