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I don't know what kind of area you're in, but doing some outdoor training at a local park is always fun. You can usually use the playground equipment (monkey bars, jungle gyms ect...) as part of the obstacle course. Circut training is nice to throw in every once in a while. Have several stations set up. Station 1: kata, station 2: punch the target, station 3: jump kicks ect... Have them do each station for a certain period of time then run/jog in around the school for a certain period of time/number of laps before moving on to the next station. Hope that helps a little. I know it's only two ideas, but you seem to have alot of great stuff already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYvDZOYZpUQ&mode=related&search= How bout this one. I say I don't care who you are or what style you study. When this many guys come after you, fighting is not the best option! Run, pray, and maybe you come out alive.

So Nintendo's "Wii chucks" are illegal? They're a remote and game controller connected by a cord. Great point lordtariel! I guess the only thing to do is to have all Canadians and New Yorkers send their Wii and Wii accessories to me. I'll see to it that they are properly taken care of Afteall, the controller is called the "nunchuck" attachment. We have ways to deal with such things in Ohio.

That's my general opinion also. Fun to watch, but for a "this style vs. that style" type of thing, it's just too scripted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn59zha-uAQ&mode=related&search= Check out this video. It's called Aikido vs. Kickboxing. It's clearly not. It's more Aikido vs. Karate. I'm not saying this guy isn't good. But I have trouble digesting some of these techniques. What do you think?

I've never heard. I know a couple police officers and I'll try to remember to ask them. That's interesting. I personally don't see the difference, but I'm not the law.I think it's because you can cause significantly more damage with a kick than with a punch. No. That's completely incorrect. Assult is assult. You will be charged with what ever is appropriate in the district you're arrested. It's up to the courts to decide what happens after that. Remember, being arrested is not being convicted. The courts will decide what to do only after hearing all the evidence. In general, if there was cause for you to defend yourself, you're going to be ok. Legally, kicking someone in the leg is alot better than punching them in the throat. It's not what part of your body you use. It's the intent of the technique that must be proven. That in addition to the situation you were in, number of attackers, weapons, possibility of escape and so on. If a guy pushes you and you gouge out his eyes, you're in trouble. If you're in a secluded place and someone attacks you and starts pounding on you and you defend the same way, it may be justified. In the end you'll have to check your local and state law books. But kicking is not differnt than punching.

I've found that most of the best fighters don't use a particular stance anyway. You teach beginners to use a specific stance just to build habits. However, as they advance, their fighting stance should be more adaptive. I agree with Bushido though, I prefer to show people to use a more balanced stance to begin with.

Very well done! Thank you for sharing!

Good to have you in the forums! Breathing really helps alot, like Bushido_man96 said. The other thing is not to take it too seriously. Remember, you're there to have fun! The other guys should be the one with all the pressure. After all, it looks great for you, as a white belt, if you beat any of the blue or brown belts. If they lose to you, that's really embarrasing to them:) Just go in, focus, and let your training do the rest. You'll do just fine.

Are there any particular styles of martial art that interest you? Tae Kwon Do Times http://www.taekwondotimes.com/ Black Belt http://www.blackbeltmag.com/ Martial Arts Illustrated http://www.martialartsltd.co.uk/mai/ Shotokan Karate Magazine http://www.shotokanmag.com/ This is just a few that came up with a search on Google. I just did a search for Martial Arts Magazines. I can't speak to their validity or how good they are. I had a subscription to Black Belt a few years ago. Some of the articles were good. Others were not so good. But you get that from any magazine. Hope this is helpful.

Yup. It's an essential part of most karate systems. We like to throw the strong linear punches and blocks, but we're not stupid. We know that getting out of the way is far more effective than taking a hit.

I think you're probably right. Like I said, it's been a common theme in nearly every art I've studied. I may have just complicated the explination a little. Or...under explained initially. What ever the case, I think we're on the same page Thanks bearich!

You must be very proud. Probably more proud than he is. Hopefully one day he will have the honor of presenting the same to a student of his own. Congratulations to you both!

ummm (not to be argumentative but) thats pretty much what I said in my conclusion to my post wasnt it? I suppose so I guess I was just curious as to wether your aware of being argumentative at the time of doing it? Or does it hit you a minute or two later? To answer your actual question. I was not one of those students. Probably because I started training at such a young age (6) and found my instructor to be a bit intimidating. However, I do find that adults who begin training do tend to be much more likely to question things often. I think it's good. It challenges me when I teach. It forces me to know what I'm talking about. It doesn't bother me when someone thinks something I teach doesn't work. Because I can show them it does. I would venture to guess, based on your post, that your instructor is glad to have you and your "argumentative" ways in the class!

I agree with the majority of what was posted already, but I actually disagree with this right here. All turns in the Pinan/Heian series can be performed on the balls of your feet. Anytime you pivot you should always be pivoting on the balls of your feet. The human body is anatomicaly built to maintain balance better on the balls of your feet rather than your heels. To simply show this just stand shoulder width apart. Once in position, raise your toes up off the ground and see how long you can keep from wobbling. After your done repeat but raise your heels off the ground so your weight is shifted towards the balls of your feet. Also try walking around on both your heels only and balls of your feet only and see which one is easier on your body. I see where you're coming from. As an exercise physiologist, I have a strong to very strong understanding of biomechanics. However, we're talking about a quick pivot, not walking. Additionally, it's not at every point that a heel pivot is appropriate. For example, on the 270 degree turns, it wouldn't work out very well. A heel pivot allows you to gain distance toward your opponent (the depth of which is equal to the length of your foot from the heel to the toes) and allows a longer follow through with your strike. It also drives your mass forward into the strike. When you pivot on the ball of your foot, you actually move backward (the depth of which is from your toes to your heels), away from the strike. The next advantage is that once you've performed the pivot on the heel, you can continue forward onto the ball of the foot, giving you even more forward movement where necessary. It's important to note that only the rear foot is pivoting on the heel, not both feet simultaneously. Maybe I'll make a you tube video to better illustrate. This concept has been taught to me in 4 different systems though. All of my instructors were different and from different schools also. I only say that to point out it's not isolated to one school of thought.

If you know you're being argumentative, why do you continue? It's one thing to ask a question, that's only human. It's another to argue. If something conflicts with what you thought, just ask privately at the end of class. It's a little more respectful that way and you won't feel embarassed.

There are some movements that you won't want to pivot on the ball of your foot with in Heian Shodan. That is, sometimes you should pivot on your heel. Your sensei should tell you which is the appropriate time for each. If you're just starting to learn the pattern, it probably won't be a huge point of focus right now anyway.

In addition to the comments above, remember to bend your knees. I often see students attempting their power circles (turns) with their knees locked. This will cause you to not be able to step out as far and your legs will feel "tangled." Keep you knees bent and you'll be ok. Edit: I want to note that I'm not saying to change your level (bounce) at all.

I agree with most everything that's been said. However, I think it was Kano's genius of removing techniques that are "too dangerous" to practice at full go from the system that led to the greatness of BJJ now. That ability to train at 100% full go is what allowed the system to become so effective. I agree that it's probably just jealousy on the part of the judoka that leads to their comments. They're upset that Judo doesn't get the props for spawning BJJ. But, as mentioned, it didn't exactly happen that way. The judo regimin was only a part of what Maeda taught. Further, Helio changed tons of stuff when he got involved in the art. In the end, Judo was a spring board, but Helio was the vault that created BJJ!

I think it depends whose syllabus you check. In ours there isn't a rank you earn without learning more information.

Ohio has a ton of open tournaments. Most are hosted by the Professional Karate Commission. You don't have to be a member or anything to compete. Here's a website that will lead you to some of them. Click on the "events" tab for a list of tournaments. http://pkcheadquarters.org/ Even if you just visit one near you and don't compete, they will have several tables with even more flyers available.

I would want to see a well performed kata. Once you get Nidan down well, start to use it. Until you perform it as good or better than Shodan, stay with shodan. Nidan will eventually get you more points because it has kicking elements and more hip dynamics. However, when those elements are performed poorly, the kata just looks horrible.

I think I have the general idea of what you're talking about now. I studied TKD for 3 years, from age 6 to 9 (a long time ago now) and think I remember something like this from one of those forms. I remember performing a low defend in a front stance then stepping through and ending up in horse stance with a punch to my right. I think I forgot about it because we don't have that technique in any of the arts I've studied since. Thanks for the clarification. Sorry if I sounded a little silly asking about it.

Looks more like a hammer fist, which is how I was taught Tekki Shodan.

It's based on Judo rank. In judo, red is not a lower rank. I forget where it sets, but it's somewhere around 5th degree. Actually, in many martial arts (karate and chuan fa that I've seen) red is usually reserved for high ranking experts. I think the Korean arts are more likely to have red as a rank that is lower than black belt.