ShotokanKid

I wanted to see the different ways in which people define a good teacher. What is his/her teaching style, is (s)he strict, humorous, does (s)he connect with his/her students or just get through the material, how does (s)he teach the material? How do the students feel about him/her? It's a tough question I'll admit, so if you prefer, tell me about a good MA teacher that you've had or seen.

So, just thought I'd take a little survey and see what everyone drives, how often and far, etc. I'll start: I drive a 1975 BMW 2002--little family heirloom. It was my grandfather's, who bought it new, then my dad's and now I drive it. I drive about 40 miles a day, 6 days a week.

Wow, NightOwl, you've got skills. I just ran the mile today in 6:28.

Just curious to see how many people run and how quickly you can do a mile. I just did a mile on Tuesday in 7:10. I could have broken 7 but it took time to get the treadmill up to speed. I'm shooting for a high 6 tomorrow. I haven't run in a really long time so I'm a bit sore, but I'll be fine by tomorrow.

Didn't really think of that. Thanks for the idea.

Ditto, I like that idea.

After doing some heavy bag work today with my Kali sticks, I looked around the garage and picked up random items and used them on the bag. A skateboard helmet, a dumbbell without any plates on it, a push broom, a piece of wood (as in wood flooring--a big chunk of wood about 1 inch thick), a power tool battery, etc. So here are the questions: 1) Do you train, in any way, with improvised weapons? 2) How do you train with them? 3) What is your opinion of improvised weapons?

By the way (really late on telling this story) but I got them out, didn't even feel it. It's kind of funny because last week, I found a stitch that they forgot to take our (it was just a tiny bit of it) and my dad thought it was a scab underneath the skin but he took a needle and just drew it across the stitch and pulled it out. It was about 1/2 inch long. Didn't feel that one either. Thanks to everyone for their input.

Got a lot of favorites... I love anything by Lifehouse.

Just wanted to get some ideas on variations of dodgeball. I try to make a new game a few times a month for the kids class I teach. I need a few ideas for variations of dodgeball. Also, feel free to describe other games that kids might enjoy. Thanks!

I have several long scratches (deep ones) in my back... the scabs are starting to flake off. Are you supposed to wait until they just pop off? Because some of them are starting to get caught on my shirt so I will tug them and oops off they come and now I'm bleeding. So how do I properly care for them? And should I put anything on (like an oil) that will help them heal better and not be really bad scars? (of course, one of my friends said he would pay to have scars like the ones I will have)

This one's about language-- I speak Japanese-- or did. My mom is Japanese and my dad speaks Japanese well enough to pass for a native over the phone. My sister just got back from Japan where she took Japanese, which she already spoke very well. So here's my question: How do you retrain yourself in a language that you are forgetting? I've been listening to audio files trying to brush up. My main problem is talking. For the most part, I can understand what is said but I don't speak because I'm afraid that I'll mess something up. In the past, when I was speaking to a Japanese karate instructor (a very high ranking one, I should add), I accidentally said the wrong word and it had the same meaning but it was less polite-- how an adult would speak to a child. This was an embarrassing experience but I didn't know any better-- no one had taught me that. I'm also currently taking French 3 and Chinese 1 at school. Is it possible to improve in all three of the languages; can you make your brain divide itself into compartments, or will they all end up running together and you end up saying "Bonjour" when you meant to say "Ni Hao" or "Ziajian" when you meant to say "Sayonara"? What is the best way of "making compartments"? So the questions are: 1) What's the best way to brush up on a language you are forgetting? 2) How do you make compartments in your brain? One thing I forgot to mention-- my church is a Japanese-American church so I have access to native speakers besides my family. I suppose one of the things I can do is ask someone to work with me there.

I had a big gash cut into my side yesterday... in my side. How bad will this be? Someone told me it's like getting a hair plucked out.

Those are some good ideas I have to try out... any other ideas?

How does it feel to get stitches taken out? Does it hurt or anything... feel weird?

Okay, here's an odd question. from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/sniper10.htm, an article about snipers and sniper school: "The KIMS game that Army Ranger Sniper describes is played repeatedly throughout the two-month course. As time goes by, students are given more objects to look at and less time to look at them. To add to the challenge, the time between seeing the objects and reporting what they saw gets longer as the course goes on. By the end, they may see 25 objects in the morning, train all day, and then at night be asked to write down descriptions of all the things they saw." If you've seen The Bourne Identity, you will remember how Bourne says he can tell Marie "the license plate numbers of all six cars outside." So today, in one of my classes, the teacher (a former pilot... not sure if that has anything to do with his observations) had a student who sat in the back turn around and face the wall, then asked him what color shirt a few people were wearing. As he tried to answer, I realized that I would have failed as well. My question is how would one learn and get good at these types of observation and memory skills? I've tried to memorize license plate numbers, but it's kind of awkward to be pausing in front of every car for 5-10 seconds. How can someone become good at quickly seeing and memorizing information? Thanks in advance.

That's what I've been doing but one website says holding your breath (obviously not the whole time) holds the chest in a certain position that helps with muscle development. I have been exhaling when pushing the bar up, inhaling as it comes down. However, on exercises such as the deltoid raise, how do you breathe on those... or does it not matter as long as you're breathing the whole time? Thanks again!

I recently started lifting on a regular basis with heavier weights. I recently saw a video on lifting and it said to breath a certain way (for example in when going up and out while going down or whatever). I looked up breathing in my books, didn't find anything. Looked up online and saw that holding your breath could be better. How should one breath when lifting, or who should I ask to find a good answer? Thanks!

Are you okay now?

Well, my job right now (summer job) is working at a place that handles contracts for the dental industry. My dream job would be stunt driving BMWs.

I can't believe that... and I'm a bit surprised that Sakuraba lost.

I messed up my elbow bench pressing. One of the parents at the dojo is a chiropractor. He checked it out and said I have tendonitis. He said to rest it for a couple of weeks. It's been at least three weeks since I messed it up and I tried curling and it was bugging me then. The parent told me that I shouldn't feel it when curling. How can I help heal it? How long should I not do anything with arms and what else should I do (ice or heat)? How do I know when it's better and how hard should I train after it is better? Thanks-

I like the thing with the tennis ball. What is the best way to keep people on their toes when doing something that's not so exciting (for example, basic drills)?

I feel that teaching experience makes the best instructor. You can have an amazingly skilled martial artist in his 20s, 30s, 40s, whatever age you pick, and he might not be a good instructor. I have a good friend who is very young for an instructor, but he is one of the best instructors that I know- he is fair, strict but not mean, he knows how to deal with people and how to get his point across. It all comes down to teaching experience.

How do you know if you're keeping the students interested? I mean other than asking them and getting feedback (which I do from time to time), while teaching, how do you know whether the students are getting bored? How can you tell?