Kaminari

In a lot of MA schools, sparring is light contact/for points, etc., and far from real fighting. Experience is what your friend had over this other guy. I'm guessing that this guy wasn't trained to fight in the streets and such, so he's not going to be prepared for it.

LOL. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that kind of line, with very little variation (with the names, styles, and family member killed varied, otherwise it's the same line).

Pull the mounter in close and hit some pressure points/soft points, and try to roll him. Also, you can wrap your legs around his torso and squeeze his ribs. BJJ is a good MA to study for this kind of thing.

I've got friends like that. They think they know everything from things like nintendo and movies, and I usually just laugh. They're not usually right about what they "know" because of where they get their info from, and it's hilarious listening to them describe these different MA's with such confidence that they know more than the rest of us, just from playing MK and watching cheap movies.

Practice, practice, practice. Practice it slowly, with proper technique, until you've got it down, then you can speed up. If you keep practicing it, eventually it won't require you to think about it too much, and you'll have an easier time performing. The more you practice it, the better you'll know it, therefore the less you have to worry about messing up while performing it.

Exactly. Offer to visit his dojo and watch them do their thing, while inviting him to watch yours, as he's never watched. Maybe make an agreement to watch each others' classes, something to expose him to what you do. Also, Shane had a good point when he said that this guy needs to have respect for and an open mind to other styles, as most martail artists are taught.

Joined in '99 and stopped in 2000 for several years, but I'm getting back into it. Joined for self defense, confidence, and a healthy hobby. I can't believe I've been out of it for so long and can't wait to start up again (not starting over, I'll be at green, which is 4th Kyu I believe).

Very well said, Angela. What she said is true, you want fluidity, but some tension is needed to keep your limbs from flopping around.

Mine were on fire for my first test, but after that it wasn't bad at all.

A Pampers commercial... When did this air?

Name: Wolfgang Puck Race: Human Side: Neutral Allies: The coolest bad guy and the coolest good guy (could be debated, so I'll leave it at that) Foes: The useless characters (again, could be debated) Style 1: Capoeira Style 2: BJJ Weapons: Frying pan/big pot

It's all up to the individual. Drive and willpower are very important, because those who can drive themselves to keep on going when they're tired will excel when the ones who stop at the first drop of sweat won't. In my dojo, there were a few people who were unhealthily overweight. Person #1 worked hard and pushed himself to do better each and every day. He didn't lose all the weight he wanted, but he gained more stamina than most of the other students and became healthier than 90% of them. Person #2 did just what was required (and poorly at that) to skim by, and he stayed at his unhealthy level. As others have said, you aren't necessarily unhealthy if you're overweight. You can be strong, fast, have a lot of stamina, etc. and still be overweight. The thing that matters is the fitness part of being overweight. If you're a couch potato who's exercise consists of reaching for the remote and walking from your bed to the couch, you've got a problem. If you're overweight and healthy, you're not going to be as hindered or hindered at all by your weight. Just my opinion.

Exactly. This is one of the first things I learned.

Blades are fun SevenStar is right, you shouldn't completely switch to kicks because you tend to practice them more/like them more, because you don't want to be stuck in a situation where kicks won't do much and not have the knowledge/practice with hand techniques you would with kicks. Everyone has their specialties/something they're good at.

I could see something like that happening.

True, you can't be born with training, practice, or experience. However, some people are naturally good at fighting, who are naturally more driven, some who are more tolerant to pain, etc, just as some are naturally built for dancing, or are good at certain tasks.

"...You must realize the truth: There is no spoon." -Matrix "Pain is weakness leaving the body." -Marines

Exactly. Relationships between kids at the age of 13 very rarely work out. Don't sweat it, and don't rush into dating. It'll happen when it happens.

With more tests and things like that the nervousness will disappear (at least for most people). Congrats, and good luck on your future gradings!

That'd look/sound cool, and would be a good combination. I agree with 1st Kyu, there is no rule saying katas cannot be performed to music. Actually, I'd think it'd be somewhat relaxing/would relieve stress.

Here's what you can do to fight that fear. Have a friend watch you jump, and show you how high you're going. It will be less than you think. Because your perception is on a higher level, the jump seems higher than it is. The distance from your feet to the floor is less than you believe because you're measuring from your eyes and head.

Critical distance is important, like tommarker said. Practice, practice, practice. You've only done it for a very short amount of time, you'll get better with experience.

I like crescents, spin back kicks/jump spin back kicks, 360 hooks, butterfly, and scissors kicks. The most useful to me/kicks I use the most, however, are roundhouse, snap, forward thrust, and side kicks.

I totally agree with Killer here. You need your hands nearer your midsection to defend against both high and low strikes. Put your hands near your head and face, and you'll get nailed in the groin. Plus, 1st Kyu has a good point when he says there's no padding to absorb blows. Someone's just going to drive your own knuckles into your face by hitting your hands. Just my 2 cents. -Kaminari

In my Karate dojo it was white, then progressively get three stripes and test, yellow, three stripes, etc. White Yellow Orange Blue Purple Green Red Brown 1st (sort of a temporary) Black Black My dojo didn't charge for stripes, or I wouldn't have stayed there long. The smaller kids (from 4 to about seven and eight years old), we had this system: White White with two horizontal yellow stripes White with two horizontal orange stripes White with two horizontal blue stripes... And so on and so on, until they got to the white belt with two horizontal black stripes, and they next tested for the regular white, where they would progress through the regular belts.