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The best instructor is the one who is a good role model for his students to follow.

I have a female American Bulldog, pure white and 85 lbs. I also own a male 1/2 Bull Mastiff, 1/4 Neopolitan Mastiff, 1/4 Rottweiller which is over 100 lbs. What kind of dog do you have?

Frontosas are large cichlids, striped with a lump on the forehead, and they would love to swallow your platies.

Hi knifehand007! Good luck on your tournament. My advice to you is don't worry about it, just go and have some fun!

Ask your parents to go with you to a TRADITIONAL martial arts school and let them bring up their concerns with the instructor there. The instructor will be able to answer their questions and help them overcome their fears.

No, you can't learn a WHOLE style through books but you CAN learn individual techniques through books. To say that books are useless, well....there must be thousands of people out there who are doing useless studying of martial arts books....and I'm one of them.

I trained in two different Japanese karate schools (Wado Ryu and Shotokan). I recently watched a Shorin Ryu class after being invited by "Shorin Ryuu"'s friend and it is drastically different.

Books on martial arts have been of tremendous benefit to me. No it hasn't made me a master of any art but it has helped me pick up techniques here and there. If I see a technique that I like, I practice it, then take it to class and show it to my friends and ask for their opinion. If they like it, I continue practicing it and if they don't, I discard it. Books have also taught me me a lot of theories of fighting which can be applied to other arts. Yes, nothing is as good as classroom training but books can be beneficial. It has helped me tremendously in expanding my knowledge. I have a library full of martial arts books, instructional video tapes and dvds and I'm glad that I have them. ...........I also have decades of classroom training.

I have a tank of Frontosas and another tank of Parrot cichlids.

What is the origin of Taekwondo?

I'm just posting what I've always read, seen on videos, and on tv. The Chinese taught martial arts to the Okinawans who developed their own style of karate. Gichin Funakoshi introduced karate from Okinawa to Japan who developed their own style. The original meaning of karate was "Chinese hands" which was later changed to "Empty hands".

Nothing can beat a live instructor, however books can help to expand your knowledge and skills. A book can be a refresher for an art that you train in or had trained in. A book can also intoduce you to an art that is not available in your area. After all, book training is better than no training.

If someone grabbed me, I would lock his hands onto me, use a low kick to distract his mind off of his arms, then attack his elbow. Drunken Monkey, you're the man on this one!

I once had an instructor who I had several disagreements with and although I always discussed my concerns in a respectful manner, he would yell at me and criticize me. I didn't want to quit because I had gone through many years of very rigorous training with him. A mutual friend told me that I should change school because the instructor will never change. I tried to stick it out but his attitude towards me was really terrible. I finally changed school and I have been treated with nothing but respect by my new instructor and his students. I always say that you must find a school that you are willing to make a lifetime commitment to! DO IT!

My class practices the horizontal fist (traditional style), 3/4 fist (structually sound punch), vertical fist (normally to face or shoulder), and the upside down fist (uppercut to chin or body)

Hi White Warlock! Your experience in the martial arts sounds a lot like what I experienced in the martial arts. I jumped from school to school, training a few years here and a few years there and never achieving any high rank. I was later advised by one of my instructors to make one art my base while training in other styles. I told him that I felt really discourage in the martial arts because I had so many years of training but nothing to show for it and he told me that this was not true because although I did not have the rank at the time, I had the skills to show. I took his advice and made Kajukenbo my base and never regret it. There is nothing wrong with training the way you do if your intention is simply to learn martial arts, unfortunately if you wish to open your own school, it normally requires a high rank to attract students. I just thought that I'ld share my experience with you because it sounds like you have the same frustrations that I once had.

Hi Brood! and welcome! I received both a certificate and a specially embroidered belt with my art on one side and my name on the other side, both in Kanji.

Hi Thruhiker! and welcome! Glad to hear that you've made a long term commitment to training. There are three stages to a martial artist. #1 A new person trains because of the excitement of doing something new. #2 A person trains because he supposed to train (discipline) #3 A person trains out of habit. (lifer)

Hi Taiji fajin! and welcome!

Kajukenbo katas were created by one of it's founders, Adriano Emperado. Some branches have katas created by his students. Many have modified the original katas. I was recently invited to watch a Shorin Ryu class by a friend of forum member, SHORIN RYUU. The katas that they performed had the same names as the ones that I learned in Shotokan but were extremely different. Same sequence of techniques but every stance and hand position differed from how I was taught by Sensei Kenneth Funakoshi so I guess that even in traditional schools, katas change.

The most common problem that I see are people tensing their body at the beginning of the punch. To throw a fast punch, you much remain relaxed and tense your body only upon impact. Power comes from hip rotation.

It's never too late to start training! Tell your parents that now that you're older, you appreciate more of what martial arts can do for you!

Hi AnonymousOne!

Hi Rockuman! and welcome!

I was lucky...the first guy who knocked me out stopped after hitting me once. the second guy who hit me from behind ran away after hitting me so their attacks were not continuous so even though it hurt when I woke up, it wasn't that bad at all. I have witnessed others get knocked out on the street and the assaulters continued to kick their KOed victim and I'm sure that they hurt a great deal more. In fact, one of them was taken away in an ambulance and was still in dreamland.