pineapple

I started training in the martial arts because I was the guy that everyone picked on when I was little so my initial reason was to learn to fight. After years of training, I learned that the discipline that I picked uo helped me in all aspects of life and it made me cherish the arts. Now my goal is to teach others so they can change their life through the arts as it did for me. Martial arts also give me a feeling of belonging. (social aspect) Why do kids join gangs? Because they feel a need to belong to something. I tell parents to let their kids join this gang where everything is positive and beneficial to them. I love the friends that I have made in the martial arts world.

I practiced BJJ in Hawaii under John Lewis. (Nova Uniao) Charuto was one of the instructors. Unfortunately the school closed but I still practice with friends. Kajukenbo is an art that was created by 5 masters in Hawaii. KArate JUdo, JUjitsu (Japanese style) KENpo Chinese BOxing

I recently graduated from high school..................about 32 years ago!

Taking orders is how you learn discipline and humbleness! Any "old school" is going to require you to do what you are told. If you don't like this, you should seek a fighting school that teaches strictly techniques.

Hi Edgard! Welcome from a Brazilian Jujitsu practitioner!

ladyj. Thanks for your reply! Best wishes on your future in the martial arts!

ladyj!! I've looked all over the forum to find out what style that you train in but I couldn't find that info. Mind telling me what style do you train in?

ladyj: I guess you have a point here that I didn't consider because I'm not a youngster. When I initially started in martial arts, my only goal was to learn to fight, however as I matured in the arts, I was able to see so many other values in the arts besides fighting. I seek knowledge whereever I can find it, whether it's from a man or a woman. I would rather learn from a female with skills than a macho man with half the skills. Ladyj, you have my respect!

In my school, the students are required to go through 7 three minute rounds of sparring to achieve black belt. I tell them that this is not a test of their skill but a test of their inner strength, their heart, their ability to not give up when things get hard which is more important to me than their skill because once they achieve this ability to not give up, they can apply martial arts to all aspects in life thus living the life of a martial artist.

Hi William and weicome!

ramymensa: I don't worship my Sensei either but I do whatever he says because martial arts is about learning discipline and respect so if he tells me not to wash my belt, I don't wash my belt.

There's only one way to overcome your fears and that is practice, practice, practice!!!!

HI Gunstar Hobo! and welcome!

To do a break, you must follow through with your strike. Do not snap back. Envision your fist (or whatever you're hitting with) going completely through the object(s). If the break is done with the fist, your wrist must be in perfect alignment or you will injure yourself. If you are using your knuckles, it helps to toughen them first by hitting hard objects and rubbing dit da jaw or other Chinese herbs on them. I have witnessed numerous injuries from attempted breaks so prep yourself properly. During my last public demo, I broke 9 cement tiles with one punch, however I now have a indentation on the back of my hand that was not there prior to the break. I have torn almost every ligament in my hands and developed arthritis from prior strikes so be aware that performing breaks is not without it's downside.

I, for one, would be proud to train under a female as long as she had the skills I totally agree with this one. I was once put in charge of a housing for female inmates and boy, do they have issues! (with each other) This sounds like a good idea.

Sparring with anyone can be beneficial to both parties. If I spar with an advanced practitioner who is catching me consistantly in one area, I learn my weakness and know what I need to practice more of. If I spar with a white belt, I work strictly on blocks which is good for me because when I spar with blackbelts, my defense is an offense so training with blackbelts and whitebelts offers me different type of training. If an advanced belt gives you an attitude, then he is the one with the problem, not you so don't worry about it.

Throw a plate at them and see if they can block it. Just kidding. I would simply ask them if I could ask them a question and if they replied yes, I would tell them that I have an interest in martial arts and was wondering if they trained in the arts.

Sure, if you're a con artist, have a poor image of yourself, lack confidence, have no moral values, then you should fray your belt and hope that others believe your *. Just joking, there is no justified reason for fraying your belt. Wait a minute, I just thought of a justified reason........It's Halloween and you want to pretend to be what you're not!

Sounds great, karatekid 1975! Best wishes to both of you!

You made the right decision to change school. You'll never be the best you can be in a school that you're unhappy with. One word of advice, don't get into the habit of jumping from school to school to school. Find one that you are willing to make a long term commitment to and make this your base and if you want to, you can train in other styles while maintaining your base.

I was once taught that a Sensei's belt lightening in color represents turning back to purity. An INTENTIONAL lightening in color is a far cry from purity. It represents fraud and ego.

I'm a little surprised that some people have an easy way out kind of attitude. If there was an easy way to handle dogs, there would be no military or police attack dogs because they would be easy to subdue. Where I live, one of the most common types of dogs is the pitbull and anyone that knows the pitbull knows that once they go into a frenzy, they don't feel any pain. I once had a pitbull that stuck his nose through a fence. The dog on the other side sunk his teeth right into his nose but my pitbull did not even whimper, he just wanted to attack. I once had a puppy that was attacked by a 100+ lb Akita, I kicked it square across the side of the face, expecting it to drop......it didn't.....it did stop the attack....just stood there, kind of frozen......scared the %^&*^* out of me.

HI Oscar! Because katas often vary from school to school, you should ask your Sensei for a source of instructional material that matches his way so your home study will not conflict with how your Sensei is teaching it.

In Hawaii, there are many outstanding female assistant instructors but seeing one as the owner of her own school is a rarity. I do not see any difference in capabilities between a male and a female, in fact I have found many females that learned the techniques faster than the men. I always suspected that the only reason that there are less women owning their own schools is that there are less women that set this as one of their goals. (due to other priorities) Again I would like to hear from the women out there about having their own school as one of their goals

In our system, new students are taught NEVER to wash their belts. Their belts represent their knowledge and washing their belts mean that they're washing their knowledge away. New students often show me that face of "Never wash my belt? Yuck!" I tell them that if their belt is getting a little "funky" that they have to work harder at achieving their next belt. Our black belts NEVER wash their belts so the only extremely frayed belts that I see are the masters and grandmasters. If your belts are extremely frayed just from normal use, it's probably the quality of the belts that you are using. Likelihood is that it is the result of numerous washing. I have rarely seen a extremely frayed belt in the BJJ school that I attended and BJJ takes years to go from one belt to the next and they're constantly rubbing their belts on the mats. If a person intentionally frays his belt then he needs to remind himself to practice humbleness.