A. Orstrom

I have considered getting the Kyokushinkai calligraphy tattoed on my chest, just under where it is on the gi. Not too big though, 10 cm or so.

Hello fellow budoka. I have heard stories about runners that had to run every so often, or they would become cranky, irritable and antagonistic but I have never really believed it applied to athletes that were not full-time, elite sportsmen. And then it happened to me. I am usually active in my dojo, taking the 4½ hours regular training and the optional 2 hours kumite training available to me during the week; but the last two weeks I have been unable to train for more than one 1½ hr. session a week, and that has brought a rather distinct change in my behaviour. I have been moody, irritable and short-tempered these two weeks, something that both my girlfriend and I have noticed. I wondered what brought on this change, and after training yesterday it dawned on me; I simply needed to train. After training my mood improved drastically, I was calm, happy and had a sense of overall well-being. The more I think about it, the more alarmed I become; I do not want to be impossible to be around just because my schedule is too full. Do you experience the same when you do not train for a while? If you do, what do you do to alleviate the stress and irritability when you just don't have the time or possibility to train?

And don't be afraid to go with an art that just fascinates you and where you feel at home. Effectivenes and emphasis on style etc. is not all what it is cracked up to be. A lot of people cross train, or change paths all together, there is nothing wrong with that. Just immerse yourself and see what happens.

Makes sense... Too bad the world sees these situations as it does; you can easily get in trouble when defending yourself. Avoid, block, run, bob, weave, yell for help and try to get out of her way as much as you can. If she turns out to be a real threat to your life then drop her as she was the biggest man you've ever met.

And these days will keep on coming; don't despair, it is quite normal - besides, Aikido is not the easiest martial art out there so you will have to get used to it.

I own these books: "The Book of Five Rings" - Miyamoto Musashi "Shodan" - Shihan Howard Collins (7 dan kyokushin) Signed by Shihan Collins. "Den Store Bog om Karate" (The big book about karate)- Jørgen Albrechtsen I am going to buy more eventually, there are a million options and they're not that hard to come by where I live. And amazon.co.uk is always good for an interesting new aquisition.

Yes, good luck! There is something special about the first test. I hope you make it.

Hello bigfish. I can't say that I have any specific recommendations for you as I don't live in the US; but if you post this question in the 'getting started in MA' section of this web site, you will get a lot more answers. Personally I like the Japanese MAs, but that's just me. I hope you find what you are looking for.

Shin protectors; mouthguard; groin protector. That's about it

I do not have braces, but I use the shock doctor v.3.5 and that seems to work for me. It states that it 'works well with braces', or something to that effect, but I cannot say. It works by dumping the mouthguard into boiling water for 25 seconds, then chewing down on it and then cooling it down again allowing it to set. It does give a reasonably comfortable fit.

Osu. I live in Copenhagen, Denmark; am 22 years old and have been training Kyokushinkai karate for 6 months. I am currently 9th kyu. Before this I trained Aikido where I hold the 7th kyu. Oh I almost forgot - IKO 2 Nice to meet you

I agree. If they really are giving it all they've got, give it back. They'll learn a valuable lesson. Just don't injure them of course.

When you get to the world championship level in kyokushin karate it is full contact and you don't wear pads. It's not indian though.

In our kyokushinkai karate dojo it is as follows: Beginner (not ranked yet): White 10 kyu: Orange (3 months minimum) 9 kyu: Orange with mark (6 months minimum) 8 kyu: Blue (9 months minimum) 7 kyu: Blue with mark (12 months minimum) 6 kyu: Yellow (1½ years minimum) 5 kyu: Yellow with mark (2 years minimum) 4 kyu: Green (2½ years minimum) 3 kyu: Green wth mark (3 years minimum) 2 kyu: Brown (4 years minimum) 1 kyu: Brown with mark (5 years minimum) 1 dan: Black with 1 gold stripe (7 years minimum) (cant remember the rest of the minimum training requirement) 2 dan: Black with 2 gold stripes 3 dan: Black with 3 gold stripes 4 dan: Black with 4 gold stripes 5 dan: Black with 5 gold stripes 6 dan: Black with 6 gold stripes 7 dan: Black with 7 gold stripes 8 dan: Black with 8 gold stripes 9 dan: Black with 9 gold stripes 10 dan: Black with 10 gold stripes

I agree. If an armed woman attacked me I would drop her like she was the biggest man I had ever seen.

My motivations are as follows. - Fascination of budo as a whole. - The need to heighten my self as an individual, both physically and mentally. - Learning to defend myself and others - The feeling of accomplishment it gives me - The joy of using my body - Losing weight - The joy of experiencing the more martial, agressive and combative sides of myself without injuring others.

In laymans terms, a kata is a fight between you and a number of imaginary opponents. You have to do a number of blocks, attacks and turns as if there were several people attacking you. A number of moves is not necessarily a kata.

That is amazing. That is by far the best result of a street fight in a long time. Great job! Not to be recommended if you don't have your friends with you though...

Aikido is a very useful MA, but as some of you said it takes a while to be able to use it effectively. As jedimc states, the things you learn up until that point are useful in keeping distance, avoiding blows, rolling and movemnet.

It is with great regret that I have to tell you all of Shoji Nishio Sensei's passing. http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~nisio/HTML/eigo.html As a student following his style of Aikido this is a great loss. My deepest condolences. A. Orstrom

On a good day - about three or four

I too agree with Shorinryuu. The knowledge we gain as martial artists is dangerous and there are many many ways of seriously maiming or even killing an opponent. I don't see the reason why we should draw the line at neck-breaking techniques, they are only one of many ways of killing someone. We as martial artists are learning just that, a martial art. An integral and crucial part of that training is self-control and the ability to judge how much force is needed. 'Dangerous' information is abundant everywhere. If kids/teens/foolish adults want to pick up information about how to kill someone they don't have to look far. I don't see why we should restrict ourselves because of foolish people looking to do harm; we should instead strive to be as skilled, efficient, well-rounded and peaceful we possibly can.

In my area I think the average assaulter carries a knife. Weaponless combat is more of a spur-of-the-moment thing I think. The people that seek out fights are usually armed, just in case...

The problem of learning from a book is that it doesn't correct you when you are wrong and that you will run a much greater risk of learning bad habits that will stick.

A man named Patrick Augé has written an article on AikiWeb.com about the purpose of examinations that is quite interesting. http://www.aikiweb.com/testing/auge2.html Personally I like the testing process. I train in a dojo that almost never tests, and one that tests every 3 months. I really enjoy practicing the techniques I have to do for the test, and having a set goal you have to achieve by a certain date motivates me a great deal. I feel much more progress and that helps me to attend classes even I'm tired, in a bad mood etc. I know that these are only my personal experiences, and that they perhaps aren't what you asked about, but I include them anyway. Read the article, it is very well written.