monkeygirl

Fascinating! When I was doing TKD competitions 15-odd years ago it was all one competitor at a time, but that wasn’t specific to ITF or WTF.

Thanks everyone

I forgot all about Mr. Clark's room! Wow that brings back memories. That board opened my teenage eyes to an entire world that was previously unknown to me. ("who would DO that?!") Sai, I always admired and looked up to you. So nice to read your interview and I'm extremely flattered to be mentioned.

Wow. Where do I even start? First, thanks to Patrick for reaching out and inviting me to be a part of the 10-year anniversary celebration. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating 5 years. I probably won't be able to make the live celebration, but I'm so excited for you all. Congratulations, Patrick. I've been away from this community for a long time now. Looking at my user profile, it seems that I first joined in February, 2002. I was just 14 then - barely old enough to use the internet without serious adult supervision - and had been practicing TKD for about 2 years. I don't remember how I stumbled upon KF, but I immediately felt like a member of the community. I loved reading about other styles and felt a connection to the vision of a respectful community of practitioners but also friends. Patrick and I shared the connection of being homeschoolers. After a while of steady posting, Patrick asked me to be a Sempai. It was a huge honor and gave me a real taste for being involved behind the scenes of a community. It was challenging to be in that role at that age. I'm sure many people thought that I was just a kid (and I'm sure I gave them plenty of reason to) but Patrick was always very supportive and I learned an immense amount about earning respect and deserving authority. We (the Sempais and Senseis) dealt with issues ranging from simple trolling to pretty epic user problems that made it into Patrick's book (in redacted form with names changed, I believe). I learned so much about people and conflict resolution. I also remember winning the Funniest Member award a few times and feeling like that was the highlight of my year(s). I turned to the community for a lot of things - friendship and entertainment, and also support for teenage inter-dojo drama (OMG DOES HE LIKE ME?) and the heartbreak that separated me from martial arts when I was 16. My life started to change very quickly after I left the TKD school, and I didn't have the time or emotional energy to devote to staying in the KF community for long after that. It's very strange to think about how much has changed. I've graduated from college, gotten married, moved across the country and am doing the whole career thing, maybe grad school in a few years. Things that seemed totally beyond reckoning when I was an active member here. Although I'm not very active now, I think of KF and chat with Patrick from time to time. For years now I've been hoping for the right opportunity to come along and get back into martial arts. If I ever find that, maybe I'll make an appearance again. Until then - thanks. I learned so much here, and the lessons have stayed with me.

They are a lot of fun and for all ages... some retirement homes are incorporating them in common areas to promote the maintenance of motor skills, hand-eye coordination, etc. They are also very fun for parties/playing with a group of people.

I still like to haunt the forums from time to time...

There are two major factors in price-setting: 1. Costs, and 2. Consumer demand. I assume that having morning classes will cause you to have the dojo open at hours during which it would normally be closed. This means that you'll be paying for energy and whatever you pay your instructors, but pretty much nothing else in addition to your normal business costs. If you're already in the clear financially, it wouldn't hurt you at all to figure out the "cost per person" (the cost of opening the dojo for a few extra hours divided by a low estimate of students) and charge $10-$15 over that. That's a pretty clear profit and I'm assuming you'll be able to keep your prices low enough to attract a fair number of students. However, here's where the consumer demand portion comes in. Say that you decide to charge $30 a month, and at that price everyone in town can and wants to come to your class. A, not everyone has time for that and B, your dojo probably isn't big enough. Raising the price increases your profits and lowers the number of people you have to turn away. So you want to keep charging higher until you have a full classroom and you're not turning anyone away for space reasons. Good luck!

A lot of instructors get into a rhythm and routine when they are instructing. If you've ever worked in retail or any other job where you've interacted with many people in a given day, you know that (most) people eventually get a small repertoire of words, phrases, even jokes that they recycle. To some extent, I think that's what's happening here. As you said, it seemed automatic. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. There is a wide range of what can be acceptable from a particular technique. The fact that your instructor is saying "good" every time probably means that (although each kick feels very different to you) you are within the acceptable range. Probably not perfect and perhaps not particularly spectacular, but acceptable. As others have suggested, if you want to achieve more than just acceptable, approach your instructor and say you really want to challenge yourself and perfect your technique, and ask if he has any suggestions, or could at least keep an eye out for areas of improvement in the near future. Most instructors will be delighted that you are taking such interest in excelling at your art, and who knows-- he may even apply the treatment to the rest of your class. Good luck!

"Piano" by D.H. Lawrence http://holyjoe.org/poetry/lawrence.htm it doesn't specifically detail the emotional burden, but sort of alludes to his difficulty in coping with whatever burden it is. that's the first one i could think of off the top of my head, i'm sure there are better examples. You may want to look at Walt Whitman, some of his cantos in Song of Myself and other works are sort of troubled.

Congrats KF! It's been an honor to be here for 3 1/2 of those years.

Thanks everyone, and congrats to all the winners!

I understand your position in a lot of ways. I'm in college and only about 5 people know of my MA background. It's not something I'm working very hard to keep secret, I just avoid the topic. If it came up, I wouldn't lie about it...I just try to keep it from coming up. Thus why a few people know...and they understand that I'd like to keep it a "secret". It's very difficult though. It's such a huge part of who I am. I definitely don't tell stories that I otherwise would. I'm confused though...why was your girlfriend expelled from college?

Here's an english translation (to the right of the spanish lyrics). http://www.wedoit4you.com/lyrics4you/show_lyric.php?Lyric_pk_id=24358&Lyric_lang=0 Basically he's mourning the death of a relationship...not because he misses it, but because it turned sour and left him wounded. That's the general idea.

I sort of look at it this way: Yeah, it saddens me to see 8-year-old BB's that have no idea what they're doing...but that has no effect on me or the personal value of my rank. I don't really worry about outside opinion confirming that I deserve to be called a Black Belt, or that a Black Belt is something to be proud of. I proved it to myself over the course of tournaments and meeting other talented MA, and seeing how I matched up. I worked hard and overcame a lot of obstacles on my way to black, and that's good enough for me. People who have heard about my training usually take one look at me and say "no way". I'm 5'2", 100 or so lbs, and usually don't have much cause to seem agressive. (I say usually because, being a person of such small build, people think it's hilarious to pick me up and try to fling me around...and sometimes I have to stop them.) Some of those people taunt and challenge me, trying to make me "prove it". A few years ago I felt like I had to...now I realize it's neither necessary nor worth it. Nothing is ever good enough for people like that, and someone could get hurt in the process. Basically, I feel that an idea of "prestige" (or rather, being concerned with others' ideas of this prestige) contradicts the black belt attitude I believe in: humility, respect, self-control. It's not about impressing others. Just my two cents.

oh my.... here's a tip: every time you look in the mirror, think about what else you could be doing with your time...practicing kata, for example. Or reading a book.

kris: class rings are a high school tradition. Have you ever seen a super bowl ring? Most of them look sort of like that: big gem in the middle, with all kinds of symbols engraved into the metal of the ring that have some kind of significance. Usually there's something that identifies your high school, and it's personalized from there...areas of study, sports, etc. Now I'm going to completely contradict what I just said. I got my class ring in junior year (I'm a freshman in college now), and ours are very simple and clean-cut. They're 10K gold, and you can choose between white or yellow gold (I chose white), and either black engraving or just have it the same color as the gold (I chose black so you can see it). Everyone's rings look the same from there: the school crest (which is a cross in a shield with the words "via crucis via lucis" around the cross, and a banner underneath the shield saying "integritas virilitas fidelitas". You also get your initals and class year engraved on the inside of the ring. I think there was an option to get small jewels, but I never saw anyone with a ring like that.

Stay safe.

They say the most stressful job is being an air traffic controller, but I have to agree with Superfoot. That's just crazy!

Summer was filled with 40-hour work weeks, but I got to see my friends a few times before we all moved away and that was nice. I moved in to my dorm on the 24th of August, classes started two weeks ago. My courses are pretty difficult (I'm taking advanced math and spanish classes), but otherwise I absolutely love it here. My roommate is awesome, the people are great, and it's just generally a great place to be. Now, ask me again when finals roll around, and it will probably be a different story....

There is actually some kind of disorder that occurs in the winter among some people. They get depressed because of the lack of sunlight, so they have "happy lamps" in their bedrooms or whatever, that emit UV rays and then they feel happier. I don't remember a lot of the specifics but it's something along those lines.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I am now halfway through my second week of classes in college, and it's proving to be even more time-consuming than high school. I'm just waiting for things to settle down a bit and then I'll try to sneak in some training. For right now, things are a bit crazy because we have extended orientation and things like auditions and so forth. Plus I'm getting neck-deep in clubs and all that stuff. It's like I'm allergic to free time.

http://www.lyricskeeper.com/gorillaz-lyrics/226525-fire_coming_out_of_the_monkeys_head-lyrics.htm you can check out the lyrics there. I'm pretty sure it's all one large, highly political metaphor. But to directly answer your question: there wasn't really a monkey...it was a volcano and it erupted at the end.

I put 5-6 hours...and this is my first week of college! But seriously it's kind of crazy. Spanish takes a really long time to do...that's most of the work. Now I have a work study that I'm starting on Tuesday that will take 10 hours a week .. goodbye social life!

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. In our ever busy lives, we often find ourselves at a loss for the time to do the things we want to do. Between time spent on the things we must do, the things we are forced to do (because there is often a difference) and those precious few hours of sleep every night, when can one find time for a simple activity of our choosing - say - martial arts training? We've already had an article about finding time, when there is no time to train, courtesy of KSN Doug. So, in an attempt to avoid the superfluous, I will instead direct my advice to a more specific group: high school/college students. Yet more specifically, busy students. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with a more relaxed academic schedule... but there is a certain group of us for which complicated schedule juggling must be done just to maintain any skills we already have. Of course, everyone is different and I can't even come close to trying to write an article that will help every "busy" student. So, I'm going to relate my experiences to you and hope you can pick up some pointers. Whether you agree or disagree with what I have done, hopefully you'll gain some ideas on how to improve your own personal training. I am a senior in a competitive private boarding school in Pennsylvania. Not only do I live at school 24/7, I'm also pretty involved in extracurricular activities and leadership positions. Being that I live away from home and there is no martial arts program at my school (other than the one run by my old instructor... see my previous article: Success Story Part 2: Different Perspective), I am not in formal training. I think my forums signature basically says it all: Just to give you an idea of what my schedule looks like, I'll give you a quick rundown of a typical week for me. Monday: 6/6:30ish - 8:00 am: Getting up, ready, breakfast in the dining hall. 8:00 am - 4:00 pm: Classes. 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Gym time (we're required to go 4 times a week if we don't play a sport... and I don't). 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm: Squeeze in studying, get dressed up for semi-formal dinner. 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Dinner. 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: If there is no lecture, squeezing in studying. 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm: Prefect duty in the dorm (mostly study time). 11:00 pm - Midnight: Finish studying. Sometimes known to go to 2:00 am to finish big projects. Tuesday: 6:00am - 7:00pm: Same schedule as Monday, but dinner isn't fancy tonight. 7:00 pm - Midnight: Study, get ready for bed. Wednesday: Morning schedule is the same as Monday. 8:00 am - 2:00 pm: Classes (half day!). 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Club activities. 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Might go to the gym, but usually use today for extra study time. 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm: Study, practice guitar. 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Dinner. 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Study. 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm: Guitar lesson. 10:00 pm - Midnight: Studying, getting ready for bed. Thursday: Same schedule as Tuesday, except for: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: I'm on duty in the Writing Center and I usually don't get any homework done. Friday: Same schedule as Tuesday, except that I probably won't study as much and the night time will be spent socializing/attending school events (some of which are required). Other things that aren't scheduled, but happen: Phoning my parents and out-of-school friends, socializing, practicing guitar, working on college applications, etc. Plus, I have a challenging course load: AP English, AP Calculus, Honors Physics, Third-Year Spanish (when it's really my second year) and art courses. Every bit of spare time seems to be gobbled up. I have had to be creative in finding ways to keep the martial arts an important part of my life. Martial arts are a part of who I am and not just a hobby or sport that I practice now and then... I'd like to keep it that way. So how do I? Well, there's that gym time from 4-5, four times a week. This is a pretty self-structured program, in which you can do basically anything you want to, as long as you can call it sufficient physical activity. Unfortunately, our gym doesn't really have the facilities for a martial artist. There used to be a 50 pound punching bag hanging in the weight room, but it was removed due to traffic and improper use. It's practically impossible to find a large enough space to perform kata indoors during inclement weather and winter. Outdoor spaces aren't very secluded due to fall and spring sports and it's difficult to focus on a resistance technique when several of your friends shout greetings at you as they pass by. As you can see, it's a challenging task to simply practice techniques once in awhile, let alone to allow my style to play as large of a role as it did when I trained and instructed in a dojo. Every now and then, the yoga or wrestling rooms are unoccupied, so I practice kata and techniques in there with only a few interruptions. If I'm not too busy on the weekends and the soil is warm and dry enough, I might spend a Sunday on an athletic field, barefoot and practicing... which doesn't count towards one of my four gym requirements. These situations occur with such frustrating infrequency that I decided to take matters into my own hands. I know for a fact that I am not the only martial artist on campus. There are many students, from a range of styles, who are frustrated with the facilities. Last year, we tried to start an advanced martial arts club, which would basically be advanced martial artists from all styles sharing techniques in an open classroom. There was a lot of interest and it almost happened, but the school's administration was hesitant to form a second club, since they were already being approached by my old dojo to form the now current Tae Kwon Do club, which is basically for beginners only. A handful of new students attend, but it doesn't have much to offer for anyone who has already practiced TKD or isn't interested in the style. Still determined, I've met with some of the Athletics faculty about developing a martial arts room full of useful equipment, where students can train in private. Even that has hit some speed bumps as our original room was taken by the Lacrosse teams and our new room will have to be shared with the baseball team; hopefully not at the same time, considering the room is basically a makeshift indoor batting cage. It won't be perfect, but it will be better than nothing. I have also been able to incorporate martial arts into my school life in other ways. Normally, I would try to keep my skills a secret, but thanks to a proud and vocal mother, that didn't happen. I'm basically the only outspoken martial artist on campus (aside from the wrestlers, of course). Since everyone already knew anyway, I figured I might as well have some fun with this publicity. Last February, I wrestled in our school's version of the Harry Potter "House Cup" competition. I pinned a girl 20 pounds heavier than me in 15 seconds, securing the first and fastest win for our team. I also gave a speech and self defense demonstration (thanks to a sturdy Second Dan friend) in front of the entire student body this fall, stressing the importance of self defense skills for college and life in general. This demonstration was enormously fun to do and I got quite a lot of positive feedback from students and faculty alike. Should a prudent opportunity arise in college, I would love to give another presentation. When possible, some students and I gather to share techniques and work out. Even when I can't practice techniques, I have coordinated an exercise and weight training routine that targets key muscle groups to improve speed, strength and flexibility. And of course, KarateForums.com has been instrumental in keeping my mind on task. As I continue to train on my own, I'm sure I will have questions which the forums will be only too willing to answer. Even in the face of a challenging schedule and frustrating facilities, I have managed to be creative and find ways to keep the martial arts in my life. I say this not to brag or gloat, but to prove that it can be done. Hopefully, other busy students can start thinking about ways to keep training in their lives, whether privately or publicly.

Keep yourself and your family safe, Kicks.