monkeygirl

Welcome to the forums! Hmmm ... by telling people you're a secret agent...doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of being "secret"? I'm kidding, of course.

AHHHHH that's like a death wish!!! :lol:

I got 10/20, mostly because I kinda wasn't paying attention....

There's a little mental "trick" when it comes to developing speed in your punches: First, make sure you're nice and relaxed. Tensing up your muscles will only slow you down. If you're merely in a point-sparring situation where power doesn't really matter, you'll want your fist to be somewhat loose inside your glove, almost as if you're just going to backhand your opponent. If you are required to keep a tight fist, do so, it won't slow you down TOO much. Now that you're nice and relaxed, here comes the mental trick: focus on pulling your punch away THREE times as fast as you put it out there, as soon as it is extended. For example: If you throw your punch at oh say, 5fps (feet per second), AS SOON as the punch is fully extended, bring it back at 15fps. This kind of "whip" mentality will help you to increase the speed of throwing your punch, so that you'll soon be throwing it at 15fps, and bringing it back at 45fps. (hardy har I can multiply! ) Basically, it just helps to "think fast thoughts"! Anyway, that's what I do and my hands are pretty fast.

I'll move this to Health, Training and Fitness I think what AlienRage means is: What workouts will best benefit his training in karate? My suggestion: When you lift weights, do exercises that mimic the motions you make in karate. For example, leg extensions are very much like snap/front kicks, so they build your quadriceps and improve your front kicks. Leg press will improve your sidekicks. Certain dumbell exercises are like jabs and punches, and the bench press will work a lot of the same muscles that you use in a punch. For abs: if you have access to a gym/weight room, see if they have a "high chair". Basically you suspend yourself in mid-air while you lift your knees into your chest, slowly letting them come back down. That's one of the best ab workouts I've ever done, and my abs are pretty strong...crunches, etc. don't really do much for me.

Welcome to the forums!

I'm going to move this to Getting Started in the Martial Arts, where you'll probably get some better results.

You may want to try the stretch where you stand on one leg, while holding your other ankle behind you and pulling. This will stretch out your quadricep, but should also help with the upper hip joint. You could also sit with one leg straight in front of you, and the other leg (the one you want to stretch)tucked beside you. Normally you would lean forward and grab your ankle to stretch the hamstring of your straightened leg. This time, you want to lean backwards to stretch the upper hip joint of your bent leg. Hope that helps!

I used to be able to...then my nose grew and my tongue shrank or something. I can, however, touch my left ear with my left hand. Sound easy? Not when you first wrap your left arm around the back of your neck until it's out front again, and THEN try to touch your ear. I have no idea what posessed me to try this one day...just laying on the couch and bored, I guess. It took me quite a few tries at first, but eventually I got it. During this time, I discovered it would be quite easy to break my own neck while doing this! See, usually I can grab my jaw very easily, and from there work my way little-by-little to reach my ear, gradually stretching my shoulder out. If my shoulder muscles were really tight, I'd be putting a lot of stress on my neck. Usually I'm pushing on my left elbow with my right hand, so if my shoulder muscles were tight and I suddenly let go.... *SNAP!* Yup, I came up with that one all by myself!

If you read all of the info, it's a silly gimmick to get you to join their website. It's actually kind of cute, a bit reminiscent of Google's April Fool's prank program, where you had to close your eyes, think really hard about what you want to find, and use your telekinetic powers to click the mouse button. I think they know how silly it is, and it's meant to be that way. At least, I hope so.

What styles does this tournament cover?

Welcome to the forums! Tell us a little about yourself, feel free

Welcome to the forums!

Well, I have technology, and I'm still smart Contrary to the popular beliefs held by my family, I do not live on the Internet! I don't really know anybody who does, either. The only side effect I really see is that I prefer to type instead of writing by hand...but my handwriting is still neat. My talents lay in writing, music and martial arts...I don't really have an outdoors, sporty kind of talent. So, staying inside is practicing all day for me! The people who truly have athletic talent are dedicated to their sport and take the time to practice. I know a couple of truly dedicated athletes, and they practice constantly. I don't see that changing any time soon, regardless of our increasingly cushy lifestyles. It's the inner spirit of the athlete, not his/her environment, that makes them champions.

Two words: shin guards. I couldn't live without 'em.

I'm moving this to the Korean Arts forum.

I try not to tell people that I do MA/have a blackbelt, at least not when I first meet them. Here's the reactions I used to get: "Oooh I better not make you mad!", "Hey can you beat so-and-so up for us?", "Oh yeah, I bet I can beat you up!". It's died down some since I stopped telling people about it. Eventually, it may come out that I have a blackbelt. Most of my friends are cool with it...I've never met anyone that says to me: "How can you, in good conscience, do something like that???". The biggest problem is that the immature boys (is there any other kind?) will constantly pick until I'm forced to do something. Two weeks ago, for example, one of my friends attacked me with a stick. I blocked it rather easily, and told him to stop. But he kept coming at me, and when he got quicker and almost poked me in my bad eye, I said "enough". I grabbed his arm and pulled him into a roundhouse kick to his gut. It was fast but not hard, and I stopped it short instead of carrying through like I would have normally done. Still, I let it make contact. I took advantage of his shocked expression, held my leg there and said "You know I could have thrown that a lot harder and a lot lower. Next time, I will, so stop it now." He got serious very quickly...I don't think I'll have to worry about him in the future I especially don't like to tell people I just met that I have a black belt, because if they turn out to be jerks, it ruins the element of surprise. If I'm in a bank when it gets robbed, for example, and I'm wearing a T-shirt that says "I'm a blackbelt" in big bold letters, who do you think the robbers will shoot first? I only know one person who truly hates martial arts, and that's my friend's stepdad. But that guy hates everything.

I'm going to move this to Strategies & Tactics. In a fight, my stance would be a very defensive one...feet close together, hands open and by my face. From far away, this looks very much like a "don't hurt me!" position. It's also perfect because my hands are ready to throw palm strikes, elbow strikes, grab my attacker's neck for a knee strike. It's also a good guard. It's also good strategically, because it keeps ME from looking like the attacker. I'm a little girl, so I don't really have to worry about that aspect that much, but it's very useful for a bigger guy who does need to worry about lawsuits after the fact.

I don't think I really have any "famous" idols or anything. I've never really looked at Jackie Chan or Chuck Norris or someone like that and said "That is my role model for my training". Instead, the people I look up to, the people who inspire me, are my friends and family. My family has offered me unconditional love whenever my world comes crashing down (it's happened a few times). My big brother has been the best one I could ask for: protective, goofy, and always willing to play. My closest friends are the ones I've met through MA training. Three years may sound like a short time but it's felt like an eternity...I trust many of them with my life. After all, they've saved it a few times! My friends believe in me and look out for me...what more could a girl want? The people who love me and support me, the ones I see every day...those are my heroes.

In my opinion, if you have to pronounce the word "teen" while telling your age...you're a teenager Although some of us prefer the term "young adults" ......

I agree with superfighter, Blade had good techniques and they didn't seem to be all that flashy. But isn't it sad that the most realistic techniques come from a movie about killing vampires? I just think that's kinda funny I actually haven't seen that many MA movies, so I can't really tell you. Sorry

Yeah when I said he shouldn't get married in the future, I also meant that it was stupid when he got married in the past. http://www.spacespider.net/emo/sign001.gif

I've done that a few times...except I did it on purpose!

The rest of the fingernail ripped off, and it looks like I have one whopper of an ingrown nail ahead of me. I have an appointment with a doctor tomorrow morning; this isn't something I can just ignore and hope it gets better. *snaps fingers* It's not that I really mind going to the doctor ... I like doctors ... it's just that for the past two years it seems like I've been seeing them practically nonstop!