monkeygirl

Games like Street Fighter Alpha 3, Tekken 3, Dead or Alive 1 & 2, these games have much wider varieties of styles such as Capoeira (Eddy Gordo from Tekken 3), ninjitsu, hapkido, gojo-ryu karate, etc. Plus, I think they control better. Virtua Fighter 4 had very slow controls, and it felt more like a simulation than a fun game. I prefer the arcade style of fighting games.

That would be great...if I went to a normal public school. As it is, I'm basically homeschooled (I'm in a cyber charter school), so it is a public school, but we don't have photo IDs. Heh, maybe I could ask my school advisor to MAKE me a photo ID. But then I'd have to drive out to Pittsburgh where the physical school is We'll see. Mom's working on it, so who knows.

Please direct all further discussion to: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3191 Thanks

Bring a friend and your self-defense training If you can, find out what dojo this person is from, if he currently has one. Get a phone number for it, and ask them if they have a student by that name. If he freaks out that you're taking these precautions, that's a bad sign. He should be understanding and cooperative. Good luck and be careful

Absolutely! In the 3 years I've been training, I've built some pretty strong friendships with the other instructors/assistants. We have a lot of memories together...usually stupid stuff we've done at school sleepovers (like stealing each other's pillows and then having to dogpile that person), things that have happened in class, or the shared tension at tournaments. One of my closest buds (who's gonna join the forums) is like my little brother...we finish each other's sentences, and I swear we're telepathic sometimes. There have literally been times when we have exchanged looks and known exactly what the other was thinking. The greatest thing about all these friends: we kick the crap out of each other. We push each other to become better martial artists, and there's no hard feelings when we fight. When we get bored, we stand around in a circle and trade punches to see who can take the most As I've said before, there's just something about getting kicked in the face with no hard feelings that makes you go all warm and fuzzy inside

Check out the rating feature! That's pretty neat. I like how it's organized like the forum so we can quickly see if there's a new pic or not. Very cool, Patrick

Welcome to the forums! I like your signature...my TKD school has much the same philosophy when it comes to black belts

Welcome to the forums!

There's still some more to come Welcome to the forums!

The site has been very productive lately. To top it off, February 2003 has the second highest amount of new members in the site's history...and the month isn't even over yet

Talk about taking a bite out of crime!! Nice story. Did you write it yourself or get it from somewhere?

Think about it...you wouldn't go to class if you had the flu, right? Same thing applies here.

On behalf of all short people, let me just say ! Getting back into sparring can be stressful and difficult. You know how sparring should feel, and lately it just doesn't feel right? That could also be a difference in muscle tone/weight...whether you've gained it or lost it, it can make sparring feel different from what you're used to. Think of a time when you were a little child and you visited someplace that you haven't been back to since. If you were to go back today, now that you're older and taller, the viewpoint would be very different from when you were a shrimpy . The feeling you get: "I know I've been here before, but it feels so different" is very similar to (if not a little more exaggerated than) the feeling you get when you return to sparring. If this is the case, you should eventually adjust--with the help of in-class sparring. Until then, just relax, and try to stay out of streetfights

haha I figured the psychic one out As far as the dictator one goes, the page doesn't seem to work

Well, I'm trying to get all the paperwork together right now. I have the doctor's slip and my birth certificate. But, sadly, the Social Security card is another issue. I haven't had to use the thing in years, and CAN NOT FIND IT!! It looks like I may actually have to send away for a new one. But it's a catch 22: to get a new SS Card, I have to send them my birth certificate and another form of ID. I have no other ID! That's half of why I need a driver's license!! So I can get an ID!!! I will persevere! I will find a way!

I have had this happen to me before. Last May, I was sparring in class during a test (I was one of the judges testing a student), and I was fighting a 16-year-old 1st degree brown belt guy. We were going fairly hard, and at some point during the fight, he kicked me (full force) square in my right eye. I didn't lose consciousness, but I fell to the floor immediately. I had to go to the hospital, and for months afterwards I was still having problems and having to see eye doctors. It was a very scary thing...the way he hit me, I could have been blinded or killed, but I got lucky. Today all that remains of the incident is some slight double vision and weird headaches. All in all, it was very frightening. I never thought about quitting, but fighting was definitely an issue. I had to wait a while to heal before I could fight again. I also had to wait for a face cage on my helmet, since I couldn't risk another blow to my eye. Ever. When I finally started fighting again, I hesitated a lot. Every time I saw a back kick coming (the kind of kick that landed me in the hospital), I would flinch and turn away. Even though my face cage protected me, I was scared...it was almost like PTSD. Eventually, I realized how the fear was ruining my fighting. I wasn't fighting in a quality manner: I was just getting beaten up and running away. I decided that I could either: (a) Get over it and fight or (b) stop fighting altogether. Well, the only way I could stop fighting was to quit martial arts, and NO WAY was I going to let that happen. There was no overnight change; I still flinched and winced and freaked out when I fought. But this time, I caught myself doing it. Gradually, I worked the fear out of myself. I had a lot of support from my friends, too...when I fought them, they were understanding and worked with me. Not just "taking it easy", but coaching me and giving me support. My sparring is much the better for it. Once you've healed and gotten over the emotional shock, I'm sure you can do the same too.

Welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the forums!

whatever you have to keep telling yourself

Let's see...at my dojo we have a black belt who has had a glass eye since birth/toddler age. He has adjusted to the depth perception problem over the years, and now he's a skilled fighter. If you would like to get some advice from him firsthand, I might be able to get you in contact with him. I'm not sure if he has e-mail, though. I think if you can adapt to the lack of depth perception, having one eye shouldn't limit your ability to be a martial artist. You would probably want to be careful with receiving facial contact, but other than that, you can do just as well as any other martial artist. While I don't know of any "big name" martial artists in your situation, maybe you can become one! Just take it slow, and realize that you're going to need to experiment a little to make things work for you. Last year I got kicked in the eye and had a lot of double vision, so I had to wear a patch until it got better. On my second day of wearing the patch, I had to perform two MA demonstrations with my dojo's demo team. I didn't have much experience with lack of depth perception, but you've had 7 years...If I can do it, you definitely can. Good luck on this new journey!

My dojo uses a lot of positive reinforcement. We use the "Praise-Correct-Praise" system. For example, if a kid is doing a kata or something, and has the wrong leg out, we'll say something like: "That's a great stance, Tommy, just switch your legs and it'll be perfect!" Once Tommy switches we say something like "Good job! That looks awesome." Basically, you want a praise to accompany every correction, preferably two praises per correction. But don't reach for praises...if Tommy's stance really sucked, don't tell him it was good...pick something else that looked good.

Welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the forums! Ziggy is an awesome name

Adrenaline can be a very powerful thing...people have gone on adrenaline rushes for 3 days straight. Opening and closing your pores on command sounds a little far-fetched to me, but who knows?

*Breathes huge sigh of relief* YAY! Great job Seoul Survivors!!! Everyone did great! I can't believe I got 6 That was seriously hard for me. Oh, and Kensai...I got the one for Aikido right I did a kind of stereotype thing and said: Hrm... Oleg...sounds Russian...Sambo!!! Thanks G95Champ for such a great test