monkeygirl

Yes, all moms do that. ALL MOMS.

I've read a couple Darwin awards that aren't exactly...appropriate for this forum

Does pinan translate to mean "advanced form"? Because if it does, I think we have those at my school. We have Pinan 2, 4, & 5. Never heard of the Heian katas though.

I have news from benedictbm: since he was sick he didn't have much computer time, but he hopes to get a little more active for the Survivor Challenge.

8 out of 10... Maybe that's why I'm so short???? Sai, I agree...not to sound sick but I loved the little scream.

That's true, I've always wondered about that. I guess tournaments would have some sort of provision for such moves. But, when I said weapons shouldn't touch the floor, I meant on things like certain low strikes. Such strikes require the control to get very near the ground but not touching. Also, during the baton-like "tosses" of the bo, you wouldn't want the weapon to touch the ground.

Hrm... I can't beat 18 months in paperwork. However, I did find a bottle of corn syrup the other day that was 16 years old. In my own cupboard!! This corn syrup was literally older than I am.

I've seen this list before, but this is the first time I've seen a poll attached to it

Your bo staff should be about as tall as you are, which is about 6 feet. A 6 foot bo will suffice, and I doubt you can find anything much taller than that, unless you made it yourself. There is no minimum size when it comes to a bo. However, the longer the bo staff, the larger the "whoosh" noises. Sound effects are always nice for tournaments If you somehow find a bo longer than 6 feet, I would say 6.5 feet should be your maximum length. Any longer than that and you could risk scraping the floor with the bo during spins/sweeps. A huge no-no in weapon competition is having the weapon touch the floor, especially a bo staff. Good luck!

Please remember the original intent of this thread: to be an exchange of ideas and training, NOT to bash each other's styles or the other members of this forum. Let's refrain from semantics and continue with the real purpose of this particular discussion: What do you think are the crucial elements of self-defense? What techniques/attitudes need to be taught in a self-defense course/program? If this thread doesn't get back on track (or at least civil), it WILL be locked, as Sai said.

Even though my school doesn't do any breaking, I chose "developing power", because that's what's most important to me right now. If my school DID break boards, I would be concerned with kick breaks. However, I'm still not too wild about breaking boards in any consistent manner, since it mangles your hands up when you get older. I'd like to be able to hold a pencil later in life

Whenever I get that "Ohhh my gosh is something gonna happen" feeling, here's what I do: Plan! It may sound silly, but start thinking "what would I do if he had a knife", and "if he took a swing at me right now, let's see...I'd block and then counter" etc. etc. Chances are, the techniques you think of aren't going to be the ones you use in an actual fight. You probably won't even fight, period. However, planning what to do will make you more confident, and also puts you into your self-defense mindset. If you know there is a possibility of something happening, that's when you're best prepared, because your agressor won't have the element of surprise. You'll probably never get over the fear of getting into a fight; most people never do. The important thing to learn is how to function even while you're afraid. Adrenaline stress can work against you in the worst way when it comes to defending yourself. At times, it can even cause you to completely forget your training.

I'm moving this over to the Humor forum.

I figure "I almost went blind, dangit! I'm not quitting now!" A lot of people think that because you get a major/minor injury, that should be a reason to quit. For me, it was a reason to push on. I had managed to survive, but I wasn't going to let my MA "career" be put to an end only 3 years in. Besides, I never really thought about quitting voluntarily; my only concerns were: Am I physically able to train? and Will Mom let me? She did

I've gone to tournaments where they had the puzzle mats. They're pretty soft and all that goodness, but they're very squeaky. Maybe that's just because they were brand-new at the facility, I'm not sure.

Welcome to the forums! As long as you have the Internet, you'll have KarateForums! That's one thing that doesn't change when you move

Hrm...this is starting to turn into an "art vs. art" thread. Try to keep the discussion civil

Welcome to the forums!

This isn't exactly the same thing, but it was interesting to me. After the first night of my Black Belt testing was over, I was sitting down in the parents' area, with my feet up on the waist-level divider. My instructor came up and started talking to me (pretty much asking me why my kata portion looked so bad). Then, he swiped away these two crayons that some kid had left on the divider. He's like: "what color are these crayons in my hand?" I said "pink and white", correctly. He was shocked. It may sound pretty dumb (that's because it is!), but it made me feel better. Even though I didn't do as well as I could have during testing, I got the crayons right. I felt like an alert and aware ninja It all ended well: the rest of my testing was good and I passed on Saturday But, strange as it may sound, whenever I remember my testing, I remember those silly little crayons too. It reminds me that even when I feel really down in the dumps, I'm not a hopeless case. Bring on the corniness

Well, I would assume that the posts have to be of good quality, and follow the posting guidelines. So, coming into somebody's thread about Grappling and saying "hey" is probably going to get that post deleted

I have one question: Is there anything lacking in the TRAINING at this dojo? All I've heard so far is that you're bored, it's expensive, and you have a contract. Those can be signs of a McDojo, but only if combined with bad training. Think about it like restaraunts (since that's what we're comparing dojos to). If you go into an expensive restaraunt where the food is great, just really expensive, you're not going to turn around and say "I might as well be at a McDonalds". Why? Because McDonald's serves limp burgers on soggy buns, and have the nerve to charge more than an earthly hamburger should cost. Plus there's hidden fees, like "a filled cookie jar, absolutely free...you just gotta pay for the cookies" (I swear that actually happened to me at a McDonald's the other week). We should treat dojos the same way. A good dojo is probably going to charge some high prices. Why? Because it can! Depending on the area you're in, $100 a month may even be pretty cheap. I agree, however, that $50 for belt testing is outrageous. Unless your instructor has to bring in and pay instructors to help with the testing, that's just silly. Belts only cost about $2 wholesale (well, it's definitely under $5), and a good school won't even bother to charge you for that. Anyway, try to think about your training. If that stinks too, then sure, leave. But try to take a good look, and think about it as if you weren't paying for classes. Too many people let that monthly fee cloud their opinion of training quality. They get that "I'm paying HOW MUCH for this??? Well, this isn't my money's worth" and then the quality of training is almost never good enough for them. This is why children are always so happy Unless their parents start planting the "my money's worth" gremlin in their heads. It's important to be fiscally wise, and why pay for something you don't enjoy? But sometimes you don't enjoy it because you pay for it. I'm not assuming that you're like this, but keep it in mind, so as not to let it happen, or you could find it hard to enjoy training again; regardless of whether or not you move on to a different dojo. Whatever your decision, good luck!

Black Belt Magazine is a good, professional publication. It covers a wide variety of martial arts styles and practitioners, and features articles from people like Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, and Kathy Long. They also have some pretty neat training techniques every month. A good read, if I could just find the time to sit down and read the whole thing!

Welcome to the forums! We have a lot of BJJ students here, maybe you can pick up some tips. Not to imply that you need any, but we can all use some

Welcome to the forums!