monkeygirl

Black Belt means so much more than that. But remember, there is a difference between HAVING a black belt and BEING a black belt. And you cannot BECOME a black belt at brown belt. Until you wear that black belt and feel the pressure, the responsiblity to be great, you cannot BECOME a black belt. I mean no offense to brown belts (after all, I was one not too long ago), but there is a definite difference once you receive that belt. I'm not talking about "Blackbelt-itis", where you act superior to everyone. When I was testing for my black belt, it made me think back to when I was a yellow belt. (I did a lot of reminiscing during my testing, since I thought I might die in the middle of it ) I looked up to the black belts in awe and in wonder. Now, I feel an immense responsibility to be worthy of the awe and wonder of others. I teach and I know that I am a role model to others, and I want to be a good one. Because of that, I strive to hone not only my technique and fighting skills, but my attitude, leadership and teaching abilities, among others. (KF has had a big part in all of those!) That is something that you don't practice only in the dojo. I think about it wherever I go now. I'm not perfect, and every now and then I forget who I am, and forget what I'm doing. But that's what my instructors, friends and parents are for. They remind me. Heh, benedictbm himself has reminded me a couple times, just as I would for him. But mostly, my instructors and their instructors are guiding me to become a worthy role model. When I was a yellow belt, I looked up to the people who HAD blackbelts. Now that I have one myself, I look up to the people who ARE blackbelts. With that in mind: Good luck in your testing, benedictbm! I will help you train to get your black belt in any way that I can. Maybe someday I'll help you become one.

I'm interested in hearing what Martial Arts-related injuries everyone has received over the course of their careers. So, pretty much what I'm asking is this: 1. What style(s) have you trained in? 2. How long have you trained in each style? 3. How many and what injuries did you receive in each style? If you have been free of injuries, please post anyway. Basically I'm trying to compare styles and how "damaging" they are. I'll start us off. 1. I train in Tae Kwon Do 2. I have trained in this for three years 3. Injuries: 1 year into training, I discovered that I have extreme joint laxity and experience subluxing of the hips. (Note: this wasn't caused by training, it simply brough it to my attention. 2 years into my training, the full force of a sidekick landed directly in my right eye, causing double-vision and some other problems that continue today, to small degrees. Finally, just a few days ago (3 years into training), ::Edit - I sprained my left big toe - Edit:: The eye thing was the only really serious one that was caused by MA, but it's pretty much better now. The hips are sort of like a lifelong condition that is treated through building muscle. And the toe, well...I broke my other big toe BEFORE MA, so I'm not really surprised Alrighty, let's hear what's happened to you! Please leave other sports out of this, martial arts only

hrm... not yet, anyway!!

Hrm...I think I've done similar things before... Sometimes, if I'm up against a big guy (and everybody's a big guy compared to me), the only way I can manage to take them down is to do a takedown with all my strength and leverage; meaning falling down with them and landing on top. I usually do a little "I meant to do that" move by combining it with a falling elbow strike/axe kick, depending.

those are pretty good

Last night (january 16), my dojo had the extreme honor and privelige of being host to 10 korean masters (WTF). The "youngest" of them was a 5th dan, and they had 7th & 8th dans there, too. They were there to perform at the White House, I believe...about 3 hours away. (OK so that's a complete guess on the time, but it's not very far) They were giving us a preview version of the demonstration they'll be giving this morning, and they also watched our kids' class. Of course, my instructor had to show off some of his blackbelts A 2nd dan and I each did weapon katas...he did bo and I did kamas. It seems like they were pretty impressed! Then the kids' advanced class began, while the masters watched. Then the masters performed...while we watched. A poomse with counted time like music/dance. Various breaking techniques (including a jump-inverted snap kick...yes that means backflip). Self-Defense --open hand & knife. One master had a baseball bat (which he signed later) broken over his shin. After their demonstration, they used about five rolls of film taking pictures with everyone. Then some of the kids (OK, OK so it was the 2nd dan ) wanted each of the masters' autograph, so everybody got autographs, too. They didn't speak very much English, but it didn't really matter. For important things, we had one of our 2nd dans translate (in fact, this particular 2nd dan arranged the masters' visit...he trains with them in Korea every summer) ... but for the most part, we all spoke a universal language...martial arts. A lot of body language was used (a sidekick and a big nod obviously means good kick ). I think I speak for all of us who were there when I say: This was an extreme honor and once-in-a-lifetime privelige. I'm going to make it twice in a lifetime though, and go see their full, morning demonstration. I will definitely be putting up those pics on the Photo Album when I get them back

DOH! I'm such a sucker for those things...

Many different MA suppliers carry books, but so do some of your local bookstores. Amazon.com might even have it. I have to leave here in a sec so I don't have time to search for you (sorry), but maybe that will give you a start.

true, true. I have actually demonstrated a groin grab to one particularly annoying guy (kept making fun of me, touched me a couple times... *shivers* ) ... that opened his eyes REAL wide!! No, I didn't actually grab him, I just "air grabbed" like in a kata... the look on his face... Talk about disabling somebody without even touching them!!!

Welcome to the forums! I'll try to answer your questions 1) The white belt refers to your post count. You "rank up" after a certain amount of posts. You will receive your yellow belt after 25 posts. Remember though, you shouldn't post JUST to get your post count up. Just like in the dojo, bad behavior can result in losing a "belt"...but it's pretty hard to do that 2) I think nunchaku are banned, just like all weapons. I've even heard that you can't use a cane, because of its lethal capabilities (in which case, I shouldn't have a pencil, fingernail clippers, screws...). Therefore, I would assume nunchaku are banned as well. However, I am not English so I can't tell you for sure...I'm sure one of our English posters can tell you more definitely. 3) That's a spitlaugh... Y'know, you start drinking something, then you hear something terribly funny and voila! Anyway, welcome again, hope you like it! There's quite a few people here your age, and I'm sure you'll fit right in.

As of Christmas, I have had in my training career: 4 pair nunchaku (1 foam/cord, 1 foam/chain, 2 wood/cord competition style) 1 pair kamas 2 bo staffs 2 fighting fans (tessen) <--- Christmas present

Shin block sounds pretty good...I might try that. Amen to shin guards!! Alternately, you can try dodging. That way your partner/opponent is off balance when they set their foot down, and you can come in for the attack.

Well, I'm back from my search but not enlightened...the only "Iko" I found was the International Karate Organisation. Perhaps you could explain?

I honestly haven't a clue as to what Iko 1 2 & 3 even are...let me do a google (search I mean) and I'll get back to you on that.

I would only suggest switching over into Muay Thai if you find that you really don't enjoy your ninjitsu/Gung fu training. I say this because at this point, you may not know whether or not you'll enjoy Muay Thai, either. Remember, most Martial Arts styles have similar moves. For example, all arts that include hand strikes are going to have a simple jab punch. And that's OK. As far as taking Muay Thai to supplement your ninjitsu training, that can be okay. But I only recommend you do it after 3 or 4 years of training in ninjitsu/Gung fu. To cross over in the first year or so will probably only confuse you. Also, make sure you ask your current instructor their opinion. He may not want you train for several reasons: not ready/not a good style to supplement what you already know/good style but local instructors suck/loyalty to the school. Or he may approve. Either way, it's very important to ask, because doing so without permission shows disrespect, and could get you in some trouble.

I make it a rule never to take myself too seriously... That way the next time I fall flat on my face I'm not too surprised Anyway, when people start doing that (if they find out...I like to keep it quiet for the most part), I just go "Waaahh!" back at them. It freaks them out that I can and will make better noises. Then they try to do a knifehand stance or something so I correct them and show them how it's really done. Lately I've been considering putting them in strange positions and calling it "kung fu".... hehe I do TKD Lately I've been trying to keep it quiet, though. Telling people usually starts problems. And since I'm 5'1, 95 lbs, guys rarely believe I'm a martial artist, let alone a black belt. I once spent a good 20 minutes convincing a guy...finally I had to show him a kata for him to believe me. He didn't think I could make that up on the spot.

Also, if he wants to "take it outside", that's pretty much a threat. You could probably call the police and get him arrested. After he's been arrested, it should be much easier to get him fired. There's no problem with wanting to defend yourself against this guy, but initiating the fight isn't the answer. Especially if you do manage to beat him up...then the police will be coming for you! Which means you'll possibly have to pay lawyer fees/fines/do jail time...all of which making it harder to support your family. Keeping all of that in mind, I would suggest Aikido or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. My main reasons for this are as follows: A. Will be quicker to learn. These styles (Aikido especially) deal a lot with redirection of movement, instead of strikes. Because of this, you won't have to worry about "bulking up" just to be effective. Most styles usually do include a few redirectional defenses, but with Aikido it's the main focus. You'll learn lots of techniques, and you'll probaby learn some effective ones very early on. If you're very worried about the fight going to the ground, BJJ is the way to go. B. Also, because Aikido focuses on not disabling but not harming your opponent, he can't really press charges against you. However, if you used something like Muay Thai or a similar striking art, you'd end up leaving the guy bloodied and bruised. As satisfying as that my sound, you'll still be relatively unscathed...and how will that look from the police's point of view?

Y'know... vitamin and mineral "supplements"; to supplement those you don't get from your diet.

There's this lovely stuff call NuVim. It's like milk on steroids (well, no steroids invovled, but you know), and lactose-free. It has a lot of benefits, including joint flexibility. I drink it because milk makes me sick (not lactose intolerance, but something else), so this is a good replacement. It comes in two flavors (that I know of): Strawberry Vanilla and Orange Tangerine. I recommend the Orange Tangerine. The strawberry is kinda gross... You can usually find it in your grocery store around the orange juice. If it's not there it's probably near the soy milk, etc.

I just make iced tea .... 2 gallon jug with 4 bags of plain, 1 bag Earl Grey...NO SUGAR!! I hate sweet tea.

As far as your hair: There are two trains of thought on this one. Practicality: Like KickChick said, you can tie it back and keep it away from your face so it doesn't fall and distract you. A nice product to use is the "Hair Cinch" (http://www.haircinch.com) ...great for slippery hair that doesn't like to stay in ponytail holders. Looks pretty cool, too. I used to wear that before I cut my hair short. The other idea is Drama: Before I cut my hair, my instructor always wanted me to this one demo with my hair down. I was doing a kama kata to "Welcome to the Jungle", and he said I looked like a wild woman with the hair flying all around. It can look cool and pretty Amazon-y, but it's also pretty disorienting. Try doing your kata several times, each time having your hair fixed up differently. See how it feels. To be honest, I don't think judges really pay that much attention to your hair...as long as it isn't bright pink or something. Of course, you could always just hack it off like mine (see my pic in the photo album)

Welcome! Glad to hear you enjoying the forum. As for your question, try going to http://www.google.com and do a search. I tried "Milwaukee Karate" and got quite a few results. I suggest you look through the school websites and find a few you like or feel interested in, then try some follow-up phone calls or e-mails. One problem with this kind of search is that not all schools are going to have websites. However, you still have a pretty wide selection to choose from. If you still want to keep looking, get a Milwaukee phone book and look in the yellow pages under "Martial Arts". Let us know how your search goes

Welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the forums! Keep that passion alive!

Welcome to both of you!