monkeygirl

Howdy!

Hey Cutie (inside joke...he's not cute at all ) Now that I've embarrassed you, welcome to the forums!!

Welcome to the forums! And don't worry, we're all pretty lame.....

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle That song is my inspiration for my black belt test! It kept me going at my last test, hopefully it will at the next

Which looks worse? Losing to a new student or beating him senseless?

I was just looking back at some of the posts, and I realized something...this is turning into an "aren't I so wise?" forum... I'm laughing at myself too

Welcome to the forums, mom! You didn't tell me you were joining

...my dojo does that every now and then lol It's great fun! At my dojo we have this tradition, where everyone testing for an upper belt has to go through the "Circle of Death" (nobody's died in it ... yet ) What this circle consists of is usually anywhere from 5-9 people (usually upper & black belts) in sparring gear. There is one person in the center. That person starts with one of the circle people and works their way around to the last person, (usually our chief instructor) sparring each person for 30 seconds to a minute each. It's a great endurance workout! I actually threw up in the middle of it at my last test... Usually we only do the Circle for belt testing, but since 7 of us are up for Black Belt/degrees, we've been doing it in class.

Thank you so much KickChick...I kept reading about "poomse" and I got very confused. Good idea Shaolin Princess! Feel free to do so, everyone!

There's such a thing as going too far. Defending yourself is one thing: beating your attacker half to death is another. If you fear for your life, then by all means do what you have to, but the point is: if it's taken care of, it's taken care of. The most sad and pathetic part is that the criminals have the audacity to press charges against the victims! .... c'est la vie

Is a poomse? Is it like a kata/form?

Not time for thank yous yet! I didn't get to welcome you.... So welcome

Welcome to the forums!! Practicing martial arts with your family is always great. For awhile my entire family was studying, but my Dad had to quit due to arthritis Best of luck, and no injuries! *toast*

People will always tease other people. If you wear glasses or are smart they'll call you a nerd. If you're a martial artist, they call you kung fu boy/girl. They don't understand it, so they make fun of it. Also, they probably think that they can take on a blackbelt because they believe martial arts are weak compared to Boxing, Wrestling, Bar-room brawling, etc. There will always be people like that, but as martial artists, we must show self-control and (here's everyone's favorite word) discipline. Trying to convince them otherwise will do no good and probably lead to a shouting match. The very best you can do is hand them a business card for your dojo and walk away. Otherwise, WE (martial artists) are the instigators of what could be a deadly fight. I know that I could easily take out some of the guys that have picked on me for being a martial artist. However, with power comes responsibility. If it comes down to the possibility of a fight, I am responsible for his/her well-being! I could possibly hold their life in my hands, so it is my duty to break it off. To summarize: Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!

The nuttier, the better, I say!! Welcome to the forums, play by the rules and we'll get along just grandly

I think efforts should be made to keep civilian casualties to a minimum, but remember people, we are at war, and things happen. Also remember: President Bush declared war on terrorism, and also said that anyone who harbored terrorists were our enemies. The death of children is wrong, but in some militaries, the soldiers ARE the children. I don't have all the details on this particular event (I didn't even know that it had happened), so I'm not going to get specific and determine whether or not it was justified.

Want to keep up your fighting skills? Get into a bar fight! just kidding Maybe you can plan it into your vacation to visit martial arts schools in the area, whether they're your style or not. Visit a different one each night. This way, you can broaden your martial arts horizons, and get a bit of a workout. If you can, stay the rest of the night and watch the upper classes! Watching other styles is always very interesting.

If we haven't been focusing on something else that has taken up too much time, we spar at the end of practically every class. Especially now that we have 4 people from our class going for 1st degree black (one of those is me ), and 3 people going for 2nd degree (all at the same test), we've been really focusing on fighting. Since I teach, I really have the oppurtunity to fight about 11 times a week, max, but I'm usually busy with something else.

Welcome, and best of luck in your progress!

Classical music is always very nice if you want to be artistic, while rock is good for intensity. I always thought that doing a kata to Rhapsody in Blue (at least just a section of it) would be very cool, because of its beginning and all the changes in the music. Perhaps, if other people are testing with you and have this same requirement, you could work with another student and do a form to Dueling Banjos! Trade back and forth between your partner to get the "dueling" effect. To make this even better, try making it a weapon form, where for example, you have a bo staff and your partner has the nunchaku. That is, if your school does weapons and if it's ok with your instructor. Weapons or no, it'd still be something "creative and nifty" and could lighten the mood of your test if they tend to drag. Just a general note: You know your instructor's attitude and whether or not s/he would definitely disapprove of something humorous or working with a partner.

Thanks KickChick... after reading over my post, I realize what it sounded like. I meant that when I arch my back it stretches out my ab muscles...same thing if I laugh, I feel it tighten. Thanks for the advice anyway, it's always good to know

One time when I was 9 or 10 I got in a catfight with my cousin.... does that count? Other than that, I've never been in a fight, thank heaven. I still have a scar on my forearm from my cousin though....

Happy Belated Birthday!!! I will turn 16 on April 16th! Although, my grandmother sent me a 16th birthday card on my 15th birday Don't really know what time I was born but I think I was an evening baby

The gym I just joined has me on some new kinds of crunches... the hanging knee raise (they just call it a High Chair because of the equipment used) is really really nasty! I can pop off very large amounts of regular crunches with no problem, but the High Chair? That was one of the best ab workouts I've ever had. Part of it is the struggle to keep yourself suspended in midair. Blasters are good too. Begin flat on your back, feet shoulder width apart. Hold your hands together and reach up and out between your legs. Make sure you keep your chin facing the ceiling...there should be an area large enough to fit your fist between your chin and chest. Now, keeping your arms out, do a small crunch forward, come down slightly, crunch to the right, back down slightly, and crunch to the left. That counts as ONE crunch! Try 2 sets of 30...I did these yesterday and now I can barely arch my back without feeling it!!

You can use either water or sand to fill up your wavemaster. I would suggest sand because if it starts to leak, you can just vacuum it up...water can do some damage sometimes. I believe Lowe's carries sandbags in their swingset department. Not sure, though.