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I don't like wrist and ankle weights because of the strain that can be caused on joints performing fast kicks and punches. I've used and had others use a diving belt that allows you to slide the weights around. The idea is to keep the belt loose enough it rides on the top of the hips and to move the weights so the belt doesn't pull on your lower back. Try doing kata for 15 minutes with 12+ pounds on the belt and you'll see how effective this is. It also helps keep your center of gravity close to where it belongs when wearing the belt.

I disagree in part because it depends on the organization- you said you were in Japan in '79, so I guess you weren't very high rank back then and it's at the low ranks where there's no flexibility. I have the privilige of knowing some very high ranking practitioners (7th and 8th dan) who got their rank from the head organizations in Okinawa. True, they don't change the kata or the basic bunkai, but they do things that are definitely not the same things you see the Okinawans doing. They have bunkai that are approached differently than the Okinwans would do. Do they get in trouble? No. At that level, they are EXPECTED to come up with their own ideas. Do they encourage senior students (nidan and above) to go to seminars, train with people from other styles, or even learn another art- yes. Back to the uqestion-the ideal instructor is Yoda!

For the other instructors out there. How many times have you had a student that trained in another art/style ask you about an "indefensible technique" they were taught in a previous school? Then you have to burst their poor little bubble. Makes me want to find their old teacher, slap 'em up along side the head and go "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!?!?!" Anyway- here's what I tell them is the only indefensible technique I know of: Sniper rifle at 200 yards against a stationary opponent.

Two convicts are planning on what they'll do once they get out of prison. One of them decides to become a lawyer, the other chooses to go straight.

Does to exist: Deadliest move- Eat lots of chili & onions Turn your back to your opponent Bend over Spread your cheeks Hold your breath Rip off a nasty stinky one that'll make his eyes water Run before you smell it

Buy the book "Warrior Speed". You'll find the background info, exercises, and routines very helpful

Hi, Wondering how many Goju people there might be in Colorado that are on this list.

36? Heck I have 2 new students that have NEVER taken a MA. One is 47 and the other is 51. I don't thik you need a rocking chair yet On the neck injury- make sure you avoid break falling for a while, and start doing neck exercises.

Sheesh, you assumed a lot more than I wrote. I was talking specifically about the drop. If you look at the previous post, you'll see that I CAN get out of the full nelson, even if they're much bigger. As you said, there are much better techniques and I prefer to use those. Throws are one option. Against a significantly larger opponent there are additional techniques that use their size aginst them. However, the drop, puts you in a very awkward position and you'll wind up starting at a disadvantage in a ground fight if the person is quick. Is it over? No, but why would you want to deliberately handicap yourself?

First quote is right Ssecond quote is wrong about treating younger and older students the same. There is a process in the development of the bones called ossification. This is the hardening of the ends of the bones (what people commonly call growth plates) at a certain age. If sufficient trauma occurs before ossification is complete, it can have consequences as the child gets older. The younger the person, the more flexible the bones are and the easier it is with sufficient or repeated trauma to cause problems farther down the road. For this reason anyone under the age of 16 should NOT make board breaking part of their training. Also, stay away from makiwara training until at least 16. Although ossification is not complete until later, most bones can handle the stress. The reason for the caution is because of the direction of the impact force on the joint and bone ends. Although other contact sports may not cause a problem at 10, the impact forces happen from a different angle and in a different manner. This is also the reason that bags should be sized for the age of the student. Because of the give in the bag. much of the shock is absorbed. However, a 10 year old should not be working on a 120lb bag because the shear weight now becomes an issue.

The other problem with weighting a sai as requested is it will make it very difficult to "flip" in your hands. Makes it pretty useless. Got to where I could hit a target point first from about 8 to 15 ft. Throwing below and above that range is pretty stupid from a "reality basis" anyway. Humorous note- once buried a standard, off the shelf, sai into a palm tree so deep that the fibers grabbed the tine and it took 3 people to extract it The sai I have were handle heavy. I actually drilled holes in the weight on the end of the sai to put the balance point where it's supposed to be. They flip and throw better. I'm drooling over a pair of traditional Shureido sai now. . . Must have, can't resist urge . . . taking out wallet . . . .

You need bag gloves. They're afirly inexpensive. Here's a link that will show you what you need. Any major sporting goods store will carry them. http://www.karatedepot.com/baggloves.html

Look, this is an area of study that requires digesting a lot of info. If you would have signed up on the MaxOT training info like I suggested, this stuff would be explained to you. It explains the physiology, coomon misconceptions, gym myths, supplemetation and many other things you need to know. So you can keep asking for quick answers and stay frustrated, or start reading up on the topic.

Find an active release therapist and continue the rotator cuff exercises. The break up of the adhesions will help restore the range of motion. For PhDPeddler- listen to saiFight about therapy. Also know that once you injure the rotator cuff, it usually involves ligament damage, so you will ALWAYS need to continue with the exercises to prevent a re-injury (you too Red J).

Go here. You have to register, but the Max-OT training program is extremely effective. Nutrition is as important as your workout: http://ast-ss.com/max-ot/max-ot_intro.asp You'll find plenty of advice on protein supplementation. Timing is just as important as amount. Also, you'll gain faster if you seperate your lifting form your karate/cardio workout by 8 hours. For good mail order prices on supplements, go here. http://healthproinc.com/ This site tests the products they sell against the label claims and refuses to sell poor quality products. There are some really trashy supplements out there with less than 60% of their label claims (I know of one that tested out at less than 5% of its label claim!). You'll find much of the garbage supplements in places like GNC.

Probably the most knowledgable Shito-ryu Sensei/Shihan in this country. I got to see him and meet him in the late 1980's and he was incredible then. One word of warning though. If you ever get a chance to eat dinner at a table with him, don't eat or drink anything when he starts to tell a story. You'll wind up passing food through your nose or spraying the table with your drink. Everyone at the table almost fell out of their chair at least once during dinner. When he tells a story, he's FUNNNYYYY

NOT- tried that on a guy with high school wrestling experience (hadn't wrestlled in over 15 years and was in his 30's at that time). This only worked if the drop was before he had the hold applied, and then he was all over you before you could try anything else

Does getting away from someone 7 inches taler than me and 80 pounds heavier count? If so the answer would be yes. I'm 5'11" 170 lbs and he was 6'6" and 250 lbs

It amazes me the lack of teaching on this subject by many instructors. And blowing it off with the "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6" is a statement made from pure ignorance of the realities of the court system. Here's some good books with general references, you'll have to check the specifics in your state: The legal implications of self-defense: A reference manual for the martial arts The Law of Self-Defense: A Guide for the Armed Citizen (currently out of print and hard to find) Hurting an attacker during self defense can be legal or illegal. This depends on the force employed by the attacker and used by the defender and many other factors. It also can depend on whether or not your state has a turn around law. Anyone not knowing what this term means had bettered hit the books- this alone can land you in jail on assault charges (even if you had to defend yourself empty handed against a armed attacker).

This is fairly common with Goju for some reason. Where I live, there are 4 people with 16-30 years of Goju experience teaching. Only one has a commercial school. The most experienced of us all with an enormous wealth of knowledge teaches in his basement (a friend of mine I work out with occasionally). Don't be put off by the location. This can often mean they're more interested in teaching what they know than making money

Don't wash your obi- tradition is it washes all the knowledge out

Going through ART currently. It is absolutely amazong, but as dijita said, it can be painful depending on the amount of scar tissue. The practitioner is having to bust up scar tissue from a motorcycle accident where I was drug for almost 200 ft and had a 3 inch hole in my thigh all the way to the bone. ( One word when he works on my leg- YIKES! ) Never new how limited my mobility in certain areas had become since then, as I got used to it after a few years. The release is astonishing once the scar tissue starts letting go. Right hand was starting to go numb. That problems gone. Unlike dijita, it'll take me a while- neck, right shoulder, right pec, upper right back, lower back, right leg ( amazing what happens at 40 mph) . . . then I have some old injuries on the LEFT side he can work on

From my other post- read this and you'll see there is no problem with waht you did http://www.opdevelopers.org/defense.html

Here's another example- my Sensei was involved in a study that used Kirlian photography. For those that think this only photographs auras- wrong. This photography captures specific types of electromagnetic fields. The greater the nervous signal activity, the greater the "Aura". This follows basic elctromagnetic theory. To put it in laymans terms-Any time you increase the electricity flow, the electromagnetic field (EM field) increases correspondingly. This is as consistant as the law of gravity. In the study, the more experienced the practitioner, the greater the increase in the size of the field surrounding the body. Physiologically, the more active the nervous system, the greater the muscle stimulation. Couple this with increased oxygen efficiencyand increased red blood cell count as training progresses, recruiting more muscle fibers in the technique while the muscle groups opposing the technique become quieter, better balance and whole body coordination- you now have what is perceived as and increase in Ki. Hitting accupressure points interrupts the nerve impulses downstream on the nerve trunk and sometimes upstream. Hence the prononced effect of striking these points. In addition, 2 EM fields will interact. A strong EM field created by a larger electrical flow can stop or even reverse the current flow in a "conductor" with a weaker field. This is why very experienced martial artist can induce wierd things by touching a inexperienced person. Ever see people"move there chi" to their hands? The palms turn red, the skin temperature increases, and this they called chi. Here's the real truth- the physiological response is increased nerve activity. This icrease the EM field, and increases blood flow to the palm, raising the skin temperature. Basically this is a VERY advanced version of biofeedback. As I said, I can go on for hours on this. No the Holy Spirit is not Ki. The body is capable of much more than most people realize. I came to this realization when I was taking acupressure and acupuncture classes. Did you know that acupuncture has been tried with non ferrous (non magnetic ) needles and it DOESN'T WORK. Back to EM fields. Inserting a ferrous metal into a EM field around a conductor changes the shape of the field, resulting in changing the electrical flow through the conductor . A non ferrous metal has no effect. IE, sticking a ferrous metal needle close to a nerve center (which all acupuncture points are) changes the electrical signals throught the nerves. Twirling the needle increases this effect as moving a ferrous metal through a field has a greater effect than a stationary object. The smaller the electrical flow, the easier it is to change by doing this. Small signal- small mass of metal needed. Changing the electrical flow to an organ or other tissue can change the way it functions or the blood flow to the tissue. See the connection? Just remember, if you think of Ki as the sum total of the natural pyhysiological responses of the body- yes it can be developed. Enough for now, this should give you more to chew on for a while.

I have the following additional training: Over 500 hours in accupressure / massage from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine Certified by the college. Included classes in anatomy and physiology. Took classes in sport therapy Tui Na (chinese accupressure) Competed Fitness Trainer course, but didn't take the certification test- just wanted the knowledge. Flexibility training, and study many other topics on my own. Background in hard sciences including Physics Yes, it makes you a better instructor.