osuperu

...also...how does one erase a topic, after it has basically been answered?

hello all...thanks for the advice...to anwser some questions i chose the shotokan style, but only becuase of the instructors, and my gut impression of them both in the begining. i asked around some MA schools in my home town (eugen or) and they all gave great remarks for the two shotokan instrcutors (one teaches beginers and the other:advanced) Heres the website to the shotokan school in corvallis or, its pretty cut and dry...maybe you guys have heard of the instructors....but anywho. they are associated with some association...he told me but i guess i really did listen too well...it was japaneese association something... http://www.corvalliskarate.com/ we can put links up right?

hey thanks again...also i didnt want to make another post but i usually work out 5-6 days a week and for a strength and size method (high wieght less reps)...but shouldnt i tone down my weight lifting and do a lot less wieght, so as to work on stamina and joints/tendons?.and i cycle in ceatine every other 3 months...im supposed to take it now...but im kinda thinking that it would make me too slow and/or bulky. anybody also to a lot of weight trainign?

hey thanks for the advice..yea..im doing some of those exercises as we speek!..i guess i wont kick too hard in the begining..haha..i think i always have a problem with trying to run..before i walk....

ok...wow this maybe is embarrasing to say but how do you do certain kicks in karate without breaking your freaking toes!...i guess you use the balls of your feet but i cant pull my toes back, especially when trying to kick..does it just take loads of practise to keep them back??..or am i just tendon-ly challenged...anybody got any good tips for training them..haha..??

Very interesting and thought provoking posts!

hey...yea i think the 'tradition' depends a whole lot on the instructor...im JUST starting shotokan and the instuctor is very into kata, basics, the reasoning behind it all, andto me the style is linear long, but fast and strong movements, im not going to say more on it because i really have no expierence..and he focuses less on the sparring/full contact... having expeirence is always good, jsut like in street fighting. im not saying jsut get experience by fighting people, but understand that jsut learning a MA isnt going to make you kick arss...actually i still need to understand that..haha

also...you were saying about always practising...im very self motivated..so what practising can a newbie do with the traditional shotkan style i will be learning? how much 'at home' practise can be done at my new level?

umm..im so new to this i havent set foot on the 'dojo floor' with my bare feet. ...I just like to read alot and get lots of info on something important that i want to spend a lot of my time on...namely martial arts. I do have a little boxing exp. only as in self taught punches and combos..haha...but yea im new....and today i did go to the shotokan class from begining to end...and i think im going to do that...eventhough it seemed less into phyiscal contact (as in hard contact sparring)...the American Kenpo place did seem a little too mcdojo...my first impression is that i like kenpo style better (but what do i know)..but things like 80bucks a month (only 35 at other place) and big class and, well the cool instuctor has helpers that do a lot...i little too much...im sorry but im diligent on learning a stlye and i dont want a 17 year old newly bb (hahah im 21) kid to teach me the basics...cus the basics are everything..

any advice?...or does the silence mean i need to stop talking and jsut do it!..haha..well i will...i just like to be prepared..

well i mean that i get the perception (and i really know nothing though)...that hitting and kicking and whatever moves, after its been practised, needs to be used on the body and/or bags and pads...otherwise i dont see too much real life application, and im not talking jsut a street brawl, i just mean like if you decide to do comp, or maybe spar with a friend..but then again i do know the importance of kata and of really getting something down before you use it...

SOrry if my questions have been answered somewhere else...im finals right now so i dont have much do to check out off the topics. oh and hello to all...its my first post first of all im choosing between to different schools right now: The traditional shotokan, and AMerican Kenpo. i guess my goals are hipocritical because as much as i want to have that mental self confidence building aspect (im a strong guy but no confidence/expeirence)...so with that i really want training to be physical interaction and applicable to the street, if need be.... i have been to the kenpo class and watched... and today will go to a full shotokan class and watch. -the kenpo class to me looks great in that i like the impr4ession of the instructor that he gave me and the idea that this class seems to use a lot of pads and work not jsut hitting the 'air'. however i walked in and there was a huge screaming kid class before the one i watch..i got a mcdojo feeling. also the school is large area, with amenities like padded floor, pads, bags...etc.. but the cost will be 80bucks. (also the begining class looks about 20 people) on the other hand the shotokan dojo (i went for 10 minutes jsut to talk to the instuctor) was small, wood floor..and i didnt see pads, bags and such..(however didnt get a good look around)..the begining class was 6 people i think, its also only 35bucks...i sensed a very tradionaly environment...but i dont know how much sparring/hitting hard they do (as in on pads..i know hitting the 'air' can be jsut as hard, but i want experience in hitting body/pad..just like i want experience in getting hit aswell!...(never been in a real fight) -and basiaclly both insturctors have been doing this for 20+years. the shotokan guy 26 years..hes a 'third dan bb' and the kenpo guy a 3 degree bb in kempo and 1ts degree bb in TKD i am going to try both out maybe...but i have a hard time making decisions and i dont want my decision in the end to kick me, and wished that i would have done the other one. so sorry for the long post.... i jsut would really like to get feedback in people's experiences in either, or both...as in comparasins and contrastings between these styles. and hopefully youve sensed my 'goals' so with that give some feedback in which style would compliment them. thansk a lot