DKizzle

It's cool somebody else from AKS is on here. I just got my Blue Belt in May. So I guess I may see you in the Advanced Classes when you get your Purple Belt. Or I may see you in Sparring if you do Thursday nights.

When I first had to do Kata at belt tests, in front of about 50 people, including fellow students and instructors, I was very nervous. When I got up there, it was nothing. I remembered everything my instructors had ever told me about Kata. "Clear your mind" "Set your intent". Setting your intent is important. Do you want to be so impressive that everyone watching will say, "Wow. That looks like he's really fighting off attackers."? Do you want to do your moves quickly, and pause in each stance, making each stance as perfect as you can, like you're posing for a picture? There are dozens of intents you could pick. If you focus on that and tune out the people around you, you'll do fine.

I think all Martial Arts in general are losing respect. I attribute this mainly to the McDojos/Black Belt Factories that are putting out "Black Belts" who can then brag and end up getting beat up or something. So people think Martial Arts don't work. Examples: Last night, we had a festival thing on Main Street here in Newark. My dojo had a thing set up where some of the higher ranks demonstrated stuff. It was a mixture of flashy spin kicks and some pressure point stuff and some basic techniques. Most of the people there were fairly impressed. But up comes this big group of like 12 people. I have a word for them that I'm probably not allowed to post on here. But, you know, the fake gangster kids with the tent sized t-shirts and baggy pants who think they're tough. They were joking around and making fun of it because they think they could beat any Martial Artist. The thing that kept me from getting angry was knowing that Master John (the instructor leading the demonstrations) could easily handle all those punks at once. Second, there's a group of us at school who are all into Martial Arts. There's also a group who claim to be into Martial Arts, but either are lying, or went to a McDojo for 2 years. The ones who fake it tend to be the ones who pick fights and get crushed, so the consensus becomes that Martial Artists can't hold their own. This makes our group look bad and draws a lot of insults and jokes our way.

Excellent post. I enjoyed your breakdowns of the different types of fighters from an experienced point of view. And I agree, never underestimate anyone. Master John (2nd ranking instructor at my dojo, 6th Degree Black) is about as unimposing a guy as you'll ever see. He's semi-short, not much of a build at all. But all we ever see in class are his skills which impress us, and we can't think of him any other way. Then, one day I was walking through the grocery store, and I see him in plain clothes, getting some cereal. And it made me realize how easy it'd be to underestimate him if I didn't know him.

I'm 15 and have been doing Kenpo for a year. 16 is a good age. A problem a lot of teens seem to have is focus with the eyes. One of my instructors said most teens he sees in class have problems with eyes wandering while practicing. So one of the first things I worked on as a White Belt was focusing at all times. I think anything below 13 is really too young to start, even though I did TKD when I was 8.

Congrats. I just got my Blue Belt in May

Our organization is IKKA. I don't know my lineage, and I don't know where to find out. I train under Jim Clapp, 8th Degree Black Belt. EDIT: Actually, I've been looking around, and I think Jim Clapp(8th) and his wife Judy (6th) both trained directly with Ed Parker. So then, would my lineage be Parker/Clapp/me?

Congrats man. I just got my Blue Belt Friday as a matter of fact.

Oh I see what you're saying. I used to do that as well. Can't think of something form-wise to change, just focus on not doing that.

In response to the topic title, I do most of my working out at home and in the karate school. I've got a treadmill and home gym thing in my basement. For warmup I usually practice Kata or do a 5 minute jog.

In my experience that is caused by trying to use your head to help you lift. You've got to focus on using only the stomach to crunch. Hands behind the head helps as long as you don't pull on your head with the hands.

You can order a black belt out of the Century MA catalog for $12.99. You can even get your name on it in 4 different languages. But you better wear it around and hope people are intimidated by it, because it means nothing.

Excellent info, granmasterchen. A spear hand to me is like biting. If I was in serious trouble, I'd use it. Though I'd probably use a spear hand if I was really in trouble but still in control. Biting is more for breaking free from a submissive position, not an attack.

I go Tuesdays and Thursdays and whenever I have a free Saturday. When I can drive on my own though I'll be going 5 days a week though.

Exactly. Kenpo has a white belt technique called Japanese Stranglehold. It's really basic, but I'll still see the Black Belts practicing it sometimes, because it's the foundation of many other techniques.

When I said to kick the knife, I meant only if they are not attacking with the knife. Like if they are holding it in a threatening manner. I would think a crescent kick would knock it far away.

1. Stab/shoot them first Anyway, I don't have any experience with it really, but I should think it wouldn't be that hard to kick/smack a knife out of a hand.

I like George Dillman's pressure point books.

I am totally happy with my current teacher. But, to answer the question: Larry Tatum or Ed Parker.

I don't think contracts are inherently bad. I have a contract at my school. Like chiflow said, it just ensures the school is getting its money every month. I took a 1 year contract at my school because I looked into it, and it's been there a long time, so I doubt it's going to shut down on me. Also, the master is very experienced and well known (Jim Clapp, 8th Degree). After the 1 year I just took a 2 year one, and I'll probably extend past that one. But yeah, look into the instructors and check out the higher ranking belts. Some of the brown belts at my school are really frightening with their speed and power. Same thing with a couple of the green belts.

At first you had me wondering what a "shotgun" was in Kenpo, then I read the rest It actually goes something like: For right punch: Step with left to 10 o'clock into right cat stance (with the right foot doing the cat thing), left parry. Step to 3 o'clock with butterfly palm strike. Step with left foot to 6 o'clock and grab shoulders. Shift into front stance, pulling opponent to ground. With right foot, scoop kick, heel strike, knee slam, punch. It goes something like that. I could have it a little bit wrong.

I practice in gym class a lot of the time. I also have a living room big enough for me to practice comfortably.

Quite a lot. It'd be very hard to get a full count, I'd think.

I've never sparred with any of the instructors, but I have been demonstrated on quite a bit. I have seen the top two instructors, Master Jim (8th Degree) and Mister John (6th Degree) spar full-on before. Quite a sight to see.

We get our first Kata at Purple Belt (White, Yellow, Orange, Orange-Stripe, Purple) and then get a new one at each belt, not including the stripes between them. You pretty much have to practice your old ones because if they don't improve or you forget them, you'll be in trouble at belt promotions.