Aodhan

I found 3 schools in Connersville, and you are about 30 miles from Indianapolis. The training is available to you, 30 miles is not a prohibitive drive. (Unless you don't drive yet, that could be a problem.) If so, make it apparent to your parents that you want to train in MA, and work out an arrangement with them (Chores to pay for the extra gas, whatever). If you truly want to train, there is always a way. Even once or twice a week then train at home is better than nothing. Aodhan

Actually i'm taking Creatine Esther Ethyl in the PILL form. Do you know if it's any different than powder form? I didn't know that creatine was in liquid form. Do you take any other supplements beside creatine? I'm with Sohan on this one. Jury is still out on the esther ethyl. I just use the powder. You can mix it with just about anything. The only other supplements I take on a regular basis are a multivitamin and protein powder. Aodhan

Actually, it has to do with the way the kevlar is formed. It's a weave pattern, and the knife point slips in between the fibers in the weave, whereas a bullet is too blunt. There were rounds available a while back where the bullet came to a point, much like a hunting arrow, and those would penetrate the weave of a kevlar vest. A lot of vests have gone to a kevlar weave with backing plates. Aodhan

Again, I'm not disputing the flashiness of XMA, and I doubt that 99% of XMA practitioners would be attempting a 720 kick in a real fight. As far as the video, I'm sure there is a similar video where the other side wins. Just because you can find a video where a martial artist loses, doesn't mean that his art is automatically bad. Wushu has been an effective martial art for much longer than many other arts. I've never sparred a wushu practitioner, so I couldn't say how effective it is. Again, in a fight though, you aren't going to be attempting the flash, you will be using the basics. Don't condemn the XMA people just because they choose to compete in that venue. Every single high level XMA competitor that I've ever met/talked with has been an excellent traditional MA as well. It all goes back to don't judge a book by its cover. Aodhan

There are several avenues open to competition anymore. You can stay completely on the traditional side, or you can enter the creative divisions. Currently in the creative divisions, you must do the 540's, 720s, x-outs, etc. to have a chance to win. However, to do any techniques in the XMA style, you must first learn the basic kicks and punches in a "regular" style. I would almost guarantee that every high level XMA performer you see is also a very good traditional stylist. For what it's worth, wushu is a very traditional art, and has many of the "flashy" kicks as basic requirements, and nobody ever said "boo" about that. It's only when it was packaged and branded by Mike Chat as "XMA" that people started saying "Whoa! THAT'S not martial arts!" Everyone thinks that XMA is the latest thing, and will "ruin" traditional MA, but these kicks and flips, etc. have been on the open circuit for 10-15 years. Now we just have a name and a codified system for learning them. Aodhan

I wouldn't think so. I don't think you can label a school a McDojo just because their students refuse to fight strangers off the street. Aodhan

Yes, I take creatine. Creatine occurs naturally in food, so no, I don't think taking it is un-natural. It is not currently on the list of banned substances by the IOC, either. Creatine doesn't really give you gains in and of itself. All it does is increase the amount of fuel available in cells, allowing you to train longer at a higher level. I have a post in here on creatine and its effects if you look a bit back for it. Creatine is broken down and excreted through the kidneys, and does require extra hydration. If you take too much creatine and not enough water, you can potentially overload your kidneys. If you use it as directed, (More is not always better), then you should be fine. There isn't really a difference between powder or liquid, but don't mix creatine with citric juices, as that will break down the creatine before you can get anything from it. (At least I think it is citric, check the labels) Aodhan

Blood on the uniform is no big deal. Just get hydrogen peroxide and pour it on the spots. It will bubble out the blood, then just give it a good washing. Aodhan

The ATA does this. There are classes for each level (Corner, Center, Chief), and you must pass tests for each one, and you have to be a certain rank and age. When we score forms, there are three judges. One judge ONLY looks at kicks and stances. One judge ONLY looks at blocks and strikes, and the center judge looks at overall presentation, completeness, etc. Heh, it does make for some unusual scores on occasion. Competitor has excellent technique, and gets 9.8 and 9.7 from the side judges, and does an incomplete form, so the center judge gives them a 9.1. Same for sparring. One center judge, two corner judges. Any judge can call break, and when the center judge calls for scores, you indicate "No see", "No point", or 1 2 or 3 points and which competitor. Majority of judges must agree. So, if corner #1 sees 1 point for red, judgge #2 sees a point for white, and the center judge either didn't see it or calls no point, no point. 2 out of three must agree for it to be a point. We also balance it out. 1 point for kick or punch to the body. 2 points for kick to head or jump kick to body, 3 points for jump kick to head. Aodhan

A good captain serves several purposes. They give the team a person to look to for leadership, they support a cohesive team, and they understand what motivates different people. I agree that they don't necessarily have to be a black belt, but I would recommend it, for the simple fact that a BB has a higher understanding of the art, and can make better matchups for people. I don't know how much scouting and tape watching you do, but a good captain/coach can take people and match them up against opponents to maximize their chances of doing well. Aodhan

Multivitamin daily Fish oil capsule once or twice a week Creatine - Off and on Protein powder. That's it, boys and girls! Aodhan

At 17, I wouldn't worry too much about building muscle through weights. Take the MMA classes and build strong, functional muscle through the classes. Once you stop growing, you can worry about bulking and building for max power. Aodhan

Definately ask your instructor before continuing anything that hurts, especially with a twinging sort of pain in your muscle. If your instructor does not know what to do, or his/her advice does not help, it would probably be good to talk to a sports doctor and get some professional advice. David I wouldn't mind asking my instructor exept that I've got so many medical probs that already effect my training that he might think I'm just trying to "get out" of doing something else (We have several kids in our dojo like that)see I have artheritis in my knees, problems with my wrist that prevent me from doing any push-ups half the time, pluss asthma that prevents me from doing more than about 4 laps aroud the gym without having to stop. So I don't know if it would be best to talk to him or not. Generally, the instructors can tell the difference between people that genuinely have medical problems and the slackers. Just talk to him. He also may be able to take a look and see if you are doing something different to cause the pain. Aodhan

Possible, but at 5'8 vs 6'4, hard to bounce in and out of the range. Stay inside of his shin range, closer if you can manage. Tall people like that really rely on leg attacks from what I've seen over the years, and not too many are really good at in close fighting. Hammer that block, fight from inside, and keep circling TOWARDS any leg he raises. Example: He is fighting you with his right side forward, picks up his front (right) leg. Immediately circle to your left, forcing him to rotate backwards. As soon as you see that leg drop, circle back a bit, dash in and hammer a few punches into his chest/midsection. Aodhan

Depending on the angle of the back kick, you might be pinching a nerve, especially if it is only during the kick, and makes you feel kinda "tingly". Have someone look at your form, you may be doing it at an off angle. Aodhan

Sorry to disagree, but this isn't true. It would violate the law of thermodynamics. Calories utilized are a function of the work performed, not the order of the workout. The more work you do, the more calories are required to perform that work. Do cardio before weights, you lift less. Do weights before cardio, you do less cardio. Respectfully, Sohan Additionally, you're best fat burning zone is sustained exercise in the 60-80% of MHR range. Weightlifting is a bunch of sitting around, with explosive movements every minute or so. Plus, you can have rock hard muscles and still have a layer of fat over them. The misnomer of weight loss from lifting isn't from the burning of the calories, its the increase in muscle mass which burns more calories at rest than fat does. Aodhan

If at all possible, separate them. Weightlifting tears muscle fibers, so the last thing you want is to be working them more when they want to start repairing. If you can't, then do cardio before your weights, there will be less impact, and you will be warmed up for your weight workout. Aodhan

Nope. When I started programming for a living, I put on 20 lbs in 6 months by drinking pepsi. 18 months ago I got serious about it again, and dropped from 206 down to my current weight of 180. I still eat fast food for lunch 3 or 4 times a week. The rest of the time is sensible food, and some serious workouts. I'm going to cut out the fast food, we have our Worlds coming up and I want to drop 5 lbs of bodyfat. I like gorp. take cashews, almonds, pecans, whatever nuts you want, mix it with raisins, dried cranberries, dried apples, dried bananas, whatever fruit you want, and M&M's. Dump a bunch in a plastic bag, great snack. Slice potatoes really thin, bake your own chips with whatever spice salt you like. Takes care of the "I need something to crunch" factor. I still have a beer almost every night (Although none now until after Worlds in June ), and every once in a while I will binge on an entire bag of chips and jalepeno cheese dip Aodhan

He will be expecting the crazy attacks, and obviously he's good enough to block as well. Try changing the crazy around. Also, if he is a head hunter, when he raises his leg to kick, just HAMMER a block into his knee/thigh area. Even if he tags the head, once you get that block (And I do me HAMMER it) in, he will think twice about picking that leg up. Also, jam him. Stay inside the length of his legs, and fight from the inside. Aodhan

We have kids classes almost every day. If you are structured and follow the same approach, you would be surprised how much you get done in 45 minutes. (Plus, that's about the longest most kids will seriously pay attention in the 6-9 year old range.) We run an 8-10 week cycle. The basic class I teach usually has about 24-30 kids. They usually have the form and the two one steps down by the fourth week, then we spend the next four working on the technique, refining timing, etc. Same for adults. Our longest color belt form is 45 moves. Adults can solidly learn about 8-10 moves a class period, so we still get the entire form taught in the first 4 weeks, then work on technique and refinement. Adult classes run an hour, 6 days a week. Aodhan

Men average is 10-15%. Around 12% you can start seeing the "six pack", although the shape is genetic and you arent guaranteed to have six. (Some guys I've seen have 8, it's just how the connective/support tissue forms) Women have more siimply because they have fat structures (breasts, other areas) that men don't have in the same form. Don't worry so much about the bodyfat. As Sohan said, measurements can vary by as much as 10% (Those BF measurement scales? Can be as much as +10% or -10% from your actual). Calipers used by someone that knows that they are doing still have an error rate of about +/- 4%. Best method is underwater weighing, but can be hard to find and might be costly. Just worry about how you look and to some extent your height/weight ratio, and let the BF take care of itself. Also, even if they are "good" calories, eating more than you need will still end up being stored as fat. The body can metabolize about 1000 calories a meal, so if you eat more than that, some is going into storage. And, you could eat nothing but broccoli and cauliflower, but if you eat 4000 calories worth in a day, and you only need 3000, then you will store ~ 1000. Aodhan

Need to take? or teach? How old the kids? The younger the child, the short the segment. For the kids I teach (6-9 y/o), I have no segment over 5 minutes long. For adults, no segment over 8 minutes. Write out a class planner with all of your activities, and use it. Otherwise you'll spend 20 minutes going over something wihtout realizing it and miss out on later planned activities. Here's a sample plan for a white/orange/yellow belt kids class. (We do what is called blocking, or teaching the same form to a group of ranks). Basic white belt form, first four moves are step into front stance, high block. Reverse punch. Rear leg front kick, land in front stance, low block. :00 - :02 Line up, collect attendance cards, bow in :02 - :10 Warmups - Punches, kicks, pushups, whatever. :10 - :14 First four moves of form, progression style (Teach the high block, do 3 or 4 times, then add the reverse punch, do both 3-4 times, etc) :14 - :18 New kicks in form (Front, round, side, reverse, whatever). You can do them by count (prep, kick, retract, down), or progression (1 kick, then 2, then 3, etc), or however you want to teach them. :18 - :22 First four moves of form, partner sparring style. First partner punches, second one high blocks, reverse punches, then front kicks and low blocks. Switch. :22 - :27 Muscle building exercises. Duck walks, squats, pushups, whatever. :27 - :32 One step sparring combos (Our #1, white belt is High block, reverse punch, front punch, reverse punch) :32 - :37 Form repetition, add challenges such as balance, timing, etc. :37 - :42 Game (Ninja says, bat circle, whatever) :42 - :45 Announcements, bow out. In between each segment, have the kids run around. I usually start yelling "Everyone run to the back! Run to the front! Back! Run to the parents! Back! Yellow belts line up! Orange! White!" Kids love to run around, and it completely erases any stray thoughts and they are ready to concentrate on the next segment. Adults you can teach longer segments and more of a form, and make a longer class (Ours go 1 hour). Hope that helps some! Aodhan

Depends on how you look at it, actually, but this isn't the best place for a history of TKD discussion. Also, Gum Do would be closer to iaido rather than kendo. Much more emphasis on single cuts, one and two cut one steps, drawing, sheathing, etc. There are partner one steps, but they are nothing like kendo. Aodhan

Variation with foam noodles: Circle the kids, run it around their heads or feet. they either have to duck it or hop over it. you can also whack them (gently) with the noodles while they do their form. Great for aiding concentration. (Oddly enough, adults love this drill too.) Hula hoops are wonderful. You can roll them and have them run through 1, 2 or 3 hoops. Also, you can have the class form a circle, and put the hoop over their arms. They have to travel the hoop around the circle by stepping through it. You can make it harder by having a hoop on opposite sides of the circle, and if it catches up to the other hoop, the people that are "caught" by it must do laps, pushups, whatever. Crab races get them giggling like mad. Ninja says, "hot spots", all fun games. Aodhan

I'm not a big fan of parents taking classes with the kids. If the kids need their parents next to them then they're too young for our class. I never mind the parents observing, but the kids need to be on their own and focused on the instructor. I prefer adults train with adults and kids with kids. I took Tang Soo Do from an instructor who taught mixed classes and I didn't care for it (the class, not the art). But I do encourage you to begin karate if you are motivated to begin. At 35 you will open up a whole new world that will make a big impact on your life. If you study diligently, by 40 you should be around black belt level and you'll still be very young---in our school most of our BB's are in their 50's! Good luck! Respectfully, Sohan Not really that they NEED the parent next to them, but as an occasional thing it really helps the bond between parent and child. We run younger classes at our school, and once a week we have a combined parent/child class. We do separate them otherwise. Kids don't train with adults unless they are moving into the adult class, and adults don't train with kids unless it is a family class. Special classes and seminars excepted, we will combine for some of those as well. Aodhan