Aodhan

That would be really cool, but almost every BB in the ATA has their name stitched on it. Makes it a little difficult to pass along. Aodhan

That's nice, but who must do the certification? I've seen magazine ads for an "organization" that you can join and get your "instructor certification" by paying the membership fee. I personally think that black belts who want to teach should undergo extensive and rigorous training on how to teach before they become certified instructors, but many schools consider you an instructor by merely reaching a certain rank. Being a great martial artist does not equal being a great teacher, and visa-versa. Like so many things in life, MA instruction is "buyer beware" .. Well put, MA. ATA has a 3 level certification program that ensures a minimum of 300 contact hours, plus 3, 3 day certification camps to be certified to teach. We have people as junior as purple belts assisting in classes, and also leading warmups in order to get a jump start on those contact hours. I have a class on Mondays and Fridays that generally gets 25-30 6-9 year old beginners (white/orange/yellow) and my colored belt assistants are invalulable to me in that class. A 1st dan should be entirely capable of instructing the basic students of the first 4 or 5 color belt ranks. I've also known 1st degree's that could teach rings around me, and 5th degrees that need a map to find their rearend. As far as address, depending on the preference of the instructor, any one of the following should do: Sir Mr./Miss/Mrs. ____________ Sahbunim We generally use Mr./Mrs/Miss, Master in the case of our school owner (He is a 6th degree, about to test for 7th this summer). Sahbunim is generally reserved for the bow out (Sahbunim Kamsahamnida), I think someone has called me sahbunim once outside of that. Aodhan

Work on your chamber, and work on disguising the kick. Other than that, things you can do are speed/fartlek type workouts, resistance band training with speed techniques, and plyometric type drils. Here's a couple exercises for speed (Terrible for form, but good for speed) Stand in front of a heavy bag. Kick it with whatever kick you want to practice as many times as you can in 45 seconds. Rest 30 seconds, repeat. Keep trying to better your score. Do 4-5 rounds. Get a resistance band that you can anchor to something as well as strap around your ankle. Work on shadow sparring with it, and every time you go to kick, make it as hard and as explosive as you can. Plyometrics will increase the strength. Minimal effect on speed, but a really good supplement to speed training. Aodhan

Ah, gotcha. Now I see what you meant with the 400. Still a little tough to gauge, though. As far as the largest meal of the day, that's one of those things that you have to experiment with. Most of the exercise regiments I've set up have done better with larger midday meals. YMMV Aodhan

Clif are among the best I've tasted, but I generally don't eat them. Most of them have a really wierd aftertaste to me. The Clif Gels are good too. Aodhan

I started training in 1987, in the WTF style of TKD. Due to moving around for college, after college, air force, etc. I spent a lot (I mean a LOT) of time moving between dojangs and styles, dropping back a couple belts on occasion, etc. Shotokan 2 years training, don't remember rank WTF 3 years total training, green belt highest rank achieved. ITF 2 years total training, green belt. Kenpo, 3 years training, red belt. Kempo 2 years training, blue belt. I transferred into the ATA as a blue belt in May 2000, 1st degree rank in May 2001, 2nd degree rank September 2004 (Min time in rank is 1 year, I took about 18 months off due to injuries and other considerations), and I will be testing for my 3rd degree in September of this year. Aodhan

Mike Chat was tested into the ATA as a 4th degree when he was 27. He was the blue power ranger, and is also the creator of the XMA system. I don't have a problem with black belts at 9 or 10. Some people say that "Well, an adult could still kick their butt". True. But that is true of any 9 or 10 year old. I'd rather have a 9 or 10 year old that has already shown the dedication to make it to black belt keep training, so that by the time they are 21, they can be an amazing 4th degree. I think 4th degree is about the highest rank you should be able to achieve without starting to give something back, by teaching, owning a school, or doing something else along those lines. Aodhan

This is where the ATA gets knocks for being a "McDojo" sometimes. Most ATA schools will promote not only according to standards, but how much you improve against yourself. You might look at a ATA person taking their black belt test, who is 50 lbs overweight, and can't do a side kick at waist level and think "What moron promoted this guy?" Then you find out that when he started 2 or 3 years ago, he was 245 lbs overweight, and couldn't lift a foot off the floor without falling over. A black belt is not only a path of victory over material, but a path of victory over yourself. Yes, there will be people that pick things up right away, seem to double promote every other time, and just generally rock. Then there are those that skip testings, work their butt off and just take more time to get it. Does that mean that the person that takes longer is worth less? More? Neither. Each person worked within their capacity to reach a goal. Just because one has genetic gifts that may make that goal easier to attain does not demean or cheapen anything that anyone else goes through. Take pride in your accomplishment. Take pride in his accomplishment. Both of you have worked hard to get there. Black belt is a journey and a state of mind, not a piece of cloth. It's also your first step into a huge world of martial arts. Once you've gotten the black belt, you've gotten the basics. Now it's time to start training. Aodhan

I would bet that that person is no longer in martial arts. Anyone that is trying that hard to appear more than they are, probably won't stick with the hard path to getting it that way naturally. Aodhan

Just an addition on bone growth, since there are a lot of people on here in their early teens and haven't stopped growing. There is a covering over the bone that is called the periosteum. As you are growing, this is what solidifies to lay down new bone material, causing the width of the bone to increase. (Length is due to a structure called the epiphyseal plate, located near the ends of a bone). Once you get to your full growth, the periosteum helps protect the bone, and will help heal fractures and breaks, but the width of the bone is pretty much set. The periosteum can be "killed" in a spot by a hard enough strike. For any of you that played soccer when you were young, you can probably run your finger down your shin and feel "bumps" and indentations along the front. This is due to shin clashing and deadening the covering in that spot. So, if you are still growing, and start whanging your shins against trees, all you are likely to do is kill the periosteum in that area and end up with thinner bones as a result. Aodhan

No problem. If nothing else, it really points out how knowing the nerve positions for strikes can be very effective for self defense without really harming someone permanently. Of course, there are chi practitioners that claim a nerve strike in the right place can disrupt enough to kill, but that's a discussion for another forum. Aodhan

Gorp. I go to my local whole foods place, get almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, dried cherries, raisins, dried cranberries, M&M's and just throw it all in a tupperware container. If I'm going to be dashing, I scoop a bunch into a plastic bag. Aodhan

You don't have to keep a meal below 400 calories. You need to know your entire caloric intake needs for a day, then divvy those up into different meals. The 5 "meal" concept is a bit of a misnomer. It generally equates to breakfast, midmorning snack, lunch (Which should be about your biggest meal of the day), midafternoon snack, and dinner. Also, you need to know your conversions. Carbohydrates and Protein are about 4 calories per gram. Fat is 9 calories per gram. This especially comes into play when you look at calories from fat versus percentage of fat. If a serving is 100 grams, and only 2 grams of that come from fat, then they can claim "98% fat free". Then you look and realize that it only has 40 calories per serving, 18 of those calories from fat, so almost 50% of calories from fat. It shouldn't be more than 15-20% calories from fat. Bulk grain/coarse carbo for breakfast, such as oatmeal, whole grain cereal, whole grain muffins with some ham, things like that. Midmorning snack of some fruit and cheese, along those lines. Lunch should have chicken/fish/lean beef, veggie and anotehr carbo/starch. Midafternoon snack (Most people stick a protein shake type thing here), and the evening meal, again, lean beef/chicken/pork/fish, veggie, and another whole grain carb (Brown rice, etc). To lose a pound, you need to eat approx 3500 calories less per week, which is around 500 calories a day. So, take your basal calorie needs, add the calorie needs for any exercise, and that is what you need to eat to maintain weight. Add calories to gain weight, subtract calories to lose weight. About 1 lb a week is a safe, permanent type weight loss. You'll lose more in the beginning, and less as you get leaner, then you might gain weight depending on how much muscle you gain. Indoor exercises include situps, pushups, chair dips, skipping rope, shadow boxing (Watch the lamps! I've ruined 3 with hook kicks ), things like that. Low impact aerobic activity includes swimming, cycling, rollerblading, x-country skiing, rowing (Crew), then your traditional higher impact activities such as running. Aodhan

Aerobic - with oxygen. Anaerobic - without oxygen. Sprints, sparring, short term high intensity exercise is anaerobic. Jogging, distance swimming, cycling, are generally aerobic. Best rule of thumb is to keep your heart rate at about 60% to 75% of maximum. If you can't carry on a conversation, you're working too hard (In general). Muscle weighs more than fat, so don't be alarmed if you drop fat and gain weight. Muscle also burns more calories than fat, so as you add muscle, you are naturally increasing the calories you burn just sitting around. 8 glasses of water is a bit much. The old recommendation was 64 oz of fluid, which everyone took to mean you had to drink 8 glasses of 8oz of water. However, you also include the fluid that is in fruits, veggies, etc, as well. Easy rule of thumb. If your urine is yellow and stinky, you're dehydrated. If it's clear, you're doing ok. Weight training should be weights that you can do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps to start. This will help tone and build, without adding a huge amount of bulk. Start with multiple muscle, core exercises. (Squats, lunges, dumbbell presses, dumbbell flyes, things that involve more than one muscle group). To figure your max heart rate, take your age minus 220. So, if you are 20 years old, your theoretical maximum heart rate is 200. Aerobic exercise range would be 60-75%, or 120-150 beats per minute. As you start, it won't take much exercise to keep you in that range. As you start getting more and more fit, it will take more exercise to get into that range. Realize that you can have rock solid muscles, and be incredibly fit, and still have a lot of fat around the middle. It's the diet that will fix that. Many people think that all they have to do is exercise and it all goes away. Not so, you need to change both your diet and your exercise levels. Don't try to drastically change your diet in one day. You will most likely fail, unless you have an incredible amount of iron will. Change gradually over a month or two, factor in "cheat" days or "cheat" meals, otherwise one day you will binge on bag of potato chips, can of jalapeno cheese dip, three sodas and a big mac meal. (I think I just described Saturday's dinner ) Hopefully that helps a bit. Aodhan

That would make sense, however how come this had never happened before with the worse and more painful encounters? I dont think an X-ray is required though, I dont feel any pain and I can run and all that. Thanks Not so much pain, but very possibly a nerve strike. I had a schwannoma (The covering of a nerve cell is called a schwan cell, a schwannoma is where it swells and forms a funky nodule) on my elbow that I had to have removed. Whenever I hit it by accident, I had the same feelings. Nausea, cold sweat, dizzy. Once I hit it while driving (reaching for my seat belt), and had to pull over for about 10 minutes. Not to be indelicate, but it was like have a sensitive portion of the male anatomy on my elbow. I'd suspect it was just a bad timing, strike on a nerve or nerve junction. Aodhan

Since everyone loves to knock the ATA, just wanted to point out that one of the competitors on TUF 3 is an ATA 4th degree. Obviously he has other training, but he is a 4th degree co-school owner in ATA TKD. (Danny Abaddi). AFAIK, he is still on the show, I didn't catch the last episode. Aodhan

If they can ever get them sensitive enough without being overly so. How do you tell the difference between a hard punch and a hand that blocks but gets shoved into the hogu? I think the best thing is the way boxing is starting to go. More judges, and for it to be a point, a majority of the judges must push their "point" button within a certain time after the attack. Aodhan

Awards picnics, bowling nights, we've even gone to the local rock climbing gym. What you'll notice, though, is that unless their kid is up for an award, or they already come to everything the school does, a small percentage will actually show up. Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it though. Aodhan. P.S. Oh, and "fair" type events, especially with a water balloon fight where the kids get to pelt the instructors and each other. They love that.

Excellently put, DCMS. Coming back at them can only escalate. Say you do catch him and "beat him down". Then he gets 3 or 4 of his friends together and comes back at you again. That escalation cycle only ends when one of you is crippled or dead. Aodhan

Not to be cynical, but of course he did. If he tells you anything else, then he doesn't get to do his alignment and charge his fee. Any good massage might have taken away the pain. What it sounds like is that you have damaged either the trapezius muscle, or the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Both of these will produce pain and limited range of motion when rotating the head. Strains can take anywhere from 2 days to 8 weeks to heal, depending on factors such as your own healing rate, treatment, and activity level. I would not do anything in your BJJ classes that puts strain on your neck in any way, and possibly take a couple weeks completely off from BJJ. If it continues to hurt for a prolonged period, then see a sports orthopod since you may have torn something loose as well. Aodhan

Static stretching can cause harm if done without a proper warmup, true, but that does not mean they are no good. Your advice is good, though. Dynamic stretching before workouts, static stretching after. Aodhan

Depends on the person, really. I personally can't eat within a couple hours before a workout. The physiological response of the body to a workout is to take blood from the core, and send it more towards the periphery to aid in cooling. Also, the digestive system slows down, as the rest of the body is taking away the energy needed for digestion. And, the stomach tends to shrink in size. So, if you have a huge meal, your stomach shrinks during the workout, well, the food has to go somewhere. But, I also know some people that can scarf two big macs, couple fries, shake and pie, and go for a two hour run. Everyone is different, just experiment and find what works for you. Aodhan

But he said he wanted to look good. That would be body-builder type goals. 3 sets of 8-12 is usual for hypertrophy (building muscles). Rest 60-90 seconds between sets. You should be just able to get the last rep of the last set done. Eww, I don't want to look like those body builders, just in good shape. Thanks for all your help guys. You won't. Competitive bodybuilders are in the gym 4-7 hours a day, and eating up to 10,000 calories a day depending on where they are in their yearly cycle. 3 sets of 8-12 will give you mild bulking effects. The higher weight and less reps you do, the more you will build bulk. The lower the weight, and higher reps, you will start de-emphasizing bulk and emphasizing endurance. Middle ground is best for most MA's. Additionally, what they said is correct. Bodybuilding is an isolation type of training. Compound movements (squats, etc) are best. Also, for all your presses, use dumbbells. That way you incorporate a whole host of muscles to stabilize the weight as you do it, rather than relying on the bar to do it for you. Pullups can be done for biceps or lats depending on how you turn your hands. Dips for tricpes/chest, dumbbell flyes, squats, lunges, clean and jerk, shrugs, situps, back extensions. Those basic exercises should give you a nice overall workout, give you some of the shape you are working for, and build core strength nicely. Aodhan

The muscles that get the tightest on the average sedentary person are the hamstrings (Back of the legs) and the lower back muscles, and the abdominals get out of tone. Pretty much any of the hip flexors/extensors (quads and hamstrings) are going to be your biggest challenge as far as kick height and reach. Interestingly, it is often weak abdominal muscles that cause lower back pain. The abdominals don't do enough to support the torso, the lower back tries to make up for it, and wala! low back pain. Always train opposing muscles to stay in balance. Aodhan

You should do a search, this is a subject that comes up once every couple weeks. Aodhan