Aodhan

True. See my post in this thread for a basic explanation http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=22205&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=10 Aodhan

If you avoid fats at all costs, how do you get enough fat soluble vitamins? Fat is the only way that those vitamins get into the body. Also, most reputable nutritionists are recommending 15-20% of calories from fat. (Good fats, obviously, such as olive oil, fish oil, etc.) Extremes of everything are unhealthy. Aodhan

Also, do a search on the web for PNF stretching. I use this a lot (I'm about 4 inches on each side from full side splits.) One technique I've used successfully is muscle tension. I'll get into my stretch, stretch for about 30-40 seconds, then slowly tighten my muscles in the area that I am stretching for 10-20 seconds. Then I'll let them relax, and I can usually go further into the stretch. Aodhan

That bites. What area are you in? I know a lot of ATA schools that have basically opened their doors to people wishing to train. The forms are different, but a lot of the techniques are the same. If you let me know where you ended up, I might be able to point you to a local school. Aodhan

Yep. I'm in a slightly unique situation, in that I am an assistant instructor (Soon to be fully certified! Woohoo!), and she is now a yellow belt. I've had her in a couple classes, and I treat her like any other student. I've had to correct her form on a few occasions, and as long as I don't single her out more than anyone else, it's good. The big thing to avoid will be always pairing up with her in partner drills, or smiling goofily at her when you are. Once you get past that, training together is easy. (At least, until you yell at her and have her do pushups for screwing up/around...that was an interesting evening later. ) Aodhan

If I get attacked by a dog, I'm going to give them my arm to chew on. It's very unlikely you will be able to avoid any injury, and rather than let them get to my neck, I'll stick out a forearm. If I have time enough, I'll wrap my shirt around it. Once they start chewing on the shirt/arm, I'll either try to blind them or crush their trachea, or similar disabling/killing technique. Aodhan

Get used to the environment. If you aren't used to the competition atmosphere, you pump adrenaline all over the place, mental function goes all to pot, and technique gets sloppy. If you practice correctly, once you get into that environment a few times and get used to the feeling, the correct technique will come back. Aodhan

RICE. Rest Ice (During 1st 24-36 hours following an injury) Compression (Wrap that sucker up!) Elevation (Good to get the wife to wait on you..hhehehehe) Aodhan

It depends on how "open" the tournament is. Generally even open tournaments will supply you with the scoring rules and the guidelines. As far as form, you should be able to do whatever form you feel most comfortable with that would be rank appropriate. If you don't feel right about it, ask your instructor. I have a feeling he would probably tell you the same thing... Aodhan

Sir: Sorry, I have been really busy lately getting ready for my instructor certification test. Mr. James teaches at a good school, I don't know his exact location, although I sent him an email. As I said, I have a lot of family there, and used to live there, so I am very familiar with the city. Let me know where you end up and I can point you towards a few good schools (And away from a couple really bad ones ) Aodhan

Not really. Eyes can be deceiving, a good sparrer will look left and move right, etc. I look generally around the stomach area. This is pretty close to the center of gravity for the body, and it is the hardest part of the body to fake with. Shoulders and chest can move one way while the leg attack comes from a different direction, or you can lean one way and move another. Also, as a couple have suggested, do not fixate. If you remember those op art things where if you focused wierdly, you saw a "3-d" picture in them that were the craze a few years ago? To "focus" on them, you had to actually focus a few feet "behind" the picture, so I tend to look through my opponent. It also has the advantage that they can't read your face as easily. Aodhan

Most martial arts are that way, to tell you the truth. Welcome to the boards! Aodhan

You can use any technique you want on the bag, the only thing I would suggest is that you not use full power when you do, until you know how the bag will feel/react. Once you get used to how it feels, how far it moves, etc. you can increase the power you are using. And yeah, most heavy bags have pretty rough covers, they will abrade your knuckles until you get the skin built up, either through scar tissue or calluses. Aodhan

It depends. There are many different styles of meditation, from simply breathing, to self hypnosis type things. Go to the library and you can find a bunch of books on different ways and methods for meditation. For me, it relaxes me and gets me back in tune with my body, especially if I've had a wierd day at work. Aodhan

Arthritis is a hereditary disease. Anything you do won't give you arthritis. If you DO get arthritis, then it can make it worse, but it won't give you arthritis in and of itself. Risks include dislocating/broken wrist, dislocated/broken fingers or knuckles, broken forearms, calluses/scar tissue buildup on the knuckles. Most of the above are due to misuse or mishitting the bag, or hitting a hard bag with a lot of force before your body and technique are used to it. Aodhan

Such waivers have been successfully challenged many times in the courts and defeated. Best advice is to talk with a lawyer. Maybe go to one of the more reputable boxing gyms in town and see how they set theirs up? Aodhan

Google is your friend. http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/executioners_from_shaolin.htm Aodhan

Okay, here's some things that you can do to help you get into the right frame of mind. Some of it is self actualization, with self hypnosis, visualization, whatever else you want to call it thrown in. 1) Forget about looking silly. Everyone looks silly. Ever seen a man all puffy and red faced struggling to get the bar up one more time? When you are in the situation, you are surrounded with people doing the same thing, and some of them will be in the same boat as you are. Now, if you're doing it in the middle of the mall on a saturday, ok, then yes, you look silly. 2) Find a training partner. Until you can make exercise a habit, you'll need some encouragement once in a while. Much like an AA or NA attender, you need someone to give you that "kick in the *" every once in a while. 3) Schedule time for workouts and stick to it. The average person works 40 hours a week and sleeps 40 hours a week. That leaves 88 hours for other stuff. You cannot tell me you don't have two or three of those 88 hours free for a workout. 4) You might not get into the same shape you were. You might get into better shape. I'm stronger and fitter now than I ever used to be, just in a different way (I used to run cross country and do triathlons in high school). I'm not as cardiovascularly fit, but I am stronger and quicker in a lot of other ways. 5) Realize that the only true change can come from within. You have to WANT to do it. When I'm struggling with that, I'll post little messages to myself on the mirror in the bathroom, on my computer monitor at work, things like that. Sometimes all I need is just a little reinforcement. Mostly, it's just a way of adjusting your thinking. I didn't finish college the first time around, and went back when I was 33 to a night college program. I remember thinking that it was something I really wanted to do, and I could either sit around and bitch about how it might not happen, and then I'd be 36 and still without a degree, or I could go and tough it out, and be 36 with a degree. I have my degree now. You can sit around and say "Oh, I'm out of shape and I don't have time", or you can find 2-3 hours a week to work out. You'll be surprised at how good it makes you feel. Then, in 3 years, you can be really fit and happy, or you can still be laying around griping that you don't have time. It's all up to you. Aodhan

What?? Do you have a reference for this? There isn't enough sodium in gatorade to make you thirstier relative to the sodium levels in body fluid. Aodhan

The weight training itself doesn't really burn body fat, that is true. However, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories it takes to maintain the muscles you already have, which is more than it takes to maintain fat stores. Not saying you have to be bulky as all get out, but a good solid base of muscle will burn more calories just sitting around than a solid base of fat storage. Aodhan

No martial arts style, the big thing for the Huns was the invention of the stirrup. This allowed a rider to not have to grab the mane to hold on, and thus freed up both hands. This allowed the Huns to shoot their bows from horseback, which was an incredible advantage. They rode around their enemies just shooting them with arrows. Aodhan

Most likely it is your hamstrings (The muscles along the back of the leg) being really tight. Do a google search for "Hamstring stretches" and you'll find a bajillion different stretches. One other possibility is that you have ligament damage from a previous injury to the knee, but since you don't mention it, it probably isn't likely. Aodhan

No, it couldn't be meniscus damage. The meniscus (both of them) are located in the knee, and if one was injured, there would be direct joint pain. Also, there would be no "popping" sensation. Aodhan

Personally, for your program I would switch a few things around. Unless you are doing all flye work for your chest, the primary movers in most bench press movements are the triceps. So, when you do chest and triceps, you are hitting the same muscle group on the same day. Same thing for back/biceps, a lot of the back exercises involve bending a straight arm, which is a biceps movement. It's less involved than the triceps is with a bench press, but it's still involved. I'd switch so you were doing chest/back on the same day, or possibly chest/biceps, and then either triceps/biceps or triceps/back on the second day. To the OP, if you want to gain mass and have limited time, lifts that involve more than one major muscle group are your best bet. Chest dips, squats, lunges, pullups, etc. all hit more than one major muscle group at the same time. Whichever you do, never forget your core muscles, which include your abs AND the back extensors. Training a lot of abs without training the lower back as well is just asking for an injury down the line. Aodhan

Just stuffing more food in your mouth may not do it, and may just end up making you fat, instead of good gains. I'm a hardgainer, and I found that it wasn't so much the food and the training, as it was my recovery time. I found that I do the best when I train a bodypart hard once a week, whereas most people do two or three times a week. Your best bet is to figure out your basal metabolism (How many calories you need to wake up and breathe all day), then add in everything for your normal daily activity. This is your basic caloric need per day. Once you know that, you can start working on ways to add calories (It doesn't take much, maybe 5-600 calories extra a day for pound of gain a week.) If that still doesn't work, then you need to look at the timing and type of training that you are doing. Your goal for weight gain of good solid muscle should be no more than 3-4 pounds a month. You may gain more in the beginning, but in general, 3-4 lbs a month is a good goal for either weight gain OR loss. Anything more/less than that is usually water or excess empty calories. Aodhan