Aodhan

I wouldn't pay too much attention to BMI scales, most are not even close for athletic builds. Your biceps are almost nonexistent because they get very little use (comparitively) in MA. Your biceps are designed to bring your lower arm to your upper arm. You use it some when you pull back your arm from a punch, some when you do elbow strike techniques. Triceps and chest get much more use. As far as your abs, that may be genetics. You certainly don't have bodyfat covering them. The abdominals are a sheet of muscle that run from your ribcage down to your pelvic area, and their function is to curl the torso forward. (Obliques are responsible for rotating side to side.) What causes the "six pack" effect is the muscle bulging out around the connective tissue that helps hold them. If your two pack is in the upper area, work the lower abs, and vice versa. There are tons of different exercises, depending on what your goals are. Do you just want more mass? Mass and speed? Speed? Strength? I'd suggest sitting down and writing out your exact goals such as "I want to increase my biceps by 2 inches, get a 6 pack, increase strength by x%", etc. Then you can design a program around those goals. And yes, training with a partner can be very helpful. Someone there to spot and encourage, and someone that also will get your butt in the gym when you might not be feeling like it. If you have more specific questions, just let us know. Aodhan

Not sure what you mean by dbz, but there are very few young children that want to make fighting a career (Other than the momentary attention span a child has for any career). By only training people that want to fight for a living, you are giving yourself a very narrow student base, and doing a disservice to MA in general. Everyone that trains does so for different reasons. There are a some that want to tournament spar, others that want to break things (including people!), some that just want fitness. Train them all, and the ones that want the harder training will attend the extra classes and/or seek out the extra training. Make it available but not required, and you'll have a much happier student roster. Aodhan

That's pretty much it. For whatever reason, just a group of friends training soon devolves into a bunch of friends whacking on each other willy nilly. If they really want to train, have them come to the school. The sense of formality alone is worth it. Aodhan

I agree, it's better to have a doc check it out. Could be any number of things, ranging from a nerve to a cracked rib to a bruised sternum. Where in the chest were you hit? Aodhan

Very true! And it's a harder workout because the ground shifts away as you push off. Running on sand really makes your butt drag after a very short time. Aodhan

Basically, it's a method of transferring horizontal momentum to upward momentum. If you've ever seen a gymnast doing their run to gain momentum then hitting the vault or similar, that is blocking. Same when a b-ball player goes up for a dunk, or a high jumper goes up. It's kind of hard to describe verbally, but I'll give it a shot. What most people do, is they get a run, jump with one or two feet, then try to jump up. The first landing before the leap kills most of your forward momentum, and doesn't allow it to transfer. Instead of that last "hop", plant one foot directly out of the run, bend your leg slightly, and drive the other knee straight up and leap off the plant foot. (Almost like a run into a jump front kick). As you dip down on your plant foot slightly and drive the other leg up, your forward motion is being redirected upwards along with your leap and push. High jumpers demonstrate it well, and if you've ever seen a gymnast do a back handspring into a back flip, watch how they "snap" their feet straight down and then spring straight up. How much you block depends on how high or forward you want to go. Long jumpers block just enough to get airborne. High jumpers block completely. Gymnasts and b-ballers do it in varying degrees. Like I said, it's really hard to describe verbally. The best thing I can say is to either go to a gymnastics school and have the instructor work with you on it, or watch a lot of video of gymnasts, high jumpers, etc. and watch how they plant and leap. I can 99.99999999% guarantee you won't see them taking a "hop" step into their leap, they go into it right off the runup. Aodhan

I'd enter K-1 first, and then UFC, and at this time I might do all right in my weight division at the K-1, and probably get clobbered in UFC. I don't have a lot of grappling/groundfighting skills yet, and that seems to be the predominant winning strategy in the UFC. Aodhan

Man, I gotta keep up with my older posts. I finally resent it, and I'm from Phoenix, Arizona in the US. Aodhan

Can you give us the differences? I looked as hard as I could on the internet and couldn't find any reference sites that had "Do hap sool", other than one or two people that claimed mastery in it. Hap do sool I could find. And, doesn't the name translate the same? Kind of like calling tae kwon do, do tae kwan? Aodhan

Ah, sorry, I hadn't seen this question despite the thread bump. No, the way it works in the ATA is when you get to 6th degree, you are ELIGIBLE for the title of Master the next year. There is basically a year long prep after you pass your 6th degree testing before you can test for Mastership. So, it's 5 years between 5th and 6th (Minimum plus other considerations), and if you pass, then it's another year before you can test for Master, but you are still a sixth degree. It's I believe a minimum of 6 years between 6th and 7th, plus other considerations. Aodhan my school is backed by WMF (world martial arts foundation) and my master is 5th dan and he is officially a master and certified by kuki wan(the WMF headquarters in korea.You are in a different system. Different rules apply. Aodhan

I had a slightly different explanation for soft and hard arts. "Soft" arts were explained to me as arts that use open hands and not fists (Primarily). So, Tai Chi, a lot of Kung Fu, aikido would all be soft arts. Karate, TKD, SBD, TSD, etc would all be hard arts. Every art should teach the internal qi (ki, chi, however you spell it) aspects, and again, some will emphasize it more than others. Aodhan

I'd agree with the hip movement being a physical force, since there is a visible movement to it. If there is no movement and it is simply a misnamed abdominal technique, then I could see it being labeled as internal. Same with breathing. I can sometimes tell when an attack is coming in sparring, as the person will take a deep breath right before. However, a lot of people I know breathe without really moving their chest, and tightenting the abs/diaphragm right at the time of the technique is definitely an internal type thing. I would agree also that all three aspects combine, and without one, the other two will fall (Like a triangle.) As someone pointed out, you can punch, but without the mental thought that you need to hit it as hard as you can, and the spiritual conviction that it is necessary at that time and place, you will not have as effective a punch. Aodhan

1) It varies depending on the company. You need to look for a company that specializes in business insurance, not the typical state farm guy. 2) It varies 3) I would do two things as an owner. 1- Incorporate. This way, if everything goes south, they cannot attach your personal assets, only the assets of the studio. 2- Get the insurance. It's cheap peace of mind. 4) It is required some places, and it is both good business and customer care. (Although I wouldn't advertise the insurance, you'll get some wiseass that gets hurt just to sue.) 5) It would depend on your contract. Some businesses that hire instructors (Such as gyms, etc) will probably cover at least a minimum in insurance due to the nature of their business. I would check, and if they don't, or if it is minimal I would supplement it. I will always have insurance. My uncle owned a gas station in Wisconsin, got in money trouble, dropped his health insurance, and later had an accident that paralyzed him. He lost everything. Insurance is cheap peace of mind. Aodhan

Yes. There are myriad things they can do around the dojang to help out and "earn" their keep. Sweep the floor, help pick up, take out trash, answer phones. It not only keeps them training, but also can make them feel even more a part of the dojang. Aodhan

There's actually more studies than one, that prove running barefoot is better. However, most of these studies are conducted on a natural surface, such as a field, trail, what have you. Part of the problem in most urban areas, is that there are not very many natural places to run that are safe for the feet. Pavement, asphalt, broken glass, other man left trash, etc. make even nice running trails unsuitable for bare feet. I ran cross country for a long time (almost 8 years), and I never had shin splints, or other common running maladies. I also went to a good running store and had them look at my stride, foot plant and gait, and recommend a type of shoe. I am an extreme pronator with very little arch in my foot. I got shoes for it, and never had a bit of trouble. Aodhan

I'll second the plyometrics. Also, realize that it is your calf muscles that provide a majority of the height in a leap, since they flex the foot. If you are doing it from a running or moving start, then you need to learn "blocking", or how to transition your forward momentum to upward momentum. Most people that haven't learned this lose all their forward momentum when they leap from a moving start. Aodhan

Actually, I would recommend gymnastics as a great place to start. You will get a good grounding in the basics, and get a really good feel for how to control your body in different aerial positions. Then you can adapt it into your MA training. Also, work on your flexibility. The more flexible you are, the easier it will come. If you have a wushu instructor near you, they can help you, or find a decent TKD school that has XMA incorporated. XMA is a training adjunct to any MA put out by Mike Chat, and has a lot of the "stunts" and trick kicks you are looking for. Aodhan

We are not "dis" ing on people with skill. We are asking for bona fides in a situation that seems a bit odd to most of us. What we question are claims of things that seem outside of the norm to us, like a 3 hour grading for a 4 year old orange belt. Aodhan

Currently I am pretty decent at both, but I am definitely slightly better at forms. There is a precision in forms that appeals to me innately, and I enjoy "showing off" when I do my poomse. Aodhan

You're combining two disparate things. Breathing would be an internal type of thing, (Although it could be considered a physical), and hip movement would definitely be considered a physical aspect. Aodhan

As someone already suggested, swimming is good, but you need to make sure you don't use the ankle to kick with. If someone has a set of leg floats (Two styrofoam cylinders connected with straps), you can use those and just use your arms to swim with, the floats keep your legs up. Isn't too much else, everything else will put stress on the ankle in some form or another. Aodhan

How often do you change your shoes? if you are running 6 miles a day, you should be getting new running shoes (For running only, not running shoes that you wear all the time and to go running) about every 6 months. If you are a heavy runner (Hard footfalls, or heavier weight), then you may need to replace them more often. The foam padding breaks down surprisingly quickly, especially if you run a lot. That can also cause knee/shin pain. Also, the type of shoe matters, depending on if you pronate, supinate, etc. Go to a running store and be fitted if you haven't already. Aodhan

Both have their advantages, but in short workouts (hour or so), it doesn't make a huge difference whether you take water or gatorade. Where it starts mattering is in longer endurance events, upwards of a couple hours or more. This is where it starts to become more important to replace carbs and electrolytes (Potassium, sodium, etc). For regular workouts, water. For long endurance type things, gatorade. Aodhan

It probably pops on the fast kicks as well, but since it happens fast, you don't really notice it, or possibly your technique is slightly different on a fast kick. My guess is that you have a tendon that moves over the joint that is either not very flexible, or tracks slightly off. The pop you feel is it moving either over or back (I get the same thing). I'd look around for some hip stretching exercises such as frog stretches, etc. Also, do a good search for Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF), I used this concept to open up my hips and increase my side splits to within 6" on each side of full. Aodhan

It depends on where he is in his first style. I don't really recommend cross training in two arts that are dissimilar until you have achieved a fairly decent level of proficiency in your first art. Otherwise, you can confuse what you are trying to drill into your muscles and pattern recognition. Aodhan