Aodhan

Again, do not paint an entire art with the same brush. I am in TKD, and we are not "all about fancy kicks and speed". We teach basic groundfighting, joint locks/releases, weapons, "street" sparring as well as the tournament sparring, many things besides the basic kicks/strikes and forms/one steps. Aodhan

I wouldn't think that any permanent damage was caused. Things to look for are blood in the urine, pain while urinating, pain in the area that won't go away, things of that nature. I've been smacked in the same area with a teeter totter (seesaw for some of you) when I was about 8, and everything still functions. Aodhan

This was addressed. Creatine is known to need extra water when using to avoid dehydration. I've never heard of "muscles wrinkling" after stopping creatine useage (Even useage over extended periods). It is true that you will decrease slightly because your cells won't retain as much fluid, but not wrinkling. Are you citing a source, or do you have a reference for this? Aodhan

Protein shakes after workouts are great ways. Good protein, designed to be digested easily, and can be fairly calorie dense. Also, scoops of protein powder can be added to such things as oatmeal, juices, almost any mixed type food and you will never even taste it. Aodhan

As far as the weight loss, you need to figure out how much you burn in a day. There are lots of calculators on the web that will tell you (Approximately) how many calories you need in a day to just and breathe. Then you figure out how much you burn in exercise, work, etc. and you have your daily caloric needs. Also, you may notice a slight weight drop initially as you lose body fat, but if you add muscle, you will actually end up gaining weight. Be careful how much bodyfat you lose. Once you start getting below about 15-17%, you'll notice your chest will decrease in size, you may experience amenorrhea, things of that nature. turning your garage into a gym is a good goal, and you don't really need a lot of space initially. Again, just a good set of dumbbells and a good bench, and you can do a LOT of exercises. Aodhan

Depends on the weight. An object dropped from a certain height acquires an energy of motion (kinetic energy) equal to its weight times the height from which it was dropped. IIRC, in the movie, it looks like he drops it from about 20 feet up, so even if it only weighs 5 lbs, that is 100 foot/lbs hitting him in the stomach. That's enough to do some severe damage to the internal organs behind the abdominal wall, regardless of how much you can tighten your abs. Additionally, it is a very localized impact, which will increase the amount of force in that area. If you look at the people that hold concrete slabs on their chest and someone breaks them with a hammer, it's not as impressive as you might think. The slabs spread out the impact all along the torso, and it's usually about a 10-15 lb sledge, being swung in a 4 foot arc, which would be about 60 foot/lbs of force. You take a 15 lbs medicine ball and drop it on someone from 20 feet up, you're going to do some serious damage. Aodhan

Fun? Sounds like an incredibly easy way to break an ankle or a fibula. Aodhan

Get a bench and a set of adjustable dumbbells such as powerblocks. There are absolutely dozens of different exercises you can do with a good set of dumbbells. Aodhan

Ok, so we have beer, nachos, ribs beans. Of course, it's not really beer unless it's Guinness, Harps or similar. I'll bring blackberry pies. Aodhan

Creatine Monophosphate - It's a dietary supplement that helps with energy production/availability. I have a post discussing it in detail, just search my name in this forum and you'll find it. Aodhan

"Eeehhhhxcellent...Smithers, release the hounds..." Well done, Aefi!! Well done indeed! Aodhan

I can't each much the day of a tournament. I've never been able to eat before events, but baby food is basically almost predigested for an adult, so I get some of the beef ones, and I love the fruits. I used to love them before swim meets and triathlons. I don't care much for the strained peas and carrots, and those. Aodhan

I was once told that it was because of the force of the kicks in sparring. WTF is full-contact and a reason for lowering the guard is (supposedly) to prevent injuries, as there would be too much damage to the defenders arms if they tried to block. Instead of using their arms to avoid getting hit, WTF fighters are supposed to use their footwork to get out of the ay and not rely on blocking. I don't know how true that explanation is, but it's as good as any, I suppose. However, I train WTF and when we are sparring Olympic rules (in fact, generally when we are sparring, whatever the rules) SBN tells us all to keep our guard up. You get push-ups if you don't! More to do with what scores and what doesn't. Arms will very rarely score in Olympic sparring, so they don't waste the energy keeping them up. A technique needs to produce a "shock", or basically stop them in their tracks, so even if you have your arms up and block, it could be called a point or 1/2 point. Olympic sparring is based on avoidance and setting up leg techniques for the most part. However, almost every WTF school I've ever been in also teaches "street" sparring as well as tournament. Aodhan

Dinner the night before - steak and trimmings. Breakfast day of, very light. I'll take a couple jars of baby food as snacks. Aodhan

Perhaps, although you are discounting all the mental aspects of the training. Regardless, what does that have to do with creatine? Aodhan

Yeah, the likelihood of you being called on it is about the same as me making grandmaster next week. If you don't do stripes on the belt, you could do achievement awards of some kind, and x number of achievement awards gets the dobok/week. There's tons of different ways to do it. Aodhan

I'd do it somewhat differently, I'd give them the belts at the beginning of the week, and give them a goal to shoot for, and use stripes on the belt as "progress" markers. It makes kids really try harder when the one next to them has two stripes and they don't have any. (Of course, the flip side is that the kids feel left out if 20 kids get stripes and 2 don't ) You could do something along the lines of "every kid that earns 5 stripes" during the week gets a free dobok and week of lessons, then make sure that every kid gets at least 5 stripes by the end of the week. Another thing you can do that kids love is to hand out "good job" awards. We have 3" x 3" square colored papers with different sayings "Great attitude", "Excellent job", etc. When they get x number of papers, they can trade it in for lick and stick tattoos, or other similar low cost toys (Think skeeball tickets). Oh, and just an FYI, we hashed this over on another board when discussing "movie night" at the dojangh. Technically it is broadcasting a movie for a group for money, which could be considered illegal since you aren't a movie house. Group of friends come over to watch a movie? Great, private showing. Karate group that paid to be there for the fun, and you show a movie? Technically a no no. Aodhan

With some of the nationally governed systems, the national body charges the studio for testing. This covers producing certificates, keeping track of the history of the student, etc. Where it gets exorbitant is when the school owner doubles, triples or more the fee that goes to the national HQ. Holland, how many students do you have? A heavyweight shureido is about $200 US, and we generally have at least 3-5 people each testing. So that would be $600 to $1000 every two months, or $3600-$6000 per year. That's quite a chunk of change for some instructors to swallow. I've been thinking about giving swords (Non sharpenable display type) engraved with the students name and date of rank when I open my school. Wholesale you can pick them up for $30 or so, and will be something they will have forever. Aodhan

Nah, can be quite good. One of my favorites is to take a Boboli or similar crust, add onion, pancetta (italian style bacon), apple, gorgonzola and rosemary. MMmm.....I'm hungry just thinking about it. Aodhan

The time for extra hours is way past at this point. There is generally a training "flow" that I try to impart to my students. A few months from the tournament is the time to really start adding hours and extra work, building to a peak about 2-4 weeks out from the tournament. (Every person is different. I need about a 4 week taper). Then, start scaling back the hours, and work on honing and fine tuning individual segments of a form. Don't do your whole form very much, it doesn't gain you as much as section work. The last week, make sure you're resting well, doing light workouts to stay sharp, and make sure you eat optimally the last 2-3 weeks. I wouldn't do that much this week other than your normal routine, maybe slightly less, and go into your tournament rested and ready. Aodhan

Possibly, but it sounds like the pain is too low in the leg. Shin splints is a general term for any number of things that cause pain along the shin in the front of the leg, from just above the ankle to just below the knee. One of the most common is overuse/overtraining on hard surfaces or improper shoes, and causing inflammation in the connective tissues along the surface of the shin. Aodhan

In our school, testing is more of a demonstration of your MA technique and overall fitness. It publicly demonstrates your worthiness of the new rank to others. Nobody has ever failed a belt test in our school because you don't test unless you are absolutely ready. I like it this way. With respect, Sohan Then what is the point of the testing? I've seen people that were rock solid on everything, get to the test and fall apart. What happens at your dojo in that case? Aodhan

In Atlanta? Feed five people. :D Aodhan

I believe you are, in actuality, referring to a greatsword. Trust me - I'm writing a book. Yes, I am. However, to the layperson, you say "great sword" and they go whaa? You say broadsword and at least a few more people will know what you are talking about. Heh. I played D&D for years, and I also perform at Renaissance Faires. I see ALL the varieties coming through the gates at various festivals. Aodhan

Forget the figure. either one of two meals: 7 oz. bacon wrapped filet, asparagus in hollandaise sauce, rice pilaf with a lemon sorbet for dessert, or else Seared ahi tuna steak, either steamed broccoli or steamed spinach, roasted baby potatoes with sea salt and garlic, and chocolate mousse for dessert. Aodhan