cheeks

sport karate - focuses on competion techniques, semi contact sparring traditional wado ryu - focuses on katas, correct technique, and lots of rituals and philosophy (although only at higher levels...) it depends on what you do most often; kata or competions, as to which your club focuses on. and dont worry you can do both, we are a traditional club yet we are part of Sport England

know the rules... this is important , you need to know what is allowed, what isnt, amount of contact etc... and then practise fighting in that ruleset. and like ncole_91 said, you gotta practice regularly

remember, that you dont 'have' to teach him, if he doesnt show respect then get rid off him. just because he is autistic, doesnt mean he should be allowed to run riot and ruin your other students training. like sam said, all autistics have a problem with 'Theory of Mind' (the posh psychology term) there are also problems with the change of enviroment, if he has just started, then he will still be getting used to the dojo enviroment, and will take longer to adapt than others. in this respect the best thing you can do here is be consistant in the order you do things, and the way you teach. i wuold suggest repeating yourself over and over again, and getting his parents more involved in sorting out his behaviour and to help back you up

thats a point worth mentioning, in any other sport (football, athletics) you wont reach your full physical potential untill you late 20s thanks for the info, it has been a great help.

2) Almost good advice, you can actually work the abs almost every day without adverse effects. Aodhan i didnt know that.....will have to take that into account..... which do you think are the best exercises, if you could only do one or two? at the moment i do full old style situps, and legraises. and i have heard that half sit ups are more efficient

only some?.........

and dont forget that your abs, they are your core muscles and any movement is done through them.

i couldnt work out what you meant by those knee press ups either, but if you are absolutely knackered once you are finnished then you must be doing some good... at home i do press ups, sit ups and squats, 100 of each 3 times a week, and i go to club 3 times a week. btw if you have only just started, then i may suggest slowing down and takeing your time to build up your strength. my routine that i do, i wouldnt have had a chance 2 years ago when i first started

lol thats a diferent way of looking at it..... i think you need to talk to them a bit more and find out about their ranking system, ie everyone may start at 1st dan and then move up....

boxers can be very good fighters, as they train hard and train full contact. if you get the chance to go in the ring against a boxer, then take it, you will learn a lot. and you are right there are several weaknesses of boxing, the main one being, there are no techniques allowed belw the belt, so boxers will have no defence against kickers but i would definately recomend doing some boxing, as long as you remeber how to kick....

congratulations, well done

those who are taller ( i envy you ) should work on keeping the correct distance and not letting the short opponant get close enough to you use the side kick to keep them away, and when you see them trying to move in, counter the attacks with a jab to the head (over their guard) you have the advantage because they have to get past your hands and feet first, before attacking you wheras you can pick the off from range

what an interesting post, could you give me anymore info about it? i suppose in a Martial Arts context, level 5 would be the period when you have your own style, keeping what works and what doesn't work i cant work out the difference between levels 4 and 6

i relish the hard beatings, it shows just how far i have to go, and i look forward to sparring my instructor

theres not much more to add here, if you are training with someone who has mastered their respective style then they deserve respect. but please do not get carried away...

this could be a range of things raning from achilies tendonitus (inflamation of the achilies tendon) to a stress fracture in your heel. either way see a doctor or sports physician straight away

it is the same as any exercise, the more you use it, the better it gets. hence when you go running your heart and lungs get better and more efficient at taking in oxygen and putting it into the blood stream

i am curently learning Pinan yodan and pinan godan for blue belt. i hate pinan yodan, but love pinan godan

5th kyu in wado ryu, going for 4th kyu in 2 weeks time 1st kyu in Lau Gar Kung Fu

any exercise has the potential to cause injury.... as this is using your neck, you should take things slowly.

doesn't tang soo do mean "the way of the chinese hand?"yep, just like karate also means chinese hand

congrats on your first tournement (who cares if you lose) and well done for having the guts to enter, there a couple of brown belts at my club who run a mile if you mention competitons. hopefully now your sensei will identify a weakness so that you can practise and improve before the next one. and good luck to Hogosha for your competition... as for me i lost my first competion 6-0 and 9-0 and yet last year i won 6-5, so if i can do it, anyone can

the iron rings are used for conditioning and for endurance training. eg stand in a low horse stance, hold your arms out to each side, put a ring on each arm and see how long you can hold it....

you see i didnt understand this at first, so i found a lot of the threads you were refering to... this would not have crossed my mind, in my opinion if you are going to a new school then you should start over, i would never have thought to do other wise. you should not be scared of learning, and of being a beginer, if you ego doesn't allow this then you have no place in the Martial Arts

i think there can be such a thing as too many katas my karate has over 10 as far as i know. my kung fu has only 6 empty handed and 3 weapons. wing chun has 3 empty handed and 3 weapons. i think that as long as you are still being taught the techniques behind the kata, then this is not too much of a problem, however if you start collecting katas then its a worry