Ai Hate

http://www.itkf.org/about_tk.asp about pulling your punches back, one use is in case you can't win the opponent in that just one blow, would you want your arms sticking there for the opponent to grab hold of it? and practicing drawing your punches/kicks back is also meant to promote control. you should be able to control your movement/attacks so the damage you do to the opponent would be in control. so if in a real fight you can't control your punches to hit your opponent in full contact, you have failed the training. if you cannot pull your kicks back in time when he's trying to grab it, you have failed your training also.

sth like that. "han" means half. so it means "half the length of a normal zenkutsu dachi". i think another name is "motodachi"? not sure though

lmao.. what a conclusion

the master of gojuryu here is at least 60+ and is still as hard as a bull.. i completely agree with chh about "controlling your breath" is not "restricting" it. so the point is, do it properly and it shouldn't be a problem

i just got this video that shows Saifa and Seipai performed by Rouki Abe. so that's what a kata is supposed to be like.. seeing a kata performed that well makes me appreciate it more i haven't seen Seisan performed up close at all, but i'm really interested in it since it has lots of nasty techniques

i find the katas in karate simply amazing. and i also like the various hand techniques (though i probably won't use them all, it's still fun to learn)

i have to agree that i too prefer puppets over CG. but the CG in the movies nowadays are not that lame either. sometimes, you can't even tell the difference (despite the fact that you KNOW it has to be CG). the downside of puppets is that the animation is not so realitic. robotics still has a long way to go. as for CG, my only complaint is not on the CG, but on the actors that have to act with CGs. sometimes it's just not as good.. fortunately, YODA is still a puppet

i've yet to finish the 900 page miyamoto musashi. i've already read a "compact" version of it in thai (about 400 pages). it's amazing how much detail was left out in that "compact ver.".. man.. i wish i knew japanese so i could read the full jap ver.! another book is "How to program C++" by deitel & deitel.. tis givin me a headache.. and some other text books.. how i love thee.. hoping that when i finish musashi, i could start "Taiko". it's supposed to be a book bout wars and stuff.. interesting.. and comics and magazines

fav is probably seinchin. but i also favor seipai for its strength. i have yet to see higher gojuryu katas like suparanpei, kururunfa or seisan (and others i've never heard of, if there is any) of course, i can't do any of these.. YET!!!

training kicks is a good way to strengthen your legs and balance.. important stuff.. an easier way: train and focus on punches on your own

seems like different books tell different stories?

he doesn't seem to.. but he sure needs some rest, IMO.. ;D

from what i read, mas oyama fought 52 bulls in his life time. killing 3. it's said he stopped because some heal the world org asked him to (killing bulls is not the nicest thing to do, you know). i've also read that he was going to fight a bear, but didn't due to funding problems..

96!!! i'm in a bad shape..

what a coincidence.. i'm having my test on the 18th too it just happens that my overall health is going down down down.. food poisoning, heaaches, fevers.. good luck, monkey girl. but with all those years of training, you probably won't need it

AFAIC, any high kick, expecially sokuto joudan

so does gojuryu karate have these grappling moves? i haven't got the chance to see a kata higher than seipai fully performed yet, so i'm not sure.. does other karate styles have grapplings as in shotokan?

duh.. interesting. i may have some search on this.

concur

now that's one reason. yeah, the day we white belts ran through our first kata and my sensei turned to me and said i was "ok", then turned and started correcting some others was a real about kata, i agree with SaiFightMS. nit pick everything and "fluidity" is very important. probably the hardest since it'll come after you've got everything right. other things are such as focus, concentration and imagination (that you're really in a middle of a fight). and always know what this technique does, as it will make you undestand the kata more. $.02

no, you can't do that in MT. except you don't do any sparring at all. as in karate, i believe that it depends on the school. if the school goes full contact, then it won't be any safer. make sure you find a school that uses headguards (the ones that covers the whole head). good luck.

a very touching story, yoda. i'm gonna mail this one to my friends.

hmm.. i could be wrong here, but does karate actually have takedowns like BJJ? i mean, AFAIK, karate is a striking art, with some locks and low throws (not over the shoulder ones as in judo). so i would assume that street karate, or lets just say true karate would use its striking techniques. various punches and kicks, haito, nukite, ishigate, etc. a powerful haito rammed into the temples or a nukite to the neck would be enough to get anyone down in 1 blow. not to mention the kingeri (a kick to between the legs..ooh). apologies if my information is wrong.

depends on the dojo you train in, i suppose. sports karate is quite safe (with the headguard and gloves). but if you want to focus mainly on sparring, muaythai or some kind of kickboxing is probably the way to go, i've heard. why, a dojo around here wouldn't even let you join if you're not planning to be a professional boxer! anyway, would you prefer striking or grappling?

my 2 cents on this point: who would want to study MA nowadays if they can't even feed themselves properly! if you really want to compare, japan and america would be a better pair than america and the philippines or thailand. but then again, certain MA in japan (say karate, judo, kendo, sumo) are so popular that your point wouldn't be valid.