Zaine

My first school went through different phases. We never used the WKF gloves, but something in between those and boxing gloves. We eventually transitioned into MMA gloves that were more padded than competition MMA gloves. This was during the 2000s when MMA and UFC were having a big boom. Eventually, we incorporated Kyokushin style fighting into our curriculum and sometime eschewed gloves altogether.

Well I do now.

This is a good point. Psychologically speaking, this is really sound theory. It's why we suggest that you change out of a work uniform/clothes when you get home if you're having trouble de-stressing at the end of the day after a shift. The act of putting on the gi can help you get into the right mindset for doing martial arts because you associate those clothes with doing martial arts.

Tennis definitely comes to mind with this point.

Create a routine of practice. When you're on your own with training, it's easy to put training aside for other things. Going to a dojo is really good motivation for practicing on your own, and when that is removed from the equation, it's easy to let it go to the side. Make solo training a habit. Put it on your calendar. Create alarms around it to remind you. Set a schedule. If you went to the dojo Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (for example), then train for an hour on those days at the time you would usually go.

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

Toyama Kanken The Heritage of Shotokan by Christian Bellina

I've only been to one gasshuku. I had a lot of fun doing it. I love camping and I love martial arts. I was invited by my sensei at the time because he was teaching the attendees of the gasshuku our version of Passai Sho. My best friend and I were there to be of assistance to him and help teach the other attendees. Later, we assisted our sensei with a concrete slab break he was doing while the slabs were on fire. Otherwise, I didn't attend any other class, and I don't really remember whether there were any other classes. I know they did a morning jog on day 2 that I woke up too late for, but otherwise my friend and I spent the time chatting up other instructors, helping cook the meals, and enjoying the camping part. In this, I guess I can only say that I wish more classes were made available to us, or that we had taken the opportunity to go to more classes. Looking back, I don't remember them advertising the classes with a general announcement of "x class is starting in 15 minutes" or the like. They also didn't have a posted schedule for us to follow, and that would have been nice as well.

Congrats!

When driving, my wife tells me to take a John or a Theo, depending on which way we need to turn.

It's perfect!

It's here! I was periodically checking in on your updates, excited for the end result. I'm happy to have helped test this site, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this community which I love so much.

I did 23 and Me and I was satisfied with the results. I'm not a scientist, so I don't have the knowledge necessary to check their work on a level that can confirm their percentages. What I can say is that, based on my own genealogical research, it matched up pretty well with what I thought. My wife was a little surprised by some of her results, but they matched after doing some digging into her genealogical history. The numbers themselves get pretty specific. When it came to "Broadly Northwestern European" it gave me a 9.5%. It also gave me 0.5% Finnish, so it gets as specific as it will allow. Furthermore, the specifics of region are there for the larger numbers. For my 21.1% French and German, it gave me the regions that my ancestors were from. If you're thinking about doing it, I can definitely recommend 23 and Me. There are other features, as well, such as linking you with other blood relatives and things that you're disposed to genetically.

I've recently been watching a lot of kata video from various competitions. Something that I have noticed is the difference of length of the kiai in Okinawan/Japanese martial arts (Shotokan, Goju Ryu, etc.) and Korean martial arts (TKD, Tang Soo Do, etc.). Okinawan/Japanese styles tend to draw out their kiai, whereas Korean styles keep it short. For the Okinawan/Japanese styles, I can attest to being taught to draw it out a little. My sensei preferred deep, guttural kiai that came from the diaphragm. The Korean poomsae I have seen seem to prefer short kiai from the throat. Can anyone help fill in my lack of knowledge?

The Reckoning of Roku by Randy Ribay

Nice! I have all the English volumes of Berserk and am excitedly awaiting Vol. 42.

Group training is a great idea! Having peers to motivate you is an awesome way to stick with it.

I wasn't aware that you are a manga reader? What other manga are you currently reading, Patrick?

that sounds intriguing! Myself i have constantly toyed with the ides of learning Japanese - mainly because i visited it before and loved it but noticed how little English people spoke there. My son loves Anime etc and would be great to take the family there on holiday but would be much better if at least one of us spoke some of the language! The Shihan of the Shobayashi school I was in was a fluent speaker and lived there for a time. It was interesting to hear her linguistic perspective on the different words we used.

The Study of Karate & Miscellaneous Thoughts on Martial Arts by Morinobu Itoman

I can definitely see stud earrings also being a problem. I have my ears gauged and wear silicon spacers so there's no risk of stabbing myself by getting hit in the head.

Interestingly, while I generally have a lack of motivation to do weight lifting, I am easily motivated to do work with hojo undo equipment such as the Chi Ishi and the like. I think that it's because I connect to the hojo undo work more directly to karate. I understand that doing squats with a weight rack can be easily traced to improvement in kicking power, but doing it with hojo undo equipment makes me feel like I'm improving my karate more, somehow.

All dojos that I have been a part of have required rings, bracelets, and watches to come off. If you have studs for earrings, those are fine. Anything dangling needs to be removed. More than a personal safety standpoint, I think this policy is also to protect the jewelry, which someone might have spent a lot of money on or have a sentimental attachment too. Rings make sense, as jams can be common in martial arts. Bracelets can be bents, dangling earrings can be ripped out accidentally during drills or sparring, watches can be broken, etc.

DarthPenguin has a lot of great tips here, and I don't think I could have said it better myself. However, I do want to offer another way of looking at this. Why do you have to lift weights? What is your goal in lifting weights? There are so many ways to work out and to get healthy. Is this to supplement your martial arts? Weights can certainly help, but it's not a requirement, there are other exercises that you can do! The best way to make exercise and self-improvement a habit is to find something that you enjoy doing. For me, that is riding a bike. I can easily motivate myself to ride a bike, but it's difficult to motivate myself to lift weights.

As someone who has both a Bachelor and Masters degree, I agree that it is comparable, if less expensive (but maybe only barely!). It's about the time and love that I put into it. I put a lot of time and love into my college degrees, sure, but I think that the love I have for martial arts is far greater. 23 years later, and I'm still trying to improve. It's a journey that (thankfully) will never be completed. Belief systems aside, if there is an afterlife, or a heaven, I hope that there are martial arts there.