Zaine

A lot of questions! I so rarely meet another MSSR person! Unfortunately, I never got the chance to learn Chinto or Hakatsuru. My instructor kept Chinto behind Shodan and didn't know Hakatsuru (I'm also not entirely sure that he was well versed in Chinto. He kept putting off teaching me despite my constant asking). I made shodan but then moved away for school about 6 months afterwards. By the time I got back he was no longer teaching and had moved away himself. As you may know, MSSR isn't super easy to find, so I haven't had the chance to continue my training in my home system. I might just have to travel. Oddly enough, he did end up moving not a small amount of katas around towards the end of my time with him, but the overtly crane stuff wasn't part of it. I have found that it is nearly impossible to find the katas as we do them online. A lot of Shorinji, Goju, and other branches but no MSSR stuff. I know that MSSR people can be a little secretive, and that attitude gets passed down a little through the ages, but I would love to see some good uploads on YouTube. My lineage goes Soken>Kise>Coffman>Gagne>Pinder (my teacher). We learned the katas in the line that my teacher did so we started with the Pinans and Nihanchi came around 6th kyu.

So I can speak for Asian tea culture itself, but I can say that I will often drink green and jasmine teas on an empty stomach. Black teas are a little too strong for me to drink on an empty stomach, however. Tea culture in general is incredible, and if your interested to learn more you should definitely go to your local library and ask a librarian to help you with information. Finally, if you're worried about where the tea comes from and the soil content, then you should try to buy from local or regional growers. There are a lot of "specialty" growers and it might behoove you to check them out.

I came here on 8/31/2005, my mother's birthday. I was 15, stupid, and roughly 2 1/2 - 3 years into my MA journey. I sometimes look back at the posts and cringe. Having reminders of the kind of person I was a teenager is rough. I remember a lot of posts being removed because I was an edgy boy trying to be dominate. I've mellowed out a lot since then. At 30, it's hard to imagine the kid that joined KF, but I'm glad that he did. The things that I remember the most are learning about stretching and health from the pages of this forum. I remember being asked to be part of the mod team, which was and remains a huge honor. I remember having to give it up to focus on school and be successful, which was harrowing. Throughout that time, the biggest impact on me was the supportive environment that Patrick and the mod team tirelessly creates. A lot of what I remember is how supportive people are here, even at a disagreement. The people here are committed to creating a good dialogue. I'll always be grateful.

Leg day! Squats: 3 sets of 6 (90lbs) Leg press: 3 sets of 15 (90lbs) Hack squat (the worst): 3 sets of 8 (90lbs) Leg lifts: 100 (40 lbs) Deadlift: 3 sets of 8 (90 lbs) Leg curls: 100 (40 lbs) Calf raises: 3 sets of 10 (120 lbs) Calf raises round 2: 100 (40 lbs) 30 minutes on a stationary bike. Tuesdays are a day for sweat. Nothing gets my heart racing like doing legs. It feels great though, even if hack squats kick my teeth in every time. No MA training today. I haven't had a school since the pandemic started so I've just been focusing on strength training.

I think your best bet is to call your doctor with any questions. It's tricky for anyone here to give medical advise and, legally, a minefield. Give you doctor a call and have them talk you through it.

I think that 40mm matts are probably the best way to go. That said, jumping shouldn't hurt one way or the other. It might be worth your time to take a look at your technique or even see a physical therapist/chiropractor to give you a consult.

Welcome to KF! This answer has changed so much for me over the years, but when it comes down to it Naihanchi Shodan, Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu is my tops. It was the first one that I learned that made the reasons we do kata click for me.

I did a lot of this while in college and felt embarrassed to go outside and do it. I have less shame now and realize that no one really cares in the long run so I go to the park. What I ended up doing was making it an exercise on how do do kata in place. How can I improve my footwork in a single space? How can I use my space as efficiently as possible? When I ended up being able to return to a dojo it definitely helped in sparing.

A KF meet up would be awesome! Unfortunately, Okinawa is a no go, but if there was one in the American South of Midwest then there is a good chance that I would be able to make it. Something to think about for the future.

100% agree with Shorty. Karate is awesome, but not worth being treated poorly to learn. Find another place that treats their students better. We may forget it sometimes, but you're a paying customer. You have a right to get good service.

You make a good point. I don't know the data on this (and I'm at work so I can't look it up at the moment) but I wonder how different we are evolutionarily from proto, and even early, humans. Our evolutionary tract definitely plays into it. Once we started living, and fighting, differently, we grew out of more "hardened" traits.

Congrats! Well deserved!

This would be my suggestion as well. I don't know of any boots like the ones you are describing. However, is there a reason you don't wish for people to see you in safety gear? Safety is more important than fashion.

Sounds like a bad ego-trip to me. Moreover, it feels like an overcompensation. Perhaps this person was overly rough with his students, and his justification of this behavior is that his techniques are "too deadly" for the common lay-person. He started losing students and this is how he comforts himself.

My first school put out exactly one shirt and, being that my family had been with the school since it had opened, I got one for free. It was a nice shirt, but I only ever wore it to class. I know a few people who wear MA shirts outside of class, and that's fine for them but I choose not to. Like Sensei8 mentioned, I find no reason to advertise it. MA is something that I do for me, not everyone else. Otherwise, on the days where I don't have to dress for work, I tend to wear Ts that have my favorite nerdy franchise over them.

Happy birthday KF! KarateForums is now the same age that I was when I hit 1st dan! It certainly doesn't seem like it has been that long.

HEMA is becoming more common, though! If you like it, I suggest checking out a meet up site. It seems to be pretty common to advertise HEMA on these sites. I do wish it was more widespread. It's some of the most fun you can have doing martial arts.

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you. As a fellow graduate school student good luck! How close to being done are you?

Here's a different perspective: you don't owe you old sensei an explanation. If it's easier for you to just leave, then that's fine. You're allowed to do so. If, however, it would cause you angst to not inform the old school, then do so. You don't have to do so face-to-face. An email will suffice. Don't assume that time spent makes you beholden to something. You're allowed to change your mind.

I think we need to ask "What part is mental?" The phrase, as you mentioned, is so pervasive throughout MA culture that it is one of those things that we accept without too much thought. It makes sense at the "gut check" level. We hear it and think "yeah, that checks out." But what about it checks out? I think this is what you're leading us towards in this conversation (I could be wrong). Let me add on to this then: What part is mental? I don't think we can say it's the actual fighting part. We train very hard to make that muscle memory and instinctual. Instinct is not mental it's reactional. Is it the ability to let go of the fear and let this training take over? Is it the part of our brains that lets us choose "fight" when we have to?

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

Never happened to me. If I were an instructor, I would likely sit down with the student and talk it out. These kind of things happen when there is a breakdown of communication. Re-establish that communication, and try to resolve the situation that way would be my course of action. If it can't be resolved, then maybe it is time for the student to find another school.

Congrats Danielle. It has been amazing working with you.

Congrats! Well deserved!

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