Zaine

We use polypropylene blades. They won't maim anybody but I can attest to the fact that a nice conk on the head does not feel comfortable.

A lot of martial arts don't do pull-ups in class but that doesn't mean that they aren't super useful. Most pull-ups work the back and upper arm muscles. Both of which are important to martial arts (and all muscles are important to your body). Remember that you can generate power through the use of your back muscles as well as your core, your arms and many other muscles. I would suggest that during your warm ups for at home practicing you buy a pull-up bar and start working on it. Long story short, symmetry in your body is important for balance. Working out your pectoral and not your back is not a good idea. For the best result in your martial arts journey (and maintaining a healthy body) you should make sure that you work out your entire body.

Last night I was at my Schola class and I got the opportunity to have the whole class to myself. I always love it when that happens because the instructor tends to teach me some cool stuff that is a little ahead of the track. So, half way through a young man runs up and starts asking about a forma (kata) that we were doing. He noticed that the foot work was very similar to a Shotokan kata (I recognized the foot work from Pinan katas). The instructor had, in fact, taken the foot work from a Shotokan kata that his son does. The young man asked if he could join and he of course said yes. So as the instructor was going over some basics the young man started swinging the sword around and doing flips with it, which clearly made the instructor a little uncomfortable but he just backed up a couple of steps and continued talking (he went into how Fiore had a very grounded system). Eventually, the young man got bored and asked us for a friendly challenge. He went into how he loved martial arts and has done TKD, Shotokan and studied Kenjutsu. We declined, being that we had no safety gear and we weren't interested in sparring with swords without the gear. He seemed disappointed but politely walked away. So, what are your thoughts on someone coming in to your space (we were outside) and challenging you? Is there room for this sort of thing in the modern world or is walking up to a school and issuing a challenge a relic of the past? Your thoughts please!

There's nothing wrong with doing it as a favor. I totally understand. If he insists though, ask if he can just wave a month's fee for you. That way he can feel like he's paying for the work and you don't have to accept money from him.

What are the pre-dan ranks represented by as far as the belt they wear?

I've never heard of a pre-dan rank although the concept is interesting. I'm not sure I see the point other than to let the student that we are paying attention to them and plan to promote them. At the schools that I have been a part of the requirements for your pre-dan rank are the same as the requirements expected of a 1st kyu.

That's awesome! I couldn't do it though. I hope that sometime in my lifetime there will be a community on Mars that we could visit though. That would be awesome.

I've read that story a couple of times. Bullying and depression are important topics to me and this story really shows what one kind act can accomplish in the long run.

That's unfortunate. I've seen cities forcibly close down businesses before but fortunately they tend to take care of the relocation. I don't know if this is the car with Santa Ana but I certainly hope so.

That may be a part of it, but many fighters end up coming back because of their finances. With scarce income compared to when they were on top, many fighters end up spending their way into the poorhouse after their initial retirement. Boxers seem particularly prone to this: Joe Louis, Ray Robinson, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, all bankrupt. Many of them ended up back in the ring far past their prime because of it. Sadly this isn't present only in fighters. Too many athletes don't know how to manage their finances so when they no longer have income coming in the quickly go through it because they're still spending like they're going to get another 7 million soon.

It really depends on the judge. What I would look for is good technique, did the competitor stumble or forget anything and, if so, how did they recover. This is sparring that isn't interrupted to count points. So in points sparring, someone will score a point, say a kick to the abdomen, and the fight will stop, the points will be tallied and the fight will go on. In freestyle sparring, the points are tallied as the fight goes on. So instead of the fight ending when someone hits 3 points, the fight ends after a set amount of time. Practice. Every day for at least an hour you should devote yourself to practicing Martial Arts. I use this as a general rule regardless of whether or not someone is going to a tournament. Also, ask your instructor to give you some pointers before or after class. Do whatever your comfortable with. If you would like to do the higher level kata, put the practice in. If you think you have a better shot at winning with the one you're more proficient at, do that one. Again, talk to your instructor about it. Good luck at the tournament!

If you have the income for it, I would suggest getting a gi tailored to your body! It's crazy how comfortable it is to have this done. As for all of those extra gis you can donate them to your school so that they could use them for students who can't afford one.

In the first school I went we had to kiai during the basics (on 5 and 10). At first it felt silly but the repetition ingrained it in my head and the kiai became part of the routine. So there's a few suggestions I could give you. 1) If you do basics in your class try to kiai at certain points. 2) When you practice at home, kiai. 3) If you don't do it because it feels silly, remember that you're in a place where absolutely no one is going to judge you for the kiai. It may feel awkward at first, but don't worry. You're not doing the kiai for anyone but your teachers and yourself and if they expect it, then do it. Like others have said, (and this is probably the ONLY place I would make this argument) everyone else is doing it. 4) If you don't think your kiai is good enough, remember to use your diaphragm when you kiai. It will give you better projection and generate that 7% that Wastelander was talking about much more effectively.

Regrets are (unfortunately) inevitable. To err is human and all that. The trick is identifying those regrets and moving forward. Eventually they become motivations and obstacles to overcome.

Martial Arts definitely helped me through my depression, even though there was a time where I didn't want to go to classes because of it. Depression is terrible and it saps your will to do everything but luckily I had my mother, who was also in the class with me, to make me go. That being said, it's awesome that you've started up again and now that you know that it will help you will always have motivation to keep coming back.

For our BB tests, stopping during a kata is an automatic fail, so we were always told that if we lost our way to make something up and get back to center. Better to get a bad grade on one kata then to botch the whole test. Nice recovery. Same with my school. Part of the test was that we kept a level head under pressure. If we forgot something then just keep going.

What's the point of practicing self defense then if you are just going to lay down? My guess is that he had faith in his training. I think that a couple of things factor in to that. There is a difference between self defense and putting yourself in the line of fire. It didn't seem that the robber had any intention to kill the guy if he had simply handed over his iPod. In that case, it is a better to assess the situation to see if force is needed, which is something that instructors should be teaching. If the robber had threatened the man's life and the only way to live was to defend, then I would argue that you should risk your life to disarm the robber.

This is mine as well. It took me far too long to realize how much I actually cared about myself as a Martial Artist. Once I did though I feel that I quickly made up for lost time!

You've hit an interesting point I think. Throughout human history there has frequently been a gladiatorial stage on which spectators like to watch blood shed. If it isn't fighting with a sword and shield in a colosseum it's running a football down a field or (to make a less subtle comparison) two people in an octagon fighting each other. Regardless, it would seem that we crave this kind of show on some level.

Congrats!

Awesome video, thanks for sharing!

My favorite is still my Shodan test. During the kata test I was to perform a Nunchaku kata. The kata was simple enough, but I hated it (and so did my Sensei, which is why I probably didn't think it was as important to master). So I get through the first part and realize that I have absolutely no idea what is supposed to come next. So I improvised and finished up my kata. On the testing board there were a few visiting masters who complimented me on how good the kata looked and that they could see no fault in it, but they wanted to know what my instructor thought. My instructor furrowed his brow and simply asked "John, could you do that again?" I smiled and said "No sir, not if my life depended on it." He then related to the other members of the testing board that he wasn't sure what kata I had performed but that it certainly wasn't the one that he taught me. I ended up getting compliments on how well I did masking that fact and making something up off the cuff but I was super nervous about it in the moment.

Find a few people who want to learn and train with them while teaching for free again. It really helps to find a couple of people who are passionate about training and learning and spending time with those people. If that rekindles your love for MA then awesome! If it doesn't then maybe you're a little burned out and need a break, it happens to the best of us.

And if your gi doesn't shrink, or doesn't shrink enough, well, then get out the sewing kit and make it to your specifications. OR...send it back to the company you bought it from so that you can get a properly fitting gi. Nowadays, gi's are tailored for a many body types. In the days of old, gi's were in whole sizes, 1 - 6, so they either fit well or they just didn't. Tailored gis are nice! If you have the disposable income I would definitely suggest investing in getting your gi tailored to your body.

Welcome to KF!