Zaine

One of the reasons that I joined was because I was getting bullied, and I've met plenty of people who joined for the same reason. I can't speak to how common it is, but my anecdotal experience says that it isn't exactly uncommon.

Congrats Danielle!

It's good to remember your blessings. That's something that I struggle with. I think that it's easy for us, as humans, to get so focused on what needs improvement that we forget to look back to see how far we've come. However, I think it's important to understand that, while there are people out there who have it worse, that does not invalidate our issues. You're allowed to focus on something bringing you down. I would advise against doing it so much that it becomes an anchor, which is something that I struggle with often, but it's okay to feel bad about a situation that you are in.

For me, as Bob likes to say, the proof is on the floor. I want to see that they are effective, have a good breadth of knowledge, and are still excited to learn. In this, it generally helps if their background is solid (e.g. they come from a good lineage), but I'm happy to throw away concerns about their background if they're legitimate in the present.

I learn kata from the internet all of the time. Of course, it is always better to have a teacher who is working with you to learn a kata as they will be able to correct inconsistencies and bad technique. However, if you're confident in your ability to learn something online, then I don't see why we shouldn't do it. Some of my favorite kata came to me from a video. Further, you can often find someone breaking down the kata to help you learn it online as well. Overall, I wouldn't recommend learning a kata online to a beginner, but someone advanced to black belt should have no issues learning kata online if they don't have someone around to teach them a specific kata that they wish to learn.

That's a good way of looking at it. I don't think I've ever really considered martial arts as an investment into myself, though that is what it is when I break it down.

You were making money learning karate?

This is really cool! Thanks for sharing!

I'd be interested to hear cases of this as well. My guess is that the answer is that it does not often happen to do internal politicking and the reason that there are disparate organizations in the first place. My original school didn't even associate itself with my sensei's sensei.

It's something that I have been thinking a lot about recently, especially in terms of Bunkai. I watched a tiktok of yours talking about Muchimidi in Naihanchi and it got me thinking about all the ways in which bunkai from other kata employ the concept.

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

Spin City was fun. I used to watch that a lot, until Charlie Sheen took over for Michael J. Fox. It wasn't as good then.

It is mostly just a little swaying with your torso. There's a large focus on hikite, as well; that pulling motion into your chamber to generate power.

I haven't finished the campaign yet, and I've been reading a lit recently and have put video games on the back burner. That said, I'm having a lot of fun with it! It is pretty powerful, but I would say that it's overly powered. You can definitely play it incorrectly and die quickly lol.

Matsumura Seito is a system that focuses on hitting pressure points, and as such is a system that focuses on fast, hard strikes with the back as a way of generating power.

I have a couple of thick tbones defrosting for a nice dinner that I got on sale. I'm pretty excited.

I was finally able to get the game! I'm playing through as a Necromancer for my first playthrough. I'm trying to figure out if I want to do seasonal content. Is anyone playing Season 1?

While I didn't learn to use hips in Matsumura Seito perse, I took this kata from Shobayashi. The Matsumura Seito version of Chinto is performed on a vertical axis, as opposed to a diagonal one. The versions of Chinto that I have seen from Matsumura Seito use a lot less hip movement.

It sounds like you have it pretty covered. When I am training solo, I tend to focus on a particular kata and try to break down its parts into drills. By isolating those parts, I improve on the kata as a whole without having to do the kata the whole way through a bunch, which can get boring.

I teach for free at the moment, just to get a base and some practice. It's only to friends and their kids, and I've been clear that if they invite anyone that those people will be paying. Right now, I teach out of my home or my friend's home. I've looked at some rec centers but right now I only have 3 students so I just keep it simple.

I think that happened for a lot of people. I have a couple of friends who started to teach themselves how to cook because of Covid and now are pretty good at it.

That sucks Ashley, colds are the worst! The Summer is always hard for me. Heat messes with my mental illnesses and I live in Texas so it's been 100+ for some weeks now which stops me from biking or exercising outside, which I love. Otherwise, I'm coming off of a vacation and I feel pretty relaxed! I've managed to stay cool.

I'm a lover of water, so I don't mind it as much. I drink water all day and I'm happy. If I'm not drinking water, I'm probably drinking tea and coffee. I can't handle sparkling water. I'm not sure why, but it's just not my jam. Sports drinks are great recovery drinks, for after activity. It's not a great pre-workout drink because of the salt content, but if I've had a particularly difficult or intense workout then I'll go for a Gatorade.

Congrats!

I'm so happy to hear that. Every Friday I go to a sparring night and I always feel that twinge of anxiety, but I make myself go and the second I step through the doors and start sparring it all fades away. I just have to remind myself that this is something that I love to do and it will be okay. I love that you're taking more steps to control your mental health. It's a tough journey, as you know, and takes a lot of bravery. I proud to know you.