shikata

Good luck with your grading, and let me know how it goes. I am a long way off Black belt, last week a Japanese instructor at our club was asked " how long before we can do the kick yoko-geri-kekomi as good as him. He repied it was a 25 year kick, after 25 years you get the kick good. I will be 75 before I get it right. You either laugh or cry. but it showed me that you cant perfect KARATE overnight. So live long and practice fellow vulcans. Regards

Cant thank you enough for the article as I am 49 and an 8th kyu. I keep getting pushed around by fat ignorant professionals who seem to think that if you sit and look at a steven segal movie - you are steven segal. Men 45+ give up living and are just waiting to die, in fact I can see their mental health deteriorate in front of me, I saw mine in the mirror. So Shotokan has come to me late in life but not as late as two of my fellow martial arts friends. One is 76 and does the KATAS, I drink water in between the rest periods he drinks champaigne!. When I asked why? he said " at my age I need to get the heart going" (priceless). My other friend is 73 and practices AIKIDO, when I didn,t see him for two weeks and asked where he was? I didn't expect to hear him say he had fallen awkwardly on the mat in an AIKIDO move and dislocated his nose. It had popped out and it had just been pushed back in by the doctor.while he was told to read a notice looking the other way.(priceless) From reading your article it means I can get there without injury or death and when I am sitting in my rest period at the age of 76, I will toast your health with my glass of champaine. (priceless) Kind regards Shikata