marie curie

I don't think that you can generalize to a system from any one school. I was in a system that could be considered only concentrating on competition sparring, but I had a great instructor, so he had a much more eclectic curriculum.

Question- what if a couple comes in to train together?

Yeh, the low roundhouse is a very effective technique- the high one I'd stay away from on the street because he could very well catch it.

I can do tomonage on the mat, but still I wouldn't do it on the concrete.

If you can keep some higher ranks working with them- instruct the adults to control the pacing and make very clean deliberate attacks, allowing the kids to get used to the environment, and once they are ready, throw them into the pool of everyone else fighting. The adults who work with the kids aren't going to actually have a real fight anyway, so they aren't missing out. True, these kids may only get a couple fights a night, but two good fights where they are learning something and not just getting plowed over are better than 10 where they are frustrated and not learning.

Leading a class isn't the only way to instruct, though. In my karate class when I started at 11, a 16 year-old taught me my basics and he and a 14 year old taught me my first kata. There was an hour before the class lined up and worked out together for people to practice their techniques, ask a higher rank approved to teach something to show us new katas or whatever.

I saw that on tv- ok, but could have been done in 1/3 of the time.

Yeh, coming in at an angel is a good plan. Also, you may be putting the horse before the cart. Forget your combinations for now. Work on getting in for a strike or a kick. then work on adding one thing to it then one more.

In my Judo class our instructor, during breaks would give us the option of standing in line and letting him choke us or getting a drink of water... of course I usually chose the former, and once was completely choked out- awesome experience. This is true- in a healthy person these would be unlikely, but unless you consult with the guy's doctor, you don't know for sure. Things like blood pressure and oxygen saturation can affect the out come. Training isn't the issue- with a perfect technique, his health issues- which I think were your main concern-could cause major problems.

In judo they can be great- in a real fight... I'd avoid because you never know what shard of glass or pointy rock is somewhere below you and you just didn't notice.

I've never seen this before- I don't know quite how I feel about it... I guess a certain level of maturity is expected with each rank, so it's reasonable. I just see a potential for abuse given the cost of testing being of benifit to the sensei.

One's not better than the other- they are a screw driver and a wrench- just different tools. you get a harder hit with a punch, but, at about shoulder level or above, the palm-heel is at a good angle, so feeling more comfortable using it to the face makes sense if that is what you are used to. Also, less chance of your knuckles getting bloody with their nose or mouth and getting their diseases- just a thought.

Welcome to the karate forum!

I agree that this can be a tough spot- bushido man's post is some good advice. If you can concentrate on the technical, you can probably get through to a belt level where you feel more comfortable.

If you are a little overweight to begin with, it may be easier on your body to start with bike-riding. As long as you have a space to do it, it is a really good work-out without the stress on your knees. Also, if you are young- no offense to you runners out there- you may want to do something more fun than running to help you enjoy the time more, and thus be more likely to stick with.

Yeh, that's a big cultural difference. When I was in Japan, the family that I stayed with said that they thought that Japanese were smarter, but that Americans were more creative and I think that statement comes from a similar place. I think we are taught to examine things from more angles, leaving us less time and effort toward wrote memorization. Honestly, I think that you are better off having both types of people around no matter what you are doing- recounting a technique or developing a better somethingorother.

Hehe, my fiance has the same gi and loves it. I like century for the lighter gi's, but kamakazi seems good for heavy!

Welcome!

Well, hello!

Wow, I haven't done traditional karate for a while and I forgot how cool tonfas were- nice job!

Flow drills are lots of fun And good for building "muscle memory". If you want a 4-minute step-by-step on a flow drill, here is a good one:

There have been quite a few studies done. I looked these up on Wikipedia. 1. September 13, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded "Green tea consumption is associated with reduced mortality due to all causes and due to cardiovascular disease but not with reduced mortality due to cancer."Participants who consumed 5 or more cups of tea per day had a 16 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 26 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease than participants who consumed less than one cup of tea per day. 2. February 2006 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded "A higher consumption of green tea is associated with a lower prevalence of cognitive impairment in humans." 3.May 2006at Yale University School of Medicine Researchers weighed in on the issue with a review article that looked at more than 100 studies on the health benefits of green tea. They pointed to what they called an "Asian paradox," which refers to lower rates of heart disease and cancer in Asia despite high rates of cigarette smoking. They theorized that the 1.2 liters of green tea that is consumed by many Asians each day provides high levels of polyphenols and other antioxidants. These compounds may work in several ways to improve cardiovascular health, including preventing blood platelets from sticking together and improving cholesterol levels, said the researchers, whose study appeared in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Specifically, green tea may prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (the "bad" type), which, in turn, can reduce the buildup of plaque in arteries, the researchers wrote.[22] 4. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial done by Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, 240 adults were given either theaflavin-enriched green tea extract in form of 375mg capsule daily or a placebo. After 12 weeks, patients in the tea extract group had significantly less low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (16.4% and 11.3% lower than baseline, p<0.01) than the placebo group. The author concluded that theaflavin-enriched green tea extract can be used together with other dietary approaches to reduce LDL-C. 5. A study published in the January, 2005 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded "Daily consumption of tea containing 690 mg catechins for 12 wk reduced body fat, which suggests that the ingestion of catechins might be useful in the prevention and improvement of lifestyle-related diseases, mainly obesity." 6. Antioxidants in green tea may prevent and reduce the severity of rheumatoid arthritis, according to a CWRU's School of Medicine study published in the April 13 2005 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study examined the effects of green tea polyphenols on collagen-induced arthritis in mice, which is similar to rheumatoid arthritis in humans. In each of three different study groups, the mice given the green tea polyphenols were significantly less likely to develop arthritis. Of the 18 mice that received the green tea, only eight (44 percent) developed arthritis. Among the 18 mice that did not receive the green tea, all but one (94 percent) developed arthritis. In addition, researchers noted that the eight arthritic mice that received the green tea polyphenols developed less severe forms of arthritis. 7. A German study found that an extract of green tea and hot water (filtered), applied externally to the skin for 10 minutes, three times a day could help people with skin damaged from radiation therapy (after 16-22 days). 8. A study published in the December 1999 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that "Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation beyond that explained by its caffeine content per se. The green tea extract may play a role in the control of body composition via sympathetic activation of thermogenesis, fat oxidation, or both." 9. In lab tests, EGCG, found in green tea, was found to prevent HIV from attacking T-Cells. However, it is not known if this has any effect on humans yet. 10. A study in the August, 2003 issue of a new potential application of Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences found that "a new potential application of (–)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate [a component of green tea] in prevention or treatment of inflammatory processes is suggested" Note: The only thing that the FDA has approved it for is a topical cream to treat an STD. Also I found this: Normal green tea itself may contain more caffeine than coffee, but the length of infusion with hot water, and the number of time you use the green tea leaves can greatly reduce your caffeine intake. Experiments have shown that tea after a first 5 minute brew contains 32 mg caffeine. But if the same leaves are then used for a second and then a third five minute brew, the caffeine drops to 12 mg and then 4 mg. In all cases, it should be remembered to never brew or drink green tea with boiling water. In some countries, water heating pots have temperature controls to heat water for green tea preparation. The high temperature can destroy valuable therapeutic compounds found in green tea http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol10/2006/green_tea

I was just searching, studying different styles, and I came upon this site. Weather the style is valid martial arts or not, I don't know, but I think that Level 11 Master of Almightiness is a funny way to name a rank

Jeans and t-shirt are most reasonable because I train with collage kids.

I've never done it at a formal dojo- I think that I would like that. ...No one would have walked all over our mats, or we wouldn't have to roll out our carpet on the roller-rink floor, or have kids playing ping-pong with their coach yelling at them like 10 feet away...