marie curie

Oh, I didn't even know that they did that. Did you watch this week? Did you see the mouthpeice replacement? Wasn't that awesome? I know that it helped the guy out because they wouldn't get stood back up, but still- that was a neat thought to just grab the other guy's mouthpeice and put it back in for him.

I think that it is good that you are open about it- I ran into this problem when I was young. I train in many now, but all are cool with it. As far as going to a tourny- we have a guy in BJJ who trains grappling with like 7 clubs (he invented another day just to train, we think). When we all went to a tournament, he was officially "with" the group that he trained at most (3 sessions a week), which we thought was a totally reasonable way to pick. Also, at the tournament, he was cheering for us, and hanging out with us. So it was cool. Anyway- good luck!

Welcome Bat!!!

The guys I know with really defined abs are around 8%, depending on how much muscle is under there. For just definition- you should be close (again depending on amount of muscle)

Why not find 4 or 5 martial arts schools in your area, and call them up. Ask the instructor if you could sit in on a class for free. After actually watching what all goes on during a class, you should have a better sense of which you would enjoy more.

Two words: Sidekicks Rocks!

I don't know anything about Kyokushin, either, but I did kung fu after years of karate, and found that the different movement is beneficial in some cercumstances, but, in general, the faster- shorter line between two points is more practically useful in a fight against another martial artist- we are usually fast enough that it matters; however, in a bar fight or something, I think that the avoiding moves are beneficial

Welcome! Enjoy the forums!

Awesome. Thanks. I've been checking around the university's ma clubs, and tiseems to be that Japanese arts are more with the 90 degree and Korean more with the 180. I've been watching some demonstrations, too, and I've decided that the 180 just leaves people too far off balance (I knock them over) and not so much with the 90, so I'm probably going to stick with that for in fights. Thanks so much for everyone's help in finding what works best for me~

Next Sunday at 6 is the next one. This week's fights were significantly better.

No, he wasn't knocked out. He got right up... but if you saw his face, he was quite beaten. I don't think that his arm broke, simply because he looked like he was using it fine afterwords, but I wouldn't be completely shocked to find out that it was.

I agree. Gracie was out-matched by Hughes. Of course, it has to be said that Matt Hughes is the best right now. Could he Gracie have take someone who wasn't the best of the best? Maybe- he didn't seem to be in a good mental place going in. I mean on the ads he was talking about how it was his house, he built it, but he just did not look his confidant "I'm just going to win" self going into this. What suprized me was how little he actually accomplished back. I expected a better game if it was on the ground.

Oooh, I dont know when repeats are, but here is the website http://www.ifl.tv/ The coaches are Bas Rutten, Renzo Gracie, Pat Militich and some other guy. No, actually, grappling is totally allowed. Just no elbows to the head when the opponent is down or kicking Yep, 4 teams thus far. It was very good- the fighters were not quite UFC quality... a couple of guys have had UFC fights, but not good enough for a contract. I'd say it's maybe like the minor leagues. Still, they are good fights to watch.

It's hard on the knees because of the twist that your leg has to be at to make 180 degrees. For the 90 degree kick, actually, both of your feet are pointing in the same direction, so there is no twisting at all. I know that for the 180, the angle is supposed to be mostly in the hips, but you can never get all the pressure off your knee.

Hey, I was just wondering if anyone watched the IFL (Chuck Norris' thing) on Fox Sports? What did you think?

Thanks for all the responses!!! As for the practicing- this 180 degree kick is really hard on the knees and I have knee problems right now (going to have good mri fun friday) and they probably wont go away anytime in the next couple months. Its not that I can't execute the kick- I've been doing it in class, plus when I was in tkd, and it is strong and it is actually pretty fast. My only problem is that it isnt as strong or as fast as the other side kick. Also, it seems to open your back up a bit more to attack if the kick is defended. It's harder to balance forward to rear, and espcecially if anyone (a second fighter) throws anything from either side- since your foot is at 180 to the force instead of 90. My question is, Are there any advantages to this 180 kick as opposed to the 90?

Ok, so in my original style I learned that a side kick starts facing forward, the leg is chambered like for a front snap kick, you pivot on your non-kicking leg so that "forward" is now the side that you are kicking, and your foot (on the ground) is rotated 90 degrees. (then of course the extention) Well, in TKD, I learned that when doing this the supporting foot is turned 180 degrees- so it is facing the opposite direction. Now that I'm in Kajukenbo, my instructor is teaching the TKD version. I'm not as stable when doing this (and I can't get the same power)- not for lack of practice (I did TKD for a little bit, and had to learn it). Looking on the forum for that style and through all the info I can find- there is no set Kajukenbo side kick. But, alas, my instructor started out in TKD, and so I'm stuck doing it in practice. Of course, in Kaju, you use what works for you when you are actually fighting, but I wish that I could not waste my time practicing something that just doesn't work that well for me. Anyway, does anyone have any opinon on these kicks? Should one be used in some cercumstances and the other in others? Thanks for your time!

Yes, and if you aren't a big eater- then be sure to eat some high-calorie foods, meat, and carbs.

Hmmmm I speak some Mandarin and I'm good at photography and theater

Hehe- yeh most tournaments around here are independant - don't have an affiliation with one organization, and there is no way that they would institute some crazy rule like that- they's just loose numbers and thus money and the tournament wouldn't be as good. There just isn't an incentive for them to do that.

Thanks! I love these forums- everyone understands when something is exciting about MA Yay

I had told my instructor that this weekend I'd be getting an mri, and the dr is thinking maybe surgery will be needed, or to stay off of it for a while. Either way, I will be missing our regular belt-testing time. I was kinda bummed, because I wanted to stay up with my training and keep advancing (and not have to wait too long to start learning new stuff)- which is what can happen if you don't test on time). Well, yesterday in class, my instructor told the class that I was going to demonstrate some techniques. As each technique and form he requested was for my next test, I kind of figured out what he was doing, but it was awesome! I was really nervous, because I hadn't prepared, but it turns out that all that practicing really pays off and I remembered everything well Anyway, I am just excited and wanted to tell someone

but then if you work hard, but aren't any good, you'd still be a grandmaster. Again- it depends on which definition of master you are using.

There was a discussion on this kind of recently http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=309239&highlight=#309239 I really think that the big thing is that there are different definitions of the word "master" The term "master" often is appropriately applied (in many systems) to anyone of rank fourth degree/dan blackbelt or above. It's just the rank- saying that they are not masters is like redefining Shodan to mean something other than the rank, and deciding to say that someone with a 1st degree black belt is not a shodan. Some would say that you can never "master" a system, but that means that they are taking "master" to equal "perfect" Many concider a Master to have a mastery of a system, much in the way that one has a mastery of buisness (MBA) or mastery of the English Language- not perfect, but extremely proficiant. (sp?)

Have fun!