TAZ

I agree that the belt system is kind of cool. And the only thing that might get broken here would be your ego! BTW Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to Karate Forums, fighterdude0! Great to have ya!

Welcome to KF, Jeet Kune Do!

Congratulations on your BB! One question, though. Actually two. Was it a surprise to your fellow karateka that you received your BB? And why did you go to Japan to receive it, and not receive it at your current school?

Try standing on one leg while on a trampoline with one or two other people jumping up and down. Oh yeah, with your hands on your waist, too. Have fun!

I completely agree with your instructor, unknownstyle. He sounds like a very wise individual.

What happened is, you didn't stop hitting the board when you should have! We should always use common sense when trying to condition our bodies.

Guy, 34

If you listen really closely, you can hear his ego gettin' hurt.

Welcome to KF! What part of Texas are you from?

From reading the most recent posts, it has become more and more clear to me that not everyone that studies martial arts necessarily does so to become a "better person". Not to say that martial arts main focus is just that. But I think that a majority of practitioners of the arts choose to or have chosen to study their particular art for reasons other than just to learn how to fight or protect one's self. For example: self discipline, self control, respect, honor, courage, etc. All of which would constitute someone becoming a "better person", which brings me back to the original post of "What does it mean to be a Master". After reading these posts, and pondering the original question, I have come to the conclusion that "mastering" these things: self discipline, self control, respect, honor, courage, etc. are by far more difficult than "mastering" any techniques, punches, blocks, or kicks, etc.

Sorry, had to delete this one! Double post

No. Not in England. But if you wanna take a trip to Texas, Bill "Superfoot" Wallace will be in Dallas, in January!

Welcome, jaymac!

Although knuckle push-ups (using the first two knuckles) may be good for conditioning the knuckles, it may not be the only purpose for doing them that way. I have been taught that by doing the push-ups that way gives proper alignment for correct vertical punches which are commonly used in okinawan systems.

Merry CHRISTmas and Happy New Year to all!

It seems that many posters here have misinterpreted the point I was trying to get across. As you will notice in my previous post, or maybe not, I did agree that "it wasn't so much about age". I was using an 18 year old as an example, not a general stereotype. And yes, I do agree that there may be some 18 year olds that could have a level of maturity that would make some 40 to 50 year olds look like teenagers, but I stand by what I said previously. To reiterate a little bit, in 18 years of life there can be many experiences that haven't taken place to truly test ones character and wisdom. Lastly, I wanted to highlight what I feel was an important word that may have been overlooked in my previous post. The word was "degree". I apologize if the previous post was taken personal by anyone. I was a teenager once .

Aodhan wrote: Any chimpanzee can master the moves (And they've taught kata to chimps, so that's not intended to be a slam), but to truly be a master involves a much more rounded approach than simple physical mastery. Exactly! How about maturity and development of one's character. It isn't so much about age as it is about experiences and wisdom. An 18 year old just doesn't have these qualities to the degree to be considered a "master".

IMO, you need counseling brother! Don't let it happen again without seeking some counsel about it first. Priorities man, priorities!

70% dixie, just under the mason-dixon line

Welcome to KF, runner!

I know, I know! There's another gi question. Yep! But this one is a little bit different. I was browsing through the internet, trying to compare differences in the quality of gi's and came up with this question. Which one is better? Cotton canvas or cotton fabric? Thanks in advance for the replies.

Has anybody ever heard of Gumdo? There is a new dojo that just opened up close to where I live that offers Gumdo-Tae Kwon Do. Just curious!

Welcome to KF, faido!