jaymac

Azula, trust me, your instructor sees that you are putting in the time and effort. Sometimes an instructor can see the desire in a student to be the best. It is this student they are the hardest on and push the most. Do not pay attention to other students. It is your journey that matters the most. Go to a higher ranked student before or after class. Ask him/her to look at your movements and ask them to offer suggestions on how to make it even better.

you don't need stance for that. the term "sitting down on a punch" is used in boxing all the time, and they don't project their mass in a given direction -they stay centered. she simply says that useing your body mass and assuming a correct body position (stance) helps your technique and you don't have to arm wrestle a guy over a take down, it had nothing to do with boxing and judo, one more thing , karate doesn't uses judo base throws since it predates modern Judo, all throws in karate are simple jujitsu or chin-na techniques. Very well put. I tried reading through everyone's posts. It has gotten to be a heated discussion. Stances basically are going to vary amongst all styles. Typically in Shotokan (at our dojo), our stances are low when doing kata. Our kiba dachi is much lower than Funakoshi's. When we are doing actual self defense, we are not getting our body into low stances. We transfer our weight, use our hips, and try to use as little muscle possible to subdue an opponent. Just using good technique is the most effective way. Sometimes I think, with Funakoshi being as short statured as he was, that a low stance would be a disadvantage for him anyways.

I think you will enjoy it. Good luck.

Jiffy, I can understand your point, but we are trying to stay true to our style. On several posts in the forum, people have commented on how Shotokan is a "sport" MA. Our style at our dojo is not a sport Karate. I believe that the influences of other styles integrating into systems have taken away from what was passed down from our masters. I believe any MA can be an effective weapon, whether it is a mixture of several styles, or only one, but I want to stay true to our Art. It isn't that I haven't trained in other styles, in fact, I hold a black belt rank in another style. I choose only at this point to practice and teach Shotokan. It is important to my instructor and it is important to me.

Now I do love to watch the Karate Kid, but really, if you were standing opposite Macchio in a ring while he was doing a crane stance with hands held up high, what do you think his next move is going to be a kick, that's right. All in all, the Karate Kid movie was great and a huge boost for Martial Arts everywhere.

I think capoiera could be very effective. These individuals are crazy flexible and strong. Their kicks are powerful. One would have a tough time defending themselves against someone who flipped upside down and used all that momentum to kick you in the face.

While in class one day, I stepped off the edge of a step in my barefeet and somehow caused the most painful injury to the ball of my foot. It never bruised either, but I had pain there for weeks. I toughed it out cause I did it at the dojo, but had I done it at work- I would of milked that baby for some time off -------------> just kidding!

Ahh, 27 years old. I wish I was 27. Does anyone else here remember being that age and thinking we were old too? I wish I had spent little time earlier in life worrying about whether I was too old for something and just gone and done it. Now with that in mind, I think I will go to McDonalds and get in that cool kids play area like I always wanted too, but felt too old.

20 minutes is a long time to be unconscious. Is he ok?

It will be interesting to see this form done on another person and actually see the application of the techniques. Can't wait!

I rather enjoy coming to the forum and talking with all the great martial artist here!

Using a DVD for awhile to get the basic understanding of a style is probably fine if you plan to go to a dojo in the future and learn from an instructor. Just remember to warm up and then stretch out before performing any of the movement. A good DVD would probably tell you this anyway. I don't usually encourage learning from a DVD, but you seem to understand it is a temporary situation for you. Good luck.

3 section staff. I hit myself in the head, and then I don't remember what happened

This has happened at our dojo recently. A very nice man who had been there awhile continued to come in with dirty feet and toenails. It got to the point where noone wanted to pair up with him. Some of the students came to me instead of the head instructor. So I agreed to talk with our instructor about this problem and he very respectfully and compassionately spoke with this man. He cleaned up and continues to come to class. Talk to your instructor. You shouldn't feel like you need to leave because of this mans personal hygiene issues.

You know, I love my training and my dojo so much. I have great respect for my instructor and the time he puts into training us. I offer to do whatever I can to assist in dojo clean ups, maintainance etc... We are not required to do this for advancement, but I want to do it out of loyalty to my instructor, the dojo, and the others training there.

Hey, I agree too! Hey I agree too!

We send out exit surveys. If the student left because of a "dojo issue" then we would want to see if it is something that we can prevent from happening in the future.

Most of our Kata, except the tekki kata, are based on an I formation on the floor. So we have tape on our wood floor in the shape of a large I and try to follow it. Works well.

Angela, I agree with you and I too am not JKA.

Definitely explain to your instructor that you have trained previously. However, don't feel offended at wearing a white belt again. You (as said earlier) will be recognized as knowing more than normal for a white belt. You may ask to go through a probationary period, but I doubt it will take you long to reach your current rank. I know that if I was out for an extended length of time, I would not want to come in with my black belt at a new school and do the rank or my past instructor injustice.

Thanks bluetulipx!

Just as others have said, if you used the facility even though he was away, then you should pay dues, but then find another place to train. This is a bad situation, but I think you already knew that.

It's funny how many of us say "it's the best thing I have ever done for myself." When I am trying to convince a friend to try MA, that is what I tell them. Usually, it isn't long after they are there, that they too have been bitten by the MA bug and feel exactly the same way.

I started to lose motivation too around brown belt. Then I began thinking, am I doing the best that I can. I know the movements, but is my technique really up to par? I did a thorough examination of myself. I discovered that I could do alot better and put more effort into my training. I started over at white belt and tried really focusing on technique and slowly moved up. Also, for some odd reason, watching MA movies always seems to motivate me.

Most important thing right now is to ask your instructor his thoughts on cross training. If he feels it will benefit you, then go for it. But don't be too disappointed if he suggests sticking with TSD for awhile. I train only in Shotokan and will not cross train because I am also an instructor in my school and do not want to inadvertantly teach something from another style that was not shown by our head instructor. Some may think "how can that actually happen." Believe me, it does and I have seen others do it. Really, really makes the head instructor mad!