jaymac

I have posted this before somewhere else, but getting involved with local charities is a good way to get visible in your community. You can also have a day where you allow students to bring a friend to come along and train for free.

I truly do not think that training barefoot or not is that important. Nobody is going to be thinking "oh no, I have my shoes on!" in a true self defense situation. Your adrenaline and your senses are going to be in super overdrive if ever attacked. As for training in shoes, did you ever get thrown on the floor after people have walked across leaving little pebbles scattered about, it stinks. And for aesthetic purposes, clean the floors every night. That is what we do and no one has ended up with any severe foot fungus in all the years we have had our dojo open.

I too have different thoughts of Dillman. I think sometimes he has some pretty good actors for students.

The instructor that I have right now is awesome. Years ago, I studied Kung Fu and the instructor at that time I thought was great, but he hit his students. I didn't think anything of it. It seemed normal to me, but being in a dojo now where being struck by your instructor is not the norm, I began to think different about my past. I think though that is how things were done in Martial Arts schools all over.

Not only can smoking inhibit your abilities to train and have endurance, smoking and training can be life threatening. When one smokes, it constricts the blood vessels, sending less blood and oxygen throughout the body. While training, your heart speeds up. Constricted blood vessels due to smoking and an already overworked heart can lead to elevated blood pressure, angina (chest pain), and even heart attack.

We do not go back until Jan. 02, but as always, I expect punishment for overindulging during the holidays.

I looked at those websites. I think the Isshin Ryu school looks like a good place to start an interest in Martial Arts. Good luck.

I think Aikido would be a great art to try, but you should definitely talk with your sifu in regards to your wishes.

I would also like to mention that not only are you training for longer periods in one night, you said that there were few people training at once, which means more one on one instruction. That is awesome. My advice is don't worry about it right now. It is 2 years down the road. Think only of today and continue to do what you have already done.

Heck, even after black, it is still a journey, right? Always a journey bushido_man, and the best journey I have taken. Learning is endless. We cannot improve ourselves if we close our minds to learning new information.

I have been a black belt for 4 years now and I still learn something new at every class and it can even be about material I learned at white belt. If I closed my mind to learning new or old information just because I was a black belt, I would find that soon I would not be a good representative of my style, my instructor, or myself.

It is always best to talk with the head instructor in regards to your childs training. Every school varies on the ranking system and although everyone here has given great suggestions why your child did not receive the black bar, your instructor can explain it even better. Parents and instructors have to have open communication about the child's training, or feelings get hurt and the student leaves over something that could have been easily avoided through talking.

I have different feeling about board breaking. I think alot of it is for show. I cant stand watching those fancy sport karate tournaments broadcasted on the sports channel where men are breaking everything with all their body parts. I don't think it proves that someone is good at an art, just good at breaking. However, I do agree with my instructor when he uses it in training. He says it is a good idea to get the feel of hitting something hard. When he teaches about striking properly, you wouldnt believe how many people realize they are not striking properly because they cannot break a board, or have bruised the wrong knuckles.

Nice to hear that you keep up your training at home. It sounds like you have an awesome workout.

It's always good to be a little scared. I remember how scared I was when I was in an elevator with a couple of men who were huge, scary looking, and intoxicated. I just tried to not show that I was scared and was imagining what I would do if they decided to attack. I also stuck my largest size key in between by knuckles, just in case. Luckily, I got off the elevator fine and I was glad that I did get scared, because it made me more aware and I know my adrenaline was crazy rushing.

I try to keep my knees bent at all times and not raise or lower my head too much. Also, watch what your combinations. Are you throwing in different combos or are you doing the same thing so that your opponent can anticipate your attack? Get in to as many matches as you can and get feedback from your opponents afterwards.

Not so much my style, but my instructor has taught me that no Martial Art is superior to another when the ultimate goal in each is to defend yourself against an attacker. My style has taught me about the teachings and the training of the Shotokan Art system. What martial arts has taught me: Well you would just get bored reading everything I feel I have learned and what it has done for me.

Maybe you could find a friend who is around your age and convince him to take classes too.

I loved leap frog in school! Does that mean I am a secret ninja! I never knew this about myself. I am so excited. Gotta go practice my shadow puppets now!

We use half ranks only to keep giving children positive reinforcement and short term goals to achieve. The colors between white and black do not matter. Your child staying interested and thriving in a Martial Arts community while learning to effectively defend himself is the most important issue.

If you have a doctor, give him/her a call. They can prescribe you a non-narcotic muscle relaxant like norflex or skelakin that will really help you feel better without making you feel groggy or out of touch. Also use warm, moist heat. Too much heat for longer than 20 minutes will cause blood vessels to constrict and increase pain.

All in all, every school does something a little different in regards to what comes between white and black. I believe the white belt and the black belt are the 2 most important ranks. I am a black belt but try to always keep my mind open to new discoveries in the Martial Arts as a white belt does. I try never to think I have learned it all and that I am above everyone just because of my Dan rank. What comes between white and black is just the journey.

You really would benefit from any Martial Art, but it sounds like you may love a grappling art. Look around for any Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes. Good luck.

34. Life really flies doesn't it?

I do like Pepsi better. I will drink coke from a soda fountain when we go out to eat. Usually that is the pop product carried in our area by restaurants. I prefer Mountain Dew though.