NidaninNJ

I think the makiwara can be for conditioning but a lot of other things too. I think what some people consider 'conditioning' is different. I don't know what you mean by 'bone density' but you would have to make your skin REALLY thick to make much of a difference in a real fight, where knuckles always end up bloody if there's any contact made at all. I agree that conditioning is PART of it. But I don't think it is the main thing. Unless we mean different things by 'conditioning'.

How'd you do it? What's it made of? Can you post a picture? I'd like one! I got some 16mm MDF. I then attached to that some carpet under-lay and then a thin layer of rubber (about 3mm). I then stapled vinyl to the board and then attached the whole thing to a back board that I can mount to the wall. email me for pictures at jiffbox@hotmail.com (not sure where to host them) How much give do you have with this? If you can't push it at least 3 inches I'd say it's probably going to do some harm to your joints.

Oh yeah...I didn't even think of that somebody might be talking about a "makiwara" that is no more than a pad on a wall. I was thinking about those spring-loaded gizmos that I've seen. I think they are pretty expensive of else I'd already have one.

So, you never seen TDK practioner who was good with kicks. Well, I can name a few examples: Hwang Jang Lee, Casanova Wong, John Lui, Tan Tao Liang, Hwang In-Shik. All these men studied either TDK or Hapkido. I know that these are just kung fu movie actors, but they sure know how to kick. If you watch their movies you will see that they execute their kicks with the uttermost perfectionism. It sure looks very effective. Never seen any of them. I don't mean it to sound like there are NO TKD people who are any good. I just haven't SEEN any who have been any good. I've also seen a lot of karate people who haven't been good at kicking. But from my experience I would say that what I've seen leads me to believe that karate people are IN GENERAL better at kicking.

Awesome flick!

Yes, the salt water is bad for your belt and uniform. Next time you train at the beach make sure you soak everything in water right away after. Then wash the uniform and at least rinse the belt a second time - I know some people don't like to wash the belt for some reason. Some people were talking about this on Karate Underground. Check these out. http://www.karatethejapaneseway.com/karate_underground/viewtopic.php?t=4036 http://www.karatethejapaneseway.com/karate_underground/viewtopic.php?t=3546 What point is there in washing your belt, it is temporary for most people. And for some people it is disrespectful to wash your belt. I dont wash my belt, but then again, whats the point? Ummm...how about having a clean belt? or one that doesn't fall apart? The non-black belts may be considered temporary. But I think most people consider their black belts more permanent. If somebody wants to hold onto something for a long time, they need to take care of that something, don't you think?

How'd you do it? What's it made of? Can you post a picture? I'd like one!

Yes, the salt water is bad for your belt and uniform. Next time you train at the beach make sure you soak everything in water right away after. Then wash the uniform and at least rinse the belt a second time - I know some people don't like to wash the belt for some reason. Some people were talking about this on Karate Underground. Check these out. http://www.karatethejapaneseway.com/karate_underground/viewtopic.php?t=4036 http://www.karatethejapaneseway.com/karate_underground/viewtopic.php?t=3546

There is no such thing.

If your looking for flashy kicks, sure TKD is good. But will they do anything if you connect with a mugger? If your looking for really powerful and effective kicks I think maybe the only thing better than the 'big 4' Japanese karate styles is Muay Thai. They are tough and have some really strong kicks. I think Kyokushin is strong too but usually sloppy. Actually I have never seen a TKD person with kicks I would call really good. Flashy is one thing but not effective. If your looking for good kicking FORM I would suggest Shotokan, Wado-ryu, Shito-ryu or Goju-ryu. But most important is to find a good instructor of whatever you decide on. What is that saying? 'It's not the martial art its the martial artist'???

I remember one guy from a dojo I used to go to where he used to ask the instructor questions all the time. The instuctor was always patient and tried to explain to the student's satisfaction. But this student was never happy with the answers and - get this - he almost always asked the same question more than once! He almost never listened! It finally got to the point that the instuctor told him that he needed to listen to the answers or not ask questions. Also, this guy often asked questions unrelated to the actual training. It was obviuos to everybody else that this guy wasn't paying attention to what was being taught and just thinking about his own things - probably thinking about what to ask next. The student wasn't very good and was slow to improve. I'm sure this is becuase he just didn't listen. Asking questions can be good but the questions have to make sense and be about what you are doing in class at the time. And most of all the students need to LISTEN to the answers when they ask questions. If the questions are good the instructor should answer. If not he's just being a jerk.

I think you meant 'theory'.

I heard recently that Jiin is no longer an official JKA kata, whatever that means. I know that a lot of people in the JKA didn't know it. But I don't know why it was taken off the 'official' list. I recall Rob Redmond saying something about lack of originality in that kata or something like that. There is nothing in that kata that isn't already in other kata so why bother. Not sure if I'm getting his words across straight or not but I think that is about what he was saying. Anyway, I think Jiin isn't in the JKA list anymore. FWIW I know it but I know a lot of other people don't.

Ask your instructor. If he doesn't have the time ask one of the other people where you train. Have them watch you and give you feedback. Also watch yourself in a mirror while thinking about what you've been told. The hips should be driving almost all your moves and usually end their movement at the same time as your punch or kick.

I've heard this 'grip the floor' thing before but never heard a good explanation of WHY you'd want to do that. What's the point?

There is so much online these days you can never get through it all.

I agree.

Yeah I agree. https://www.karatethejapaneseway.com is a really good website. Did you check out the Karate Underground there? It's a lot like this group but not nearly as big.

I agree with KillerMiller and 24fightingchickens. The colors might change depending on what dojo your at. even in the same organization. But I think the kyu ranks are always the same. Almost every place I've trained it's been white, green, brown black with some places adding purple between green and brown. I've also seen other styles and MAs where there is just white, brown and black or just white and black. I think that the less colors usually means the higher standards but of course this isnt always the case, it might just mean they the instructor doesn't give tests very often!

Actually he was 8th dan when he died. They made him 9th dan posthumously.

Sorry. I just noticed somebody else already recommended the 2 books I just did. Well at least that shows you their worth reading, right!

That book by Harry Cook is awesome. I should buy it someday. I've read it by borrowing a friend's copy. It took a while to get through. Great stuff. Some it is about before Funakoshi's time, in Okinawa. Some of it's about Japan and the JKA. It's pretty much everything you wanted to know about Shotokan and then some. More good books about karate in Okinawa are Nagamine's 'Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters' and Kim's 'Weaponless Warriors'. I know there are a couple more not already mentioned but I don't remember the titles.

Almost every place I train it is done with the front foot pointing a little in. I mean the outside of the foot is straight and the toes point a little in. I think the bigger differences I've seen have been with the angle of the BACK foot. Some people say 45 degrees and other people say as straight ahead as you can do it.

How about just repeating your last class on your own? I just did a quick search on the web and found these articles: http://www3.baylor.edu/BUKarate/articles/WorkingOutByYourself.html http://www.jkasv.com/article9909.html I like to do some running and biking and weights or other excercises to mix it up. I go to a few dojos so not much time or need to self-train but when I want to I do some kata on my own.

Lots of people actually. I was stationed in Japan at Camp Zama from 1988 till 1996. Use to train with Masahiko Tanaka quite a bit as well as some guys from Asai's dojo before he broke away. When I got back to the states in 1996 joined the ISKF and trained under Mr. Okazaki for a while as well. Are you JKA? Tomo Tomo- Are you with the ISKF now? I've still train with some ISKF guys sometimes but am not an official member anymore. We must know some of the same people.