lordtariel

You have to be careful with your dissapointment. It's easy to want to give up when you're already upset from failing and then have someone you care about also upset. Remind him that a belt is really unimportant. A colored strip of fabric doesn't put a limit on your potential.

We had a guest sensei that came down not to long ago and had us do the same thing. After even just a little bit of practice my kick is gaining speed and power.

I had the opportunity to double jump when I got my first belt in karate. We have a list of requirements in order to advance to the next belt level and I had gotten everything checked off up to the orange belt level. Truth be told, we skipped a testing month due to getting ready for a tournament, but I kinda felt like I would be cheating if I jumped straight to orange.

Good luck.

Don't think so. He teaches the main weapons of kobudo: Sai, Tonfa, Kama, Bo, Eku and 'Chucks(he's not really big into these). He did tell me that the tonfa is a difficult weapon to learn, so now I'm really interested in it. I like a challenge.

I haven't had that one, but I just recently experienced the "everyone is using the bo, oh hey, this guy's not, let's give him more points" thing.

I started with one of the strat packs 6 years ago and haven't needed a new guitar since. (It was a regular Fender Strat though) Make sure you shop around for the best price though.

I'm thinking they're possibly similar because they both get held back up against your arm and you also do some punching with just the back end of it. I think there's also some of the flipping where it goes from against your arm to out straight like the sai. Not necessarily exactly like sai the on the more advanced stuff but it was the similarity on the basics I was refering to.

In a month or so I'll be ready to start a new weapon in my kobudo class. I've been using a bo and was thinking about going to the boat oar, but a recent tournament in which 80% of all blackbelts and about 45% of all competitors were using one. An additional 50% used the bo. I was thinking it might be kind of fun to learn a weapon that wasn't widely used in our circuit. I'd also get some more of the two weapon experience. I'm kinda torn between the sai and the tonfa. Do you see many people practicing with tonfa? Does one lead into the other? Any insights that might help me choose would be welcome.

um... I'm guessing this tournament circuit would be sponsered by Adidas? I'm all for all competiters wearing the same white gi with org patch, but that's putting things a bit too far. My guess is that this is specific to one circuit as that sort of thing would never fly in my orginization.

Congrats... keep postin.

What do you like to eat for dinner the night before a tournament? How about breakfast before a tournament?

I'm pretty good at taking on the dojo mats with my head

There's also the $$ issue. Even if instruction services were provided free of charge, there's insurance costs, liability concerns, equipment and facility issues. This when many schools seem to be struggling to make ends meet. Also, you'd have to teach something that isn't so stereotyped as combat skills as most schools would dismiss such things out of hand as too dangerous.

This? http://www.wle.com/wholesale/media/W322.jpg Iron Melon Hammers or This? http://www.wle.com/wholesale/media/W343.jpg Meteor Hammer

I find it doubtful. That being said, you can conciously change the body temperature in your extremities by a few degrees if you know how.

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Wow... you did all that with two broadswords in your hands as well? That would have been something to see. I sometimes have problems using double broadsword with both feet on the ground.

I've got a decent sized tournament coming up on Saturday. My first big tournament since judo five years ago. I'm wondering how hard I should be training this week. I'm going to the dojo every day this week for an hour and a half. I'm also planning on doing about an hour of training out of class every day this week. Do you think this is too much or not enough? How do you prepare for a big tournament? Entering in Kobudo, Kata, and Kumite.

It depends on the type of kata. Is it showie? Lots of flips and flying kicks? Is it down to buisness? Solid strikes and thrusts? Is is slow and fluid? Fast and abrupt? These things will influence what type of music you should choose. XMA style katas do better with fast upbeat music in my opinion. More hard rock or hip-hop to the hard or stong katas. Obviously slower music with more fluid katas. Do a search on youtube or google video. A lot of people out there have video taped themselves doing kata to music. Find something that fits with what you like. It really depends on you. The main thing to do is find a song with a tempo that matches the combinations in your kata. Just my two cents. Hope it helps.

Are you referring to the one that's a hunk of metal on the end of a rope(also know as Liu Xing Chui) or the hammers with the two globes on the top of them(twin mellon hammers)?

I might not have a katana in my hands but I might find a stick or piece of pipe laying around. Also, using weapons enhances control and discipline. It provides a new point of interest the art keeping enthusiasm up so I remain interested in continuing in my training. Lastly, I do it because I enjoy it. I don't train with the weapons because I expect to have them on hand in a self defense situation(unless someone breaks into my house. Then I'll always be within 5 feet of a weapon ), I train beacuse I've always liked them and wanted to see what it was like to use them.

oohhhh..... shiny!!!!

What wood was it made out of? My sensei's one is made out of ash and seems to be pretty tough.

Teryaki chicken, rice, tempura and a california roll...