lordtariel

I'm afraid any bag training you do that early in the morning is going to cause noise. See if you can find a 24 hr gym or do your practice during the day. I don't really like the wavemaster bags because I can send them across the room even with lighter punches. It may be your best option though if you live in a dorm room though.

All white for me.

I'm not sure if this should go into the testing forum or not, if so, I apologize. I was apparently unaware that you could gain ranks in Kobudo for my school. It's apparently determined by the number of kata that you know for the lower belts and some practical application in the later belts. Does you class have different ranks and what are the requirements.

My girlfriend used to be a receptionist at a lawyers office. Her job was to answer the phone when it rang and smile if someone came in. That was it. After 4 weeks, she had gotten two phone calls. She went to the lawyer and asked if there was anything else that needed to be done in the office that she could do since she had all this time. He told her no. She finally quit because she felt like a waste of space sitting in a chair for eight hours a day staring at the door. She made a good wage though.

I like to do a lot of 3d modeling and also quite into photoshop(It's my career). I'm also slowly and painfully teaching myself how to draw.

Good for you for respectfully parting ways with your previous instructor. So many people nowdays would just take off without a word.

congrats on the achievement!

Welcome to KF

A couple of things... I'd make sure I did at least one open hand form down well before starting a weapon form, there's just too many body mechanics to get right at first. I'd also stick to a specific family at first although chen and yang are closer than some of the other ones. Lastly, get a broadsword form under your belt before going to the straightsword unless you've gotten some weapons training in other arts as it's one of the easiest to use. In my school I was required to learn two open hand forms and three broadsword forms before I could even start on straightsword. Looks like you have a really well rounded school to go to. Take advantage of it while you can. I'm jealous.

I hate to say yes, because it is a little unfair, but the fact is it's his class and his right to require things a certain way. Take the time to talk to him(outside of class) and ask him why it needs to be cut. As for the barber, if they screw up, don't pay them. Especailly if you brought pictures. I've had to do that before. (I look like a Q-Tip when I have a buzz cut )

Any type of exercise on a full stomach is a bad idea, that being said, everyone is different. When I ran in high school, I knew people who could eat half a pizza fifteen minutes before a meet and not be effected at all. I can't see running on an empty stomach as hurting you any though. As to running in sweats or a sauna suit(never seen one before), it's might not be such a bad idea if you know you have an race in a really hot climate and you want to condition for that as opposed to trying to loose weight.

What type of music do you like to listen to when you train at home or do you think that training while listening to music is a bad idea?

Pleasepleaseplease let me out of this stance before you start in on a discussion.

I'm only a yellow belt in karate so the number of katas I know are limited but, Kata: Pinan Nidan Kobudo: Shu Shi No Kon Dai

Avoid all types of sugar as well, it'll shut down your immune system. Good luck on your test.

Our dojo requires you to start as a white belt. If you can test to the requirements of the rank you have, you can jump ranks. I'm not sure how this works above brown belt though. Getting your first dan is a pretty big deal in my school. I've never asked.

http://karateplanet.com/all_pages/public/tour/accelLearning_1.asp I almost thought they were trying to be serious at first.

I find meditating in nature to be particularly refreshing, provided I'm somewhere private. I found a great place one time along a creek in the spring sunshine and was quite relaxed untill someone started waving their hand in front of my face and then shook me. Then, with a really vacant expression on their face, they asked if I was meditating. I said yes and then they asked if I had any pot they could bum off me. When I said I don't smoke, they asked if I wanted to buy some. People are really strange.

I'd say some kind of grappeling art since you have the striking end covered. Judo's good because you train at full force and application. Fights do go to the ground and it's a good thing to know what to do if that ever happens.

Most people don't need to completely back up their hard drive. It's much quicker and easier just to back up the saved files that you use as opposed to grabbing everything. I recommend you get a DVD burner or CD burner depending on the amount of data you want to back up. Shouldn't be much if you primarily use it for email and web. Once a month or so, grab the files you want to keep and put them on a cd. If your computer goes down, you will have to reinstall the software, but all your saves will be backed up. By the way, if that hard drive is still laying around somewhere, you can set it up as a secondary hard drive and directly copy the files off of it unless it's really messed up. It doesn't hurt every year or so to wipe your system clean and reinstall everything. Also, with a CD Burner, you can make backups of your software CD's so you don't have to wait to get ahold of them. Just my thoughts on it.

Nobody wants to be shown up. I think there is predjudice and misconception about every martial art. Doesn't mean that everyone is that way, it's just human nature. Don't let it get to you.

I like to break out with the yang broadsword moves when we're fighting with shinai. It'll really throw some people. Don't actually know the name of the form. I believe it was done by a si fu choy??? Yes there is actually a space in between si and fu not sifu.

I've noticed a lot of Body Mass Index Calculators out there on the web. Usually, they ask for your height and weight and spit out a number. Since I've started Karate four months ago, I've lost about 3 inches from my waistline, but my weight hasn't changed a single pound. The results say I'm borderline obeese, and I know that's not true anymore. Is there a calculator out there that takes something other than just height into consideration? Are the more percise tests you can get at a doctors office very expensive?

If you have one in your area, go in to an urgent care office. They're kinda spendy, but they're usually open on the weekends and aren't nearly as expensive as having to go to the hospital to get checked out.

It's hard to tell from a website. You're really going to have to sit in on a class or two. Watch the students and watch the instructor. Talk to the instructor about their background as a martial artist. I recommend also checking out the Ba Gua and push hands classes. The style they teach, Chen, is the most overtly martial of the main forms so it looks promising. Tai Chi when taught correctly as a martial art is a powerful one. It has a lot to do with interacting with and redirecting forces, so it's a good accompliment to aikido or judo. It will also increase your root and ballance. As exercise goes, it can really build muscles(I've seen a video of a sifu doing his entire form underneath a table), but obviously don't really expect much in the way of cardio from it. The problem is that so few people who practice actually know it's secrets as an effective combat art. Also, it can take a lot of practice to make it effective as a system of defense. You won't come right out of the class ready to go. Hope this helps.