lordtariel

Mine depends on how you enrolled. If you agree to a 2 year or longer enrollment, all belt fees(except black belt), organization dues, and starting equipment are covered in your tuition(which is actually $10-15 per month cheaper than a shorter enrolment). Otherwise, I believe it's $15 a belt test.

I think that there comes a time where you have to stand up for yourself and your beliefs. Otherwise, you have no right to complain when you get steamrolled into a little puddle and your rights and beliefs are taken away. The better fighter is the one who can win without fighting though. To me, beating the tar out of someone is much less satisfying than seeing them hauled away by the police. In self defense, I always think getting away is the best answer, but if you have to fight, do it with everything you've got.

They might try to sue, but it probably wouldn't go anywhere. What you do as a private organization is your own right. I think it depends more on if you have intrest groups supporting your school. Just make sure that it's in paperwork that they sign that they can be expelled for those reasons. Unfortunatly, we don't have laws that require people who sue and don't win to pay the legal fees of the defendant. That would stop a lot of these friviolous lawsuits.

Mine's kind of deeper and comes more from the gut, but it's more of an EEHH-AAAAAAA

The only way you're really going to be able to know is to drop in on some classes and watch. Check a beginner's class, intermediate class, and an advanced class. Look at the students, if they look competent, odds are you've found a decent school. If they look like they're going to fall on there face while doing a simple snap kick or lunge thrust(I've actually seen green belts like this in schools before), odds are it's not a good school.

Not with real a real bo. I use a 6 foot length of pvc.

I kinda wondered about that. My sensei's belt is so frayed that there's only a think strip of black visible. I thought about asking him why, but didn't know if it was a disrespectful question.

I found that some weapons were scarier than others. A bolt-action .22 is a good gun to start with, it has a minmal kick, not too loud, and is simple to use. Probably one of the least intimidating. I remember how nervous I was the first time I fired a shotgun. Unless you're super light or super fragile, there's going to be no problem. After that, I wasn't concerned about the recoil hurting anymore. Went out to an ROTC shooting range later and tried out an AR-15, that was a blast, though they didn't let me try it using full auto. Really, it's just a matter of going out and doing it. Make sure you're safe though. A shooting range is best, but if there's not one, go look for a steep embankment somewhere unpopulated to shoot into. You should always have someone go with you if you're out shooting in the sticks though. Also, I know some people will think this is lame, but make sure you use eye and ear protection as well. Guns can backfire, and can launch the empty shells with some force and the noise can be damaging to your hearing.

I test for my yellow belt in three days. I study shito-ryu. I recieved my green belt in USJF Judo before I had to move.

My car... Why get out and go toe to toe when you can just run over his toes? Seriously though, I'm not allowed to have weapons at work, permit or no, so I guess it's just myself and my wits.

Thanks for the replies. By learning, I mean is the use of the weapon both in kata and combat difficult? Do I need a lot of training with the bo in order to be effective with it?

What's really important is communication. You two need to sit down and talk seriously about this. She's important to you, Karate's important to you. You're not going to be yourself if you just give up your passions, but at the same time you have to set your priorities. Ask her what she wants out of this relationship. The two of you have to decide what's a good compromise. Could you go to the pub and not drink? She may have legitimate reasons for not wanting you to go. Then again, she may not. I went through this with my girlfriend when I started Karate as well. We came up with a compromise that allowed me to continue on a reasonable set schedule for training, but gave us enough time together. Would I go to every class I five days a week if I could? You bet, I'd go seven if it was available, but she's also important in my life, so I make a compromise. I go three days a week and can go to any additional events or classes that allow me to be home within 30 minutes of when she gets home on any of the off days.

I prefer bent knees and a 60/40 stance. In a 50/50 stance, you have to transfer weight before you can effectively move. It really all depends on where the the force is intercepting you. Humans only have two limbs in contact with the ground so there's always two directions in which you have little stability. A forward stance is vunerable to pressure to the sides while a horse stance would be vunerable to front and back pressure. The bent knees are important because they absorb and discharge the incoming force.

Definitely. You're a beginner right now. There's little expectation for you, so there's nothing to really worry about if something goes wrong. I also agree about getting the experience.

Is there going to be kata in your tournament? Perhaps if you are concerned about sparring this would be a more relaxed alternative. If you are concerned, talk to your sensei. With my school, if you don't want to compete in the tournament, you can take part through helping as an assistant, referee, ect. That being said, you're most likely not going to be competing with higher ranked competitors, so this is your only chance to get experience at a beginner level. Next year you would could competing with people that already had experience in the tournaments, while you won't.

I'm an anime junkie. Ranma 1/2 is one of my fav's, I'm also a Miyazaki fan.

I've read it both on the internet and from a book. The translations are slightly different, but not so much so that it completely changes meaning. It's short enough that reading a couple translations is not necessarily a bad idea. I reccomend to find translations that are straight translations and that don't break off in the middle of passages to include the translator's notes on what they think those passages mean. Form your own opinion as to what it means, then look at other people's thoughts.

Mine is a taoist quote from Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching. I use it to remind myself that being content and what I think is being content are usually not the same thing.

I don't simply beacuse I don't particularly care about it. When I get to the point of having a really nice tournament one, I might consider it though.

Thanks for the reply. More specifically though, I was refering to different styles within Karate. For Example shorin-ryu vs shotokan, vs kempo, vs goju ryu, ect.

It's the type of character you would play if you were in a Dungeons and Dragons Campaign. Your allignment(your ethics/morals/motivations), your race, and your class(Your occupation.) allignment is broken into 2 sets of 3 Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic Lawful: Believe in laws and order Neutral: Ok with laws and order when it suits you Chaotic: Not okay with order, rank or laws and Good/Neutral/Evil (Your general temperment) Races are self explanitory and class is what you do. I hope that's what you ment when you said you didn't understand it. Lawful Good Elven Fighter

If flips, spins, and kicks are your passion, great. I have a lot of respect for someone who can pull those types of moves. I see nothing wrong with people enrolling in the XMA program; however, simplicity generally tends to win over flashy moves in fighting though, so I wouldn't count on it as an overly effective combat system. I'm sure there are good fighters that take up XMA, but they most likely have martial arts backgrounds in other arts.

I know there are many different styles of karate out there. My question is this, are there significant differences between styles? Would someone from one style be completely out of place if they went to train in a different style? I'm not looking for a my style can beat up your style argument, I just am curious of the differences. Thanks for any reply.

You may have heard this one, but I really liked it. Can't remember where I got it from though. One Day the Devil challenged God to a Judo tournament. Smiling God said, "You don't have a chance, I've got Kano, Mifune, Kotani, and Kimura up here". "Yes", snickered the Devil, "but I have all the referees."

My sensei has these great padded staves and sometimes he'll let us wail on a partner with. I've also used 6 foot lengths of 3/4" pvc, a heavy winter jacket, a 3-weapon mask and some padded gloves. The cool thing about the pvc is that it can take blows from a shinai, so you can practice against swords with it, but it's flexible and won't feel the same as a good hardwood bo.