Protagonist

My Dad would be first one to tell me to try bear wrestling then, since he wants to keep high school boys away from me. -Protagonist

Unfortunately, no. Is there anything else you can suggest? -Protagonist

I'll take running for four miles in twenty-eight minutes, though the bear wrestling seems very hard to refuse. -Protagonist

Wow, that's a lot. I don't mean to question your very helpful advice, but is there anything a fifteen year old girl could do that is less strenuous yet is still equally helpful? Once again, I don't mean to waste your very helpful recommendation. EDIT: Nevermind, even though I don't think I'll be able to do a weekly training program. -Protagonist

Congratulations. -Protagonist

I believe it stands for "International Karate Organization"

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate the responses. -Protagonist

Thank you Sohan and bushido_man96 for your replies. -Protagonist

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice, but I have one more question that I'd like to ask: When training at home do you wear your gi (or any other official martial arts uniform), or do you just wear regular work-out clothing? -Protagonist

If I'm being a nuisance then don't be afraid to say so. I've been around here a couple of times so... I'll try to keep this short since I've noticed that long forum posts, that often exceed a long paragraph or two, tend to intimidate a large amount of users from responding for some odd reason. Either that or my posts are boring and monotonous. I suspect the latter personally. Anyways, I've seen a few posts where users have described how dedicated they are towards their martial arts training; how they've practiced everyday for hours on end. And, as much as I love karate, I can't seem to get myself motivated to apply what I've learned in the dojo to use as practice over the summer since my parents can't really afford putting me in karate classes at the moment. So, I'm trying to get myself motivated in going outside, on a mat, and doing some karate so I can become more skilled and feel more confident in my abilities. But, when I get myself motivated I often ask myself, "What am I supposed to do?" See, I'm so used to having sensei there to lead the class, so it feels weird to me when I think about doing high-block exercises without someone counting out for me. So, instead of going outside, on the mat, and doing some karate I sit inside the house, lost, and feeling ashamed of myself at the same time for not working hard at something I love, and instead I eat junk food (which I am trying to eat less of) and watch re-runs and hear my sister watch bad, predictable reality television for hours on end. No, I'm not a pessimist or anything, I just feel that instead of wasting my life inside as a couch potato, I could be outside in dry, eighty-degree weather getting exercise. So basically to sum this post in a form of a question: What do I do when practicing martial arts at home, on my own free time? Do I just do what I do in the dojo at my school? Thank-you for your responses. And yes, I love karate but I have trouble getting myself motivated. (I would appreciate it if those of you who practice martial arts at home would share what you do.) - Protagonist

Shorin Kempo Karate? I was told it was called something else, but I choose the 'other' option anyway. And once again I kill another thread. I must be cursed! Either that or I coincidently send my opinion towards the current topic when the thread decides to die...no, I must be cursed! -Protagonist

I've been an orange belt since May of this year; you can definately tell this topic is a few months old. -Protagonist

Well, sometimes your opinion is the majority, and sometimes your opinion is the minority. I don't know what else to say. -Protagonist

My sensei made a rule that if two students wish to date within the dojo they must speak not only with him, but possibly with a couple other instructors too. He has a set of rules for them to follow and everything so the dojo won't be in a heap of chaos if the two happen to break-up. But I agree with what a some of the others have said, it all depends on maturity. -Protagonist

I just beat Kingdom Hearts a couple of weeks ago, and I'm about to start Kingdom Hearts II. I hope I'm not disappointed, I really enjoyed the first one. -Protagonist

Well, now I feel foolish for doubting my Sensei. If he didn't know what he was doing, he wouldn't be there teaching karate in the first place. Thank you for the advice. I understand now that belts are not there to grade the student purely by skill, but by how much they know. I hope I got that right... I really do like the belt system at your (previous)dojo bushido_man96. (When you say previous instructor, do you mean you're now taking martial arts at another dojo?) I think that way is even more organized than just giving out the standard belt. -Protagonist

I really dislike doubting my Sensei, but I just can't help feeling that I shouldn't be an orange-belt at this time; I feel that I should at least be a high yellow belt instead. To explain the situation, I started Shorin Kempo Karate in January as a class in my freshmen year in highschool, my last class was on May 24th where I received my orange-belt. I feel that the transition between belts happened pretty fast, and I was wondering if four months is the normal amount of time to rank from a white-belt to an orange-belt. Thanks for your responses. -Protagonist

Alright, thanks. Ugh, this is why I don't join forums... -Protagonist

Call me dumb, but can you please explain this? -Protagonist

Oh, I understand now. -Protagonist

And I'm assuming Wushu is an entirely different martial art than karate, correct? -Protagonist

Greetings, I have a quick question that I would like answered as soon as possible; I may be taking a karate class over the summer, but the thing is, I took an entirely different type of karate (that I just found out was Shorin Kempo Karate) in the second semester of my school year. The type of karate I might be taking over the summer is Chinese Kempo Karate, and I'm just wondering if there is a great difference in style. I don't really want to have to start from a white belt rank again (I had just recently been promoted to orange belt), and have to learn the basics, again, and have this style of karate negatively interfere with the karate I took at school and will be taking next year since, as stated before, it is Shorin Kempo Karate. So, is it okay for me to take Chinese Kempo Karate, or will it be better just to stick with Shorin Kempo Karate? -Protagonist Also, I'm wondering if I should either take Shorin Kempo Karate at my school for two semesters for about $200 a semester, and just teach myself during my own time at home, or take the summer class as I had described for about $40-$55, and take Shorin Kempo Karate for only one semester at my school. My parents are really tight on money, and they'd prefer if I took only one semester of karate, but they gave me two options that are really nagging me. NOTE: Sorry if this is in the wrong part of the forum, I'm still a newbie.

My kiai is more like a soft "High!" sound. My kiai(s) are really quiet, since I'm very soft-spoken, so no one really hears them except myself. It's pathetic really. -Protagonist

White belt just ranked yellow belt; not reaching orange belt anytime soon. -Protagonist

Alright, I won't really worry about it then. -Protagonist