bushido_man96

I agree that is the worst scenario, Ev. Hopefully, most of our instructors are willing to swallow pride and avoid such pitfalls. We can only hope.

Welcome to KF!

Isn't that Gerald Okamura? Love the vintage Apple IIe there, too. I had never played that game, but the old Nintendo classic Kung-Fu! looked about like that. It was a good time, too.

I think DWx has the right idea, as well. That would give you a good mix, I think.

Dumbells can be used, but when you get heavy with them, they are a lot more cumbersome. Barbell weights are great because they allow for the body to work as a unit, like its supposed to, and allow for easier progressive loading, which leads to more progress. But if you have dumbells, its a good place to start.

Justice, I love your vivid descriptions of and "post predictions." I giggled. And yeah, Sensei8 is nasty...To answer your question, MugaiJohn, I think there is room for all of it. I'm not a Japanese stylist, and I don't recall if Jiyu Kumite is total free sparring, or a controlled 3-step, or what. You'll have to elaborate there for me. In any case, I am sometimes of the opinion that forms practice and basics practice overwhelms the time of a class, and not enough time is spent on application, self-defense, and sparring. As for the sparring, I think a happy medium can be found in doing some self-defense focused sparring and some more sport/competitive style sparring.

Legitimacy is everything sometimes. What faster way is there to sound legit when you're first starting up?I must be odd then because these just sound comical to me "THRUST OF FREEDOM!" I think MasterPain mentioned that the Ameri-Do-Te crew have a Kenpo background. Could be why.

Good post, Danielle, and I agree with you. Although, I don't get quite the same grilling about the Olympics like you do, which is nice. I can see Karate making it to the Olympics, and then 30 years after that, we'll be reading articles in Black Belt Magazine about "The Lost Combat Applications of Karate" due to all the watering down..... ...well, maybe not.

I'd say JusticeZero is pretty close. In our Combat Hapkido, we do strikes to distract, then move into the manipulation, and finish with a lock or strike. We have set curriculum per rank. The first rank does some strikes, like jab, cross, or palm strikes, and a front kick (if memory serves me well). There are some breakaways, and then some wrist lock takedowns. Rolling and breakfalls are also included. The key to it is identifying what are the very basics of what you do, and start with them, and then build everything from them.

I don't know that Karate folks are missing anything. I've known some great strikers. I think some people get caught up in the mysticism of what chi/ki/internal styles are, and want to try to obsess over methods that no one can really seem to explain. If you are practicing bunkai, then the focus of your practice there is in the application, and not so much the strike itself. The strike is important, but the outcome of the application is fore in the mind. If you are hitting a makiwara or a heavy bag, then the focus is on the strike, and all of its components.

Hmmm. I guess this means we won't see Seagal added to the cast of Expendibles 3? What a goofy situation. And the MMA guys are typically the ones that get rapped on for this kind attitude.

12/4/2012 Elliptical: 10 minutes, 1 mile. Rower: 5 minutes. Jump rope: did a 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 where I did 10 both feet, 10 right, 10 left, then go down to 9, and so on. I got hung up a few times (a lot of times), but stayed with it. Then did some regular skipping to finish out. Stretch

Weight training will not slow you down. There is no study that can verify that, my knowledge. Look at NFL athletes. They've all done some weight training. The key is to make sure to work on your flexibility and do some training for speed, as has been mentioned. There are some good weight training programs out there to check out. Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, and Wendler's 5/3/1 are all good programs to check out. As you get stronger, you have to modify the programming so your body can still respond, but any of these programs would benefit you as a beginner. Like anything, you have to do your homework when it comes to strength training. Squats, Bench Press, Overhead Press, Dead Lifts, and/or Power Cleans should make up the bulk of your lifting regimine. Lift 3 days a week, 3 lifts per day, 3x5 or 5x5, using linear progression, adding 5 or 10 lbs per lift each session, until you can't anymore. Keep up your Karate training, and you'll see some great results.

It will be interesting to see how all that transpires.

I don't think the use of safety equipment should send up red flags. Many schools have insurance coverage, and along with that may come certain requirements for sparring protection. The first thing you should look at is the quality of the students from low to high rank, see if there are improvements, and things like this. It can be tough for a beginner, but if you do a bit more research (and not just on how the Japanese do things), you'll find the answers you are looking for.

I think that ideally, we don't know we have gained respect until someone tells us that they respect us. And ideally, if we do things the right way, through our actions and by living as an example, we are more likely to hear about it through a third person source, if we do things right. I don't disagree with you. But, nor do I think it is wrong to discount those who are talented and make things look easy, even hard work. Some people with talent will coast. But there are those with talent and a hard work ethic, and they are just as deserving as well. I'm not claiming that you would deny this at all. But I also understand what you are saying in regards to "rooting for the underdogs," those who have to work harder than the rest to achieve their level of success, and I agree with you there, as well.

I've always been skeptical about the idea of a form being "internal" or "external." Power development comes from the muscles, and how they interact around the skeletal system. I think the idea of ki or chi is more related to the ability to use the hips and the core to create good power through sound technique and breathing technique. I have been practicing Naifanchi Shodan, but don't really know of any internal benefits from it.

Don't you just love all the black belt requirements? Makes it great, and hey, if you aren't tired after a testing, then there isn't enough material, right? There's a guy at my school that always comments on my ability to come back to class, and look like I haven't missed a beat. He doesn't realize how much practice it takes outside of class to retain it all.

I agree, Bob.Displaced egos anywhere cause the same elsewhere. We Martial Artists aren't the only ones who deal with them, that is for sure. But, such is life, and it goes on.

Have a good time, and make sure to give us a rundown of how it went, and what all you got to do!

Thanks. It went really well. We have three instructors there for the grading and one of them is from another dojo who just comes for these. He mentioned to me how impressed he was with the improvement he saw in me since the last one. Apparently he's a tough person to get a compliment from.... so, pretty happy with that Well done and congrats!

Yes. I listened to ESPN radio for a while yesterday, and listened to the reactions and feelings of some of the guys on the team. It had to be tough for them. Jamaal Charles was one of the worst felt about it, because I guess he introduced Belcher's girlfriend to him, as it sounded like she was a cousin to his wife. I feel for everyone there.

After the tragedy involving Javon Belcher this week, the Chiefs went ahead and played their scheduled game with the Panthers, and they pulled out a pretty nice victory. Brady Quinn played solid football all around, and the last weeks of the season here need to tell KC if he can finally be the starter he was projected as coming out of college, or if KC needs to search in other areas for a starting QB.

Hoping it works out for you, Patrick.

And thank you all for the kind words!