bushido_man96

Anywhere from 3 to 5 reps is what I have read.

Cool. Checking out dojos for the fun would be a good time, if I lived in a more populated area.

You can change your sleep schedule; you just have to force yourself. I went from working a job that went from 7 am to 3:30 pm, to a job that I work from 11 pm to 7 am. You can change, but you may have to force yourself to lay there. Lay down at 10, and wake up at 8; then, don't take a nap during the day, and try to exercise. You will wear yourself down, and end up getting on track eventually.

I agree. Your flexibility will not suffer, as long as you continue to stretch. Lifting weights with your legs will not impair your flexibility, either, as long as you stretch. With that in mind, you may want to alternate between both, so that you get your body a different routine going, forestalling stagnation.

Most TKD sparring is relegated to stand-up fighting. That is why the sparring has evolved the way that it has; hands down, lots of round kicks.

Try a google search of your area. That may help you come up with something.

That is rough, but you can learn from it. Part of the reason behind testing is to put pressure on you, to see how you perform under it. This will help you to focus more, now, and will eventually lead you over the hump. It may take 2 tries, or 10 tries. But you have to keep trying. Stay positive, and smile while you are in class. You will be fine. Keep working hard.

Just remember to take some deep breaths, and try to move around a little bit and stay loose. The nerves can help some; you just have to channel that energy the right way. Good luck!

Karate is, above all, a fighting style. When you get down to it, you should be learning how to defend yourself with any martial art that you study. Personal betterment is a good thing, in my opinion. However, I don't think that it is the centerpiece for learning any martial art. Personal betterment and perfection of character is the role of parents in society; it should not fall on the martial arts instructors of the world. I do believe that it is the job of the instructor to make sure that what he teaches doesn't get used to oppress others. I think responsibility is important when teaching anything, including the Martial Arts. When the MAs first came into being, they were used for war. Since that time, the importance of the person over the warrior has replaced what many deem to be Karate's centerpiece. Have you noticed that it is in the East where most of these changes have taken place? You don't see this trend with Western fighting styles...they tend to move more towards the sporting aspects, the competitive aspects. However, we still live in a violent world, and being able to defend oneself is still important. And I feel that is what learning a fighting style/art/system is about.

Perhaps he learned a lesson out of the ordeal as well. He can keep plugging away, but he will have to re-earn his chances.

I don't know exactly what to tell you about all of that. You should ask your instructor these questions, and see what he comes up with. As for the chi explanation, I dunno.

Lets take this example and delve just a little deeper into it, so you're saying something like say the opening movemet of pinian shodan/heian nidan according to Iain Abernethy is a good interpertation? (simultaneuous up block and middle block, arm cross, and front hand punch) Last time I checked he had that sequence as a three-step grapple sequence that was very much like a standing americana/keylock! I dare you to go out and apply that on someone and you will see that it is much more complicated to apply than just simply using the exact same hand positions you do in your kata and apply them as an easier meaning. It may be more difficult to perform, however, with practice in application, you can make it work. It may not be the same as others, but with time and practice, it may be applicable. Actually, I think that many of these types of techniques have been around for a very long time. Hellenic wrestling and Pankration surely used some forms of these takedowns, and the there are Medieval European manuscripts of wrestling techniques used in combat, as well. They may not have included the "technical" perfection required to get a point in Judo competitions, etc, however, they may have been there.

If you can't find another school to attend, then you may just remain at the one you are at, just to keep training. Who knows, maybe someone else will show up there, and you can work out together on off days. As for the rank thing, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you have to start over at white belt, so what? You will still have your knowledge, and you will most likely move fairly quickly, depending on your skill level. Even if you don't move any more quickly, your skill will show through in your actions, not the belt that you wear.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to KarateForums!

Just be yourself! You have been you for so long, why change it? I know that it may sound silly, but it is really the best approach you can take. Just remember all of your courtesies, and things should be fine. I am glad that you are getting the opportunity to meet your idol. Enjoy yourself, and just try to stay relaxed.

I would tend to agree here. Cover it, too, and stay off the makiwara for about a month. That should get it healed up. You may want to clean it with alcohol or peroxide, too, just in case it is infected.

I have read about him a few times, from that website. I enjoy that site, and it is one of my bookmarks. There is quite a bit of good stuff there.

Of these two points.... I have no doubt. But, point number one, Is being a better fighter your ultimate goal, or is living a better life. Getting into a fight as an adult is a slim chance at best, and if you have gotten into a fight as an adult, you were probably partialy at fault..... I know I was. The ultimate goal of karate is to help you seek perfection of character. Perfection of character is, I feel, a direct result of the Funakoshi's transitioning the art of Karate to be taught in the public schools of Japan. I honestly don't believe that it held that much weight in its inception. Perfection of character does not equate, in my mind, to challenging opponents of rival schools, and creating a fighthing style used to train troops for war (which is how the martial arts came about). Character can be perfected by doing many different activities; karate is just one of them. Oragami could be another; painting could be another; other athletic training, such as football, soccer, and MMA, could be others as well.

I didn't hear about that. Good for him. I am not a big Shamrock, fan, but the more competition that is around, the better it is for the art. However, the last match that I saw him fight in in UFC (don't remember who he fought, though), he lost, and looked pretty bad. He is getting older, too. However, if he can make a comeback, that would be great.

The same can be said of Traditional martial arts as well. One instructor of shotokan went to jail not too long ago. He was a pharmacist that was selling pharmaceuticals out the back door without a perscription. My point is that it's not a MMA vs. Traditional thing...it's a good person vs. bad person or good instructor vs. bad instructor thing. I agree. The reason that MMA gets such a negative appeal is because it is in the spotlight all of the time. If any MMA guy gets into trouble, the world is going to hear about it, because of its popularity as a sport. But if the local TMA school owner gets into trouble, it isn't heard about to the masses....because they have no spotlight. It may make local news, but in the end, it doesn't get near the publicity. I know of a TMA instructor that got into big trouble in my area, involing his line of work, and he ended up leaving the area completely.

I didn't realize that those fighters were cutting like wrestlers. That is not a good deal at all. Perhaps there is something they could do to regulate that. As for the fighter you mention that wanted to win with punching; I think this is a great thing. It shows that some of these fighters want to be seen as well-rounded fighters, and not the fighter who prefers grappling to punching, or vise-versa. However, he should maybe have trained his punching skills, say, over the next 6 months to a year, before deciding to try to fight like that. Although being well-rounded is good, knowing and using your strengths is even better. Nice idea, bad timing.

Ah. I understand. Good point.

Hey, hey! Congrats!!

I really don't think that this is the case. Every one is different, and every martial artist is not on the same journey. That said, I don't feel that it is necessarily the fault of the instructor. There are so many factors to consider, like time available to train, student's learning curve, instructor's teaching styles, and student-to-teacher ration, just to name a few things. I have had students that start at the same time, and then branch off from each other, moving at different speeds. It just happens at times. Students and instructors will hit peaks and valleys at different times in their training.