bushido_man96

Very cool. It looks like he has several more videos on there as well. Those might be worth checking out as well.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow.

This is another problem in the martial arts in general. When in uniform, many people don't want to give up who they are outside of the dojo (not that they should), when it comes to age, rank, seniority, etc., outside of the class. Should a 40 year old white belt have to listen to what a 16 year old black belt tells them? Or call them 'sir'? What about the CEO of the corporation that you work for? Will he be your junior rank in class as well? Or the how about the fighter, that you mention, who states rank doesn't matter in the ring? What about your best friend or wife being in the dojo? Perhaps there are reasons that some younger children shouldn't be allowed to have a black belt. There are also reasons for other people of all ages as well. The subject really can have a lot of grey area.

Another good idea that is an off-shoot of this suggestion is to ask your instructor if you could video him doing the forms, that way you always have a reference of exactly how he wants it done.

Im not sure i see the point of this? If you already know that they arnt going to hit you, and all you have to do is stand there, i dont see why anyone would move???I think that, for inexperienced practitioners, that it is difficult to shrug off the natural tendencies to flinch or retract from techniques like this, even though they do know they are coming.

In my opinion, there isn't enough of this going on in the martial arts today.

Well, I have a good news/bad news week. The good news is today (Jan. 12) is me and the wife's anniversery, and the 9th was my birthday. The bad news is I spent my birthday getting tests done at the hospital, and lying in bed, curled up in the fetal position. Today, I am still feeling kind of bad as well. My appetite has disappeared, and I lost 15 pounds between the night of the 8th and the 9th. I feel crummy!

There you go! The important thing, is to ENJOY it!

Cheers, Kez! I have a topic going on my geneology as well: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=29982 Since you have a death date of your great grandfather, you should see if you also know where he is buried. You may be able to get some kind of records from the local courthouse, or, you may be able to scan in microfilms of the local library for obituaries in the papers. That may help you out. Good luck! It is fun, isn't it?

I enjoy Trivial Pursuit, and the new Scene It DVD games.

OUCH!! Man, I hope you get better soon. I feel for you.

I agree with this notion. It is on the days when I am tired and burned that I always feel good after I get back from training.

They aren't quite as sore as they have been, but that is mainly due to me being sick lately, and being unable to workout on a regular basis. I think I still need to see an orthopedists about them.

Thanks for the B-Day wishes, guys!

I'm with lordtariel on this. I prefer a normal bag, as opposed to the BOB.

The ITF and the WTF are different organizations, with set rules for their competitions. Depending on what organization the school is under, you will find what rules set they use. The AAU is more like a governing body, which has its own rules for AAU Karate, and AAU Taekwondo. I do know that there is a qualifier for Olympic style TKD in Oklahoma every year. Your best bet would be to start checking out some schools, find out what organization they compete under, and then look into the tournaments that they enter into. You may be able to find what you are looking for.

The best way to fix this problem is to keep sparring and make yourself conscious of what you are doing. That way, you can work on making yourself not do it. Have someone lightly spar with you, or do th slow-mo sparring mentioned earlier. Now, everytime they see you lean and drop your hands, have them tell you about it, so you can fix it. Another thing you might do is have them make you do push-ups everytime you do it. That may give you a little incentive as to becoming aware of what your body is doing. These kinds of things are common to beginners, and they just take time and practice to overcome them. Keep at it, and you will be fine.

On a side note, have you noticed the increase in the amount of fighting practice that both Jon and Jaime have been doing? Could that be a touch of forshadowing? Thanks for the website, by the way!

Hooray!!! Another Magic player! I have not played in a while, probably about a year now. I love it, but it so expensive to keep up! My favorite traditional card game is Spades. I get competitive over that!

I think it is ok. No big deal to me, though. It isn't going to make me turn on a soccer game, now. I watch football, NASCAR, baseball, and college basketball, just about in that order. I don't think I will be working soccer in any time soon. However, if does work out well for the MLS, then I do think that it is a good thing.

Mine said I was only 20% addicted.

Welcome to KF! I did not know that Muay Thai had testings, or rankings, for that matter. As for the testing, I am not sure what would be on it, but talk to your instructor, and he may be able to give you a heads up.

Congrats!

If you can give us a rundown of the rules for you style of sparring, we will have a better idea of what techniques you can and cannot use. As for not doing well, what do you think you need the most help with? It was your first session, so you should not be expecting to rule the day, so to speak. Just relax, and watch how your opponent moves. Learn to block, and then begin to counter.

Do you feel that to be a good or bad thing? For me, I think that it would be a good thing. I know about the differences betweent he densities of the bones in the hands and the head, but I think that I would be ok. I have made hard contact with numerous inanimate/immovable objects with my hands, and have not found myself to break or fracture my hands, yet. Not that this is good advise, but I think that I could be ok, if it came down to it. Also, if I concern myself with only punches, I don't have to worry about opening my hands when I go hi, and closing them when I go low to the body.