bushido_man96

That makes sense. I had an instructor who was a certified PPCT trainer, but I never got into it much. I was younger then, and it didn't concern me at the time.

After 13 years, I still get nervous at testings. Just practice hard, and lots. You will do fine. As far as the yelling loud being impressive....I don't know. I don't concern myself too much with it.

Here is some info on kyokushin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyokushin

I think that Sohan and bearich have both made really good points. If you want to take a little longer, ask your instructor to do so. Otherwise, it sounds to me like you have a great school and instructor, and he will know when you are ready. You have also stated that you spend time working out on your own, and this could be something that he is taking into consideration as well. He can probably tell how hard you work.

Glad to hear it!

Well said, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for all the info everyone. You are very welcome!

Glad to hear it! Have fun tonight!

Not to sure. There are so many styles out there. Did you enjoy the class?

I seem to think that some of this stuff was regional. I remember that the first time I drank it was in Colorado. Then it came to the midwest Yeah, they try to test the new stuff regionaly at first, to see if they can get an idea of how it will go over nationally. They hit test markets in populated areas first, I think.

I like Tyrion as well. He is so crafty, and intelligent. Throughout the 4th book, I even started to like Jaime a little as well. I thought that the next book was supposed to be the last, but like I said, it seemed like there was just too much left to clean up. I think in the end, Danaeras and Jon Snow may get hooked up somehow. We will see, though, because I have been wrong about everything else in the book so far! I really thought Rob Stark would last a while, too. I was mad when he died as well.

Do you call it soda, or pop? Where I am from, we call it pop.

I haven't heard of it. What is it?

I didn't particularly enjoy that scene in Fight Science on trying to find the "Ultimate Weapon." I though it was silly, and inconclusive. That, and all they demonstrated was fancy wu-shu type movements, irrelevant to actual combat. Except for maybe Inosanto, who impressed me with the sticks. He said it himself; it isn't the weapon, but the wielder's skill with it.

Thanks for the link. It seems very informative.

To increase it, just add a number. If you have been working on 5, and you feel ready to move on, go to 6. It is really just that easy with this drill. At number 5, you are doing 25 total push-ups. By going up to 6, you add 11, going up to 36 total push-ups. This may not sound like adding much, but the time you spend waiting on your partner is what makes the exercise sequence challenging.

I suppose you could just do some sparring work with a partner, focusing on body blows. Not full force blows, mind you, but controlled, consistent punches might get you to tolerate it a little more. I'm no expert on this subject, but this is just a suggestion that I could think of.

Wow, man, that all sounds pretty rough. Much rougher than what I have been whining about lately. I hope things work out for you, so that you don't have to have another surgery. Stay positive!

Thanks for all of the tips, everybody. It is feeling a little bit better today, and I may try the warm towels. Not sure about the '85 Bears Super Bowl, though.

I can't do much of that stuff. I weigh 245; not that lithe! I have never been that acrobatic, but I can do some jump kicks, and some spinning stuff. Nothing spectacular, though. That said, I have never had the opportunity to train in a totally Olympic style, either. I would love to, someday.

Heck, even after black, it is still a journey, right?

Ahhh... you mean I can't learn the Kahmehameha? I am sorry to be the one to break the news to you.....(I am not even sure what that is??? )

When you feel that you need to augment your stretching routine, you could start doing some proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching. You could also do some active/passive stretching routines as well. Basically, what you do is you have a partner stretch your leg up in a front kick position, with your foot on his shoulder. Then, you tell him to stand up until you say stop. Hold the stretch for around 20 seconds, and then, tell you partner, and you push down on your partner's shoulder with your leg. Push for about 5 seconds, release, and then have your partner raise your leg up higher, and hold for another 20 seconds. You will get an even deeper stretch this way. You can do this with the side kick as well. There are other examples, these are just some off the top of my head. You can look up PNF and Active/Passive stretching on the net, and I am sure you will get some more exercises and results. If you want to add some more pain to that routine, do this final step: after you push down, release, and your partner stretches you up more, instead of releasing the stretch, have your partner walk out from in under your leg, and you have to try to hold it up there as high as you can, for around 5 or 10 seconds. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

First of all, welcome to KarateForums, and welcome back to the Martial Arts! If I were you, I would like to ask the sensei why there have been so many changes made in the curriculum, as to the rate of testings and promotions. I can understand that he wants everyone to be ready when it comes time to test, however, this does seem a bit excessive. I do feel that there are certain requirements that should be met before a student is able to move onto the next level, and these will vary from one instructor to the other. This really seems like a paradox in the martial arts. I have seen the arguments against the 2 year black belts of some styles, and now we see the complete opposite, the 10 year black belt. What it really comes down to, in the martial arts, I believe, is time and experience. In your current style, it sounds like you would be an intermediate rank after around 5 years, the half-way point. However, you will also see that there will be others that are black belts by this time in other organizations. Another problem is that you will be an intermediate rank, with 5 years experience, sparring at tournaments against intermediate ranks with around 1 year, or a year and a half's worth experience. Sure, you may be tearing up the tournament circuit, but it is agianst much less skilled practitioners, due only to the excessive time you have put in at your rank. Can you feel good about that? Then these guys will move on, become black belts, and you will still be stuck cruising the circuit at the intermediate level. You will be a great intermediate student, but, will you be learning any advanced techniques? This is where the black belts that you used to compete with will pass you by. I have used the tournament circuit as an example, but it is only one scenario in a case of many. I would discuss it with the sensei, and then go from there.

One of the best things that you can do is some partner drilling, where your partner throws the technique that you have trouble blocking, and then practice block-and-counter, and counter drills. Start out at around half-speed, so that you get used to seeing what the telegraphs of the technique are, and then, when you are more comfortable with it, start speeding up the drill. Eventually, you will get to where you can do the counters spontaneously while sparring.