bushido_man96

You bring up the point that so many other martial artists try to bring up. But the fact is you will fight as you train. Ask anyone who is in real life struggles day in and day out. Police and military are the best examples. You can't train to shoot short of your target every time and just assume you'll be able to aim accurately when the time comes. You train to shoot accurately and, even then most people shoot awful under the stress of combat. The same goes for punches and kicks. I'm not saying you need to be taking your partner's head off. But you should train with some moderate contact at least once a week. This way you actually get to see how your strikes affect the person. You'll be surprised! If you worry about conspicuous bruises, wear large 16 oz boxing gloves and boxing head gear. This will greatly prevent such things. ps1 has made an excellent point here. Reference Jigoro Kano, and the work he did with judo over jujitsu. It is the same principle, essentially.

Instead of satin or silk, I would just get a regular old cloth belt, like what Brandon has mentioned. I think in the long run it will be more durable. I would be too worried about tearing up a satin or silk belt. However, I tend to be a bit rough on things, too.

It took me a while when I was in judo to get over this. There's two different scenarios for it. One, the woman is a serious student. I'll grapple just as hard with one of them as I would a guy because if I don't they'll tear me a new one. When you're fighting someone serious, you don't have time to think about accidentally doing something, and if you do, they usually don't mind because it's an accident and they're too busy trying to bar you or choke you out. Then there's the giggly goof off ones. You have to be a bit more careful with them because a lot of the time they're really self-conscious. Since I'm never in a position where I'm competing with them, I usually just be a good uke and let them practice. This might not be the case with everybody but it was how things worked in my dojo. It sounds like you had a good system there. Was judo fairly popular with the women? Like you, I think it would take quite some time to get used to grappling with the women. Being just a throwing dummy, I could maybe do that.

I had not heard of it, but it looks interesting. Is he involved with several different organizations, or does he just have some ties via associates through them?

Once we get to brown belt level in our style, breaking is required at testing. Lo brown: hand technique (ladies can do elbow strike); Mid brown: foot technique; Hi brown: two foot techniques.

Hooray!! Tap the keg, let's party!!

Just look around your area, see what is available, and see what you would like. Visit the schools, and then make your decision.

actually I got a 0.23 I was curious.....

Is Jason Taylor going to lead the team in TDs scored??

I always say quality, not quantity!

If you get injured or ill, and cannot test within the six months time, then they will cut you a break, and let you test as soon as you can after you are healthy. If you fail, you back track.

Sound great, Tom. Good luck and have fun!

Hey, just takes practice!

There are several disadvantages to no-contact sparring. A major one is the fact that you learn to block or evade techniques that aren't going to hit you anyways. When you learn to block head-high round kicks that aren't supposed to touch you anyway, and then someone comes along with the intent to make contact, you find out how much difference there is between the two.

That is a cool gesture, Kez. I would do Japanese instead of Chinese, and i would sit down and talk to your instructor about it as well. He may have some good ideas you might like as well. My belt has my name on one side, and in Korean, and the association name in English and Korean on the other side, plus two dan stripes on each side.

I don't think I would be able to grapple with a woman in training. I just think there could be too many rules that could be broken there.

Its cool that you have a tight rivalry to look forward to like that. That will help to push you harder! You are right on about the basics. Make them sharp, and that will open the door for other techniques as well. I wish you luck!

Some nice ideas there! Thankyou - but I'm not quite sure what you mean by the last bit - after the jump spin hook/low sweep kick.... It is a hand spring back to your feet while lying down:http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=29276 Check it out. There is actually a description down a ways on the page in Wikipedia. Here is a video link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT1hAireRAU

it keeps giving me 1 second penalty. You are waiting till it goes yellow before clicking aren't you! First go was .24 No, it's against my philosophy, i hit it as soon as it tries to change the color, That's anticipation, not reaction! There is a difference!! I just went again: .189. Yeah, baby!!!

A mourning star; now there's a chain weapon for you!!

Once you get your 1st dan, you have to wait a year and a half before you are eligible to test for 2nd dan. Then, once you do test, you are promoted to 2nd dan recommended (if you pass). Then, within the next 6 months, you have to test for 2nd dan decided, or go back to 1st dan. After you get your 2nd dan, you have to wait for 2 and a half years before you are eligible to test for 3rd dan. Then it is the rec/decided dance again. Then you have to wait 3 and a half years before you are eligible to test for 4th dan. There is no recommended at 4th dan, unless the GM thinks you are a slacker. However, my instructor is going to be testing for his 6th dan in February, I think, and I don't even want to know how much that testing is going to cost him.

I do like this kick, and I like to use it as a counter, because I think it is faster than my spin hook or spin heel. It doesn't require as much body positioning as the hook or heel does, either.

Yeah, it was just nasty watching his lower leg just flop around like it was.

Fortune favors the bold. By taking a risk like that, it may get you the competitive edge that you need.