bushido_man96

Hey man, those are kind of cool! I may have to look into a pair of those!

It sounds to me like there are some issues of control at your boyfriend's dojo. First of all, your boyfriend needs to take control. Second, some of the students need to learn some self-control. I hate to be the one to say this, but if nothing changes, the environment there will continue to get worse, not better.

Welcome to the forum, Knuckle Dragger! You make some good points. Well stated.

All good points here, and I would make sure to use a distraction, no matter what. Leg kick, slap the face, anything to loosen the grip, and take his mind off of the hand.

Well, its half-time, and the Chiefs lead 10-3. We'll see if they can keep it coming. Another great rivalry...the Broncos, invading Arrowhead; the Sea of Red! Derrick Johnson and Tony Gonzalez are back on the field tonight, so both will help out.

Your hand techniques look fast and sharp. The foot techniques are different from what I am used to doing, so I can't comment on them so much.

I agree with Kez, here. Your boyfriend should stand up for you. Ask him who runs the place, him, or the students. From my angle, it doesn't look promising. If I were him, and I saw my students acting like this, I would set them down and have a real heart-to-heart with them. Maybe even strip their belt for a week, hand them a white belt, and tell them to earn it back. That's just me, though.

This is why I think contracts are a good thing. The bonus for the instructor is that he doesn't have to be a bill collector, or worry about keeping track of who has paid and who hasn't. And as you mentioned, Rick, when you know the money is coming out, it motivates you to be a regular at class.

I am currently doing orientations for 3 new kids at our school. I started them Monday, and it just felt like I was having a hard time with them. I actually went home and told my wife that I thought I was losing my touch. I always felt like I could teach kids very well, and this time I didn't. Well, I had two of the kids in again on Wednesday, and it seemed like everything just clicked for me. I was getting ideas across to them, they were making visible improvements, and it just made me feel good; like I still can teach, you know!?! I thought I would share it with everyone. If you have something similar, share it with me!

It sounds to me like you need to put your foot down, with both the problem people, and your partner. If he won't listen, then leave. Let him deal with them. You can only get walked on so much. Welcome to the forums!

Great article, Heidi.

Great article, and great points. Thanks, Mike.

I agree with this concept as well. I don't feel that it is the responsibility of a fighting style to teach these things...I feel that this responsibility belongs to peers, parents, guardians, etc. The point I was making was in relation to a previous point about a style/art teaching culture or ideals, and I feel that in many activities one can receive such things as discipline, focus, etc. Ok, I'm trackin'

Your reasoning makes sense, Oldskoul. Like I mentioned earlier, its just a different route to take.

Wow, OldSkoul, you had some good ones there. When I was in the ATA, we had some instructors that would spar with no pads on. We had some pretty good contact at times, too. I'll admit, it wasn't full contact, but we had some good, solid contact. The guy you are speaking of had some bad misinformation. Unfortunately, it is hard to control the people who make statements like that. I am aware that the ATA has come under a lot of fire, and I can understand why. It is a big organization, and I don't think the quality of the instructors has been controlled very well.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

If after some time of continuous disobedience, it doesn't hurt to put the pads on and just go at it!

Another option you have is that after you perform your straddle and side splits as far as you can go, you sit back, with your legs still spread out, and slide yourself forward as far as you can. You will feel the pull. Stretch forward (keeping the back straight), and then to each side, grabbing the side you reach to with the same hand; grab the foot or ankle, and reach over the top of your head with the other arm. Then, if you get really excited, you can do rollovers. You will use your arms to propel your body up, over, and down onto your chest, and then you push back toward your stretch. The key to this is keeping a tight motion, with your hips and body as close to the ground as possible. This is a goooooood one!

We do all these just after warm up and after the end of the training too, we dont hold them for 20-30 seconds at all though. Thanks for your advice. And chillindan if you search on google for images you will probably see illustrations of what is ment. EDIT: And can stretching be done when you are cold or should you do an intense warming up first? You can stretch cold, but just be careful. It is usually better to stretch warm if you want to get results. However, strecthing cold is good, if you don't push it too far. Chillindan, here is a good video showing the side and straddle splits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYPxsFVIJ7I&mode=related&search= If you can't go all the way down, that is ok--you just go as far as you can, and support yourself with your hands down in front of you. Keep your back straight. Hope this helps.

I am not a big fan of the gymnastics stuff either. It is fun to watch, but I can't do it, so I prefer not to compete against it.

I practice the Chang 'on forms system (ITF style). Gae Baek is my 2nd dan form. The twist kick may also be called and inverted round kick.

Myth has good advise....practice, practice, practice. That aside, now, what to practice? 1. Flexibility is important, but it won't be of any use to you if you don't have corresponding leg strength to go along with it. Build strength as well. Stand next to a wall, and use it for balance. Chamber your kicking leg, and extend it slowy, by a count of 5, as high as you can. Hold for a count of 5. Rechamber the leg for a count of 5. Do this 5 times for each leg. It should make you want to scream and cry, if you get your leg high enough. Keep in mind, you may only be kicking waist level here, and that is ok. You want to build the muscle. 2. Practice the kick in your form segment. Take the initial stance postition, and break everything down. Don't worry about kicking fast at this point, just about medium speed, and kick as high as possible, and lock out the kick for a split second (hold for as long as a clap of the hands). Then, as you rechamber, set up for the next technique. 3. Stretch, seated with one leg forward, and one tucked in to your groin, and reach forward and grab your ankle, foot, or reach past if you can. Hold each for 20-30 seconds, and do 3 reps. Also, do standing toe touches, and standing quadriceps stretches. Hope this helps out! Good luck.

And it could lead to more political problems.

I saw an episode of Martial Law with Billy Blanks in it once. He played a rather arrogant character, and him and Sammo had a little sparring match. A real match would have been interesting to see.

If any of you know who Kathy Long is, she was known to use male bodybuilders as her sparring partners.