bushido_man96

Welcome to KF! Cathal may have some info on schools in Ontario for you. Try dropping him a PM.

That is cool information. Thanks for sharing. It kind of has a parallel to the philosophies behind the ATA belt system.

Yes, thanks a lot guys. Hey, kamasandsais, that was something that you knew that I did not!! Oh, buy the way, Kez, I may have to move to the UK to test!! Just kidding!

Many times, it is to see if the brown belt is willing to put in the time to wait to get the black belt. I have seen many students taper off or just quit after getting their black belt, thinking they have reached the pinnacle. If a student has to put in one year between brown and black, then you can tell if they are in it for the long haul. Also, they have to show maturity to handle the pressure of being an example in class, and helping out, and learning how to teach in some instances.

I may work on them this weekend with my brother as well. He has a knack for these things.

BTW, thanks for the welcome. You are welcome! It's always good to see new faces.

Very good advise; I second this. It will start to click a little if she knows she is affecting others, and not just her. Excellent point! Progress, albeit slow, is progress!

Good suggestions, obiwansbane.

Welcome to KarateForums, AT! Joining the martial arts will probably help get you started with losing weight, but one thing you will want to consider is altering your diet as well. I am 5'7", and weigh 245. If I can do it, you can too. Get in there, and give it all you have, and try to keep motivated, and you will see great results. Best of luck on your journey!

I could blame it on my weight, but then that is admitting that I am fat!

Yeah, good point there.

Me too. But, Kevin wouldn't do that to us. No, not at all!

Yeah, he had a good game, but he hasn't been happy, losing games he feels they should win. I thought they were set this year, with that offense ready to go. They kind of remind me of the Chiefs of a few years back.

Do you do the hogu drills with white belts? Also, what kicks do you have the white belts do? I was primarily thinking of footwork with roundkicks, front and back leg.

Thanks for the tip, but for these quicker sparring kicks, turning over the hips completely makes it very hard to recover for the second kick. When I do a traditional style kick, for forms and breaking/knockout , I turn the hips over all the way.

Thanks, PAL. The links are great. I have seen that form a few times, but I will have to watch them a few more times to become really familiar with it. We really don't have a TKD equivalent to it.

I do the close to full 180 degree pivot. I have found that if you don't pivot the base foot, you can cause some damage to the knee. If I were to do a snapping side kick, I would still pivot the foot.

You are most welcome. I'm glad you could interpret my ramblings. Sometimes I can get too wordy, and sometimes not specific enough. If you have any more questions, keep them coming!

Yep, I go through the same things as well from time to time. We know what we would say to someone else, but we are never as likely to tell ourselves the same thing, and it always helps to hear it from someone else. It makes you feel good when you know that someone else cares.

The way that I relate to any activity is that the level of fun and excitement that it gives has a direct correlation to the risk factor involved. MA can be pretty high on the scale, but I don't think you see nearly as many serious injuries in the world of MA as you do in sports like professional football or baseball.

Reference this thread that ps1 mentioned: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=29198 The MMA discussion starts on page 2, and goes through to page 3.

Yeah, you have an interesting concept there. Many people think that there is a sixth sense: intuition. This could be similar to what you are relating to as the "gut feeling."

I can understand how you feel about the mixed classes, Kez. Ours are mixed now a well, and in class tonight there were 2 adults, including me, and 3 kids; and it was sparring/kicking class. The important thing is to find creative ways to still learn and improve from working with the younger ones. As for your instructor's comments, they are kind of out of line, but sometimes with instructors, it comes down to tough love. Don't let it discourage you; isn't that what studying the arts is about? Preservering and overcoming yourself. You NEVER fail until you STOP trying.

Nice article. Your experiences are very easy to relate to!

Great article, and points relevant to all! It all starts with the basics, and we when we all get older, and can't move as fast, jump as high, or spar as long, we will still be able to perform the basic moves.