bushido_man96

Ok, I went to the grocery store this morning, and after the groceries were all sacked up, the guy asked if he could take them out for me. He was an older gent, and I thought to myself, "Man, I don't want to make this older guy cart my groceries out, I am a young pup." But then, I figure it makes them upset if you don't, because that is what they are there for; they get paid to do it. I guess it comes from when I was growing up, my parents taught us boys to help out the older people by carrying things for them, or helping them in other ways as well. I just felt bad, like I should have been carrying or carting my own stuff, because the young should help out the older, and not vise-versa. Remember when sackers were young kids? It doesn't seem to be that way much anymore. Does anyone else feel this way?

Years ago, I used to take a half a cup of coffee, and mix it with some orange juice or Sunny Delight. That was pretty good.....

Hey, I like chocolate! What's wrong with chocolate?

You make a good point, frightmaster, and what is more important is that you recognize this, and in the future, you may have the ability to affect this.

I don't want to take your term of culturally cleansing the wrong way; so could you please go into a bit more explaination as to what you mean? Thanks. The idea that learning an art or fighting style would lead you to enlightenment, or make you a better person, because you are taught resepect, integrity, etc. That is what I was referring to. If you want to, sure. Me, personally I don't and I won't. Football is a sport. Those same things learned could easily be applied to other sports--boxing, soccer, MMA, lacrosse, curling, etc. Okay, so that last one might be a bit of a stretch, but I think you get my point. If you call football a martial art, where do you draw the line? Would shuffleboard be a martial art? Archery? Diving? NASCAR? What then becomes your determining factor what is a martial art and not? I bring up football, as opposed to other sports, for a very important reason. Football is a game of combat, essentially. Each team uses offensive and defensive strategies to contol territory, or take it over. Football is the epitome of combat strategy in a modernized, sport sense of the term, in my opinion. That is why I used football as an example.

If someone wants to choreograph something like a movie, then I am all for it. You have to put some good work into it though. Some of her technique was ok, but it was slopped a little by trying to pull it or slow it down. Most of the kicks that she did would have been great for demonstrating some TKD sparring. They could have gone all out, and shown some really dynamic TKD sparring, and then shown some more realistic self-defense scenarios, demonstrating the usefulness of low-line kicks, and strikes to vital points. I had a demo at a high school once, and a brown belt girl from our school did a fight demo with a 3rd dan who was a Korean exchange student from Germany. She actually made some good contact with him, and he hit the ground a few times with some sweeps and some throws. It only lasted about 1 minute. Plus, it was one on one, and not 2 on 1.

OK, Patrick. Let me have it. Don't worry, I can take it like a man!! All the injuries finally caught up with the Chiefs this week. The line could not protect or block very well, and Miami has a very stout defense, to their credit. After beating the Bears last week, they were probably feeling invincible. They also managed to beat up Tony Gonzalez, so I will have to see what his condition is. Now, the Chiefs have to focus on two big division games against Oakland and Denver, respectively.

Um, car washes and things like that? Oh, another good one is a person auction. You take the people who are going, and you hold an auction, and however much they pay for you, you get, and then you have to go work for them for a day; helping around the house, doing projects, stuff like that.

Good for you! You have taken another step already!

Crazy testing, man!! Sounds like a load of fun!

Your welcome. Just keep at it. It only takes time. After 13 years, I am fairly flexible, but cannot do the full splits.

Best of luck to you!

Well, to stretch for your roundhouse kick, I would work on the good 'ole splits, both side and front. Also, you could get a partner, put your foot on his shoulder, and have him stand up slowly, while you hold the round kick position. Then, you tense your muscles, and pull down on your stretching buddy for 10 seconds, then relax, and have him stretch your leg up further. Do this 3 times each leg. Here's another tip: make sure that you are rotating your base leg completely around so that the heal is facing your target. This will open your hips up, and give you some more range.

Thanks, Kirsty!

Maybe it would get some of the competitors to get their hands up to block more?! At least I know that when that day comes my students will be well practiced in using their hands. Hey, good point!

That's ok, I felt the same way after my first tournament. The big thing is that you competed, despite your nervousness. Next time you'll be better prepared. Exactly. It is a learning experience, and you will know what to do better next time.

i understand what you're saying , but is there anyway to get rid of it? When you are done growing, it should go away! Seriously, you could try some steady levels of ibuprofen or apirin to ease the pain.

Would you believe that I don't practice the Tae Gueks?

Good deal, frightmaster! Sounds like you have a good situation there.

Thanks, ninjanurse and frightmaster. Good stuff, indeed.

Yes, very good advise indeed.

Thanks, Brandon and Sohan. I have always found that breaking things down have helped me to get my technique right. I may not be fast, or ultra-powerful, but I have always had pride in my technique, and I strive to have the best "fat guy" technique out there.

ps1 summed it up. A good stretching routine will help you get your flexibility back, but it won't happen over night. Just keep working at it, and you will get there.

You might still! There is no time limit on greatness. Nothing worth doing should or can be rushed. You have not achieved your "victory" by now because you were not meant to do so. Accept that and you will be better off. Besides...when your 40, you don't want to have to be the guy who needs to bring up the past when he speaks of acomplishments. When your 15, 18, 22, 35, and older; you want to be able to say, "This is what I did today!" Martial Arts is a life long process. Every physical skill you learn between now and death is ultimately superfluous. Good point, ps1. Jaert3, it sounds to me like you need to let your ego go.

This is a great attitude to have! We can always get better, and it is never too late to start! I don't think that just because you are older, your achievements have less value. You shouln't get down on yourself like that. Going to competitions like you have is going to bring things like this to the forefront. This is a good thing. You should try to constantly improve, no matter what age or rank you are. Whatever you achieve from here on out will still be great, because it will be something you have not achieved before. If you quit now, then you will have something to feel sorry about. You said you will be 15 on December 24? That is not too old, my friend. Heck, that is just getting started. You have many years of competition left ahead of you. It is ok to want to be successful. I have always wanted to feel the cheers of the crowd when you are in the ring. You CAN get this feeling again. But you will have to work for it. Also, I understand that you want people to think good things about you, but in the end, what is important is what you think about you, and how you feel about you. Why wouldn't it be special???? Don't be overly concerned about how long it took you to get to black belt. That is water under the bridge, and there is nothing you can do about that now. It is time to move forward. Concentrate on your current training, and do the things that you need to do to get to that next level. It is ALWAYS worthwhile to start improving and getting better. If you stop, if you give up, if you become stagnant, THAT is when you fail. You are overreacting a little here, I think. You haven't missed out on anything, yet. If you don't try, the only thing you will miss out on is the opportunity to become better than you were. Now it is time to put your nose to the grindstone, and start gutting it out. There is plenty of time left for you to get better, and to improve, and to stand out amongst the crowd. Go get it! It won't just come to you. And remember, if was easy, everyone would do it.