bushido_man96

No worries!!

Kicking in shoes is defenitely different. I find it slows my kicks some.

I apologize if my point was confusing. I'll attempt to clarify here. What I mean is that your uniform is generally more loose (or restrictive depending on how you wear your uniform in to your regular attire) than your normal everyday clothes. Myself, for example, in order to maintain that business professional look I'm required to have I do have to wear a suit and tie to work every day. This outfit is much more restrictive than when I put on my gi. The point I was trying to make is that there may be occasions when you may have to use your skills when dressed in a suit & tie or in a coat. You should get to know what your moves are going to feel like when you're not wearing your uniform. Now I'm in no way saying that since I wear a suit and tie to work everyday that I need to train in a suit and tie. I'm just saying that every now and then you should train in an outfit other than your uniform (maybe a half a dozen times a year or so). It doesn't even have to be a hard workout, either, just something to familiarize yourself with what you'll be experiencing. When I do, it's usually in jeans and a tee-shirt; not in my fully business attire. And most importantly, when I do this it's not in the dojo, but rather often in my backyard or at a friend's. The main point behind this is getting to know what it's like to attempt those kicks when you're wearing jeans or throwing punches when wearing a coat, and how you might need to compensate or adjust your moves accordingly. Sorry for any confusion on the original post and hope this helps clear up my previous post. Also good points as well.

I envy you!! Keep us posted!

Good deal, Kez. It sounds like you are almost there!

Keep up the good work!!

I had her start practicing it right then and there. It makes her think, but in the long run, she will appreciate it.

Thanks, I appreciate the support.

I generally don't use any energy drinks, aside from an occasional Gatorade.

Today, we had our kicking class, and it is generally an informal class. We were our uniform pants, but just a tee-shirt. After class, I had one of the junior students do their form. While she was doing it, I noticed that she has double-jointed elbows, and she was locking her arms completely upon completion of punches. I thought that this could be bad, so I showed her that she needed to tighten up her arm, and finish the punch before locking out her elbows, so that she doesn't hyperextend them. With the uniform on, I would have never picked up on this. Just a thought I wanted to share.

Best of luck to you! Hopefully, the time off won't hurt your energy systems too much.

Welcome to the forums!

Sweet!!

I love a good chicken noodle soup. If I do have soup, it has to be something hearty, like the afforementioned, or like vegetable beef stew. My wife likes to make a soup every year for Christmas, and so far, we have had good stuff. We made a soup with fish and shrimp in it one year; I loved it, the others hated it.

I think he used one primarily for defense, though.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Hey, no worries!!

This is eating at me, so I will let it out. Just because an instructor doesn't want to bother with trying to collect monthly checks, and keep track of who is paid up and who isn't, and decides to use an agency that does it for them, does not mean the place is bad, and doesn't make it a McDojo. It is just a simpler way to make sure the dues come in every month. And, if it is a good dojo, the students will come regularly anyways, and it would not be a problem. The problem comes when a student signs up, and something comes up and quits, and then the instructor doesn't release them from the contract. That is when it becomes an issue.

Do your normal stretching routine, and then finish with roll-overs: you sit back into your split position, and stretch your legs as far as possible--then, you grunt, and pull yourself over into the stretch, and then all the way forward. Keep your body low to the ground the whole time, and then push your hips back, while keeping your chest on the ground, and then roll back to the seated position. Hard to explain, maybe I can find a site that shows it.

Good luck with your competition, Sohan!!

cathal has good advise, there, and I would echo it. If you want to be like Jet Li, then you need to focus more on your training methods as opposed to any one style. The secret is in the training. Welcome to the Forums!

I think that you may be right about that.

I don't see any reason to take someone's rank away from them, either. I wrote an article called Recognition of Rank a long time ago espousing exactly the position you take above and even using the same line of reasoning. The reasoning behind removing rank seems to be: * I want my students ranks to represent their skills. Which doesn't work once you get old and your own skills go downhill and yet you receive another dan rank. Try convincing your instructor after he is seriously injured in a car accident to give back his rank and start over and see how he likes it. LOL! * I want the test fee money Usually the real reason, which is why I asked about cost But you have to remember that most martial arts instructors are a bit unreasonable, and there is always going to be some sort of compromise required to enjoy martial arts training. Few karate instructors are leading corporate executives with 200+ IQ's who are completely rational about everything they do. Most are blue collar guys or regular folks who just do what their own teacher did and don't really think about how to do things differently. They just assumed that every tradition has a good reason behind it and don't mess with what they believe works. These are all very interesting points to make. When the transition is from one system to a new one, then starting over should happen. However, through the same system, I like the points that you make. In-class testings would be a good way to track their knowledge of lower rank material, and give the instructor an idea of what the student needs to brush up on the most.

my karate teacher moved back to his hometown of kumamoto, japan. When he comes to visit, we train together. It's always interesting to see how much each of us has changed when we spar. That's pretty cool. I like getting together with my old instructors when I get the chance as well.

Trying to block below the elbow would be the best block, I think, but I would try to slip or duck, as was mentioned earlier. A nice, tight hook is going to be hard to block, because they won't give you much. Best to duck or back up, I would think. If you do attempt to block, try to move in as you do so, to remove your target (head) away from the attack.