Sohan

Actually, cookies and ice cream sounds pretty darned good right about now. With respect, Sohan

I hadn't seen the Longest Yard--I'm somewhat partial to the original. But his drug test failure is indeed true. He was cut by the Vikings because of it. Here's an artivle about him: http://bucs.tbo.com/bucs/MGA57V42SID.html With respect, Sohan

In Shorin-ryu our cat stance is somewhat deep, but not as deep as the cat stance in Hung Gar, which requires much more flexibility. I'm not sure how useful an extremely bent supporting leg would really be (rising power?) but I feel I have more mobility and grounding with a more upright cat stance, almost like a Muay Thai boxing stance. With respect, Sohan

And the best stance for martial arts is: . . . . . . . . ....The cat stance. . . . . . . . . . ........................No. . . . . . . . . . . ............................Horse stance! . . . . . . . . ........................................wait, that's not it either.... . . . . . . . . ..............................................I've got it, it's a back stance!!! . . . . . . . . ............um, nope. . . . . . With respect, Sohan

I was waiting for someone to say this--as well you should. Only took 7 posters. With respect, Sohan

Try it and see. At least you'll have an opportunity to work with a professional fighter with a great record. You never lose from widening your horizons. With respect, Sohan

Many martial artists would disagree with your statement. I personally believe that my martial arts training prepares me to discover more ways of living in harmony with my environment. I've seen a person die before. Talking about efficiently killing someone may sound cool, but it's not. I'm much more impressed by someone who talks about how to make peace, and reserves their martial arts skills for situations where their life is truly in danger. With respect, Sohan

A good kickboxing class, be it Thai or American style, will be a great boost to you fitness-wise. It is an intense anaerobic and aerobic workout that will certainly help your karate. I do however, get an equally good workout with my karate when I train alone because I tend to take fewer breaks and move at a faster pace than we do in class. I hope you continue to enjoy your program--kickboxing is a rough but satisfying sport. With respect, Sohan

I've used one. Still can't do the splits, but it did help. It's worth the money for some folks if it is ever actually used. With respect, Sohan

That is actually quite debated, the immune system thing. When you get cold, your body has to do some serious overtime to keep itself at the proper temperature, the question is if that causes your immune system to take a hit or not. That being said, there is, quite startingly, practically no true scientific evidence (there are several very small scale studies out there, but no large scale and recognized academic research projects) which says that being chilled will make you more likely to get sick. On the flipside, there have been many studies that say that drinking tea is very good for your immune system, so drink lots of tea and don't worry about getting cold . David David It may be debated, but the tide is turning towards the thought of being cold as making you more susceptible to cold viruses. Here is an example: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4433496.stm The idea of being cold not causing colds is mainly based on one study performed on prison inmates back in 1969. More studies are out now that suggest the opposite, and based on my personal experience, I'm inclined to agree with them. With respect, Sohan

It's not the rain, it's the chill you get from being wet. When you're body becomes chilled, your immune system becomes compromised and your resistance to viral infection is lowered. With respect, Sohan

So after a strenuous workout or marathon, the warrior in you hankers for a steaming bowl of oatmeal? LOL, yep. With a good hearty drink too. I always thought this was a popular thing Hmm, I don't know about that. An oatmeal stout, maybe... With respect, Sohan

I love doing the sweep where I catch or trap their foot at my side when they kick, then sweep the other leg inward, following them down with a downward punch. I originally learned to sweep in Muay Thai and this is one of my favorite moves. With respect, Sohan

Welcome! With respect, Sohan

Hmm, we may have to watch out for you youngsters.... . . . . . I'll make sure to have some milk available... With respect, Sohan

I'd do it somewhat differently, I'd give them the belts at the beginning of the week, and give them a goal to shoot for, and use stripes on the belt as "progress" markers. It makes kids really try harder when the one next to them has two stripes and they don't have any. (Of course, the flip side is that the kids feel left out if 20 kids get stripes and 2 don't ) You could do something along the lines of "every kid that earns 5 stripes" during the week gets a free dobok and week of lessons, then make sure that every kid gets at least 5 stripes by the end of the week. Another thing you can do that kids love is to hand out "good job" awards. We have 3" x 3" square colored papers with different sayings "Great attitude", "Excellent job", etc. When they get x number of papers, they can trade it in for lick and stick tattoos, or other similar low cost toys (Think skeeball tickets). Oh, and just an FYI, we hashed this over on another board when discussing "movie night" at the dojangh. Technically it is broadcasting a movie for a group for money, which could be considered illegal since you aren't a movie house. Group of friends come over to watch a movie? Great, private showing. Karate group that paid to be there for the fun, and you show a movie? Technically a no no. Aodhan Though I like the belt idea, the stripes will be a no-go, since that is how we promote children in kids class. If a child achieved stripes at camp and then showed up at class with a belt with three stripes after only a week or two of training, it wouldn't be fair to other kids. The good job awards may work, though. As far as the movie goes, we'll look into it. Surely there's a way, since private schools show movies to their students in class as well. Thanks for the advice. With respect, Sohan

I love that video. The TKD fighter was definitely outmatched. He seemed a little arrogant and cocky, while the Thai fighter was very patient, toying with his adversary. If the Thai fighter had really been permitted to, he would have made hamburger out of the other guy. His kicks hurt to watch (did you hear that SMACK every time they connected? Ouch!). Definitely lessons to be learned--balance, simplicity, and power are very useful in winning fights. That said, these are merely two fighters out of many. They do not necessarily represent the efficacy of their arts. With respect, Sohan

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Everyone has something unique about themselves that makes them different from everyone else, perhaps a talent or interest that they enjoy. Mine is that I can sing in Spanish without an accent, though I'm a born and bred Yankee. What's yours? With respect, Sohan

Let's see: Orion brings the lager. KarateK brings vodka. I'll bring the ribs. Anyone else? With respect, Sohan

Exactly. I guess I don't see why a dojo that charges a reasonable monthly fee for training needs to charge for testing. Seems like it's more about revenue generation than the best needs of the student. Testing should be part of the package---I mean, come on, who's going to train alongside others getting promoted if they're not going to be promoted? It's not really an option. With respect, Sohan

I love the movie idea. I'm hoping we can borrow a TV rack from the local library, because we don't have a good one at the rec center. Jaymac, I'd like to give the kid belts, but since they're not wearing gis, I'm worried it might look a bit odd. But it might be cool to present white belts to the students at the end of the week as an award for their hard work? What do you think? With respect, Sohan

Absolutely! And it seems there's more that I don't know all the time. But I do know a little about Health and Fitness since it's my livelihood. With respect, Sohan

Elastic bands are not really as good as free weights because every exercise movement begins with very low resistance and ends with high resistance. This is contrary to the force capability patterns of virtually all human muscle groups, which show a substantial drop-off in force capability toward the end of the range of motion. In simpler terms, since muscle gets weaker towards the end of a full range of movement, an elastic band that gets harder at the end wastes development potential in the first third to half of the movement. With respect, Sohan

There are some great dvds out there on yoga that may help. Perhaps that will be better because of your time constraints. Not as good as an instructor, but with your MA training you should derive some positive benefits. With respect, Sohan