Shotokan-kez

Go go go Brian!! Have you got a TV? Just kidding...well done hun keep those posts coming. You always give great advice and have been a great mate to me!

Woohoo! I'm back at karate. My first lesson back was bad because a kid punched me in the rib without a mitt on! I just got a little pain and rested the next day. I'm still getting twinges but sensei is happy as long as i don't fight...so bring back the training lol

I have a similar problem. I can execute an excellent front kick, but only if im doing it fast. I cannot do it slowly because as i extend it out i get pain in the back of my leg. Some great advice here that i will certainly be trying, i hope some of it works for you too.

Hello all, I have been wondering about this for a few weeks and was intending to get your views, so here i am. What exactly is dynamic karate? I feel my style is strong, disciplined, powerful ect ect, is this classed as dynamic. The way i see dynamic is like TKD, the flying and spinning kicks and things like that. We don't do things like that, we have the odd jump kick or other kinds of jumps in our kata's but no fancy dynamic kicks. What styles of karate would you consider dynamic? Thanks for your thoughts. Kez

At the start of training our students are encouraged to use closed hands for blocking, open hand is then used as they progress. I mainly use closed hands for scooping up a front kick to turn them round, exposing their back. Also i like to use a closed hand to 'jam' a block, for instance when blocking a chudan punch blocking it and countering at the same time. I use open hands while sparring and doing freestyle, fast work. I just find it quicker and more convienient. However i do have to keep my fingers as close together as possible because i have bent my fingers back many times...ouch that hurts!

Our sensei is a 6th dan and does all the kyu grade gradings as well as the black belts. I prefer it that way rather than have to travel for miles to grade.

Yeah i know what you mean about the pounding. I did experience it at the start but eventually with the right technique and control it works out ok. I do however often have problems with one of my elbow joints and one of my ankles. Not so sure this is caused by my karate though.

We do encourage teaching in our club. We have a 13 year old 2nd dan who helps occasionally, but because of her age she never takes a full class. I didn't really get a taste for teaching until i reached Shodan because my sensei has always had plenty of instructors. I know help to teach the kids class on a Saturday afternoon. In that class there are so many kids at different ages we split them up into groups and each instructor gets a group. We have a 4th kyu senior assising us at this class but he just walks around the group he has been put with and assist. He is never given his own group.

We don't have a specific rule on this. We may wear or gi as and when we like. I personally don't wear it outside the dojo, just because it attracts trouble and i would feel a little silly. However, i do wear it to and from the dojo, just because i am in a car. If i didnt have a lift then i would wear my normal clothes and got changed when i arrived.

This is the thing brian i have absolutely no idea how this has happened. I'm wondering if it could be the result of a severe cough and i have cracked or bruised them by coughing so hard...but can that happen?

Well i have just come back from the docs...i have cracked/bruised a rib! Doctors just seem to know the right places to prod don't they? Since i have been like this for around 4 weeks he reckons i will be out of action for up to another 4 weeks. I miss karate. Lots of rest is in order now, i'm glad i know now what it was.

Yeah 3000 would be great...i wanna beet Brian lol

For me i have been lucky and not experience anything to major. I have had my fingers bent right back on a couple of occassions. This being my own fault for blocking with an open hand. There was also a time when i blocked a kick awkwardly and caught the inside of my knee. My vien there popped right out it was agony, i couldn't allow anything to touch it at all. The bruise it came with was horrendous going from my knee to half way down my calf.

Quick update. I have taken two weeks of anti-biotics, pain still the same, i have also had a chest x-ray which was showing the lungs were clear. I am now very worried because we are non the wiser on why i am experiencing this pain in my ribs. I am currently waiting for a car to collect me so i can go and see the doctor yet again.

Ours is very much like Brians. Always bow before entering and leaving the dojo. Hands to the side and feet together when being addressed by the sensei. Never talk/chew gum/smoke ect in the dojo. We don't usually have a problem. Someone mentioned before that their sensei rarely gets angry but when he does it's scary. Well thats just like mine so people generally behave themselves.

I would hate to have to hit someone, i really don't like the idea at all, but if i had to i would. With me not being a fighter at all the "one punch one kill" concept would be great but i wouldn't rely on it. Most of the people who die after being punched once that you read over here in the paper are usually because of them hitting their heads on concrete after their fall or something like that.

31 soon to be 32...feeling it a bit now though!

Thanks everyone!

Thanks a lot guys some lovely posts. I'm feeling a little better. I have stopped vommiting. I still feel like i have been kicked in the ribs a thousand times but i have new anti-biotics now and they seem to be working okay. Thanks for your well wishes.

I got a new book for christmas...it's little dorritt by charles dickens. It has just been shown on tv and it was great so i cant wait to get stuck into the book.

I first sampled playing the wii over new year and one of the games was mario cart. I thought it was great fun..alas we don't have a wii but a ps3. I'm seriously tempted now to get a wii for my son for his birthday...so i can pinch it hehe

Happy 2000 posts to me! I used to spend most of my time on here, but unfortunatly due to my pc breaking and internet problems i couldn't be around as much. Anyway i would like to say that KF rocks, i love it. I have recieved some very valuable advice and read some very good and warming stories, as well as making some great friends. Thanks guys

I had a dreadful night. Seems i have had a severe reaction to my anti-biotics. I must have vomitted around 8-10 times during the night, and the stomach cramps were bad I got really scared and almost called an ambulance. Instead i telephoned the emergency docs and they told me to stop take the meds immediatly. I'm now waiting for my doctor to arrange a different prescription for me. Man this is a real bummer i hate it.

I don't know what this is?

Polar express, miracle on 34th street are my favourites. I also like the grinch and elf. I watched christmas with the Kranks recently and i thought that was pretty cool!