Havoc88

I do shotokan karate, and that I exactly how we are taught. Your heel must point to the opponent and your body can lean away from the target. Not turning your heel messes up the knee since you have to turn the hips to throw the technique. Anyway, I would advice not to use a chair, unless you are using it to gain strength. Balance is a real issue with this technique in my opinion, and by using a chair a lot you wont learn this. OT: Well, being not that flexible, I tend to not kick as high as I would like. Other than that, I haven't yet found much. Tom

That was beautiful *sniff* But it must be mentioned that the guy's size and streangth DID make ALOT harder for the BJJ guy. Plus, not many of us on this board are Pedro Sauer. With respect, Sohan All good points. Think about this: 2nd Degree BJJ=at least 10 years exp. Could be 15. If Mr. Utah had no fight experience what so ever, this is still a testament to what being big and strong can do for you. Even though Sauer did win, look how long it took to get the job done. Most bar fights aren't going to last that long. But I can't find on the web how much fighting exp. Utah had. Maby Utah also had a lot of years of fighting exp. Tom

Currently, I am reading Thinking Strategically, by Nalebuff and Dixit. It is an introduction to game theory. Really nice. Tom

Ps1 is right, it varies. At my school it is: White (8th kyu) yellow (7th kyu) orange (6th kyu) green (5th kyu) blue (4th kyu) brown (3th kyu) brown (2nd kyu) brown (1st kyu) black (1st dan) Tom

I pay €65/3 months. That's a little over €21 a month. I practice shotokan karate in The Netherlands. American gyms are more expensive I think. Tom

That's some pretty solid advice. The basics is what will be most important every grading. Know the previous belt moves. The new stuf will probably not be as important. Tom

Thanks Baronbvp Still my question remains where to get a 20lbs weighted shirt? Maby it's easyest just using a belt and buy some weight for that huh? Tom

Monday will be my first training this year. Really looking forward to it! Tom

Maby slowly executed kata's are the way to go here? Ofcourse you can make up your own kata for (kick)boxing. But kata's do seem to flow, eventhough they use mainly lineair motions (at least at my shotokan school). Tom

Florian seems like a good guy. Nice video! Tom

Not yet, started out last october. Maby some will come. Tom

Nice idea! In my opinion, tai chi is so relaxed because it uses circular motions. This way you can flow from technique to technique. (Kick)boxing uses straight lineair motions. Will be hard to make that into a fluid combination when performed slowly. By mma I think you mean parts of bjj. So you will be rolling on the floor really slowly with your partner? Not my idea of relaxation. However, these are just my first thoughts when I read your post. Will be nice to read other peoples comments. Tom

Thats what I meant anyway You can also look at it like this. Lets say you have been training at a Mc Dojo for 5 years and are really confident with your skills. One day, you end up in a seeing someone take a beating, and confident as you are, you go over there to help. But since you have been training at a Mc Dojo, you do not have any real skill, and end up in the hospital yourself. A bit to late to recognize you were training in a Mc Dojo.. Tom

This is a good point. The problem is that I don't think they realize that they are until it is too late. Personally, I don't think that the majority of people that are in business, no matter what the product, think like this. Sure, they are trying to make money, but I still think that many are still concerned about putting out a good product, so they get repeat business. You said it yourself. The problem is that they do not realize it untill it is too late. As long as people do not know they are being overcharged, they won't go and search for another gym. Tom

Thanks, that will help me out Tom

I think you got your point accross the first time BM Just kidding. Cross, I do think you make a good point. But I think that even if you only want to learn an art just to learn one you are way better off by not training at a McDojo. Since they utterly overcharge you, why stay there? Sure, in the end you get what you came for, learning for the sake of learning, but you will be overpriced for the sercive they deliver. The other option is to learn an art for the sake of learning at a good school. This way, you also get what you came for, only at a lower price. All this is only looking at the price ofcourse. So I see no real reason for anyone to train at a McDojo actually.. BM: Problem is that there is no complete information in this world and that information costs money. You can not just trust a business man by their pretty blue eyes. The business man knows this and could just try and exploit this information assymetry. People strive for their aspiration level. As long as what they get is more than their aspiration than they will be happy. As long as they do not know they are being ripped off, they will continue to be happy. Glad there are forums like this who can help people overcome this information assymetry so we can get the most bang for our buck Tom

Congrats to both! I will be 19 february 28th Tom

Doesn't look like your ordinary adventure game Good your having fun with it. Me, I would love to play the new Zelda game. To bad I do not have any cash at the moment. Driving lessons are killing me. Tom

Usually, I just listen to music, chat with friends and search the internet for stuf I think is interesting. Usually something that has to do with ma, bodymechanics, economics (sorry ), powertraining or something like that. Tom

Yeah, I understand your point. Problem is, I do not have the time (/energy) to go to the thai gym five times a week. So I will have to warm up in much less time. How would you for example do it? I'm not the guy who sports every day for two hours. So I can't stretch every day after a two hour work out. I know you said two hours just for the example to get your point accross, but hope you get mine. I would like to know how to get warmed up really quickly. Stretching is a good thing, and I think a lot of people will have the same 'problem' as I have. Tom

A question. I would like to stretch 5 times a week, but how do you guy's warm up before it. I mean, I would like to spend about 15 minutes stretching before going to sleep for example, but I do not see myself working out 15 minutes in advance. So how do you guy's quickly warm up before stretching? Doing 50 jumping jack's or something? Probably really quick, like a minute and a half, but it does wear you down. So some advice would be helpfull Thanks. Tom

I believe I have read this topic before, but it was interesting enough to read it once more. I have two questions for you. 1. Where did you buy the sledge hammer? I would love to do that, since I think it would be a great workout in a little time, but don't know where to buy it. You gave a great advice on the tire, so when I have found myself a hammer, I will try and get on right away. 2. How did you make or where did you buy the 10kg vest? Since I am training pullups a lot lately, I would like to be able to make them a little bit harder once I am able to do 10 proper pullups. Also, I think a vest would help during pushups. Thanks in advance Tom

In my opinion, there is more value added to a blackbelt by the non-MA community than by the martial artist who actually achief the rank of blackbelt. When you meet someone and they know you're a blackbelt, they expect you to be a master in your style and that you can take on everybody. Thus, I think there comes a mindset along with a skill set with the blackbelt testing. That may just be the difference between brown and black belt, the mindset. After blackbelt, there is a neverending road of leaning. May also be the point where you can start experimenting with other styles. But mastering of a style when reaching blackbelt? No! Tom

That´s a pretty bad situation you have there man, I´m sorry to hear it As written already, I advice you to go to the cops asap. You shouldn´t see that as a sigh of weakness from your side or anything nor that you are not capable enough as a martial artist. The way I see it, it is your ´job´ to make sure you and your mother are safe. In my opinion, and that of many others, you can finish that job best by going to the cops. They have experience with this kind of situations. I would like to point out the thing BM said before me again, because it really hits the nail right on the top. Call the police, and report him, even if it is against your mother's will. Believe me, you would rather have her mad at you than have her in ICU, or worse. Good luck. Tom

Happy new year to you all too! Tom