alsey

well, being in the UK i don't see much of your football, but me and my friends always watch the superbowl (they do show that here) and enjoy it. i still reckon it should be called combat handball though, and not football

yeah, i agree its a good thing to do. i won't devote time to just visualising though, i just do it sometimes, before or after a kata, or before sparring, but its a spur of the moment thing for me really.

like elbows_and_knees said, once you learn the kata you should begin practicing the techniques contained in it with a partner. the aim is that with enough practice, you'll be able to use the kata movements on a fully resisting opponent.

i think you have to differentiate between self defence arts and battlefield arts. most arts that use kata are not battlefield arts as far as i know, and were designed mainly for random street attacks. for example jujitsu and kendo, which are derived from battlefield systems, aren't big on kata. then if you look at iaido/iaijutsu, which comes from the same place and culture, its all kata and it is designed for use in surprise street attacks.

i think something is going to happen to the boat, because from what i have heard malcolm david kelley (walt) is going to be a regular cast member in season 3 but harold perrineau (michael) isn't. i really hope they don't just go home, because if its that easy to get off the island i think it would spoil the show a bit. there's been a lot of speculation about an underwater hatch in season 3 (possibly a zoological station, possibly where the dharma shark came from, possibly 'the flame' from the blast door map. who knows?), maybe that will have something to do with it. i definately think walt is going to become a bigger part of the story though. sawyer tells jack about his thing with ana lucia, i think its the last episode somewhere.

i agree. i find kata movements 'fit' easily with haymakers and lapel grabs, or even just someone shaking their fist at you. i believe this is what they were intended for as well. i find in practice if someone attacks with rapid punch combos, a good throw attempt or a high kick, its difficult to use kata techniques in defence. doesn't mean they can't be used like that, but i really don't think that's what they're intended for. if someone starts kickboxing with me, its my kumite training i'll probably rely on rather than kata.

for me, meditation is like a general life enhancer. it makes everything a bit easier and more fulfilling, including MA, and it helps you get rid of distracting thoughts and desires.

could be like judo where a successful throw scores and you don't have to follow it with anything. most of the follow ups to throws i know (from jujitsu) involve pretty brutal attacks to the head from a standing position, which would be inapropriate in competition. leaving it at the throw acknowledges that the thrower has gained a big advantage without making him ground fight.

i really don't know much about these weapons; is the jian used like a european medieval broadsword and the dao like a sabre? something like that?

take downs, sweet. there are few pressure points on the wrist that can make it feel weird for a few hours if you get hit on them, or it could just be a bruise.

do your best to tell her what you think but if your mum's paying for the lessons and taking you to them, then its up to her really. maybe waiting until you have a jujitsu black belt wouldn't be a bad idea; i had a karate black belt before i started jujitsu. it can be good to be properly grounded in one style before getting into another one.

why does your mum think you should stop karate?

i'd lose access to countless fighting techniques and principles, mainly.

ah, i get it. yeah, that would be an example of what i'm talking about.

i'd love to see some proper research done on this, but it would be difficult to conduct properly. MA are so complex, so many factors, where would you begin?

i agree. a true martial artist is a skilled and disciplined fighter, anything else just makes you a better person. kind of like the bad guys in martial arts movies; they have bad guy traits but they're still martial artists of course, it depends on what martial art we're talking about. for karate, respect, etiquette, selflessness etc are part of the art and a true karateka would posess these qualities. in boxing, arrogance is almost a necessity from what i have seen. i'd say a true (ideal might be a better word) martial artist has no fear of death or injury, and is able to commit fully to the moment with a calm and clear mind.

you could also try doing them with your hands on the edge of a bed or something of similar height, instead of on the floor. do as many as you can do maybe like three times a day, and you should improve pretty quick.

ah...but what's the bag for?

practice holding the stance, and gradually make it deeper. it probably just takes practice. my cat stance sucks as well, because we never use it in shotokan. ask your sensei about it as well if you havn't already.

wikipedia has a lot of good general info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotokan the things people seem to first notice about shotokan are the deep stances and linearity of it. if you have any specific questions, ask away!

the only one i've learnt properly is the one in kanku dai, which i learnt at 1st kyu. one lesson though, our sensei got everyone from green belt up doing flying kicks. we put mats up against the wall and on the floor, and just ran at the wall and did the best flying kick we could do. it was great fun.

i prefer to have a plain gi with nothing on it, but it doesn't bother me if other people wear patches. in some organisations you have to wear certain patches.

practice more, and keep breathing deeply in time with the movements to calm your nerves.

yeah, should be a lot easier from here. well done!!

never seen that one before! how does that work?