dragonwarrior_keltyr

I haven't tested for a dan ranking yet, but I did fail my first blue belt exam. I got into the mindset of "everyone else my rank is grading, so I have to as well" and naturally failed. It taught me a lesson, and I slowed down and graded only when I felt I was ready.

I actually find this offensive. Why must we as women stifle our creativity or desires about what we have in our cars etc, just to avoid "the evil man." This pattern of thought - that we must subdue ourselves to avoid becoming victims - is wrong and (I would add) induces into women (and men) an attitude of subservience. I understand that women are targeted based upon our gender, and that unfortunately we must be more aware of our surroundings than men, but I refuse to treat myself like a victim. Now, I'm a tomboy, but if I want to wear a slinky shirt, I am going to wear it. To say clothing, or something in our cars "makes us victims," is closely related to victim blaming. You are basically saying that because a women has female "foo-foo" in her car, she is asking to be targeted. That is wrong and very offensive. Women should be aware yes, because it is an unfortunate statistic that more attacks happen to women by men, but that does not mean women are to blame. You are stating with your wording that "feminine" (and I use the word loosely) things equal victims' things. That is not the case. If I were looking for someone to rape, I wouldn't be hanging around the car with the NRA stickers on it. This isn't about blame, it's about thinking from the mindset of a predator and trying to learn to be safer. It is not "wrong" to leave your front door unlocked while you sleep, but it's not smart either. Leaving the front door open and a bumper sticker are entirely different ball games. One is common sense - protecting your home. The other is a matter of aesthetics. I have worked with people who've suffered from abuse as well as being a survivor myself and I can guarantee you two things one, the people who rape are not strangers and two, it doesn't matter what a person is/isn't wearing or what type ornaments they have on /in their cars - those things are inconsequential in the mind of a sexual predictor.

I know that we've had a few returning black belts at my dojo. They keep their belt, but often they take some of the beginner classes to catch up. I think the only snag would be if you wanted to grade for your 2 dan right away.

I actually find this offensive. Why must we as women stifle our creativity or desires about what we have in our cars etc, just to avoid "the evil man." This pattern of thought - that we must subdue ourselves to avoid becoming victims - is wrong and (I would add) induces into women (and men) an attitude of subservience. I understand that women are targeted based upon our gender, and that unfortunately we must be more aware of our surroundings than men, but I refuse to treat myself like a victim. Now, I'm a tomboy, but if I want to wear a slinky shirt, I am going to wear it. To say clothing, or something in our cars "makes us victims," is closely related to victim blaming. You are basically saying that because a women has female "foo-foo" in her car, she is asking to be targeted. That is wrong and very offensive. Women should be aware yes, because it is an unfortunate statistic that more attacks happen to women by men, but that does not mean women are to blame. You are stating with your wording that "feminine" (and I use the word loosely) things equal victims' things. That is not the case.

For me, I'm under five feet and 110 pounds. I'm small and "vulnerable." So for me, I think doing anything I need to get away is what I'd do. I'm an easy target, and I can be overpowered. It's an unfortunate fact of being small - someone can out-muscle me. Overall, I think that size plays a factor. If a 300lb guy attacks me, I would be more likely to use as much force as possible because of the size difference. Whereas, someone who is more my height, I wouldn't see the need to use as much force because they aren't as physically imposing. Perhaps, that isn't a good attitude, but that's just how I react.

Personally I don't care too much about what belt I am as long as I know I"m improving, but I find I want to have my brown belt (grading soon) because it shows my progress to others. If I say I have (only) a purple then people don't believe I've made progress. I foudn in my old dojo that I was happy to go a year between gradings, but the Sensei as well as other students looked down on me for not grading. Overall, I think it can help those who need goals/reminders and children, and it is nice to see your progress, and others by their belt colours. But remember just because someone is an orange belt doesn't mean they aren't very good. I had to do one step sparring with an orange belt yesterday and I was surprised to see that his skills were equal to mine... just a reminder

I'm a bit late to the party but here goes. - get my brown belt or at least be brown belt level skill wise by the end of the year - train more than 2x per week.

I think there is a certain amount of respect due to senior belts/the sensei. They have (hopefully) achieved their rank for a reason and I give them the respect a teacher deserves. Namely, I pay attention in class, and am willing to be corrected etc, however, outside the dojo or when not in class I see no problem with being familiar/friends with any of the higher belts.

I got funny looks the other day in KFC. When they called my order I stood up, bowed and said "osu" before getting my food.

Kangeiko as in "winter training"? Were you hanging your sweaty gi outside to freeze after every class and doing your training outside? That's what I've heard of from people who have don kangeiko in Japan. Kangeiko here is awesome because it's 70 degrees right now We did ours inside which is great seeing as it's been -30C outside lately . But they were really intense training sessions.

This week we had Kangeiko at our dojo at 6am every morning. It's been a great week and I've felt a lot of improvement in my techniques. Has anyone else participated?

Another girl checking in.

My mom got the weighted expansion, so when I do the boxing I put those on and it slows me down enough - well okay, not quite, but makes it closer.

I ran into that difficulty when I started university. There wasn't a Shotokan school in the city. I tried a different style of karate, but it wasn't what I wanted or needed. I ended up getting a punching bag and training at home. This year I am taking a judo class at University. I would see what is around and see how busy you are. A physical sport or martial art of some kind is a nice way to relieve stress. As for what kind of martial art...I forget what kind you said you did, but I'd go for something complimentary as opposed to supplementary. I went for judo because it's more grappling whereas karate that I'd done for years previous what punches/blocks etc so the two will hopefully compliment each other without making me relearn/unlearn any old training.

Since I cannot make it to a dojo, I've taken to training at home. I do kata and basics, but I want to do more bag work. I remember often at the dojo warming up with a combination on a punching bag ie) backfist followed by reverse punch. However, I forget most of the combos we did. It doesn't need to be fancy, but what suggestions do you have. Or other drills I could use my bag for. I did Shotokan karate and am a purple belt. My bag is a wavemaster.

As I've mentioned in another thread about rape, being a victim myself I endorce 100% the use of lethal force by rape victims. I did not fight to the death in my case and that is one of my regrets. I know I would feel little or at least less remorse about killing my attacker than about leaving my life in his hands. I am lucky in that I have been able to move past it fairly well, but there are many scars that linger. But, if I could go back and change anything about the experience I would have fought back and killed him. I likely could have prevented the actual rape. By fighting to the death you eliminate the thoughts of "if only I had fought back" etc. You know that you did everything in your power to resist.

Okay, coming from the perspective of a victim of date rape, I would say fight like hell. From my experience, passive response or fear of hurting the attacker doesn't help at all. To be blunt, the mental damage is worse than any physical damage the attacker could do. I think the girl should do everything in her power to get away and hurt her attacker. Another thing girls (and guys) make sure that they know only the actual word "yes" means go ahead and that anything else means "no".

I'm not sure what I'm doing yet but I'm dressing up as one of the Gorgons - Medusa.

In a conversation with my instructor, I mentioned to her that I thought that persons with a background in dance had an advantage when starting karate; she agreed, but further suggested that a person with a background in gymnastics also had that advantage. Putting the "warrior" in "dragonwarrior"! Of course. Gymnastics was helpful, especially for kick flexability. My old sensei suggested that all of us should take a belly dancing class to improve our hip movements. The guys went like this

Haha, wow, that's a good find! I giggled like a maniac. Was I the only one naming the techiniques that the finger did?

For me, like others it's about confidence. I was a pretty wussy, weak kid and it started to annoy me after years of being "the weak, little girl". I did gymnastics which kept me in good shape, but karate gave me confidence. I have had to defend myself before and knowing I at least have a bit of knowledge in how to defend myself is comforting. Plus, I love the challenge adn the thrill of pushing myself.

I can't say much more than good luck! I have had trouble finding a Shotokan dojo where I am too so I know what you're going through.

Yeah, you guys hit on my main problem with goju.. it would mess with my "pure" Shotokan. I want to continue in Shotokan when possible and goju seems to hinder that. Although the style itself isn't bad and I like some of the modifications to the katas I attempted last night. Others I didn't care for as much. I missed the deeper stances. Anways, I am off to try aikido, thanks for your imput. I will let you know how it goes. I found one more option which is kickboxing... I may have to try that too.

I know I've been MIA on this site for a while, but I need your opinions. Last year when I moved for university I discovered that there was no Shotokan dojo in the area. I've been training on my own for the past year but I want to get back into the dojo. I know I get better training there and I miss sparring and having someone to correct my mistakes. I went to a Goju Ryu karate dojo last night. It's fairly similar to Shotokan, but there are key differences. Tonight I am trying out an Aikido dojo. I think I will take one of those ma. I need help with which one. Goju has the advantage and disadvantage of being similar to Shotokan. The good thing is that there I could start sparing and training at my purple belt (or close to it) level without trouble. I wouldn't have start at white belt. I would like to continue my training. The trouble is also the similarities. For Goju I have to retrain myself in the Goju style of karate after four years of Shotokan. I'm not sure if I want to do that. Also, if I go into Goju I feel like I'd have to give up Shotkoan styles in order to become better. On the other hand, in Aikido I'd be starting from scratch. I'm afraid I'd feel uncomfortable (not necessarily a bad thing mind you) as a white belt. When I want a good hardcore training it'd frustrate me to be a beginner. But, I think Aikido would complement Shotokan better than Goju. I could continue trianing in Shotokan at home but have classes in Aikido. I'm torn between the two. Any thoughts, suggestions or other? Thanks!

My first instruction was amazing. His style of teaching worked well for me. He was a "takes no crap" kind of guy, but he knew how to have fun. He always pushed me and drove everyone to be better. Not everyone liked his style of teaching but I enjoyed it. He didn't let you slack, but especially in the advanced belts, he made class fun and exciting. I'll never forget the time when he spent all class cracking fart jokes after passing gas earlier in class. He was awesome!