dragonwarrior_keltyr

I do shotokan karate and personally, it has made me better and more able to defend myself. I haven't "tested" it or anything, but i know that if nothing else, I have a better chance of getting away safely than I did before. As someone else said, maybe their focus is off. Try a different Shotokan school before you completely change styles. It could be the school or maybe the style just isn't for you.

I can't remember exactly, I think it was an ad in the paper. I was in gymnastics at the time but didn't want to get into competitive gymnastics which cost a load of money. My dad had a passing interest in trying martial arts. He found a school, we tried two free lessons and I've been there ever since!

Do you mean you know them and have done them - aka are proficcent to that belt level or just that you know them? I would stick to the techniques for your level. It's better to impress with good basics than butcher the more complicated stuff

I have the opposite problem that masterintraining has. I have no problem with sparring - yes I can definatly and always improve but that isn't my focus. While sparring it feels good and right, you know how it feels when you get your techniques good. "in the zone" or whatever. But, I can't seem to get that while doing basics and noticablely during kata. The mechanics and techniques seem to go out the window and I am stiff, clumsy and altogether horrible. I know I've even fallen to "pushing my punches". I'm not sure how to get the same flow into my kata and basics that seems to come from sparring. Any tips?

Yeah A-Train said it good. I've only had second hand skates as well and they're just fine. If you already have a pair of skates you can usually do trade ins.

Tef: the problem comes when you are the odd one out and don't have a lot of or any friends. I haven't read through all the pages (I'm lazy tonight) but I do agree that actual fighting shouldn't be your first option. However, if you've told an authority and it doesn't stop then I justify defending oneself. Go for the biggest guy if you can, or the ringleader, take him out and hope the others back away. From my experience once they know you can hurt them, they back off a bit. Then again, the bullies I know weren't that strong alone.

envelope

Well I've never been seriously injured. I've had lots of opportunity (such as falling off a fence onto concrete onto my head when I was 6) but I haven't had anything serious. But I have a good story from my gymnastics days. A girl was doing a horse routine with a flip dismount. She miscalculated and landed on her back, biting her tongue. The front 3/4 of it had been bit off and was hanging on by a thread.

Just make sure you don't slip and fall with your foot in it. That might be painful... and hard to explain to your giggling family why your hanging by your foot from a rope.

Well you never know... it might be the next be thing in tournaments

mine is white Yellow Orange Green Blue Purple Brown Brown Brown Black

I've only been to one but I found I got a lot out of it. The teacher's style worked well and there were lots of high belts to help others with their techniques. Tsuruoaka-sensei taught us all and then the high black belts helped the lower blacks while the all the black belts helped the even younger. It worked quite well. I found it well wroth the time and money.

I was around 14, I can't remember the exact age - whether it was before or after my birthday. I think it was after

When I was a green belt (or maybe orange) I was sparring with a new white belt. Well, not really sparring but shoulder touching since he was so new. Somehow while backing up I slipped and fell flat on my back. Sensei came over and congradulated the bewildered white belt on downing me without touching me.

I dont' go back until the 9th but I'm starting to do stuff again. I'll probably be doing a bit of hockey too so I can expect to be sore!

I train in bare feeting 99% of the time. It's not for tradition really, I'm just a bare feet lover. Whenever it's warm enough I'm bare footed. I haved trained in shoes and find them comfortable. I should start doing some training in boots and heels though.

I know my stretching in the splits is close to plateau. I can have my legs almost flat on the floor

doing homwork or if I'm lucky, drawing or something fun.

I think my knees sound quite a few years older than me. They're forever cracking during class. It's probably from all the gymnastics I used to do.

A very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!

NHL: Calgary Flames, though I don't mind Avs or Canucks CFL: Calgary Stampeders followed by the Lions

I have waist length hair Usually kept up in a braid because I'm too lazy to do anything else with it. If not sometimes a bun, or ponytail.

I'm 17, and am cursed or blessed whichever way you look at it, to look younger than I am. I've gotten in for the 12 and under price at movies a couple times. Maybe people just look at my height and stereotype me as the "little sis" of my friends

The question for me would never be "do you have a cold?" but "do you not have a cold?" As soon as winter comes around I get cold after cold. Thankfully I don't get too sick and can just power on through it. The only problem is like now when I'm running on few hours of sleep. Hope ya get better!

lol. Sounds like our tournament classes sometimes. We've had parents be judges, and of course, if they're kids are fairly new they have no idea what they're doing. It was nice when we had "black belt moms" who'd watched karate for 6 years or so and could almost teach it