JackCrevalle

No wonder you don't punch, you guys don't wear hand gear.

This is a very perceptive observation. Just yesterday I was talking to a friend and mentioned something about MAs and she said, "You don't do that do you?". I told her yes, but since she is a work friend i added, "but I don't let a lot of people know that". She went on to say that her (grown) son was in TKD and she didn't want to know what he did because she said he had broken his friends leg at one time and came home with bruises, etc. I really wanted to know more about what her son was doing but it was obvious she really didn't want to know details of his MA. When I came home with a bruised up leg from being kicked there several times, my wife asked "Why do you let people kick you?". It definitely seems to invoke some kind of visceral response to be injured in a MA versus another sport.

I read about a lot of people using these machines but I've read in couple of places now that passive stretching does not translate into dynamic flexibility so I'm wondering why people buy them.

[Edit: sorry I was trying to agree with an earlier poster and between my post and the one I was trying ot agree with several other responses got in. Then I screwed up who I was trying to agree with.] I agree that you don't need your BB to get respect from students. In our dojang we have lesser ranked belts assisting the instructors. This is, I believe, part of their training towards earning their black belts.

Swimming. Also, ironically I've read that cycling is ok for people with knee problems. Of course you still need to see the doctor before doing any exercise if you have problems.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Boxing-1533/Headache-bag.htm

It doesn't say you'll come out a 4th degree BB, it says you'll have the skills to pass the certification for 4th degree BB. Later it says: "Graduates can earn up to a 3rd or 4th degree black belt." Well, so can non-graduates for that matter.

I just read an article last night by Bill Wallace about how he uses only 5 techniques. Basically for the reasons you outline. In the article he comments about fighting street fighting and to paraphrase him says that when you are in a fight for your life, you fight like it's a fight for your life. I see a lot of these threads and they all try to analyze the legal consequences but few if any of them I think emphasize or even mention the fact that the aftermath of a confrontation is a legal crap shoot at best. And a crap shoot that you alone are likely to pay for monetarily win-or-lose (at least here in the US) or with your freedom should it go to court. Here in the US martial arts training can be considered the use of a deadly weapon and so a defenders response could be judged according to the threat, in the less than clear, or outright biased, memories of witnesses. Best advise, walk away at all costs.

Call me stupid too then because that's the first thing that came to my mind when I read the post.

My dojang has those Century boards and according to my instructor the the black is supposed to be the hardest however he said the brown is "just crazy". I'm not saying they are less consistent than wood, just be aware they may not be consistent even as they are supposed to be to each other.

I'm thinking about getting a Wavemaster bag but I've got no place to put it in my home. I was wondering if anyone kept there's outside and how it held up if they did. Summer temps around here seldom get above 90 deg. F and winter temps rarely go below 40 (although this year was an exception).

I'd like to "practice" at the dojang but that's pretty much off-limits when class isn't in session. I'd also like to practice in my home but I don't have enough room in any one place to do say forms. I usually end up practicing in a piece of the backyard mostly out of sight of the neighbors.

Bushido-man is right again. After suffering through pain in an ever-increasing number of joints, I finally ditched my Internist at the time (who was treating each joint problem as a separate malady) and went back to see my then retired Internist. She sent me to a Rheumatologist who told me that I not only had arthritis in my feet, knees, elbow, hand and jaw, but also in my shoulders (which hurt but I attributed this to using my arms to save my knees when getting up). After trying the standard medication for arthritis of this type, she put me on a another that has basically eliminated the symptoms. So, I went from taking 2400 mg of Ibuprofen a day just to function and being "barely able to walk" to being able to do TKD. My regret is that I was denied correct treat long enough to suffer permanent damage to my joints. Many arthritis suffers augment their treatment with alternative treatments, I still take glucosimine and chondrotin, but I couldn't function without prescription medication.

+1 for Black Belt magazine. My wife subscribed for me so I don't know the cost. After reading other threads about MA magazines I probably would never have subscribed myself, "all ads, no good articles..." but BB magazine has plenty of articles of all different levels and any MA you could think of. I'm way behind in my reading of them because of the amount of material.

I just starting using some ankle weights my wife got after knee surgery. I love them. I do stretch kicks using cable pulleys at the gym but I found these to be much better. Much more range of motion and more realistic. I think it definitely improved my range. Most are 10# each and most allow you remove weight. Cost $15-$40 depending on the materials. Beware of the ones that have plastic pouches filled with sand. Some advertise that they go up to 20# each. I just started using the full 10#.

http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/articles.aspx His "Eat to Live" book is also a great reference if you are willing to be open-minded about the way you've been taught (and sold) your eating habits.

This topic has been covered in a number of threads recently. You might want to peruse those. The bottom line is that the fastest way to lose weight is still dieting although exercise helps and keeps you from losing muscle mass. Exercise at 80% of your target cardio rate is more effective in fat burning than exercise at the target cardio rate. Cycling is a great way to do this and so is fast walking. In another of this threads I was relating how I lifted weights one day with a heart rate monitor on and was able to stay about in the 80% zone. This was with high reps and lower weights however. Also, while I did not let my heart rate fall below the 80% rate while resting between sets, neither was I exercising so perhaps this isn't as effective as continuous activity such as cycling.

Well, it certainly depends on why you have joint pain. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are supposed to help in slowing the deterioration of joints through osteo-arthritis and are supposed to reduce joint pain like NSAIDS do. Omega-3 and 6 EFAs such as flaxseed oil and fish oil are also supposed to reduce inflammation. You need to be careful though because the supplement industry is un-regulated and there have been cases of people not getting what they paid for. Likewise, not all fish and flaxseed oils are equal. Some fish oils can contain higher levels of mercury and flaxseed oil that is pressed is supposed to be better for you (and more expensive). Another one that is reported to work, which I haven't tried, is Certo the name brand for pectin used in canning. You supposedly mix this with grape juice. My wife got some after knee surgery but she couldn't stand the taste. See your doctor before taking any of these.

My wife was telling me that she saw an ad for black belts with no other details. I'm pretty sure it was probably training Iragi or some other countries police/military forces.

That is an excellent suggestion.

I'm not sure what your situation is but many drug companies now have programs for people who can't afford them and there is even a type of umbrella organization that represents many of the companies but I can't remember the name now. Another possibility are clinical trials. When I was diagnosed with RA my doctor offered to put me into clinical trials and told me I would get the same medicine, just combined with another drug.

The class will probably get you in shape as people have said but if you want to be prepared you may want to add some cardio to your routine. You might want to see if your dojo or another offers cardio kick boxing. That will get you ready to do sustained kicking and punching.

Have you seen a Rheumatologist? You don't say what type of arthritis you have but as someone with arthritis, including the knees, I can tell you that with forms of arthritis such as rheumatoid they can do a lot with medicines to prevent or eliminate the swelling.

On a whole, I'd rather wear a Japanese crossover style gi than my vee-neck dobak.

I did a little experiment today. I wore my heart rate monitor for the first time while lifting weights. I've been increasing my reps on each set lately to between 15 and 20, with corresponding decreases in weight, to try to build more endurance, increase weight loss and gain speed. My heart rate got into the cardio range while I was lifting and fell back to the 80% calorie burning range as I rested. Not ideal, but it seems to indicate that weight training could be just as effective as other forms of exercise to help lose weight. At least if you do high reps and don't rest excessively between sets.