Shorinryu Sensei

Agreed. Your shin is injured..give it time to heal and it should be tougher the next time. Doing more injury to it at this point could end up doing PERMANENT damage.

I used to do tech support for Hewlett/Packard...yes, I believe people can be that stupid!

This has been posted before (somewhere)...it's just a stunt. The chimp doesn't really know TKD...just a few tricks.

I'm assuming (and really hoping) that you're kidding here? Unless the person you're fighting is totally incompetent, doing a cartwheel or backflip during a real fight is just plain suicidal.

I've done this is class several times and it works pretty good. Have everybodey in class wear black clothing that day..pants and shirt (preferrably long sleeved) and buy some sidewalk chaulk at the local WalMart. Have one person try as hard as they can to stab you with it. Also, I would not try to take a knife away from an attacker as the first move on my part. Defend, parry and counbter a knife attack...and then, if you see an opening to get the knife away from your attacker, then do it. but as a first defense...not a good idea. Backfist him in the nose or jaw, or low kick to the groin or knee first to stun them if you can...it's a very fast technique.

Aren't people that try that in real fights nicknamed "Stumpy"?

I have the time...do you have the plane ticket?

Who? Me??? Heck kicks...as long as you had some room in your living room, I'd show you a few things you've probably not seen before that would maybe help you a great deal in your training and especially sparring. They aren't any great secrets...just take some practice, confidence, timing and knowing what to do.

Can we all crash at your place kicks? Actually, MG's is high on my list of things I'd like to do some day.

There was no option for this, but I'd vote all/any of the above depending on the situation, how the attacker comes at you, your skill level and experience with the various techniques, etc.

I only competed in one tournament, but have been a judge in them for around 25 years now. The kata I did was Chinto and I got 2nd place against some very stiff competition, and against about a dozen black belt friends from various systems. Personally, I think whatever your own personal favorite is, and the one that you "get into" the best is a good choice.

I do not require any of my students to compete in tournaments. Never have, never will. However with that said, if they want to compete, they may, but I stress over and over to them that a tournament needs to be considered "play time", not as a viable test of their skills for self-defense purposes. I also tell them that bringing home a 5' tall 1st place trophy...or not scoring a single point against an opponent, makes no difference to me in regards to testing them. I tell them it is a fun experience, they'll meet some great people and see some interesting things. "Go...have fun...play nice...then come back and get to work!"

This thread would probably be better placed in the Korean martial arts section, as Taekwondo, a Korean martial art, was the only martial arts (besides judo of course) to be represented in the Olympics. Divisions are by weight in the Olympics, not by age or belt. Taekwondo...but then again, it is the ONLY system competing, so they have a slight advantage....but only slight. That I don't know...ask the TKD people. Just about all countries I suppose, except some of the very small ones. I didn't catch any of the matches at this past Olympics, but I have seen a number of the previous Olympic matches. Opinions will vary of course, but I don't feel that the contact these people are doing, and the rules that they fight by, is anything to be proud of. The aren't allowed to punch to the head, grab, sweep, choke, etc...and you will seldom see any sort of a decent punch in these matches. Basically, it's two people trying to kick each other in the head. IMHO, I think it's comical and does not represent the martial arts to the public as a whole in a good light...but again, that's my opinion. I don't have cable, so I can't answer this question for you.

9-7th kyu -- minimum of 2 months each. 6-4th kyu -- minimum of 3 months each. 3-1st kyu --- minimum of 4 months each. These are general guidelines and not set in stone. Few people get promoted that quickly in my experience, especially starting in the middle kyu's and gioing through black belt.

If the attacker has a weapon, or there are more than one of them, or he is larger than me...yes, I'll attack first. But in ANY other situation, to attack first, and I'm talking just a fight here, not being in fear of your life, then you are a fool to attack first and take the chance of legal repercussions afterwards. I'd take a black eye and a few bruises over thousands of dollars worth of HIS medical bills and a possible jail sentence any day.

I'm just curious, but do you pay for these "half-kyu" tests? I'm wondering if it's just another way for your instructor to make a few bucks.

That depends also on what system of karate you're talking about. For instance, the system I practice (look under my name to the left for details) has a part incorporated into it called tuite. It is very similar to aikido techniques in many ways.

Both are martial arts from japan, thats about all they have in common. *ahem*...karate is from Okinawa actually. Sure, a part of Japan...but Okinawans don't generally like being called Japanese.

Huh? Only about as much difference as black and white I guess.

As I said earlier, and keeping in mind I just got up and haven't had coffee yet , each situation is different. I have attacked first, but generally I am a counter fighter. This is my nature, it is my comfort level, and it is the practice and philosophy of my chosen martial art. One thing that hasn't been addressed yet is the legal aspects of attacking first. Generally, a trained martial artist is viewed by the law as a trained fighter and the law views us as having an unfair advantage in a fight over your "average" attacker. Now, if your attacker is larger than you are, obviously stronger (a body builder for example), has a weapon or there are multiple opponents, then the law allows us to attack first and harder because we are in fear of our physical saftey. If however, your attacker is smaller, or even your same physical size and you chose to attack first, then you may very well be libel for any injury that he/she sustains. For example, I'm 6'6" (198cm) tall and weigh 240lbs. If I attack a smaller man first and break his nose, knee, rib, etc, I may end up paying his medical expenses, plus possibly open myself up for a lawsuit for assualt or damages such as lost wages, medical expenses, trauma, mental injury...and who knows what else. It could easily bankrupt me just on attorney's fee's, let alone what I might have to pay the person in damages. In my classes, I often talk to my students about this sort of thing. I have had lawyer's come in and talk to my classes about our legal responsabilities and obligations. As martial artists, we have a responsability to train and condition our minds and bodys to respond to an attack and end the conflict as quickly, with a minimal amount of injury to ourselves first, and our attackers secondly. In every fight I've been in in the past 30 years, I have gotten out of a fight usually by using my brain and my vocal skills. However, those that have escalated to the physical level have been resolved quickly and so far, efficiently with no damage to myself, and little to my attacker. And yes, I have managed to "win" each fight thus far. OK...coffee's done.

SCREEEEEEEEETCHHHHHH!!!! Well...scratch what I said about bleach first of all! A heavyweight black gi will streak...I've had a bunch of them, and they will fade to a dark gray color eventually with every wash. I think, but don't know for sure, that the streaking is caused by the material folding over as it washes and the wter/soap doesn't get into all of the nooks and crannies evenly. If a medium weight is also that heavy canvas material, it wil lno doubt do the same thing. Washing it with other colors will probably be OK after you've washed it with real dark colors (black, navy blue) several times...I do with mine and never had any problems.

If you like the way it fits now, wash it in cold water. Hot water wil lmake it shrink some. I would wash it alone, or with other whites...NOT WITH ANYTHING COLORED! A little liquid bleach (not poured directly on the material of the gi though) will help keep it nice and white. Note, I said "a little"...to much and it will eat through the material. Any major brand of detergent shoudl work jsut fine...powedered or liquid. Personally, I dry mien in the dryer all the time, but if you're going to let it "air dry"..hand it on a plastic hanger (metal ones can leave rust stains) and allow it at least a day or two to dry. Air movement will hasten the drying process. If the gi is coming out of the wash stiff, and you want to unstiffen it a bit...try fabric softener at the end of the rinse cycle. I do that with my Wranglers and it works great. If you got greyish streaks, you probably had washed something greasy (overhauls perhaps?) in the washer on the previous load, or possibly there was a crayon, broken pen or something else in the washer when the gi went through. Normal washing shouldn't leave anything like that. Re-reading this post of mine...I'm going to make some nice woman a great wife some day! Hey, I iron too!

When I was a student, they charged $10 each for the first 3 colored belt tests, plus $4 for the belt itself. Testing was about every 3 months, but not set in stone. The next 3 belts were $15/test, and the last 3 (brown belts) were $20 each. All of the money collected for the belt tests was sent to the head of the system in Okinawa for him to use to travel to see us periodically...which he did. Personally, I never had a problem paying the fee as I saw a reason for it.

Just to clarify...and I don't do TKD...but you're trying to kick high, and hard I assume (although many don't from my experience)..and make your leg go to full extension and lock the knee joint? Buddy...you're an orthopedic surgeon's "My new addition to my house" dream patient in the making. Never...NEVER..let a leg during a kick, or an arm during a punch/block go to full extension. You are hyperextending the ligaments/tendons and one of these days, something's going to go "SNAP!", and you're looking at surgury to repair it. Been there, done that myself, but not because of hyperextension during a kick. Is this a typical TKD way of kicking? Fully extended limbs?

Or you can empty out your steak knife set and knife drawer in the kitchen and have somebody toss them at you. You either learn fast, or don't.