DWx

Traymond, greetings. I would like to pose a few questions and thoughts to you. The first is, can you quote chapter and verse as to where it says we should honor all religions? Don't get me wrong, I know that we are to love everyone, but honoring their religion does not (at least in my mind without knowing the chapter and verse) seem like something Christ would say, or the apostles. However, can you learn about Zen philosiphy? Absolutly! If you want to study Zen I would have to ask what your personal definition of study is. Are you learning about Zen in hopes of improving your MA skills? Are you learning it to find truth? Are you just curious about what the Zen philosiphies teach? Speaking from a strictly Christian world viewpoint, all religions that seek truth, seek Christ. However in error they are. As Christ said "I am the way, the truth and the light. No man comes to the Father except through me." [ emphisis added ] So from a Christian world viewpoint, one could argue that all religions that seek truth have an element of Christianity in them. But here is the thing, you can't get there from here. In other words, you can't get to Truth by any other means, so why study a map that wont take you where you need to go? If you want to learn about other religions and cultures that is great. However it is important to remember that there is only one way to go. Now if you don't have a Christian world viewpoint, then the above is moot, but Christian to Christian it is quite valid. I went to a Catholic school and actually had to do a paper on that subject. I think somwhere in John, Jesus is quoted as saying something along the lines of "there are many rooms in my Father's house". We were told to interpret that as "there are many ways to get to God / heaven". There are also a number Catechisms that tell you to respect other religions, #843 for example.

Welcome Josie

Welcome Ashley What style do you train?

Alright, but what would you say if the philosophy of qi could be simple like the philosophy of Adrenaline, couldn't the two be linked or couldn't the two be the other? Because Adrenaline does make you stronger and/or quicker. You can't really compare the two. Adrenaline is an actual chemical. You can extract it or synthesise it in a lab; its an actual physical thing and the effects are proven. Qi on the other hand is only a concept rather than an actual thing. I'm no expert but IMO I don't think the use of Qi can be synonymous with the effects of adrenaline. I agree with JusticeZero though in that the concepts used to develop Qi and utilise it does wonders for physical technique in that it allows you to mentally focus on doing the technique better and so actually do it better (if that makes sense ). Kinda removes all the mental barriers and just lets you do it properly because you believe you can.

Maybe its an issue of whats being tested, not how long between testings. Generally I would have said that there is a lot less material to cover at the lower ranks than there is at the higher belts so even though the timing is the same (or slightly longer at the higher grades), its not so bad because of the amount of content you are covering. Maybe if you wanted your beginners to have a really good foundation bushido_man96, cut down on the amount of material they learn. Have them focus on only one or two stances and punching.

Welcome Shizentai

I don't subscribe but I have a couple of his videos favourited. He has some good tips on stretching. Helping me work on the side splits

Sometimes an external exam board can see things that the instructor overlooks. Often students tend to mimic their instructor too so any bad habits they may have will get passed on and the board can point these out. External exam boards also allow for another perspective on things and also ensures consistency if you are part of a group or org. Plus there's that added thing on making it seem more like a test rather than being complacent because you're instructor has seen you do a technique 100 times before so its not a big deal if you screw up. In my personal experience (I was tested 8 times by a board of directors). If they are not in the same state, you have to pay transportation to either go and see them or they come to you. You have to pay for the place that you stay in, then you have to pay the testing fee and some of the directors require their fee as well. It is pointless, to be tested by a group of people you want nothing to do with. You learn the martial art from your teacher, all martial arts are localized. You learn the way he teaches you, they never taught you before, why should someone be subjected to that? I also have to pay for similar costs (probably a bit less since the UK is smaller than most states). If you want nothing to do with them, then fair enough. Personally I would prefer to be tested by someone else for the same reasons above. In most cases anyway it would be my instructor's seniors, masters who are highly valued within our org for their knowledge so I'd see it as an honour for them to award me rank if they think I'm good enough. And if you think about it from an instructor's point of view it could be a good thing to get others to test your students because then you know that you are training them to a good quality and others are recognising that quality. The other thing for us is that the org I'm in is global and standardized everywhere so you have different people test you students in order to make sure everyone is working to the same quality and a green belt in one country means the same as a green belt halfway across the world.

Sometimes an external exam board can see things that the instructor overlooks. Often students tend to mimic their instructor too so any bad habits they may have will get passed on and the board can point these out. External exam boards also allow for another perspective on things and also ensures consistency if you are part of a group or org. Plus there's that added thing on making it seem more like a test rather than being complacent because you're instructor has seen you do a technique 100 times before so its not a big deal if you screw up.

Depends on distancing and where the kick is going, but the ones I use most: - if the kick is coming to the mid section open side, use inner forearm of the front arm (right arm if right leg forward) to sweep/block it whilst turning towards the kick, continue turning and follow through with reverse turning kick, axe kick, hook kick or a hand technique depending on the situation. - switch back kick moving away from the person. Have to be using your opposite leg to whatever they are kicking with, i.e. if they roundhouse with their right, you kick with your left. Only works if they haven't fully rotated their torso to side on . - this one's a little dangerous and I'd only use it in sport. Switch your stance into them so they catch you on the back, (kicks to the back don't score). Most times you need to switch into the kick so they catch you before it is fully extended otherwise be prepared to soak it up . Simulaneously jab with the lead arm and follow on with whatever hand combo. You have towatch for kicks coming off of their other leg into your open side.

Congrats

I agree with what your saying but I think its ok how its is. In fact the more I think about it the better I think it is with regular gradings at the beginning and then tapering off to the end. At lower levels its better to have short term goals to think about rather than perfecting each move. A lot of the things you mentioned I think come with practice rather than dedicated work; as long as you get it sort of right you can move on. I think its probably harder at the level to perfect it anyway because you don't really understand the principles of the style. For the majority of students the regular assesment at that level is also good from a motivational point of view. Keeps you focused on a curriculem, lets you know that you're doing it right and keeps you interested. Kids like having a new belt every couple of months and I think to some extent adults do too. When you get to the higher grades new belts becomes less of an issue. You'd presume the person has some dedication when they reach this point so its up to them to go away and start taking an indepth look at things. Especially at blackbelt levels when you have a year + before grading again. Thats the time to start refining what you've learnt and developing your own personal style and flair. You're off the lead and allowed to do what you want with your techniques. Another thing I've found is that at the later stages people tend to get more serious about competition (if thats your thing). You've got enough techniques under your belt (pun intended ) to be a fairly competent MAist and its also about the right level for competition to be challenging and something that requires serious dedication. In my style the opportunity is there to compete internationally too and a lot people work towards this. Also for similar reasons a good time to take a break and seriously look into aspects of cross training.

Welcome Jenny

Congrats

Found these videos. Some good info in there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdU-dcouUrk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shPj5xidsQo

Congrats James

Welcome! What's Inya? I don't think I've heard of it before.

I cook all the time.. Tend to experiment quite a lot and so far nothings gone too wrong. I hate pre-done stuff and make virtually everything from scratch..

Woah. I hope you brush your teeth regularly because that stuff does them no good at all. I think recommended sodium intake is ~2000mg, you wouldn't get that just from powerades... they have hardly any.

I think it'll greatly depend on the individual. I started MA when I was 10 and always went to the adults classes. But then I was a taller than most of my peers and built heavier too. I never messed around because I wanted to be there and it was a privilege because I really should have been in the teens class. There are limitations with kids physically but you'll have to tailor that to the individual just like any other student. Some will be able to handle it more and be able to keep up so I don't think it should be much of a problem. You could try it out provisionally to see how the kid holds up and then give the parent a yes or no.

I'm no expert on this but I have a 5ft bag filled with bits of cloth. Not too sure how heavy it is. Problem I've found with the cloth is that it keeps settling at the bottom.

Welcome! You're never too old or overweight or anything else to start MA. Better late than never.

OK. I don't do side kick at all, so i'm hazy on that, and the roundhouse seems vaguely awkward eplained that way.. You'd lose a bit of power waiting until that late to swing the shin out, especially given that you are moving past the target all the time that you're doing it. I would think that your side kick would be limited by whatever power you had available after checking your own rotate. In both cases it seems like you're canceling out a lot of your force and alignment to put in a narrow stop in the motion, and then have to rely on the strength of the leg. We don't use leg strength if we can get away with it. So yes, dramatically diferent and it's going to be very idiosyncratic to arts - but your explanation still sounds like more of a sparring-tag technique than a fighting one. A real fight is nothing like sparring in those tactical senses. Mind you, if point sparring, not fighting, is your focus and goal to begin with, which is a perfectly valid goal though it is NOT actual combat application, then lots of things that limit power output start to be a good idea.. Well said. What I was trying to say earlier but said much better.

Zelda would be very interesting to see if they could pull it off. A lesser known game that I played as a kid was Skies of Arcadia Legends on the Cube. Always thought that would make an awesome movie...

Welcome!