DWx

Congrats

We got it for Christmas too, pretty good game. Would play it online but my Wii is temperemental and refuses to connect to the internet.

IMO technique is the primary factor. With good technique the smallest old man could throw somebody twice his size and half his age. Strength and size are important though especially when technique is evenly matched. If you want to get all mathsy about it, Newton's 2nd law of motion demonstrates that the guy with more mass can generate more power. Having said that though, the little guy can often be faster and that may cancel out some of the difference.. IMO get the technique right, work on speed and strength and flexibility and you can get the best possible power out of your movements.

Happy New Year!

Welcome!

Wow that was pretty cool.

Mine's the usual: lose weight, get fitter and actually go to the gym instead of just thinking about it .

I think they can instruct as long as there is a responsible adult in the room. Maybe that's not properly taking the class though...

Welcome

Bunkai is one of the things about kata that has always eluded me. The way I've always been taught forms, and the forms themselves, are so literal. A block is just a block. You have different types of blocks and practice a variety of them but essentially they all have the same purpose. The only thing to figure out is which one you want to use when attacked and that in itself is pretty simple as you just have to decide which tool you want to use and which direction you want to stop it from. It just seems a bit weird for me if someone takes a kata and tries to make the moves fit a grab or fit a takedown when IMO it would be far more beneficial to just go and practice the grab or takedown itself. I probably take a really simplistic view of it all but personally I think when you try to pull all sorts of techniques out of the combos then you just make it difficult for yourself. To me forms are there for practice of perfect technique. You could just drill a kick over and over again on its own or in combination (and some people do work this way) or you can do forms. Forms are a skeleton or backbone to keep moves grouped together for different ranks to learn. IMO its easier to know what you have to learn if you have a form there to reference. I do think there are benefits to them though. Physically they develop leg strength and balance through stances, stamina, breath control and good technique if done well. They are also an area that is easier to just go away and practice on your own (which is good for beginners as they have something to focus on). IMO forms also allow for a creative outlet where you can focus on making them look nice if you want.

Well I would be taking the head and shoulders as my primary refrence point so no I don't think the trousers would make that much difference.

I have to agree with bushio_man96. The angle of the knee from above is what I'd look for too as well as the height change. If you're looking at the torso and arms anyway your eye can naturally fall to the top of the knee and even non-baggy trousers can obscure the angle below. You can tell if someone's sitting in their stance properly because the height drops. (Actually I suppose the height drop is really noticeable for us because of sine wave ). But still, if it were me, I'd be looking at how far down they were in their stance compared to their height and the length/width of the stance.

Do you want something for the whole torso or just the chest? I hate them and have never worn minebut you can get ones that are just the chest and are pretty inconspicuous.

Congrats to him. Nerves get everybody at some point, good he worked through it.

Welcome!

I find it so hard not to do that! We also have to put our left hand under our elbow so I usually catch myself just as the arm is moving. Was horrible last year as I had loads of interviews for the universities I applied to and I was praying that the lecturers didn't notice!

Did French in school but haven't spoken it for two year now. Not sure how much I can remember. Spoke near fluent German as a kid (couldn't read or write though). Lost that over the years though because of lack of practice.

I was going to say any movement that is either offensive or defensive and is meant to be used against an opponent. However reading Ozpunker's post, I don't know whether I'd consider an attack (or defense) from a regular guy as MA

I'm not saying that this is right, but it is the way that it tends to be. Adults usually are the ones in charge, the ones looked to when kids need help, advise, etc. So, I'm not sure if it is ego that is to blame, or the fact that the status quo is being messed with that would bother most adults. I think that something that might be part of it might have to do with general life experiences...adults get more of this than kids do, and the concept of "what can a kid teach me" might tend to come into play. I realize that teaching the concept of humility is a staple of many MAs out there, but I'm not sure that subjugating an adult to the care of a child in class is the right way to go about it. An adult may view it as not teaching humility, but as outright humiliation, which I think, are two different things. I don't think that I would want a child to be my regular MA instructor. I know that this wasn't the orginal scope of the thread, but it has leaned in this direction. I don't have a problem with children getting work at some teaching and leading skills, but some controls being in place, and not going overboard with it, are the keys to success in this scenario. I suppose it is a culture shock thing. We have some students that are actually teachers at the local high school and college. Bit of a shock for them when they first started training and a 12 year old approaches them with some advice for a technique. However maybe its just the environment we train in as I've never seen this be a problem. Personally I feel that if a person knows what they are doing and can instruct others on it, then I am more than willing to receive instruction, regardless of their age. I'm not just going to disregard what they know because they are younger than myself.

I don't think a longer belt would fool most judges. Like ps1 said, judges will be looking at the legs for the stances, not the belt.

I find its best to eat something slow release a couple of hours beforehand, something like oatmeal or other cereal type food. Or a lot of toast with something like peanut butter on top. Then you can top upnearer the time with something lighter like a banana.

Just an FYI, I am incredibly biased on this subject, mainly because I was a kid blackbelt, as is my sister now, and I did instruct in lessons. However I don't really get this at all. Why can't adults respect children and receive instruction from them? Just because they're children? IMO all of these reasons for not having a child instruct you is more to do with aduts not wanting to because they feel they should be the ones in control. Personally, if people were doubting the quality of my instruction just because I was too young, then that is their loss. I'd rather not have them in my lessons if they weren't going to see any value in my teachings just because I were younger. Waste of my time and a waste of theirs just because they don't want to be under the guidence of a minor. As for all the reasons like maturity and never experienced a fight, like joesteeph said, a lot of adults have never experienced a real fight either, I certainly haven't. I don't think it makes you any less qualified to give instruction on a technique and possible application. With regards to maturity, fair enough if the child isn't mature, then yes they shouldn't teach, however if they are mature then IMO they deserve respect. That's something that needs to be assesed on an individual basis. Adults can be pretty immature too at times. Power trips are also on an individual basis, if the kid is like that then they shouldn't teach in the first place and shouldn't be allowed to teach again until they can control themselves. Seen plenty of adults get carried away on a power trip too.

I kinda agree with Traymond. Kids can take classes and provide all the technical knowledge if they are good enough. Doesn't mean they should be allowed to run every class but I wouldn't totally count them out as an instructor. IMO if they received the belt, then they should be good enough to know how each technique works and provide instruction on said technique if necessary. I wouldn't expect a kid to be your primary source of instruction but I definately wouldn't have a problem with them taking the odd lesson. And I personally wouldn't say no to kids training in an adult environment. I did. Obviously in most cases its more conducive to train children in an environment that is befitting of them but that doesn't mean they can't be mature enough to attend an adults class. Size isn't really that much of a problem either. If we're talking about around 10 - 13 year olds, some of them can be bigger than an adult female in any case.

Sounds great Kez. Hope he keeps with it and enjoys it.

I agree more practice would help. Just doing exercises such as standing on one leg will help you to control your weight and balance better. If you have the cash you could buy a wobble board but you probably don't need it unless you really want v good balance.