DeeLovesKarate

I believe my inner animal is a tiger. I believe this with a passion. It comes out when I am provoked, doing M.A., or just being myself. I know this sounds phsyco. Does anyone else feel like this? Here are reasons why. 1. My style of karate is Shotokan ( Tiger is Symbol) 2. I can be very stealth, camaflaging, but if I want you to know I'm here, you'll know. 3. I'm very fierce, for what I believe in. 4. My strength is graceful, but can harm. 5. My school team is the tigers. 6. My dojo is called Eye of the Tiger 7. I work on the Tiger Eye newspaper, at school. 8. I have been given cards, specialy chosen for me by my friends, that are tigers. 9. I am intense. 10. My eyes have fierceness and fire, and stand out. 11. My favorite stone, the stone of endurance and stamina, is Tigers Eyes. Need I say more? I'm a tiger. Grrrrrrrrrrr, Dee

I believe I am a tiger. I have had many signs of this. 1. My style of karate is Shotokan ( Tiger is Symbol) 2. I can be very stealth, camaflaging, but if I want you to know I'm here, you'll know. 3. I'm very fierce, for what I believe in. 4. My strength is graceful, but can harm. 5. My school team is the tigers. 6. My dojo is called Eye of the Tiger 7. I work on the Tiger Eye newspaper, at school. 8. I have been given cards, specialy chosen for me by my friends, that are tigers. 9. I am intense. 10. My eyes have fierceness and fire, and stand out. 11. My favorite stone, the stone of endurance and stamina, is Tigers Eyes. Need I say more? I'm a tiger. Grrrrrrrrrrr, Dee

I don't know why, but knifes scare me more than guns. I think it may be because guns take longer to kill. If someone pointed a gun at you, they still have to pull the trigger and have ammo. If someone pulled a knife on you, they could just shove it into your chest and you die with ultimate suffering. At least, with a gun, it'd be over with quickly and less pain would come. Knifes scare me to death. I have a great respect for them and are extremely careful around them. , Dee

Forms have helped me with sparring. See, as you prob. already know, this is a new school for me. At my old school, our sparring was not so much moves as it was force and sweeps. Now, I need actual moves. At first I was so confused, nothing I threw was hitting, so I tried defense and it turns out I was not so good at blocking. I started to not want to go to sparring as much. My sensei noticed my problems, and he helped me with my katas. He said " The sharper and more fluid your katas are, so will be your sparring." I practiced my 7 forms everyday, and spent most of my time downs stairs in my little gym slash personal dojo, or outside doing katas. Next time I went to sparring class, my moves were sharper, I hit more, and concentration improved a lot. The point is, that katas themselves are not that great at being useful, but apply them to something, and they will improve it, like spices to stew. They add taste, vigor, and kick. Lol. I am your Iron Chef. Anyway, I agree that a school that only does katas will not help you with much, but add in some self-defense, weapons, sparring, grappling, and other aspects of karate and M.A. Pace ( peace in italian), Dee

I keep reading about chi in BBM and, I have finally figured out what it is. With my luck, of course it makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!! Ne way, it says people with chi have like this jedi powerish thing to move stuff with their mind when they need to, but they aren't supposed to use it unless it's important. Just like in star wars where that dude moved his light saber using the force. Is this real?? If so, can we also do the jedi mind tricks... I wouldn't mind using a few on my gym teacher....Lol. J/K. But, seriously, anybody in here try it?? I haven't. I'm obviously not going to sit in my room all day and stare at my door trying to open it with my chi, but does one always have chi, or is it just for martial artists. If I use chi to get the answers for a test would it be Chi-ting. Lol. Cheating, Chi-ting?? Get it? got it? good? Any answers to my chi question?? I need to learn about my alleged " Chi". Chi, Dee ( Tee-hee that rymes) P.s. PLEASE REPLY!! PPS. I know, I sound like I'm dissing chi, but I'm not, I'm really curious, please reply! _________________ Dee C. High purple belt Shotokan Karate training Efk training " The pursuit of knowledge is man's greatest journey." [ This Message was edited by: DeeLovesKarate on 2002-07-18 09:35 ] [ This Message was edited by: DeeLovesKarate on 2002-07-18 12:17 ]

Yes, we do standard ones, also. This is just our last two katas and we must create them, cool concept, but difficult.

I like blackbelt magazine, I spent all my allowence on my first issue today, it's hard to find and kind of expensive if you don't subscribe. I'll ask for a subscription for x-mas. I have been reading it, it's really good. it's got Larry Lam in it. It's the only magazine that I haven't skipped any articles or ads that weren't diet pill ads ( I'm a skeptic about those. I read somewhere that they basically equal to a multivitamin with 3X the cost.). It impressed me. Peace, Dee

Shotokan: White Yellow Gold Orange Blue Green Purple High Purple Brown Brown + stripe Black Then degrees of black. it takes us AT LEAST 3 months between belts to qualify to test, but when I first came, since I had a belt from my old school , and didn't know the kata's , it took me four months to learn 7 of them and basics. Then, I passed my test. It's a hard test. Peace, Dee

Um, is this thread the best idea?? I mean, it's not good to talk about pounding people and neglecting our training. All the negetive energy in here is freaking me out. Peace, Dee

Don't get me wrong, I'm a true believer in books, but in something as specific as M.A. , you could hurt yourself. You might want to find a friend who does it, so that they can help. Trust me, it is so much better to learn it from a person. I tried books before my lessons, but they are often misinterpreted. I wouldn't risk it. Good Luck, Dee

I personally prefer Bassai-dai. Mostly, because it's my best kata. I don't think that , usually, your favorite kata would be the one you're not good at. That's just my not-so- humble opinion.

I know, it's not traditionally in Shotokan, my sensei applied it because he feels strongly about music in martial arts. When you say organization, are you asking about my dojo? thanks, Dee

At my school, when you become a brown belt, you must choreograph two musical forms for your black belt test. One with weapons, and one without. I am going for my brown belt in 3-4 months. I am worried about this. I used to be a dancer for 7 years so I know how to choreograph, but in dancing, you can pretty much make up your own moves as fillers if you have to, I'm worried I'll get stuck, also, I can't decide which weapon to master. No throwing stars, cause they're illegal in MASS. Can anyone help me not be so worried about this? Any tips? , Dee

Always step to the side, not back. At all times, be in and striking or totally out of thier reach. Good Luck, Dee

Our teacher calls us to line up. We all stop what we are practicing to line up, or they'll let us finish, then we line up. We all stand at attention. "Seiza" we are instructed, and sit and obey. "Musqua ( forgive me, I can't spell very well in japanese.)" , We meditate. We then stand up, recite the creed together. Then stretch out, line up again, and our instruction begins. I would go further ,but I don't understand if you are talking about a kata or kumite class. At me old school, we used to kneel, put on our belts. Bow into class, stretch, then, take class. At the end, we'd bow out really strangely. , Dee

Lucky! I can't take two at once, messed up ankles. Anyway, I know this isn't what you want to hear but that choice is yours and yyours alone. Go to a class of each style. Ask questions. Take notes. Research. Gather all you have learned, and then decide. I know, it sounds like a lot of work, but in the end, it's totally worth it. Good Luck, Dee

Welcome to our big, happy karate family. Don't worry, we're all nice. I've never been totally dissed like in the other AOL board. Ne way, have fun. Cruise the boards, we're all happy to have you. Dee

Totally, Football players and other ESPN covered sports players, get to watch how it SHOULD be done. We should get to watch the pros. Everyone's always asking me " Why don't you watch football alot or wrestling?" If it interested me that much to watch it, I'd be doing it instead of karate. What is up with WWF or WWE. It kind of bothers me that they don't do real stuff. it's about as real as a soap opera, and still deemed a sport, but karate has taken years for that title, and it's still not called a normal sport, but an extreme sport. Aren't all sports extreme? What does extreme mean? you could get hurt? Isn't that true for watching t.v if u fall off the couch? How come that isn't an "extreme sport?" Then again, people might take it in the wrong way, like it's condonig violence, when it's doing the opposite. I do karate and don't believe in violence, but have been forced to use it in life threatening sitchuations, or when my instincts use it for me. Still, I'm hooked, so WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM ESPN??

I am overjoyed at all the supportive posts like this one. It's great to know I can count on you guys.

From the intro. page, I now feel welcome enough to ask a tough question. I recently went in an Aol standard MA post board. In a post titled " Am I the only 1." A female martial artists asked if she was the only female who loved martial arts and boxing. One person replied by using on of those oh-so-irritating Bruce Lee quotes. The post said " According to Bruce Lee, girls shouldn't be in Martial Arts. He said, " There is not an art stong enough to defend a women against a 300 lb. man." This angered me. I have been a Martial artist in two arts for 2 years and one month. I show talent in the martial arts, along with all of the young women at my school. Why is it that I am still treated, by people who hear of my martial arts training, as an inferior because of my gender? Do these people believe that reading Bruce Lee books and watching his movies is better than actual Martial Arts training and that thier ignorance is superior to my knowledge because I am a women?? Any responses?? Don't be shy. I can't be the only one who feels that this ignorance must stop?? Please reply, My love to the M.A.'s, Dee

Hi, I'm Dee. As you can tell my username I love karate . So, I'm gonna tell you a little about me. I studied two kinds of karate, one invented by my old shihan, I studied for 1 1/2 years until the school closed. Now, I study Shotokan. I love shotokan. As a total, I have studied M.A. for two years and one month. I am a high purple belt, high 4th kyu. I don't know how to change the thing that says white belt . Any help????Any responses?? C'mon, don't be shy!! Ous, Dee _________________ If you can't spar with the big dogs... STAY OUT OF THE DOJO!!!!!!!!! [ This Message was edited by: DeeLovesKarate on 2002-07-13 13:45 ]