The BB of C

I got my first degree in Isshinryu back last September and set my goal on the remaining katas of the style. I thought I had all of them down until a member of this forum unwittingly let me know of a third sai kata - Kyan No Sai. Both the forum member and my instructor, and my cousin (holds a third degree) told me that it wasn't important but I found a few other schools that do the kata as well as a very old video of Shimabuku. So I felt compelled to learn it anyway. I just finished learning it today through the magic of YouTube. It's a rather short kata. Only seven combinations. I thought that maybe there were moves missing from the kata because it's a rare kata in Isshinryu. According to Wikipedia and my instructor - the kata was dropped from the original curriculum in favor of Kusanku Sai. But I looked up the Shimabuku video again and the group that I was watching was doing the whole kata. But now I want to know what everyone else thinks of the importance of this kata. Do you practice it at your school? Are there other styles with a similar version of the kata?

I try to jump up four steps at a time. It doesn't always work. I'm just glad nobody was around those few times that I've fallen. I got lucky. But I do take steps at least three at a time as fast as I can. A few flights of that and I'll be feeling pretty good.

For goodness' sake, don't get kicked. That's all there really is to it. Strategies will help but if she's faster than you, there won't be much you can do. Sometimes there isn't much behind speed alone. But if its true that she practiced at a good school, it will be strong too. I used to try to run through, taking the contact in order to get in range. That doesn't always work either. Especially against students from a good school, you'll get stopped by a straight kick if you take it. Try to side step at the last second and keep moving forward. Then look out for spinning techniques. Keep your hands up and your head low. Justice Zero had some of the best advice. Make no mistake, they can still punch. I've actually never seen someone who's only practiced Taekwondo throw a punch other than a straight punch to the face. You'll have fun sparring with your friend but just remember there's still power behind those feet and they're fast.

The stuff that is the best for your general strength - weights and running - are the two things that I really don't enjoy doing. I've tried to get into them a number of times and it never sticks. Did anyone else ever have the same problem? If so, did you get over it or find a way around it? How did you do either one?

Well I'm going to give learning it a shot and add it into my routine. As for your routine, it blows the heck out of mine.

Alrighty then now I feel weird I always knew I was bad at math but I didn't know it was this bad. I counted wrong. As for the number of katas, I counted again and used a calculator this time. It is fourteen, not sixteen. Making the amount of forms I practice into twenty-four and not twenty-six. I don't know how I kept miscounting. I've never heard of Kyan no Sai in Isshinryu. I just looked it up on YouTube. It definitely looks like an Isshinryu kata. I'm going to ask my sensei about it. I should try to add running again. I used to do it but it seemed like one of those things I did all the time and never got any better at.

Dang, GeoGiant. You must be built pretty good. I don't think I could do that. I don't like lifting weights. I find it boring. But I do trick myself into lifting weights by wearing forty pounds and doing all 30 Isshinryu basic techniques for ten reps. Then I do all 26 of the forms that I know. I feel like it gives me more endurance and has a similar effect to the low weight/high reps technique. Do you agree?

I have a few swords. In particular I have a 1095 carbon steel ninjato and a 440 stainless steel Buster Sword replica. I've had the ninjato since October. I live in Florida now. A very humid area. I usually have the ninjato in its sheath but I noticed early signs of rust the other day. How do I go about preventing it rusting anymore and how do I take off what's already there? Should I keep it out of the sheath and on a stand somewhere? Or would that just further expose it to the humidity around? Also the sheath will no longer stay with the sword. It falls off whenever I pick it up. Is there any way I can fix this? As for the Buster Sword, it has a lot of rust. It's actually gotten deep into the steel. I've managed to get a good amount of it off by scratching it off with aluminum foil. Does anyone have any suggestions on going about re-polishing the blade so it gets all of its shine back? Also because of the Buster Sword's rat-tail tang (and me not knowing that it was a display sword at the time I bought it), part of the tsuba collapsed. It's hollow and I can see the iron rod that goes into the hilt. Someone suggested that melting lead and pouring it into the tsuba would reinforce the hilt so it wouldn't be likely to break off and bend. However, one of my friends has expressed concerns of me receiving lead poisoning during the process. What are the odds of this happening? Any information is much appreciated.

I finished learning all sixteen katas of Isshinryu Karate. I practice them a lot and it's good but I feel like I should do more for my general strength and fitness. This is a workout routine I made for myself. I'm sure a lot of people have something similar that they do. I'm just curious who else does this. I call it a SET. It starts at the top with the arms and works all the way down to the ankles. Push ups Jumping jacks Sit ups Leg lifts Squat thrusts Knee bends Ankle lifts A Set of Fifty is obviously fifty of everything listed (with proper stretching before and after). I just recently bumped myself up to a Set of Hundred. Surprisingly to myself, I was able to do it but just barely. Certainly a self confidence booster. But as I type this (right after I did it) all that's left of me is my fingers and everything else is sore I guess I just have to keep doing it until it gets easy. Who else does this or something similar or can beat it?

Where? Was he an extra?I saw him at least once. During the basement scene where all the prisoners are being kept and Bruce Lee is running through everyone with various weapons. Staff, sticks, nunchucks. Eventually he grabs a guy by the neck and front kicks another guy. Than they zoom into Bruce's face and he jerks his body (showing that he broke the guy's neck by his hair). That was Jackie Chan. I have also heard that he was in other spots of the movie. He was also in as stunt doubles for a couple of the samurai characters in "The Chinese Connection." Ever notice that Chuck Norris got his start in movies by having his neck broken by Bruce Lee? I always say that Bruce Lee is so famous that anyone who gets killed by him becomes famous too.

I've actually set up checkpoints in my apartment in case of a break in. I'm very happy for this woman. But now I'm curious to know exactly what type of sword it was.

I think it's very ridiculous that these types of rules are becoming so common. Honestly I protest them at every chance I get. This stuff happens a lot and I feel it's because we don't do anything about it, those who commit crimes feel they can get away with it.

I think there are two different definitions of professional here. If I assume correctly, your definition (and mine) of "professional" means a high level of skill. Typically I've found that when most other people refer to "professional" they mean that they are getting paid for it. For example: Ben Afleck is a professional actor...that doesn't mean he's any good

To me it looks to be a variation of the subtle power and strength that Bagua and Tai Chi and some forms of Karate strive for.

I've had a few of those moments myself. Then one of my senseis (4th degree Shotokan) told me a story about one of his masters who had been practicing under Funikoshi for thirty years. Then one day while practicing reverse punch on the makiwara, he turned to Funikoshi and said, "I think I understand it now." Or another story while that same man was helping my sensei with one of the katas. I can't remember the name but it's learned at first or second degree. One move in particular, the man said to my sensei, "I just started doing this move correctly about a month ago." Martial artists have those moments for as long as they are martial artists. Even beyond that, most people have those moments their entire life.

I suggest training your reflexes against a tackle. Practice bringing one knee up as hard and fast as possible. It'll go right into the jaw if you do it right.

Is it an anime? It sounds like something I'd be interested in but reading manga makes me dizzy. Can anyone recommend where I could find it online? Edit: I found it online. It was known as "The Mightiest Disciple" on AnimeFreak.tv Now to sit back and check it out for myself.

Just make sure it's a nice sounding exhale or kiat. Whichever you do. There's no need for the KKKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! obnoxiousness.

I would help if there was more than one.

Being attacked by a grappler is not a big deal for me if it's not a competition. When it's happened outside competition, they're not holding onto me for very long. In a self defense situation, grabbing a hold of someone (unless you're a very good grappler that can execute a technique as fast or faster than I can throw a strike) only takes away some possibilities you have for striking and leaves open all of my favorite spots to attack. In a competition, it's a totally different story for me. For some reason, I don't think to dig into the cheekbones the same way that I do in a self defense situation and I end up getting thrown. From there I either pull off a counter submission or I get submitted myself.

Hello everyone! It's been quite a while since I've posted, hasn't it? Either way. It caught me like a ton of bricks yesterday that I apply very tiny skills that I picked up during my six years of martial arts training (thus far) to seemingly mundane and every-day activities. Driving, for example. I'm alert when I drive the same way that I am when performing group katas. At stops, when I look both ways, my eyes are wide and my head snaps quickly to the side. That also makes me feel like I'm doing a kata. I've also avoided quite a few accident scenarios that a lot of my friends have caught themselves in. I'd put that to the heightened reflexes. Maybe it's just me being a good driver. But I notice a lot of similarities to the way I drive and the mindset I have when I'm in class or alone on a street. I catch myself doing a lot of stuff that could directly or indirectly relate back to my martial arts classes. Does anyone else feel that they apply their martial arts to mundane tasks that would seem completely unrelated to most people? If so, explain and give an example.

I've been doing Capoeira for about two years now. Lately I've really been getting into the musical aspect of the style. But between Portuguese pronunciation and generally wanting to know what I'm singing about, I've gotten curious about the translations to these songs. I've tried looking them up and found a couple of my favorite Capoeira songs. Most books have very vague meanings of the songs and they also tend to change from author to author and Google hasn't turned up very much that was productive. "A Navalha" and "Zum Zum Zum" are particularly difficult songs to find translations on. Does anybody know somewhere I can go to find these songs with their original pronunciation and translation? P.S. I know about Capoeira Holland. It's great but they don't have "A Navalha" or "Zum Zum Zum."

Take first in a MMA rules tournament. Train in Shaolin. Star in a feature-length martial arts action flick. Get a six pack.

It's a cool video. As far as their defense against multiple attackers goes, I think they would spend too much time finishing off one person before dealing with the other. I would want to be able to stagger off one person long enough to switch to another person and stagger them off so I could set up a technique strong enough to finish off the other person before they could recoil.

Between all that and the supplements that say "I burned thirty pounds of fat by obeying this one rule" where I have watched over the last year and the time frames went down from two months to one month to six weeks to four weeks and now it's three weeks ... I darn near lost my mind. These things make me ever so upset.