The BB of C

Alrighty then. I wish you the best of luck.

As far as one can possibly tell from a website, the Ohdokwon looked like a better school. But for both of them - I smell a belt factory. Can you explain what you meant when you said that Master Shim 'scared' you?

I still think you did the right thing but I have high hopes for you two.

Speed helps a lot in not only generating strength but overcoming it as well. As Sensei8 said earlier "David beat Goliath to the punch." Typically to do that you not only have to move first but be faster. Also, simple physics come into play the faster you are. Speed = Mass. To give some examples of this, I'll use my sensei and one of his other black belts. My sensei is about my size and weight. The black belt (named Don) is about six-foot-two and 150 pounds. Which is between 40 and 60 pounds lighter than my sensei and I. Both of them strike really fast when they strike. Don has hit me with a backfist so fast that I felt his knuckles through his eight ounce gloves and as far as strength generated through it - it feels like being hit by a haymaker from a boxer. My sensei does the same thing. I will also use Sensei and myself as an example of how far good striking technique will take you despite size and strength difference. I am 190 pounds. A good friend of mine is 240. Between his abs and pecks alone he probably has about 20 pounds of muscle. With a good Isshin-Ryu or Wing Chun straight punch, I can bite through all of that and make him feel my fist on his kidneys (figuratively speaking). The same thing can also be applied to grappling. How many people here have seen a 130 pound man tap out a 220 pound man in a BJJ roll? I've seen both of my brothers (who are the same size) do it to two different people. That is what I think of strength advantage when strength advantage is alone.

Ranpu - there are many reasons if you think about it. Mainly because the religious organizations that would keep someone from learning Martial Arts if they could are pacifist and they wouldn't want to risk any of their members becoming violent by becoming capable of returning what violence they are met with. Like Carl Weathers in Action Jackson...."Allow me to lay my healing hands upon you!!!" ....and then the beat-down begins. That is going to be my new catch phrase around school.

This may sound crazy, WiltedRose, but I think you did the right thing.

I happen to know about this. It was fake - only recorded a few years ago. Indeed for a cell phone commercial. Indeed it still looks cool.

I believe it's mental and physical hard body conditioning. I happen to know that Choujin Miyagi learned an open-handed Sanchin and four-directional Sanchin kata and then passed it down as a two-directional and closed-handed Sanchin.

I think I am going to move to Texas lol

Bubba. In laying of hands there is power.

When I teach in the dojo it's almost always push ups for not paying attention during a lesson. When I teach privately it's either push ups or hard body conditioning as punishment. That depends on the level of the person.

Go for it. Be sure to work the crowd and demonstrate more than katas. There's a lot more to martial arts than katas. Breaking perhaps? Pressure point strikes? Are you a good kicker?

I was debating the other day with a friend of mine about how the only sure way to tell if one martial artist is better than another is for them to fight in as open of a format as possible. My friend didn't believe me and I tried to use the following explanation to prove my statement. He didn't understand what I was trying to say. I would like to see if anyone here can understand what is happening or has experienced it before or can maybe offer an explanation as to how it happens. The analogy: There is my little brother, Brian. My other friend, David, and Nicholas (myself). We enjoy wrestling each other. Brian and I are currently taking Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jutsu but have only been doing it for about three fourths of a year. David wrestles like a WWE performer. Brian is 5'4 and 125 pounds. David is 6'5 and 235 pounds. I am 5'10 and 185 pounds. Brian can (usually) beat Nicholas in a roll but cannot beat David. Nicholas can (usually) beat David in a roll but cannot beat Brian. David can (usually) beat Brian in a roll but not Nicholas. It is a true story and it happens all the time. It's also important to note that Brian taps out other people in the roll. Some who are even bigger than David and/or some who have been rolling for a long time. I refereed to this as the Rock-Paper-Scissors effect. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Can anyone explain it?

Looking in the eyes is good because the eyes tend to do the same thing you're doing and pick their target before they attack. Also by keeping eye contact - it is pretty easy to guess where all the other areas of the body are. But it takes a long while to learn how to do this effectively in combat or in sparring and I only know a couple of people personally that actually can. How long have you been into martial arts?

Kyoshujutsu

Very interesting. I'm not sure what to think of it. I suspect it's Isshin Ryu karate that she learned. That style has exactly fifteen katas and (at least in my school) you have to know all of them to get your black belt.

In addition, does anyone know about varicose veins? They sound very appealing because choosing the option to develop them could mean coming off blood thinners and going right back to it. But people keep telling me not to without offering a real reason. What's the problem with varicose veins?

Greetings, Karateforums. I was just diagnosed with Paget Schroders Syndrome a couple of months ago. For those who don't know what that is, it's an anatomical condition where the collar bones or ribs compress on veins connecting to the arm and causes it to clot off. The result is usually swelling, discoloration of the arm and fatigue. It is a relatively uncommon condition that mostly occurs in young, physically active men in the dominant arm. One of the treatments suggested to me was to remove a piece of my ribcage and relocate some of the muscles around the area of compression. The decompression would relieve the pressure from the vein and result in normal flow. However I would be out of martial arts for anywhere between six months to a year. The other option is to do nothing. They've had me on blood thinners for almost two months now. The clot has either completely dissipated (unlikely) or shrunk to nearly nothing (more than likely). If the later is the case, then I am extremely likely to clot off again if I stop blood thinners now. When that happens, one of two things will happen. It will either solidify and stay there forever and I will develop collateral veins around it (over the course of a year or two) and have to deal with the swollen arm for a little while. Or the clot will travel all the way down my arm. My questions are to those of you here (if any) who have experience with Paget Schroders Syndrome. I would just like to know what you did about it when you had it and to describe your experiences with either treatment. Can anyone tell me what alternative medicines like Acupressure might do for me? Again, I'm not asking for advice I would just like to hear your experiences on it.

Everyone gets lucky with a good relationship from highly unlikely circumstances occasionally. Personally I don't suggest it at all.

I would LOVE to do stuff like that.

Definitely wasn't the same person. The woman I saw was a little more heavyset and a little older.

It could have been flint. It could have been friction between the blocks.

I saw it live at a local Kyokushin tournament. I don't think it was the same woman.

I've wondered why I don't see more women getting truly into the spirit of martial arts especially hard styles like Kyokushin. When I do see women in Kyokushin, they've always been in the clicker sparring competition...and frankly making a mockery of the style. I have seen one older woman breaking a stack of twelve stone slabs (I'm not sure what they were made out of). Still she was the only one I've ever seen so far. Recently, womens' divisions have been appearing in mixed martial arts competitions. One of the girls in my Isshin Ryu class fits what we're talking about pretty good. She's very hesitant to spar with men (especially if they're bigger than her) even though she has state titles in golden-glove boxing. I'm pretty sure she could beat me if she tried. On a slightly unrelated side note. It's funny that I should come across this thread today because I just got done writing a movie script for one of my classes and in it one of the characters is a young Shotokan practitioner that tries to disprove the double-standard by fighting in a Mixed Martial Arts competition where she's the only competing woman.

I say that tampering with nature stinks. No thanks.