Kante

Last night in my karate lesson, I decided to see how low I can go (I wish I didn't have to say this) and to my surprise I got all the way down in the front split, and I could stay there for a pretty long time. I haven't been stretching since a long time and lost my flexibility since a while, I didn't feel anything at the time but now my thighs are all sore. Usually I get about half way through and just stop, why do you think this happened? And while we're on the subject, is it okay to stretch each day before weight lifting? Not just basic stretching but like working on the split to improve it.

Alright thanks a lot for helping me out, I was just kinda worried that I would only be getting a definition rather than solid abs. Now when doing abs exercises is it crucial to do them all in a row? Also would cardio on the treadmill help with the abs as well? Somewhere around 20 hours a week, includes walking and running. And how do you do the lower ab roll up?

It sounds good but it doesn't take any time at all which makes me wonder is that enough? As in sufficient in terms of a maximum workout for all parts of your abs each week? Also what about the Transverse and Rectus Abdominis?

I understand that bulk on your abs is not the best thing to be getting, but does that mean to avoid using weights in crunches? There's this thing though, most of the lower abs exercises require some sort of equipment, other than the thrusts, are there any lower abs exercises to do that require no kind of equipment such as the exercise ball? Because to be honest am kinda lost here and don't know which exercises to do.

Thanks, do you mean that the first day should be for the lower abs? Because now that I think about it, it wouldn't be a problem if I worked out my abs every days but never 2 days in a row for the upper/lower abs. Would that be ok? And I also want to know how many reps and sets to do for each exercise no matter what it is. Should I be doing each exercise until failure for 3 sets maybe with 1 minute of resting? Unless it's a crunch in which case I should probably be doing a low number but very slowly. Thanks again.

Question rephrased.

It's a method of intercepting the opponent's strike and sucking them in with it. Most often a trap is followed up with multiple strikes to whatever sensitive areas are exposed at that moment. In Jujitsu, the trap is utilized but more often followed up by a joint attack of some sort. It's pretty effective, especially against an opponent who over commits to an attack. That's why many martial arts use trapping to some extent. Oh, I did not know what it was due to the language difference. we practice this a lot. Sometimes for a whole lesson where we form a circle and someone stands in the middle. Then we start charging at him from all directions with weapons at times and he's to use these techniques to avoid being hit. But we're not obligated to only use these techniques, we also do quick joint manipulation or counter striking. We're free to react as we wish as the main point of this exercise to react freely. The greatest thing is when you practice this to the extent that it becomes a natural reaction. As for which martial arts include trapping, I practice Shotokan but don't count on that because we just train differently. So your best choice is Jujitsu.

What is trapping?

For those of you who do cardio, how many hours a week do you do so? And if you do it on the treadmill, can you tell me how your exercise goes?

Sorry if this is not allowed, but my question is kinda relevant to his. You're saying that you must not stick to one workout routine. Now I assume that by that you mean a certain daily routine right? So it wouldn't be a problem if it's a different set of exercises every day of the week? Like the first day of the week is different than the second and the third/fourth and so on...

Do you mean you get a test for each dan every 6 months until you're at the 3rd or are you talking about the level tests of each dan?

How many abs exercises categories are there? I know there are upper and lower abs exercises, but I was wondering if these are all. And can someone give me a list of the best abs exercises for each category? Because I want to do abs workouts 4 days a week with each day devoted to a certain part of the abs. Thanks

I agree. It is kind of like the "liberation" that Bruce Lee talked about. Of course, but to be liberated from something you need to have something to be liberated from in the first place. And that something is a martial arts background. I mean you HAVE to have an actual fighting experience and that is martial arts. But being a wrestler all your life and then joining an MMA school does not really make you that liberated fighter because an actual martial arts past of hardcore training is essential. Keep in my that wrestling is just an example.

We're having an end of the school year celebration here. And it's going to involve people of high positions, therefor we worked hard on something worthy of watching. The majority of the celebration is Karate demonstrations. And well, aside from the other things we have planned, there's a brick breaking contest/demonstration. Now I've been training non stop to be able to break them without feeling a thing but not necessarily for that demonstration. The thing is, I'm expected to participate but I'm finding it rather cocky and more of a show off. So I'm most likely not going to participate. I just want your opinion on these demonstrations. Do you think they are more of a show off than a martial arts demonstration?

I was wondering what your opinion is on MMA (mixed martial arts) championships. Such as the IFL. I myself have only found out about these championships in the early past. And after watching quite a few matches it seems that it's mostly wrestlers with some Judo experience. All I see is 2 guys trying to drop each other to the ground. And none of them can actually hit it's pathetic. This isn't mixed martial arts, it's just wrestling for god's sake. Are they all like this or is it just the IFL? Because I was expecting it to consist of men who have spent long years practicing multiple martial arts not just 2 guys who know how to wrestle. Because if that's the case then where's the mix? I also have a question about whether or whether not there are schools that actually teach a fighting system called "MMA"? Because that just doesn't make any sense.

I've already seen it ages ago. Either ways, it was foolish of me to make this topic as the whole matter is that I've encountered a page about Bruce Lee that didn't do him justice and I took it too seriously. Because the thing is, unlike all the other masters they've written about, they seem to have covered everything about Bruce Lee's life except for the most important thing and that is his philosophy.

That is completely true. People do tend to have an above human image of their heroes and I suppose that nothing can hurt more than to get that image taken away. But what I meant by the money thing is that they make it sound like as if that is all he ever was (An actor who can do two finger one handed push-ups) which I suppose is the reason am having those thoughts.

I read this page about Bruce Lee here: http://www.fightingmaster.com/masters/brucelee/brucelee.htm And to be honest, it kind of made him look really bad in a way. As if he used to worship money. If you have the time please read it and give me your insight on this. I absolutely worship this guy but this page about him is kinda giving me mixed feelings about him and his personality. Which of course is an awful thing especially since he has always been my hero/idol.

The reason they quit is because they're afraid their "winning streak" might stop. Where we train we are bound to sometimes have a "crowd" watching. And usually after we're done with Kumite someone of the crowd has to mention the fact that he was practicing Karate before and could of gotten the black belt but quit. I also get that when someone spots me still wearing my gi. Does that say anything to you? They're obviously full of regret and want to make it up for themselves by shoving that fact in your throat whenever they get the chance to. Now back to why they quit. Well in my opinion they quit so early because they want to still be known as the guy who got the brown belt and could of gotten the black one but just quit. Because obviously they prefer that "definition" of them rather than the guy that failed his black belt test. And also, some of them might even find that equivalent to having the 1st Dan and just don't want to risk the chance of failing or maybe even just put so much effort into it. I also have some input about the whole black belt registration thing. First of all, if you practice Shotokan then you probably already know that your sensie cannot under any circumstances give you a black belt test. I suppose it depends on the "legitimacy" of the whole training ground. You see anyone can give his students a black belt and assume that hes qualified to do so. Now I don't know about you, but over here to get a black belt test, the tester has to be a 6th Dan minimum, and it's in fact very genuine. Because in the end everything comes down to the big guys back in Japan, or even Hirokazu Kanazawa (10th Dan) and the SKIF (Shotokan Karate International Federation) where you'd be registered as a black belt with their approval and given a diploma after some paper work. So in the end it all comes down to the organization you're under. I mean you can make your own organization and throw around black belts without students having to worry about actually being worthy of it. And some instructors do in fact do such things just to spread the word about his dojo and his countless black belts.

If you're looking to know about his life, there are lots and lots of mini biographies out there on the net. Heres his mini-biography in IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000045/bio There are also lots of books about him. His wife also wrote a book called: "Bruce Lee, The man only I knew". But since you're looking for info about his life not JKD then don't expect to find anything in his books specifically about his life.

I was wondering how long in general does/did it take you and your fellow practitioners to be given a belt test? for yellow/orange/green/first blue/second blue all the way to the 1st dan.

Well in my opinion yes, you are. There's nothing wrong with being driven to prove yourself but it sounds like you are being driven by anger (neatly epitomised by this smiley: ). I am too inexperienced to give advice concerning the politics that has clearly gripped your blackbelt testing so I'll leave wiser forumites to post on that, but this issue with your back is something I myself have gone through with my knee. I was busy trying trial lessons at gyms/clubs/dojos all over the place and the pain in my knee was becoming excrutiating, but I kept on at it, determined that Im wasn't going to stop. So my body stopped me dead in my tracks by tearing a ligament to go with my already torn cartilage, because you just can't do that to your body. So I'm now looking at 6 months of post op rehab rather than the few weeks it could have been. I still train MA though because I talked to my instructors and they tailor the sessions for me. I am treated differently but necessarily so. I contacted Ross Enemait with a query very similar to yours, desperate for some advice on how to work through the pain, and he gave me the following advice: Its a very long road ahead, and you have years of training to look forward to in which you can beat yourself up as much as you like. For now take some time off to heal and in a years time it will seem like such an insignificant hiatus. In your case Kante I am not a karateka but as I understand it the blackbelt is the beginning of the journey, so you should not be impatient, although I understand your frustration with the politics its nt worth injuring yoursefl, particularly at 15. Finally I am sure you don't want to hear this but steady up on the heavy gym stuff. Regardless of your back problems at 15 you don't want to be overtraining. It is in no way the fact that I haven't got my black belt diploma that caused this to happen to me. It's not about patience. I'm just sick of the wrong ideas young people have about martial arts. I feel like karate and the martial arts world in general is being trashed. It angers me how they have no idea what martial arts really is about. It isn't merely a sport or something to waste time with, it's way bigger than them or what they think of it. That was just what pulled the trigger and made me set my mind to make a drastic change. And along the way do what I always was willing to do but was prevented from doing by my pain. Also it's not really about proving myself, it's an obsession with taking advantage of time to develop myself and my body into a fighter's and not wasting time. As for lifting weights, it is not a problem since my back pain is caused by something totally different and I was already given the solution (apparently It's the arch in my feet). But I can still do anything regardless of that pain.

Hello, I'm a 15 years old boy and I practice Shotokan Karate. Lately I've been experiencing the worst moments in my life. I've been having this pain in my lower back that's been holding me back alot. It pretty much decreases the efficiency of anything that I do. It's been like this since over a year. While in practice I do not inform anyone of my pain although it feels like being stabbed. The reason is because I do not want to be put on the list of people to avoid. As in I do not want to be treated differently. I kept going to championships and even participating in kumite and winning while not using my legs because they trigger great pain in that area. And when it comes to Kata I just suck it up and withstand it. While in kumite I feel like I'm being humiliated due to my pain. It's been holding me back alot. On top of that, I've recently been informed by my sensie that the black belt test that I've done 1 and a half years ago has not been acknowledged by koga (Shotokan Karate instructor from Japan that holds the 8th dan) because he wants it to be him to be doing the tests so that hes the one to be getting the money. Which ofcourse explained the fact that I haven't got my black belt diploma from Japan. Now that's not the main thing here. In addition to that, a group from our team will be going to Egypt for a karate course where some of our inadequate brown belts will be doing black belt tests and receiving their diplomas immediately. At that moment I was filled with anger and became amazingly furious. I refused to go with them. And then this obsession grew inside me. I instantly became obsessed with taking advantage of every second of free time that I have to develop myself in all ways and prove to myself and the others what true dedication and strenght is. I also continued to teach myself my 4th language which is German and started reading all kinds of martial arts books. I felt this great burden on my back, the need to teach those people a lesson and fulfill my dream of going full contact once in the appropriate age. I am going to sell everything I pretty much have from gaming consoles to.. well anything and add it to the money I already have and buy the required equipment. Although I can go to the gym next to my house for free since my sensie owns it and it's where I practice karate. I want your opinion on whether or whether not I'm being driven by the wrong reasons to do this. Keep in mind that my back pain is going to be healed soon I hope but I wont wait for it.

Seeing as how you're wondering if you'd win a fight against an untrained person it looks like you don't really train that much. 3 1/2 years is a very short time, but if you feel inadequate, maybe you need to train more. Not just at the gym, but at home as well. Whenever you feel like it. Is 28 too old? hell no. 28 is young. Judging from your question you obviously don't have that much knowledge about martial arts history and so. There are people 70 years old+ that would literally kill a young person without any effort. Bruce Lee was 32 years old when he died. Now does he look too old to you?

You must have the ability to accept and absorb knowledge by all means and ways, don't feel embarrassed of being given advice to by young kids at times. It is in fact ignorant to feel superior over someone for the mere fact that you're older than him/her and it most certainly contradicts with developing your fighting skills and will only stand in your way towards becoming a better fighter/martial artists. Therefor you must learn to accept help and knowledge where ever it's at and from who ever it is from. But of course this would be a whole different case if your sensie is constantly leaving you under the custody of your fellow young karate practitioners and is rarely there to actually teach you by himself. Absolutely not! You are to never stick to one way or style because then you'd never get the chance to discover different ways of doing things, therefor putting limits to the skills and abilities that you can acquire in terms of kumite and kata. You will find that practicing katas from different styles of karate will in fact help you perform better in your main style no matter what it is. So don't worry, practicing other styles does not cause you to curve from the traditions of martial arts, that is totally wrong, and it does not replace your main concepts and fighting base but simply improves them to a level not possible to be reached if you were to stick to one way and style and refuse to benefit from other ones. As for me, my main style is Shotokan but that is not my only way. I've been blessed with a sensie that teaches me all aspects of martial arts, giving me the power to separate sports competition fighting from full contact and real fighting, he also teaches us techniques from different styles such as jujitsu/judo/kickboxing with our main style still being Shotokan, but in order to get a taste of all that you need more time and dedication, as it is not possible to cover the sport side of martial arts and real fighting by simply training two days a week. Just a note there, I'm in way saying that kumite has nothing to do with real fighting and full contact fighting, what I'm saying is that in order to condition yourself for actual fighting and full contact tournaments, your typical martial arts lesson most likely will not cover that part and you must either do that part by yourself at home or find an instructor that covers it as well.