ramymensa

Nice to have another libra and girl here (I'm celebrating my birthday in 17th of October ... you?) Welcome to the forums and feel free to join the discussion. May you have a pleasant and long stay

Oh, my god. I bet you couldn't chose a "better" colour in order for us to be unable to read, not to mention the headache. I had to select your text to be able to read it. Please chose more carefully. It's a pity your message can't be read "normally". Some ideas

It's never to late to come back Welcome to our ship. Smooth sailing

A new member in our community .. welcome

Milk, hot or cold (in extreme, both .. yeah I know it's not healthy to drink somethin in extreme temperatures ) ... with cocoa (if hot), mineral water and ... that's all. Lots of milk No coffee for me thanks, am hyperactive this way, no need for "suplements"

If you're already involved in Shotokan, then you'll get used with lond term goals I'd say Aikido would go along great, just wait for a bit to get the hang of Shotokan. They would complement each other well. I intend on searchind an Aikido instructor too. Shotokan and aikido are good styles, but expect to work some time until becoming at least satisfactory

The karate underground forum in Karate the Japanese way site, my 2 forums, my BF's forum, Radio Analog's forum, ElderScrolls forum (kinda addicted to Morrowind ), hardrock and maybe one or 2 I've forgot

We do the splits (how low we can, nobody's pushing) after some cardio and the entire warm up. We do lots of hip rotations in the process. After the training session (well at the end) we do them again. After a karate class you are really warmed The idea is never push too much. Injuries are a big setback when trying to achieve a goal. Better slow and safe

After some time off all katas look alike and you start messing them. Under pressure, you're most likely to do it, too. The solution .. a partial one .. rehearse them a lot, understand their mechanism and practice some more. We all have "brain farts" eventually, we're humans not robots (unfortunatelly )

After 2 years in the class .. at green belt, we start it in combination: soto uke (zenkutsu dachi) enpi, uraken (in kokutsu dachi), gyaku zuki again in zenkutsu dachi ... a killer

Rick Derringer, Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment (some of them in a collaboration with a part of King Crimson, awesome music), Genesis (before Peter Gabriel's departure in '75, good prog), Pink Floyd, Yes, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Double Trouble, Vangelis, JM Jarre, Rick Wakeman, Led Zeppelin, Lacrimosa, Metallica, AC/DC and so on. Yeah, I'm a music geek

Looks like we've wasted our time trying to talk you out of wearing the gi in school. So I'll be quiet now. Wear the dang thing and if you wear a belt, wear your current rank at least, you're gonna put up a show no matter what (I really don't get it .. you come to ask for advice and when we go and provide you with it, you just become defensive and do it your way. If you look at the posts, you'll se almost everybody said it would be better to leave the costume home, but ... do it your way.) Good luck with your training abd tell us how it went.

Chocolate ... chocolate ... and yes, chocolate Other than that fish and chicken, plus milk. Can't get enough of it

Romania has got some good gymnasts and athletes. I wish they win some medals. As for watching the event .. I'm too busy playing morrowind

A job well done It's not such an accomplishment that you took an exam, but that you continued to work when defeated. You've earned a double rank for not quiting Congratulations and wear the belt with pride. You surely deserve it ..

It was something I have wanted to do my entire life. As soon as I could decide for myself (and financially support my training) I went for it. It's nice I don't have to pay at all since I've made a site in which I promote my dojo

Aefi .. are you telling us you don't wear anything under a heavy weight gi? I wouldn't risk a topless show though Since I'm kinda prone to all kinds of embaressing accidents

We don't meditate or recite dojo kun. Some of my beginner coleagues are still in mist regarding this

Been there too. It's kinda hard and unpleasant and you really feel stupid. Still with some work in few months you'll receive a different kind of looks A serious and working adult can just do wonders ... Just stay with the training, be nice to the others and even laugh when you've screwd it again I used to be very relaxed and admit my mistakes. I has earned me the simpathy and respect of younger peers. I became quite a good MA but never forgot to be nice. They are great friends and every minute of training is pleasant just because we really get along well.

It's a way of life, not your entire life. We are not in the woods like Tarzan practising all day more ways to swing from tree to tree. Humans are social animals We live in society and have something else than Karate. He is at school. I wouldn't advice him to leave it on a second place just to become the second Bruce Lee. School is VERY important and one must take all from it. I'm at my second college and all my life I've knew knowledge and mastery can take me from misery and give me a warm way of life. At his age he should prepare for life and try to have a decent and why not easy job. He should make friends and live his youth. Karate is a way of life, I don't deny it. I use Karate all day. It makes me happy, smarter, focused, agile and so on. But I have a life. I am a woman, I work at a radio station, I spend time doing web design stuff, I have some time to spend with close friends (not much, but enough to keep me in society), I can have a place for my family and the problems in everyday life, I spend a bit with my boy friend as I dream of getting married and having kids, and still I go to train. Advising someone to leave all aside and just train in Karate is ... don't get upset ... a bit imature. The outcome would be ... lack of friends (besides those in the dojo), no girl friend, lots of complexes, he'll be singled out, without any social life, with a job that is hard and demanding ... probably not so well paid (because he left aside school and learning) ... and many other things. With the school I speak from the experience (of another ). One of my instructors focused mainly on Karate when young so he became a worker at a electrical plant. He is 34 now. And in college. He knows edication can bring him a more "pleasant" job and is doing a hard work to learn at 34 what he avoided at 18. It's hard. He is married and father of two. Goes to his hard job, comes home and goes to school. Some things must be done at their time. Do karate all your life (that's what I intend too), but make sure your life would be a nicer one.

Like saying good morning or good day when meeting the person. Don't you do the same? And in our schools we use to stand up when they enter class. It's for all teachers, not just the English teacher Or like meeting and elder neighbour you just didn't notice. When you realise you forgot to say hello, you just say sorry and make sure to remember next time to be more polite. No more problems and lack of sleep. A karate teacher is human too, that's what I was implying, so the respect should be a "natural" one. They are not super humans and some are lowsy persons. Still you respect them and show it by bowing in the class and just saying good day when meeting on the street. My 2 leis

It would disclose you are doing Karate. It doesn't matter the rank, but the bystanders reaction. You would be a circus for them. Maybe they know nothing about Karate and would only make fun of you. And I'm sure it's hard to train while others mock at you or even try you out (like in Coco's case). Why not leave it as it is. Train at home and in the dojo. Don't put up a show at school. I know you unconsciously try to show off (we've been here, too, not a shame), but school is really a bad place to do that. You are there to learn (something else than karate) and the lunch breaks were made in order for you to relax, feed and even make friends. Don' let Karate take over your life. Train hard in the place specially designed for it (and complete the workout at home and in a sport hall liftin wights or running), but learn to live your life aside of it too. Make friends take care of your GF (they are necessary too ) and enjoy life. Youth passes. Don't let the years go by. AND DON'T WEAR THE GI OUTSIDE CLASS> Can't you guys see we look like clowns in the eyes of the others? For me, appearing in public with the gi on outside the dojo would be similar to seeing an astronaut in the supermarket with all the stuff, or a surgeon with gloves and complete equipment outside the hospital. It's a lousy view. I know I'd laugh my ..tt out at such a sight. Or a boxer with the pants and gloves, and even their custom made robes in public. You'd laugh too? I think so. Why would you put yourself in such a situation? Have all the people stare and think you show off. Because they'd never understand you needed some place to train. Sport halls are for training, karategis should be worn in a "normal" class ... not at school.

After 5 years in the radio business I've learnt to really separate myself from anything else. Just try to NOT see the others. You are there with your kata and that's all. It's your world and try to figure the others are just a realistical picture hanged near you, no real people. Focus only on your katas and think you don'r give a d..n about what those painted faces think. You know what you are doing and are good, otherwise they would be doing kata and you'd be watching. I know it's easy to say and hard to accomplish. The idea is to try ignoring the audience

Matt, it's not important to have a topic going, but to communicate. Asking questions and giving answers. Nobody gets a prize for keeping a topic alive, as it's not important. You got some good answers and we all adviced you to wear protection if you feel like that. The topic reached it's purpose. That of giving you the information needed. And tpics stay here (as far as I remember). It's no use taking important disk space just to artificially keep a topic going. Not to mention is indeed annoying and it is considerred spamming the topic. Now I've hijacked it So let it rest. Try to read other topics and come with your answers and even try new ones as a question arises.

Well think of it the other way .. you forgot yo bow .. so what? The guy saw you were kinda outerspace We are humans and humans make mistakes. And never think the senseis are some kind of a God. They are NORMAL people with an expertise in something. When you forget to salute your English teacher you just apologise the next time you see him and it's OK. Why should it be different with a "karate teacher" ?