ramymensa

Seek medical attention. It has been said before here, but that's what you've got to do. The cramps could mean you lack something .. or overtrained, or many other "maybes". A doctor can help better. And he must say it's a problem or not. Tell us how it went

Almost 26. How time passed Anyway .. in my dojo many can't believe their ears when I tell them my real age. Still look like in my teens. Until I'll develop wrinkles

Fom what I've read in your earlier posts, it's small and you are few students there. It's close to your home too. The fact is small and you can have more attention from sensei is OK and could explain the fees. It also could be an inconvenient. Maybe you'd like to shop a bit aroud. Or stay there if you are feeling alright.

You should talk to the guy and tell him about your plans. He's not God Almighty so you can adress him man to man. I really get ..ssed off when I hear about: "I'm afraid, ashamed .. to talk to a person." He's human too and can understand. If the contest is really that important and a real opportunity as you've mentioned, delay a bit your holiday. Lack of comunication can lead to unpleasat situations. Coming forward and explaining respectful a situation is the solution. You can come up with a solution together. Or at least the guy can see you are really serious, but with other commitments

I'm not that into boxing, but if I had to chose a boxer more close to my heart that would be Leonard Doroftei. He's a Romanian too and quite good

No COCO, you are not weird. You're just a kid who needs some guidance and to build some confidence. Well .. I certainly don't like the knife thing. It's a danger and they (the knives) should be put out of reach of you children. The fighting is and not normal. You are brothers and it's a common situation. Still I don't think it's that OK. But, what can you do? As for the pushups program. 5-5-5-5 is not intended to make you another "Hulk", but to help you do them. 20 a day is little for some. For a person who can't do many pushups it's like the end of the world. At first you've got to start doing them and not get discouraged. Otherwise you could start doing 100 at a time and I bet you can't right now. So 5, rest, play on the Pc , another set of 5 and so on. In few day try to do 10 at a time. You can't, no problem, keep on doing the 5 pushup set and eventually you'll build some endurance. You are not used to it and this little effort helps you build endurance to this kind of effort as well as avoid injuries. Don't forget to so abs exercise and situps. And for God sake forget about the elevator Run upstairs when going home. You are a martial artist, not an old lady (no offence). I use to run at the Universiy. I have sometimes classes at the 7th floor. Guess who's storming up? Try to get a good friend so work out together. Go to a gym, run together. It's easier and more pleasant to have somebody with you. Get out of the house. SOCIALIZE. Talk to your school coleagues. They aren't all jerks And cut back the hours at the PC. You are growing and changing a lot. It's a difficult time. Don't go through it alone. Of course you've got us, but seek some flesh and blood friends I'm glad some advices were taken seriously. Don't be offended by any word (wasn't my intention). Keep us posted. You can e-mail me or PM for other private information.

Guess I can help a bit. Correct me if I'm wrong please. So It's KERI and TSUKI when we talk about the body part. BUT when we add another word with it ... like the technique names they become (mae) GERI and (oi, gyaku) ZUKI. I've sppoken with a japanese sensei of Goju-Ryu and he explained it to me

When I do a light workout I feel hungry like a wolf. Sometimes when I get too carried away and come home exhausted. Then I can't eat a thing. On a general note .. since I started training I tend to feed myself more than before

I haven't heard about your style, but I'm sure it's interesting Myabe you'll find other fellow stylists here. Welcome here and enjoy your stay

go long legged martial artists !!! Mawashi is the preffered .. Nice. I like leg techniques because I'm tall and quite flexible (took a long time, but it's worth the effort). I also like punches .. combinations and counter attacks. As for what works ... it depends on the match itself, the opponent, your inspiration ...

You are right. A good instructor knows you and your strenghts and weaknesses. Better than us sometimes They know how much to push you, to understand you and help you work in a healthy and correct manner. It's important to see how much your student can handle and help him raise that limit without injuries. Weak students can grow strong fast. Lazzy students have no chance, except for changind their attitude.

It's nice to have goals, but I think this is kinda far to have in mind. Of course you have to apreciate a certain time to achieve the BB, but don't make it the end of the world if it takes longer. You can do it and you can't. It's important to work very hard and you'll achieve the first result. The second one could come from various reasons not just lack of commitment. What if you injure? Your sensei moves? The school closes? ... and many IFs. I wish you all the best in your attempt. ENJOY the journey that's important. More than the colour. And never forget to be nice. And also don't let it get in front of school commitment. You've got to study. Karate is good, but it's not your priority. Nice I sound like my parents

Yeah, prepare for some "dead" days. You're new and so your business, but in some time you'll have "clients". Make sure you promote your club well and prepare a good program in order to suit the needs of your students. Take care of any legal aspect and once you've got students treat them right and carefull. They would spread words about your club and you've got to keep them happy (if they feel respected and treated OK, not to mention they feel they are learning something .. it would turn OK) Perhaps you could offer some discunts for families and something like "bring a partner and get a free month". You'll know it better. Try to be honest in your financial demands for your students and be nice. I also think you should be open to people who want to watch a class or take a free week. See if these suit you and use what you feel it's OK. You've been here for a while and had the opportunity to see what do most MAs dislike. You'll have to avoid these things and you'll have a good dojo. Most of luck to you.

- depends. I like to work with others and even teach them. Sometimes I just need some time alone to focus on my own problems - I preffer having the watch sometimes in order to correct me and give further hints. Afterwards I'll go alone again. - I'd like to videotape myself. As soon as I have a camera I'll do it. - I find music to be distracting and I really hate it even if it's for warm up. I listen to music in a "proffesional" way since I'm a radio DJ. When I do Karate I want SILENCE - inside and outside, whenever I have the opportunity. - and all sorts of covers .. floor, carpet, cement .. I preffer wooden floors. - I practice barefoot when indoors .. outside I use some sport shoes in order to avoid injuries on the soles of the feet. - I breath a little more accentuated but still naturally - I'm a reading freak and like to know everything. - visualisation is important though quite difficult at lower levels. I remember I taught a girl Taikyoku Shodan because she just coudn't figure out how to turn after the first 2 steps. I just stood near and mimicked an attack with the foot. (mae geri) touching here lightly and asking here to figure out how to escape from this situation. I would keep the leg extended and she tried to block. She soon saw how to turn (she used to the other way, being always vulnerable to this certain technique). After few repetitions I told her .. "now think I'm there. Block me." And she did it. In 5 minutes she learnt what she couldn't in 3 weeks of kata training. After she understood and visualized it all happened suddenly. That's why you need a good teacher

When I was a little girl I used to fight a lot from various reasons. Nowadays I'm more peaceful and haven't got into a fight since starting karate. I was once close to have to defend from an insistent guy who couldn't understand why I won't have a coffee with him, just of a sudden. But he eventually stopped bugging me. I was ready to resist any attempts, but I'm glad it didn't degenerate. My aggresivity diminished a lot since taking MA. Not to mention is not nice to fight on the streets and it's bad for the nails too (I keep mine very short, but it'a a reason not to fight )

I've already seen too many breasts from my "courageous" coleagues, so I wear a sport bra. And the gi top can open loose and I have no worries. T-Shirt I've worn only few times in the autumn-winter when it was cold and the heating system wasn't started.

If you don't feel like connecting to the instructor ... get out of there and search some more. You really need a sensei that is almost friendly and understanding or the classes would be a tormenting experience. I've tried a class with a guy who's a good technician but a lousy person and I stopped going there because he was a jerk. My sensei is a friend of his a let me go to the other dojo to just to benefit from some more training. He is a great person and he's the reason I stayed with the class when I was a beginner and thought about quitting just because I foud out it was too hard. He stood beside me and pushed me far. And I've come to understand the dojo and style are not everything. People are. So just seek some more senseis. You'll find a good one and you'll have to benefit more from them. Good luck

Mentally, but how about financially? I sweat a lot during summer classes and that means my gi top has got to "deal" with it. It cost me my wage for a month to purchase it and to buy another is out of the question at least for 2-3 years. So I have to take care of it and I hate to see it stained with the sweat. So I better work out with a T-shirt which is way cheaper. Though I really love wearing my entire outfit.

Now that's quite tough. Anyway ... starting something like .. "in my old style .. " would make you disrespected and not at all loved So don't. If you've got a nice instructor you could chat in private about the differences between the styles, thus gaining even more insight in the mechanism. As long as you are under their roof, you'll have to take for granted what they teach you, as you did with MT. In sparring try to obey their rules. Instead of resisting the change, go with it, with the flow. Learn KM as dilligently as you did with your previous style, understand it and make it work. The outcome .. you'll get even richer in your knowledge ... It's indeed hard to leave aside what you've loved and knew, but remember when you started MT and the way you were seeing things. I bet you had preonceptions too, because we all have. You had your own ideas when startind MT and the style changed them or proved some to be right. It's the same here. And if anything fails ... you can always seek another club

My view ... Your mother hasn't got the time to cook, so you could try to do something about it. Before you jump screaming "impossible!" let me explain. I'm not speaking about doing very complex stuff, simple and good. And you can do it while working on the comp. 3-4 minutes in the kitchen a little bit at the computer and so on. I think you are 14 or similar ... from what I've tried to figure out from your posts .. You're old enough to take care of yourself now. Stop the coke and chips !!! Buy fruits. Instead of putting that junk in you, eat veggies and fruits. Need a snack? Eat some fruits. Start drinking some milk and eat dairies, some meat and ... you know. You may be lacking some minerals and vitamins and you could take some until you set a bit and than just do the nutritional diet. Find stuff you like and avoid Mac and KFC As for wirking out, as Granmaster said, do it at home. Do push ups, sittups and all the stuff in between some work at the PC. Make a schedule ... mine is like this: first week 20 push ups and the exercises for abs and legs a day. Not at once, because you couldn't do it. BUT do 20 of them a day: 5-5-5-5 or 10-5-5 or 10-10. Second week you go to 20 .. and so on till 100. you stop there and try to do as many as possible in one set: 50-50, afterwards 60-40 and so on. Before you shake your head ... it works. I started doing the 20 pushups in 5-5-5-5 and in 2 days I was able to do 10 a time. Your body adjusts just fine and these sets aren't strong enough at the beginning to injure yourself. The most important thing ... don't skip it. I use to give myself a free day .. sunday. I really hope I could help. Tell us what you think and we'll try more ideas

Even if you are measuring feathers it's ten pounds. A great package of feathers (volume incresed), but still 10 pounds if that's the desired weight

The first combo we are taught Indeed good and misleading. You can also try a punch in the abdomen and immediatelly a reverse on the chin. Many are used to the combination oi zuki jodan and gyaku zuki chudan and you'll get them unprepared. Try doubles ... 2 punches with the same hand at the same level or different and aftewards a blow to the abs. Anything you can to catch them by surprise. I like to enter with a straight punch at jodan level while stepping and changing the stance. Some are really taken by surprise and get remain speachless. The idea is to move a lot and try to move sideways too. It's difficult, but once you've got the hang of it you'll see it's quite useful. Don't forget to use your feet and don't hit too hard at jodan level. Try to catch the opponent with counters on his techniques. Timing and speed are very important. For training ... focus on some combos and perfect them. At the tourney ... be confident and RELAXED. Don't get intimidated by the others display of mastery .. focus on your self and go for the gold

Oh, God ... new style names It's quite a blast to come to hear about so many styles and to find out how they are and work. Since I've enterred KF I've come to know all sorts of styles and realised they are quite many and various Welcome to KF and enjoy your stay ... we wish you all the best and may you stay very long ... as you've already planned...

Not such a problem ... the goofs in kata. They happen all the time even if you've becomen a higher rank and are in front of the others ... to demonstrate ... Sometimes you just get carried away and start mixing them ... It just means you've been distracted. After some time you'll know them better and the occurances of such "nice" events would decrease. As for "dirty looks" ... don't mind them. You're the "fresh meat" and everybody wants to see you and their place in accordance with yours. Like in the wolf packs The solution ... make friends and let the time pass. After you'll stop being a "novelty" they'll let you be

Lucky .. you don't know anything about this The solution: dodge the bullet while performing a very high leap and land on the assailant. Or just catch them in your palm Seriously though ... the chances are minimum. If the attacker was closer maybe it was better. In this case hope he's a bad aimer ...