ramymensa

There are some examples in Romania too. They think they are the centre of the world and forget they are teachers and must posses skills in this area too. Barking orders is not the whole thing. They forget the tecnique must be explained, shown and so on. The solution for students is to search the good instructors. The problem is a beginner has no clue about this and the decission can be flawed because of lack of knowledge.

It's not unusual to have a high ranked student teach the class. Leading warm-ups, helping the others and so on. It's very simple to get respected. Act naturally, confident, but not arrogant, be ready to assist, relaxed and fair. We have some high ranks who are arrogant and quite aggressive. Imagine, they don't get any respect. They are feared, not respected. I found out that it's not as hard to be really respected. It implies that you must respect the others and it becomes mutual. I don't teach classes yet, but I lead some warm ups and assist in correcting the others. When the class is over, I stay for another 20 minutes to perform my katas. For some months 4 girls are staying with me and I help them do the drills and katas for they grading exam. I became a teacher for them and it's nice to see they take for granted anything you say and really obbey It's a good feeling and also helps me learn better. By explaining and correcting I get better along with them.

Things like that happen everywhere. I think some legal measures should be taken. If I pretend to be a brain surgeon and open a hospital, somebody would come and ask me some questions. Being an instructor is not like being a surgeon, but it takes a lot of time and sweat in a "legal" way. I've heard about these events and unfortunatelly it's hard to get rid of such frauds.

The fact the guy is involved in many styles can mean he is well rounded and good. On the other side he might be just inconsistent and having problems to stick with a certain style. Sometimes this qualification in many styles could have a nasty result ... that you didn't have the time to learn the things OK. Like chasing many rabbits and catching none. After some classes our friend would be able not to say his sensei is good (takes more effort and knowledge to make such asumption), but if he likes being there. If he is treated respectfully (yes, instructors must respect their students too), is safe there and the coleagues are OK, he may continue and study the beautiful style that Aikido is.

And for biting ... I could lend my dog Now we are away from the thread. Back to it.

What's an ACL and MCL? Just learnt what ROTFLMAO, LOL and IMAO mean, but that's too much. HELP ... So I could know what injury we are talking about here.

So did you get the belt? Yupppyyyyyyyy Excellent. Congrats

It's possible in our dojo, too. Most likely to happen at higher ranks. It's not the end of the world. You just need to get on your feet again and train harder.

Heard of shadow boxing, but shadow testing ... that's too much. Apparently you've been tested and SHOULD KNOW the result. What's so secret about it? Ask the instructor about it. Tell him your opinion and ask for some further directions He should have told you, but maybe it wasn't a grading or ... ASK. And tell us about it.

6 or 7 years in our dojo. I have all the time

In order to be good you must work hard. When younger the efforts are easier, when maturing maybe it takes more sweat, but if you are into it, you'll reach your goal. And always relate to better coleages. Try to be better than them, but always have in mind to be better than yourself

I'm not content with myself, but am certain I'm on the right track. My MA training has got me stamina, a beautiful and healthy body, pleasure and pain, the chance to prove I can do what I want, a lot of focus on the task at hand, more friends, small and huge accomplishments (I can kick really high, do the splints ... took me 2 years and some strained muscles ... but I did it), gives me a healthy routine, and so on. It was a good thing to start and I enjoy every minute of it.

I don't know ... maybe I've got an open minded instructor ... whenever Ii have problems, or one of my coleagues (but hasn't got the courage to talk about it), I go to sensei and bring it to him. We discuss and he makes the decission. In MA the instructor has got more to do than just bark commands all the time. It'a a special relation and all must have the courage to discuss.

At any level you could get bored sometimes and the program, even if very well put together can lead to boredom. At your level it's understable. I second the opinion that you should talk to your instructor. I did it several time, because I felt something was not OK. When faced with the honest opinion of a good student, usually the instructor is willing to listen and change what's not good anymore.

Some rock and blues (why isn't in the poll?) ... Robert Cray, Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, JL Hooker and so on ... Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, some progressive : Genesis (the early years), Yes, Pink Floyd ... and many others

Needed a good laugh. Not the Viagra, though

Don't rush back into active life .. a moth later or earlier is not that important for your MA activity, but for your health. We keep our fingers crossed. Hope everything will go well.

About the training in the week of the testing ... I was about to test for yellow (8 kyu). Trained like a demon the whole month. At the last training session (next time it was the testing time) I succeded in injuring myself. I had a strained muscle in the back of my right thigh. The day of the exam I ran for the taxi (limping because of the previous injury) and damaged another muscle in the left thigh. Not to mention the pain. Still I attended the exam. I didn't tell my instructor I was injured because I knew he wouldn't let me test. I wasn't limping visible because both legs were busted Just walked really slow trying to wipe the pain grin from my face. I told my coleagues I was not going to let this opportunity pass away just because of my plain stupidity and bad luck. I was ready to try and eventually abandon if I couldn't move any more. The miracle is I did it. My techniques were OK and the kiais very loud and sincere (was screaming from pain). I got my belt that night. The advice ... never train hard when very close to testing. Keep away from cold or extreme heat, eat healthy, visualize your techniques when going to sleep, sleep well the night before testing.. The jitters can be shaken off by not thinking it's the end of the world. Be confident, relaxed, talk to the others and so on.

I've read somewhere about another exercise for conditioning the shins. take something like a broom stick (the idea is to be rigid) and roll it on the shins, like when making cakes Some say it works. Just up and down on every shin.

There are pros and cons. If you've got no problems at work or elsewhere for being bruised and you feel OK, guess it's up to you.

Our age limit was stretched even more We've got a newbie that's 4 years old. For the first 2 training sessions he made a good impression. He's very well-behaved and did his best to perform the technique. He didn't jump around like others. Maybe's just shy and the real fuss would be in the future to come, or he's a good kid with a bright future in front of him.

At first make a loose program, not so hard. You might get realy soar and develop some strains. It will stop the schedule for some days and it's not a good idea. The weight you want to lose must be taken care of in a disciplined manner (you have a good program), but not so tough in the first days. Try to start a lighter routine and after 2-3 weeks make things herder. Thus you'll avoid overtraining and a lot of other problems. Careful with the food and sleep and it will be OK

They are here for many years (some older some younger ). I think the true values are forever. The others will eventually die, new styles or old ones.

But you could also have a very nice dojo and the nice people we are so fond of Then the pleasure is double.

Blitzkrieg, a term very familiar in the Second Worl War if I am correct