ramymensa

I try to go everywhere I can and have as many experiences as possible. Even a not so useful camp is still an experience and you could learn something from there. If you can afford it, then I think you should go.

Let me put here my 2 lei (that's our currency in Romania.) I started to learn karate from a book. Started with Oi Zuki. Stopped there cause I didn't understand too much. It was a good book though and after I joined a dojo I used it to learn more. At the beginning it was useless. Shotokan is quite rigid when it comes to thechniques ... a techniques is to be performed in a certain way, with angles, inches and so on It's like geometry sometimes. Even now I make some mistakes and it's good to have someone to poit them out. Regarding similar styles I think it's compulsory to have an instructor. Bad habits are hard to "un-learn". On the other hand karate is a social experience. Why are people affraid to go with others? Why train alone when you can meet special people, work with real teachers and benefit in every way from your hobby?

'Snake Arm' iftode !!! Snake ARM? Are they crazy? LOL

A woman sensei could be quite fun. Me and my instrcutor became friends too. Imagine my boyfriend, Mr.Perfect, driving us home

Story: last week a young mother brought her very young child to our karate class. It went well. He stood in her arms almost all the time. He didn't give a d..n there's a "circus" going on. "Momy I want home" that's all we could hear from him. When the instructor took him by the little hand and placed him among his kind, hell broke out. He cried and wanted mack to his mommy. She was smart enough to leave home and promise to get back .. in few years And now my POV. A child should be old enough to understand what karate means and if it answers his needs. There are lots of people who trained in chilhood and left, because they felt it was a wrong decision. Like all karatekas who are quite obsessed with this thing I dream of having my kids step on my footsteps and become martial artists. On a second though I remember I'm stuborn and always liked to have something to say when it came to my destiny and my future. I don't want them to suffer what I never had to face: stuborness of the parents who are too "fixed" to see the "thing" is a human being with feelings and the capacity of resoning. Thus I guess I'll be happy to have children who are BB in what suits them best: if it's karate or math, medicine, painting, driving ... It's their choice. I'll be always beside them doing my best so they'll be happy as I am doing Karate.

Another beautiful story from the self defence course I take to accompany my Karate training: been there thursday; a coleague was working with me. We had to try to escape from an attacker who holds our hand (like in Heian Shodan). Afterwards we were taught to hit the attacker in the nose with the "root" of the hand. "Then he would let go" sounded the words of our instructor. Next second I'm still holding the coleagues hand, with tears in my eyes from receiving a very well "intended" hit in the "smeller". "You didn't let go", she wondered. Imagine the laughs there (they weren't hurting so bd, imagine I've lost all my sense of humour) After I promised her a series of kicks and punches full force, I just swallowed my pain and promised myself AGAIN not to work with beginners . They are dangerous

Don't worry about your weight. You're on the right track: strarting MA would do you good, it'll help you become FIT (yes, you'll be fit ), healthy, full of energy and with a high self-esteem. Not to mentin the succes with the chicks Go to a place you feel welcome and train your b..tt out. You'll see the results in weeks. And then it only gets better. Guess I'll have to send you a picture with me in a bathing suit Anyway GOOD LUCK. Don't worry. You'll be fine ... and we here are to help you

Karatekid We should be grown up girls, but look at us I'm glad you made the big step and I'm sure it took a lot of work to accept such a change in your life. It would get better and you'll be happy. You've been talking by a dijang you visited and liked it very much. What about going there? You were so happy when you "told" us about it. Your bf would get over it. It was kinda selfish from him to put you through this, but sometimes it's not about selfishness, it's some other kind of love. I had such a boyfriend. We parted cause I'm not to be convinced to say bye-bye to karate Now I know I made the right decision. Have fun and try to spend the time left for you both in the best way. You'll be OK. I'm sending you both a big smile from this part of Europe

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODD !!!!!!!!! Congrats for the big step. See wasn't that hard Hope after the off period you'll find a good dojo/dojang for YOU, not for others Good luck and enjoy the "holiday"

Thatk Goodness Black is the same for everyone

Hmmm A private trainer. You are so lucky

I'm mostly a "striker", but study grappling too and getting quite good at it. Though, I don't see myself on the street going to the ground. I care too much about my clothes In a conflict I would punch and kick, sweep and block and avoid going to the ground. Concrete (wet and dirty, depending on the weather) is different comepared to the cosy mat in our dojos And comparing a striking art (with some grappling, but mostly a striking art) with a grappling one it's like comparing apples and bananas

Happened some times When I began studying Shotokan I was kinda clumsy and all techniques looked pretty, but that was all for me. I never thought I could do someting with them. Then I hit my ex with a easy contact mae geri. He was on the floor. As I kicked with koshi ("tiger's paw") I felt NOTHING and he was down. In other ocasion I put a decent and controlled gyaku zuki on another guy. Same reaction. Gee ... it works ! And after that i hit my instructor in a sparring session. It was with gloves and I could hit hard. Great feeling. I take some defence classes too and I study all kinds of grappling techniques. When I put her on the mat I thought again ... Wow Works I'm great (she's 20 lbs heavier ) It feels great to discover you can do some tings other just dream about and that given some time all styles prove effective. It's all sweat

I eat whenever I'm hungry and lots of things. I like sweets and spicy things. I don't follow a diet and not even eat regularly, because of my daily schedule, which is quite hectic. I wish I was a vegetarian, but as my friend says: the best vegetable is pork Guess I don't qualify

Thank you John .. Right now I'm not laughing my a$$, cause it hurts. Don't ask !!! Well I'll tell you anyway. I was kinda brave at stretching ... to brave ... and now in the pelvic area there are feelings I never had Hope I'll get better. Anyway tomorrow I have 3 hours of training so I'll be "happy" again. Don't mind me ... Because I succeeded in turning the discussion in another direction I'll remember our member coleagues it's about AGE

What kinda walls have you got there My walls are from bricks (the red beautiful ones) and they are thick and hard, possible to "pierce" with a tank for intance, kicking them wouldn't harm them at all Well just tell them it happened. They can't take your head off for it Offer to remedy the situation and behave like an angel for some weeks.

They were beaten because they weren't good, not becasue of the style (I don't know many things about Shudokan and I try not to bash what I don't know) Goju Ryu is a KARATE style like Sh.ito Ryu (damn the word ), Wado Ryu and so on. A very respected style, with tradition and good reputation. A good sensei can do wonders. A good one would show you all the style can do and even broaden your "view" by adding something tha style lacks (In our Shotokan dojo we learn how to fall, how to grapple and so on. It's not in the "curriculum", but our sensei takes care of us in order to be really well rounded.) So it's not the style. We are talking here humans (instrctors and students) and they make the difference (IMO).

Stop traing because of injuries. NOPE. If I can still stand on my 2 feet I'll go It's the love of my life and even if there is some time since I started, it's still like in the first day. I'm enthusiastic and passionate about it. I hope I'll never have pauses in my training cause od injuries and I think I'll have to stop for a while when I'll become a mom. It's still so far away, that I don't bother yet planning my life then

You may think I'm quite stupid, but now I'll ask: What that ROTFLMAO thing? It's not in dictionaries I've learnt what BRB, LOL and IMO mean but that's too much

Yep .. close enough

Ichi, ni san shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, ku , ju I guess

I know, SaiFights, most of these great people dont't think they should be on that pedestal and that makes them even more admirable We all try to improve ourselves (at least that's what I try), but we have an advantege. I try to learn many "acrobatic" things, like high kiks, katas, combinations and so on, but at least I benefit from a perfect body (not good looking, but fully functional ) I never had to worry from falling down, I never tried to overcome the difficulties people you wrote about had to face ... and that's why I admire them. I've been training while sick or with a sprained shoulder, 2 busted ribs and so on, and it was hard. These are little compared to the situatins you described. That's why I said people like that deserve all the respectin the world. Karate for me is striving to perfection and these are examples to be followed. You and all of them are the true SENSEIs (those who walked before and did it on a rough path.) Put karate into everything you do ... some put all they had in karate .. and got everything

There could be a lot of philosophical rambling here, but I guess the facts in real life are more simple: don't get into trouble, try to avoid conflict till the last moment, but once the situation gets too hot, strike hard and do your best to escape alive and if possible with little injury. You don't have to pick up fights, but when threatened, your person and well being come first ... i think

3000 is JUST a number and not that big as it would seem. Let me try to explain ... Let's take for instance a punch, I take gyaku tsuki cause everybody knows how a reverse punch looks Suppose you do it 50 repetitions a training session (normally one would do more of them, but let's just take 50). In 10 nights ... 500 repetitions ... 60 training sessions ... 3000 !!! So what's the big deal? In an year time you've done it more than 3000 times, so it's not that impossible

Sai, great stories. I think you could make a separate thread about great martial artists, those who can win the greatest battle of all, the one fought against their own phisycal limitation which sometimes tend to destroy their chances for a normal life. And still some make it. All my RESPECT for them