ramymensa

Well ... I'm perfect ... smart and so on ... I wish To be honest I don't look at older posts ... I think I'd be embarassed maybe, or maybe not. I just try to speak my mind, be helpful and sincere. Sometimes I'm wrong, but I'm honest in my beliefs ... and I like this forum

It's your money. You've payed for classes, attend them and then move on Regarding boredom in MA ... it could happen as a result of misjudging and lack of real, objective, goals. Anytime one searches for a MA there are some questions to be asked and answered: - why MA? Why not basketball or tennis? Do I really feel like doing this? - again WHY? What are my goals? Can't they be achieved in another way? - am I going to train regularly or not? - am I chosing this because I really like it or because I've split with my boy/girl friend and I'm bored to death ... cause if it's the case, maybe a good movie would do you better ... - and when it comes to the style chosen ... look well, take information (even from this forum), but don't take anything for granted (we are all well intended, but subjective ...). Look for a certain style and again ask yourself if you really want this and if you are OK with all that's in the dojo ... Thus it's possible to stick with your choise a lot of time And another thing ... If you feel you don't really love MA, than leave. Be fair with yourself ... Go, find something else. It's a world full of possibilities and not everybody must be a martial artists. We can't be all painters or musicians, teachers or doctors ... and sure thing we can't be all karateka. Guess I went AGAIN on 3 roads I just wanted to cover many aspects and I doubt I succeeded. Anyway our moderators would have to do

Best martial art ... for whom? For you or for me? because we could not put it into general terms. The best MA is what you make of it and it's different from person to person. I found Shotokan answered all my needs. I also like to be rounded, thus I'll learn as many techniques as I possibly can from any other style. I stick to Shotokan because I love it and consider it to be THE BEST. FOR ME. Not for you ... There are people who like Tai Chi, Sistema, Krav Maga, Judo .... For them the best style is different from mine. And it should be so. They have other needs, other preocupations, other personalities. What's good for me isn't necessary good for you. It's important that all should find what's BEST for themselves, persue their OWN ideals and look tolerant towards the others. Find your own best style and love it, respect it, train and make it the best, not by words, but by your own efforts.

For a woman involved in MA it's quite difficult to handle all the guys who'd like to make fun of her. Thus it's better to just shut up and don't tell One of the most embarasing things that could happen is to be asked to show them a "move". A few weeks ago I was with some friends and a new one (for me, because they've knew each other for a long time) kept asking me if I could beat him Hopefully I was in a great mood and I didn't show him the real thing Anyway he didn't let me until I showed him one of our great low Shotokan stances ... "Hmm ... you can stay this way?" He asked. Yeah. I told him, I can stay like this longer that you (He couldn't get into the position, so no chance to stay like that ), I can move, punch, kick, change stance ... He was pleased with the answers and let me alone Now I think I should have showed him a "sword hand" to the neck or a very high mawashi geri 4 milimeters from his ear ... Maybe next time.

JJ Fighter ... you always have nasty partners (first that 27 year old woman, now this guy). How do you do it? Guess you're unlucky ... About persons resisting techniques ... they are plain stupid. They are in the dojo, dojang or whatever in order to LEARN not to show off. When a technique is perfomed they should do their part and stop acting like children. Sorry for you having to deal with such guys.

Never rely only on Mwashi geri, when in a karate kumite. You kick and his hands are not busy blocking some punches? Then ouch Try to avoid opening a kumite session with kicks. In order to succed you must be quite fast. You are lucky he didn't sweep your legs ... ouch again ... Try to use your hands, elbows ... anything. When you kick do it very quick, avoiding your leg to be caught or the supporting leg to be swept. Try to pull back the leg as soon as possible. And start the leg technique with the knee raised to your chest in front of you ... thus you can chose mawashi, mae, yoko or ushiro geri and the opponent wouldn't know, because there are many possibilities. You've been training for little time. You'll beome better with the time

There's ONLY ONE Shotokan style Karate styles ... there are more, but shotokan is only one, as only one is Gojo ryu, Wado ryu, TKD and so on The way you are taught may be different and the organisation your dojo is affiliated could be one of many, but the katas and so on are the same You should ask your instructor more thongs about your style. He should have told in the first training session. You must know the history of the style, where did the name come from and so on ... and yes lower stances exist. If you perform a kata in a walking position, then it's completelly wrong. Low stances are good for dtability and conditioning. Of course you get some nice problems with your knees if you are not doing the stances correct, but that's the fun

If your senseis told you that you're OK, then you are OK You have 2 possibilieties: stay away from the chalange and never give your chance to be better, to be among good MAists or you could go for it. Try to do the best. You won't be alone there and trust me not the "stupiedest". There would be another frightenned beginners ... Try to have fun and be calm and confident. Be attentive and do the best you can. This event could be quite an important thing in your development into MA Good luck. Keep us posted

May the force be with you relax, be confident, attentive and have some luck too (sometimes it does a lot of good ) we'll keep our fingers crossed ... well not that crossed I still need to type here

If you had problems with your knees ... stay away from Shotokan. It's a great style, but it would increase your problems with the knees because of its low stances (not used in sparring, but very important in kihon. kata and conditioning). Regarding your wish to learn very quicklly some techniques, go to some style already mentioned by other members. Try to chose a place near your home, take a style you like, don't forget to watch some classes and have fun

Wouldn't be more simple to just talk to your sensei? You've been there for 5 years ... you could ask him to incorporate some new techniques ... he should know something more than simple aikido, if not go to some other dojos to complement your training. Perhaps judo

Maybe you'd like to try something japanese to be in the "family", karate for instance. Karate and aikido are a good mixture. Add some judo and you'd be quite rounded. You might add some SUMO also

My hands are swollen from writing post at this thread, present in the past. Size does matter, oh no, oh yes and so on Have fun Let's see who can write the same things twice

Abother myth to be dispelled ... Transylvania full of little monsters and vampires stalking you and being thirsty of your blood ... Unfortunatelly for those who'd like some "excitement" ... nope ... no vampires ... There are some castles, wonderful ones (Bran, Peles ...) and monasteries (although in Moldavia there are the most beautiful, because there was a man Stephen the Great who would make a monastery after every victory ... and he was quite succesful in battles. There is The Voronet monastery which has the walls painted with icons, and there is a shade of blue, unique in the whole world ...) Transilvania and Moldavia have beautiful mountains (the last part of the Carpathians) and there are some places ... heavenly. And no vampires Sad

banning a certain style would be a decision that must be taken with great care. I sincerelly doubt, because USA it's the land of freedom, isn;t it? I don't know anything about sanshou, but I guess it's not more dangerous than other styles ... well who knows ... Anybody ... have you got informations about the problem here?

I know it as GOJO RYU. Doesn't matter It's a traditional KARATE style, with common Okinawan roots like Shotokan, the style I practice. It means (if I/m not wrong "Soft-hard") Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953) is credited for founding your style. He studied Naha-te (Naha hand. The names of these styles were easy to give, because they used te-hand + the name of the small town they were training, thus we have Shuri-te, Naha-te Tomari-te). From Okinawa Chojun Miyagi went in China to study more. In 1931 Gojo-Ryu was offcially recognized by Butokukai. It's an interesting style Regarding your "friend" ... there's nothing you can do, but kick his ... anytime you get the occasion. Do it eleganlty and without any doubt for the spectators. Those guys who stare should be put to do something, techniques, push-ups ... anything ... I remember when I graded, they were staring and it felt quite akward. Hmmm As for those who prefer fancy stuff, let them do it. You can't convince them, they'll have to learn it by themselves. Sometimes it's ok to try fancy stuff, but before this one must know the basics

Vlad Tepes as we call him was one of the greatest men in Romanian history and his story was distorted in order to please the Hollywood guys. When he became the ruler of Romania (well it was only the 3rd part of actual Romania, nut it would be easier to call it this way ) he was confronted with coruption of the high class and with many betrayels. So he took an old habit of killing those guys by using big spears and putting them into them, like you would do with meat when going to camp He is not the first to have done it. Well it really worked. In his years of ruling it is said that you could lose a bag full of gold and find it later there, because no one would dare to pick it up and take it home He is legendary because of the discipline and order in his little country. The otomans (now inhabitants of Turky) had some problems with the guy, because he was quite brave and they could't do what they pleased in that place. He was HUMAN, ate like a man, and never consumed people. He just used that "nice" way to calm the bad guys and thus got his name The Impaler. He died and got buried and doesn't haunt any place One can visit his grave in a Romanian monastery and wouldn't have "surprises". The "real" dracula was considerred later a woman. She was called Elisabeth of Bathory and she did drink blood. She was also a normal ruler, human, but with great interest in her looks. One day one of her servants was combing her hair, and Elisabeth didn't like something. She slapped the poor woman and broke her nose. As the blood got on her hands she saw that the skin gets softer and looks better. So she started a new tratment. She used to have young girls taken into her castle, tortured them and killed them. Their blood got into a big pool and there she would bathe and get pretty She was discoverred and executed. Her castle is a ruin and can be found in Czech republic (I guess). I'm sorry I left the subject, but I think you should know the truth about one of the most noted and praised rulers in my country's history. Romania has managed to keep it's freedom most of its history, although it was and still is a very small country surrounded by great empires. People like Vlad, Stephen the Great (Stefan cel Mare), Michael the Great (Mihai Viteazul) and so on are important in our history Returning to our problem, I think it's important to see what a certain MA can do for you, if it answers to your questions and if you enjoy it. Once started go on. The benefits would show up. To do a MA or not to do? The answer should be to do

Has anybody got another Ferrari? or a new Beetle (love thede cars) 10x for the stories. My coleague came in the studio to ask why am I laughing so hard

I've read somewhere that Sokon 'Bushi' Matsumura had something to do with some styles, even TKD. He is impoartan for Shoryn Ryu students, but his activity led to some influences on other styles, including Shotokan and TKD. Hope I'm not wrong.

Te astept ... (I'm waiting for you ) Romania is a beautiful country. Make some time and money and visit it. I'll be your guide. And trust me ... dracula isn't all around Transylvania. By the way it's a very beautiful place. I try ... I really do ... But sometimes I can't keep my mouth ... fingers I've noticed the circularity of the threads When you think you've made something clear ... bang another appears with the same ideas. Huuuhhh. Hard

Wow. 33. And I thought I was old at 22. Well we are not old we are ... how you say ... ripe Well age is not that important. What counts is dedication seriousness and joy. And you'll succeed. You've got some other possible role models here, Katana, and it will be OK. Train hard and frequently, try to have fun and be inovative in your technique. Give it a try, put some passion and the results would astone you. Good luck.

Good luck Kirves If the other class is free, go ... You can use the workout and even the techniques with the legs Have fun and tell us about your progress

I knew Gedan Barai is dangerous, but this is too much Well, sorry if I seem to be joking ... I'm shocked. Hope you'll be OK I messed some muscles and something at the superior part of the leg ... and you don't feel too much because you are in the middle of the training and full of energy. The problem is when you get home

There are morals in any style. In life there's such thing. From your posts I notice you are YOUNG, very young and think accordingly. What was the glory in beating a 27 year woman or making her feel like s...t because you god of MA, Bruce Lee or modern Mars can't get to her level. Think about it in another way. You can perfect yourself while teaching somebody else. Instead of making her hate you and despise you and look down on you from the height of her 27 YEARS you could have made her your friend. She could find a helping hand in you, a superior teenage who is so MATURE in order to teach her, the "princess". Imagine your succes in the class And I think she was wrong too because she worked with you despite your behavior. I hope you'll grow up, just to realise in order to become a true MAist one must be pacient, kind, and MORAL. I know you'll hate me for this post, but you really need to think more about it. Doing the same you already did won't help. You'll become hated and eventually expelled. Nobody wants trouble in the dojo And think in advance. You train hard ... perhaps you want to become an instructor ... then how would you deal with your students? Beating them and saying you won't get to their level?

These playfull guys are the most dangerous. You could get injured just because they chose to do something different than the task "orderred". And sometimes you must trust them and then ... bang ... your nose or ... When applying techniques and doing some predefined sparring I try to work with a person I trust. That would be a friend of mine ... She is OK. Has got the same rank and works what we have to work and we agree before doing something. When we need some "spice" we add it, we sparr harder contact or lighter, after agreeing. When she's not aroud I pair with another higher rank. It sounds nasty but I try to avoid beginners. When i stay to help them I chose some well behaved boys or girls. Those with too much "spirit" are quite dangerous when it comes to working a technique and trust they would be attentive and have some controll. After one hit me quite hard in the nose, just to see how it is ... I pay a lot of attention when it comes to pair with someone.