turbo wrx

Hey guys, Long time since I've visited this forum. I guess this is a fitness/training question... I noticed that my instructor and advanced students are able to hold their leg up while preparing for a kick (i.e. knee bent), and even hold their leg up and foot out after performing the kick. Well, I have two issues: 1) Flexibility, which I have to keep working on through regular stretching. 2) Holding my leg up, particularly for roundhouse kick. My instructor, when demonstrating, can lift his leg up in proper position with knee bent, and then snap out his leg and bring it back to ready position at will. It's awesome. My question is -- what muscle(s) do I need to develop in order to hold my leg up like this? Thx!

Hello, I hurt myself while weight-lifting yesterday. I was doing barbell curls when the pain started, so I ended my work-out there. It hurts a lot near by right shoulder blade, so the pain is affecting the upper back and neck area. If I move my right arm too much, it hurts. I couldn't sleep well last night because of the pain. Just laying down and sitting up is very difficult. I can't do neck circles or look up. Anyone else have this specific type of pain before? I'm trying to pinpoint the cause. I want to see a specialist, but x-rays and such can cost a lot of money.

Hello, I've realized that I've become worse at certain things now that I'm older. I used to have better balance for one thing. Also, I used to be more alert/aware. Well, now my balance is bad. Plus, I feel like I just don't have the awareness/alertness that I used to. I get startled easy, which I hate. It's embarrassing. I guess it's a matter of hearing and peripheral vision. If someone sneaks up on me (not necessarily with bad intention), why can't I hear them coming or catch them from the corner of my eye? I heard that Shaolin monks were so sensitive that if a fly landed on them, they'd automatically react. On the other hand, I don't feel prepared if someone was to sneak up on me and attack me. Does anyone have tips on how to become more alert/aware? Thanks.

Hello, Does anyone know if there are any martial arts cartoons available for download in a popular format like AVI or MPEG? They can be short cartoons, like a few minutes. My little bro used to watch this Nick cartoon called Avatar the Last Airbender. I thought it was really cool, but haven't seen it in a few years. Thx.

I go most karate classes without talking to the instructor. When I was in TKD a long time ago, my instructor would give me tips. It seemed he cared about my development, and the skills I learned could've actually helped in a fight. In the last karate class, I went up to the instructor to tell him something, and waited to get his attention. Then some lady walked up with her little kid and asked about belt stripes, so the instructor walked away with them and left me standing there like an idiot. I feel kind of depressed lately because I'm not yet sure what to do about my martial arts goals, and life is busy. I'm busy with my job, and the commute is long. I'm married now, and don't want to neglect my wife. I have religious obligations. I want to further my skills and advance my career. And I have my fitness and martial arts goals. I wish I would have focused more on the latter 2 things since 5 years ago when I had more time. I've been researching local schools lately on the internet. I visited one school and e-mailed them. It's a different art than karate, but they also have katas. I don't know if it would necessarily benefit me to switch from karate to this other art. One art that does seem interesting is Hapkido because it appears well-rounded, and therefore it could be effective in self-defense. I want to learn more about it. There is a school about 20 minutes from here, but it's kind of expensive. I'll see.

I wasn't sure where to post this... I started Karate earlier this year, and unfortunately I don't feel satisfied so far. I don't feel we're learning practical self-defense. We mainly just practice katas, which I know is important, but I want more. Even the higher belts don't spar or do anything spectacular. If the green or blue belts got into a fight, I don't feel like they're expert fighters, but who knows. I don't believe the higher belts will learn advanced techniques, such as foot sweeps or pressure points. I feel like the sensei favors the kids and gives them attention. He doesn't help me really improve, and I don't have much communication with him. I don't feel like we're learning how to actually fight! I feel like a stinky student, even though I practice at home, read about martial arts, and even started learning the next kata on my own. Something I didn't post about previously on this forum is that I took a year of Tae Kwon Do when I was a lot younger. Unfortunately I lost interest after a year, and then remained out of the martial arts for many years, and then joined Karate this year. Well, I look back at the Tae Kwon Do class and feel good about it. Even as white belts we were allowed to spar. We were only allowed to block, but this helped our reflexes and actual defense skills in case someone tried to hit us. After white belt, we could engage in free sparring. We also got to break boards (the rebreakable types), and at least once practiced jumping kicks on a heavy bag. I miss that. Basically, I want to learn fighting skills at a faster pace. I want to learn stand-up fighting, clinch skills (knees, elbows, takedowns), how to escape from holds, basic grappling, ground fighting, and pressure points. I know I can't get this all from one art. I guess I'll look around for other martial arts schools, but this Karate class I'm in fit in nicely with my schedule, it's close to home, and is very affordable. I don't know. After the last class, I just felt pretty crappy.

Hi. I feel that the Karate class I'm taking is more geared towards tournament competition, and not self-defense. I was also hoping we'd practice blocks more, but then again I'm still very much a beginner. I was wondering if there was a video that showed how to apply Karate kihon to real-life self-defense situations. For example, let's say in the video an "attacker" tried to sneak up on a karateka and headlock him, and then the karateka would demonstrate how to use Karate techniques to deal with this situation (and various other attacks one could face on the street). Because, let's face it, if attacked in real life, the attacker won't get into a front stance and do a reverse chudan punch. Anyone know of such an instructional video?

The weather's too warm lately to enjoy coffee or tea, so I've been playing around with a small blender we received as a gift. We made a smoothie using some mixed frozen fruit, which was decent. Then on my own, I made a few smoothies using fresh fruit. The first one involved some banana, a couple strawberries, a piece of cantaloupe, a piece of some green melon, crushed ice, some sugar, and vanilla soymilk. My second smoothie was similar, but no strawberries, and a mango juice instead of soymilk. My third smoothie creation is a peach smoothie. I got a can of sliced peaches. I mixed a couple slices with vanilla soymilk, crushed ice, and sugar. It was good. I could have even added bananas, or replaced the peaches with mangoes if we had some. The possibilities for fruit smoothies are endless, and you get a drink that's not only tasty and refreshing, but healthy as well! P.S. I used soymilk because of lactose issues, but feel free to use regular milk.

Hi. I don't see how cycling or running would have a negative impact on your flexibility. If you want to kick high, you need flexibility, but you also need strength to lift your legs up high because legs are heavy. Running or cycling can strengthen/tone your legs and give you cardio exercise. Another exercise to consider is jumping rope, which may help with your cardio fitness goals. Unless you're doing massive body-building, I wouldn't worry about your flexibility being impacted. I would just suggest doing warm-up exercises prior to running/cycling, and then doing static stretching afterwards to maintain/increase your flexibility.

Hi. How many hours a night do you sleep, roughly? I don't sleep well, but when I exercise, I find that I become more energetic because my body is being active. This is nice after a day of work at the office, where I'm mostly sitting. I sometimes feel tired right before working out, but I try to do some warm-up exercises before lifting, which helps wake me up. It could be that you're a night-owl instead of an early bird, so perhaps you could try pushing your workout into the afternoon some time, if your schedule permits. Also, how's your diet? This could also have some correlation with lack of energy. Maybe have some fruit prior to exercising for some healthy carbs? You need carbs for energy, but healthy carbs have a low glycemic index, so fruits are better than processed sugary snacks. In addition, do you keep drinking water handy when working out in order to stay hydrated? As you start tiring, perhaps some cold water will be refreshing.

Hi. I had 3 things to mention after watching the trailer: 1) About 2 minutes into the trailer, one guy (in black pants, gold shirt) was swinging punches like in a high school fight. In class, we punch in a linear fashion. Is swinging also used? 2) I noticed that sometimes a simple punch to the face was quite effective. Even when one person performed a nice-looking kick, the other person was able to front punch the face. 3) Some people were knocked down with one hit, and seemed to be in pain. This made me think that one should condition himself to be able to tolerate pain in case one is attacked. I wonder if any such training will be provided in class, but I don't think so.

Hi. I don't really know the answer to your question, but I think the front (forward) stance proves effective as far as stability and mobility. The back stance seems more defensive. But the horse (straddle) stance can also be used for the side thrust kick and a back fist. We did a drill in class in which we were in the front stance, used our back leg and turned towards our back, all the way around into the horse stance, while at the same time striking with a back fist.

I read that one should do dynamic stretching prior to working out, and then static stretches afterwards. You can do warm-up exercises to loosen up joints and prepare your muscles for weight-lifting. Then after weight-lifting, like bushido man said, your body will be nice and warm, a ripe time to do static stretches (i.e. where you hold the stretch position for a longer period). Bushido, I like the idea of holding the stretch for 1 minute, but how many reps is good to do?

Hi. It would seem that a good way to stretch the legs is in a kicking position while standing (versus stretching while sitting), at least for a martial artist. I was thinking to get a pulley and attach it to the ceiling, and then use a rope. One end would go around an ankle, and one hand would be used to pull the rope. It's easier to explain with a pic... http://www.fit-senior.com/acatalog/ProForce_8465.jpg My concern is that I don't want to make a big hole in the ceiling, like if the pulley can support the weight of my leg. Does anyone have tips about securing the pulley properly? Anyone use this type of stretching in their training? Thanks.

Hi. We recently learned the roundhouse kick, and it's challenging for me right now because my lack of flexibility. We practiced in class by holding our partner's arm. I have to get good at picking up my kicking leg high and pivoting. I guess then I'll work on low kicks and at least try to get the proper form, until I can increase flexibility and kick higher. Anyway, my original question was going to be... When performing roundhouse kicks, do you strike with the ball of your foot or instep? My teacher showed us by using the ball of his foot, but I definitely feel more comfortable using the instep. P.S. On a separate note, I'm also having difficulty with side snap kicks because of the flexibility problem. Obviously I need to keep stretching. I can start it off okay, but swinging my leg up with my foot in that knife position is hard. Oh well. Practice, practice, practice...