aes

No I have not, but thanks for the suggestion. I will try that.

Well I found out by xrays that no ribs are broken, but I keep getting spasms in the sore areas on the ribs and it makes sleeping pretty difficult. Oh well a bit more rest and I will be back at it.

It has now been 5 days since the injury and it still hurts like sin. If I engage my back muscles in a certain way it almost takes my breath away or if I try to turn in bed. Needless to say I cannot sleep on the injured side either. Most of the time it barely hurts but in certain movements, wow.

About a year ago I broke my rib on the left side where it joins the cartilage. It is still sore from time to time and I worry about it getting hit hard in sparring (even though it should be fine). Well the other night I was sparring at a new dojo and missed the block of a pretty good traditional round house (with ball of foot) to my right lower ribs. This totally knocked the wind out of me and I collapsed briefly to the floor. I managed to get up and continue sparring shortly after but it was a bit sore. By the end of the night had become very sore when I use the muscles in that area of my body or twist or take a deep breath. It is now 3 days and it is still very sore. I am pretty sure this time I have a bruised rib. The location of the pain is not close to any cartilage and there has been no sign of a break. There is also no bruising (but I don't bruise very easily). My wife says it is a bit swollen though. Ya ya I know, I should have a doctor check it out but I am not the run to the doctor type of guy, especially for something that there isn't any real cure for. I plan to take ibuprofen and maybe ice it a bit to speed healing. Does anyone have any tips? Does this sound like a bruised rib to you?

After some consideration I decided to continue on with my old style of Karate, Shorin-ryu and sign up with Roberts Karate. Although there are some small differences in the kata list, in general the moves etc are the same, so the switch should be pretty painless (pun intended). I am so looking forward to getting fully back into training.

True, however the different style dojo is a short walk from my house and we currently only have one car in our household. The other dojo is not that far but certainly further than a walk. I would feel most comfortable with sticking with the same style and I know the dojo is respected. The close one has a few things I find hard to accept. First they make you go up in front of the class after each class to show what you have learned so far. I feel this is needless pressure and should be saved for stripe/belt tests. I don't like some other small parts of the dojo and the way they do things. But it would be interesting to learn some kung fu / jujitsu along with karate. Also telling myself to stop doing the programmed into my brain by repetition moves that I have learned in shorin ryu karate I think will be difficult. I still have not made my mind up. I might be forced to go with the close dojo purely because I will be able to get there and make it to classes while the other might be impossible. One thing is for sure, I sure am having a hard time keeping weight off since I took this time off karate.

Something I don't like about one of the new dojos I am looking at, is they make a "two" sound on each move. I think this is silly and would make me laugh. I am all for breathing sounds becoming part of a Kata and Kiahs but saying "two" on each move???

Good point. I personally understand that if I change styles that they might have totally different ways of doing stuff and thinking. I don't want to fall into the trap of thinking "that is not the way I learned it".

My training so far has been a slightly modified Okinawian Shorin Ryu. When I say slightly modified it was a combination of Masubiashi Ryu and Kobiashi Ryu influences and adding Goshin-Jitsu self defense. The Katas I have learned to date were: Kihon Uke Waza Kihon Dashi Kihon Gerry Kihon Ippon Kihon Nihon Kihon Sanbon Fukyu Dai Ichi Fukyu Dai Ni Fukyu Dai San Fukyugata Shodan Fukyugata Nidan Pinan Shodan Pinan Nidan Nihanshi Shodan Nihanshi Nidan Nihanshi Sandan Patsai Sho And about 12 types of goshin-jitsu self defense moves

My old dojo had belts with more than one level. IE the levels went as follows: yellow yellow/black orange orange/black purple purple/black green green/black blue blue/black brown brown/white brown/black black My concern is how hard would it be to adapt to goju ryu and if the dojo is a good one.

I recently decided to switch dojos. Partly due to cost and partly due to location (because I moved). I have been studying Shorin Ryu Karate for 3 years now and have reached the Green/Black belt level. I am considering two different MA schools close to me now. One would be a different Shorin Ryu dojo with more of a traditional connection to the North American Karate groups. The other is more of a mixed martial arts school that can teach me Goju Ryu, Kung Fu and Ju Jitsu. This dojo is only a few blocks away from me. I like the location of the latter dojo but have some concerns: - how hard would it be for me to make the transition from Shorin Ryu to Goju Ryu? - do you think going to mixed martial arts training would confuse an old dog like myself (43 years old)? - I am not convinced of the quality of training at this dojo, but I met the Head Instructor and a few of the others and they seem nice The two schools are Rick Roberts Karate (Shorin Ryu) or Guelph School of Martial Arts (Mixed Martial Arts). Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

Has anyone seen a free video clip online of this Kata? I found a few using google but they don't look like the one I am learning.

Testing gets more demanding as your rank goes up and really there is not substitute for practice. They like to tire us to the point of almost collapse then make us do our kata. Argument being if you really know the moves you will still be able to do them at the point of exhaustion, but if you don't you fall apart.

Yes I saw it. I find these grappling matches pretty boring but he did lay a pretty good beating on Josh. I think Josh made a huge mistake taking on Diego. The grapplers so far have done pretty well in this series. But as I mentioned I don't think this makes for as exciting of a show.

Thank you. I see this kata listed with it as Tuifa or Tonfa, I am not sure if there is any difference.