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Welcome to KF. I love this place too!

About two months ago or there abouts I broke a rib on my upper left side. I took about 6 weeks off of sparring but have gone back now (wearing chest protector) and have been fighting with my right side forward to try to protect my left from a direct hit, just in case. I worry about this a bit because this is one of my big weaknesses. I often leave this part of my body open too long when attacking and get nailed. My problem is this injury has made me real nervous about being hit there so when I go in for a combo/attack I stop short due to it requiring me to turn and expose this side. My questions are how long should I wait before "getting back onto the horse" so to speak? I shouldn't favor it for ever, but on the other hand I don't want to re-injure it. Also has anyone else had problems with techniques once they have suffered an injury?

Same here.

Update to this thread. The other day I was talking to the head instructor (8th Dan, Kyoshi) about needing a new/heavy weight gi and being low on money. To my surprise he gave me an old one of his and told me to have her try it and see if it fits and it does. He explained that it is Okiniwian style with short cut pants but aside from that it is a great heavy weight gi that fits her well leaving some room to grow. Kyoshi wore this when training in Okinawa many years ago. My daughter was honoured to have this handed down to her and I am very greatful to him for this act of kindness.

I have been wathing this when I get a chance. It is interesting but I really hate matches that wind up being a big grappling match. I recognize the skill involved but it does not make for an exciting match.

Spike and MenTV seems to be the channels with Fight School and the UFC show on it. I think they are both available on digital cable as well but I don't know because I am a Starchoice satelite user.

I have been wathing this when I get a chance. It is interesting but I really hate matches that wind up being a big grappling match. I recognize the skill involved but it does not make for an exciting match.

I agree that too much dependance on a chest protector makes you not put enough importance on blocking skills. The design of the chest protector my daughter uses leaves her stomach open, so she definately has an incentive to block to stop something from knocking the wind out of her. As I mentioned her breasts are developing and protecting them while they are at this very sensitive stage is important. Kyoshi (head sensai at our dojo) mentioned for girls at this age if they do not get this style of protector they tend to over protect their breasts and this is not good either.

Well currently I have only learned bo for tournament purposes, so I don't know what I am good at because I cannot compare. Our competitions are traditional and katas are not the flashy ones in general. Yes skill is what is rewarded. For hand kata I am currently doing Passai Sho. I like the bo, but it is hard for me to practice in winter (indoors) at home and everyone is doing bo right now so might be nice to give a variety. Tonight will be my first night of trying the nunchuku. Last week I had a taste of the sai doing Mastu Heiga no sai.

From what I read the main ingredients are: sodium percarbonate hydrogen peroxide

Ok so our formal gi is what you refer to as a do-gi. The other Gis were brought in to help show earned rank but are not followed strictly anymore so it is confusing. These rank gis have a V neck on them rather than a traditional tie up top.

We are allowed traditional all white gis and rank gis (combos of coloured tops and black pants depending on rank). I am not familiar with do-gis. What exactly makes a do-gi a do-gi?

I was never a believer in Oxyclean until I took an old Gi that was apparently not as white as it should be and washed it normally with a scoop of oxyclean Walmart knock off in it. I did not notice at first but my fellow students thought I got a new Gi. I looked at it again and noticed, it was a lot whiter. People have suggested that it will dull colours though, but I don't know if this is true or not. I have only used it on my traditional white gi so far and I don't use it every time.

I will ask when I see Kyoshi next. Thanks

A number of Gi's are Budo world in our dojo. We have more than one in our dojo, ie rank gi, formal gi etc. I think it all depends on the weight of the Gi. I don't really like our rank gi's but it is not Budo world's fault that they were specified to be a poly-coton blend and are not heavy enough.

I have mentioned here that I compete in tournaments within the organization that my dojo is part of (WFMA). I am in the old guy (over 40) Intermediate belt division and am proud to pass on, that I did very well last year. Winning a trophy belt for my 1st place overall in Kata 2nd place overall in Kobudo 2nd place overall in Kumite Through-out last year I attended 4 tourneys and accumulated points towards this prize. This weekend the 2005 season starts and I am hoping to do well again this year.

Is anyone familiar with Kingawa Nunchaku Kata? It appears that I will be learning this as my next tournament kobudo kata and I am curious to know more about it. If anyone knows of any online video clips of it, I would be very greatfull.

Well after a lot of consideration including how expensive the weapon is, I think I am going to go with starting to learn the Nunchaku. This is partly due to my daughters interest in this weapon so we can learn it together. I will keep doing bo kata as well. The kata I think I will be learning is Kingawa Nunchaku

Good stuff vertigo! Glad you had fun and did well.

Thank you everyone for your input.

I have been competing in tournaments for about 2 years now using a bo. It has been suggested that I should consider changing my weapon to something that more suits my style/body shape. I am 5'8" in good shape but run about 175lbs, so that puts me in the stalky catagory. I have shortish legs compared to my body. It has been suggested that a bo looks better on a taller skinny build and I should maybe consider changing to a different weapon. The weapon should be traditional and I am about 1/2 way (time wise) to my black belt. I tend to like "power katas" instead of finesse ones if you know what I mean. So I am wondering if anyone into traditional weapons has any suggestions? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. A lot of our beginner equipment seems to be budo world these days. In fact my new punches are. I guess I will have to see how well they last. I have century cgear boot style kicks that seem to be falling apart awfully fast but I think that is because they were ordered too big for my small feet. That is part of the reason I want my daughter to try on the gi at a shop so we can be sure it is the right size and gives a little room for her to grow. She is 11 but is growing very fast. She will be taller then me very soon.

Thanks for the info Chado. We did some calling around and came up with Kyoshi, but they did not seem to be open on Saturday, so have not been able to get in there yet. Budo World is where our dojo seems to get stuff from. Might try there. My Gi came from Kamakazi, but for my Daughter I wanted to be able to try it on before we buy. Good lunck next Sunday at the tourney. I will be at an awards banquet next Sunday receiving some awards for my placing in tournaments last year.

Does anyone have a good place with a store front in the Mississauaga, Hamilton/Burlington area of southern Ontario to get a Gi and MA equipment from? I don't really want to go all the way into Toronto to shop and I am told there is a good place in Hamilton but I don't know it's name. My daughter needs a heavy weight Gi and I would like to go somewhere where she can try it on before we buy rather than ordering via our dojo sight unseen.

It has been about 15 years since I quit. I was a very heavy smoker that went through close to 2 packs of king size smokes a day. I used the Nicoderm patch and managed to quit. I have had one cigarette since. This was one of the hardest things I ever did to quit smoking. I am glad I did it especially since my eldest daughter is alergic to cigarette smoke.