Sir Gerbil

my instructors made fun of me when i didn't come wearing my Gi. Its extra suffering for us (:sobbing)when we wear long pants, a shirt, and a jacket (my regular ensemble) while doing dibs, sit ups, push ups, jogging, jumping jacks, stamina kicking, etc. So even if i thought it was better..... doesnt matter. i still have to wear one :sobbing:

I imagine it would read like that, but he was a consttruction worker of some kind. He had a fellow employee with him that seemed to verify his story in a few ways. No, i'm sad to say, he was the real McDeal. real mc deal sounds like a mcdonalds meal. (lol i should be a rapper). ahem, anyways. My friend, who does TKD, did it for two years. he told us he was a blackbelt. turns out his place has some system of giving someone a badge confirming they've reaching "black belt level" or something. he was only a green belt, though. where was i... oh yeah. so until then, me and my other friends kinda looked up to him and almost worshipped him. sort of. until i started karate and learned that this guy was basically overblown. so now, i have to invite him over to a gym to spar sometime. (we havent started sparring yet.. soon enough, though. ) so lesson here: A McBlackbelt among non-martial artists = impressive. A McBlackbelt among people who have done MA for any amount of time= .... McFoolish. (P.S. I realized that my place could be known as a Mcdojo.... cause one of my instructor's name is Mr. Mick.

Why do you do martial arts? My personal reason is all my friends do it. (and maybe because i dont want to be worthless in a street fight. Whats your reason? (p.s. im starting too many threads here..... slllloooowwww down, gerbil...... this is gonna be my last one in a while.)

keep us updated man, it would be a nightmare if an injury affected my martial arts.

yeah we do more kicking, so we just have shin/foot guards, gloves, a helmet and a mouthpeice. theyre all made of the squishy, shiny material whose name im not familiar with.

say WHHHHAAATTT???? well, i for one, (im not saying this to offend anyone) think that Shao-lin kung fu is my favorite martial art, because the people who seriously practice it practice it 24 hours a day. i for one LOVE kung fu.

alright, ill go watch some lessons, that might help. And i cant give much to go on because they dont give you too much to go on, lol. ill go look something up, though.

Hey guys. I would love to start kung fu, but the only place within an hour and a half from me is a guy who teaches it in his house. although this is as far froma Mcdojo franchise as you can get, do you think i'll get good education there?

oh my god i would not want to get in a street fight with you. i had no idea how experienced people on this forum actually were...

Sorry i mentioned another forum.

alright guys probably the last post i willl make on this topic... i've realized the prices are a bit extreme.... but im convinced that the instruction there is good. so even if they are a bit business-y in trying to get customers... when they do get, them, they teach them well... thanks everyone here for there help!

I'm English - we have GKR insteadoh im sorry i thought it was international

our instructors nearly killed each other the one time they sparred, i hear. plus one of them does bjj and everyone knows things can go wrong when you do a takedown. he somehow broke his shin area and now cannot demonstrate in class for a while. ( we grapple with him sometimes ) he will be back soon. P.S. Bushido man, you are everywhere.

I hear ya there. I don't like them either, and would prefer to go without them. That way, my punches would get respected a lot more, too. come to think of it, im not sure that many karate places do, mabe just tkd, because those things are uncomfortable.

the other peoplt attending our school are not so great.... we have one black belt, one who has good technique, then me, one whose technique isnt so great (but shes huge and can kick hard) and thre who are... um.... well, not good. no, it is an independant place. we haven't sparred against each other yet (we start tommorow) but we "spar" against our instructors. ( they dont hit us bac, they dodge and when they see an opening they feign a punch or kick. ) they apply the self defense well. P.S. bushido, is there more than one of you, because i see you on every single forum topic...

hello karateforum community. i love to hear war stories; worst injuries in sparring, things that are funny, or close, or just memorable experiences you have had doing karate. maybe a nice sparring story. (P.S. this is a little unrelated..... if any administrators or moderators notice i am posting alot, its not to up my post numbers..... I'm just a very eager guy.)

a break always make me feel good... it makes me think "damn, i did that?" i cant wait till we break cement.

well, i only officially practice karate. (two mixed styles, not sure of them) but sometimes at the end of a lesson our instructors throw in a "self defense" techinique from their ju-jitsu or aikido knowledge. some locks or a choke or something.

If you have a website link that'd help to give us some more clues. well i do have a website link but heres the problem: there are four owners. two of them handle the business, and two of them do the teaching. the business people set up the website, so it looks a bit cheesy.... heres the link. keenkarate.com

yeah we just have those shield-ish things (i tried to the living punching bag thing... it doesnt hurt but for somereason whenever someone punches me directly on the plate my eyes bug right out of my head.)

Hey i have seen most tkd places use chest plates, when sparring. but our karate place doesnt. does yours?

R.I.P. to the man who revolutionized unlocking doors. once chuck norris is gone (HES 67!!!!!!!!) one of you better become famous so we have another person to look up to.

I think that $130 per month is a little extreme. I would not pay that much. However, $28 for a belt test is decent, compared to what I have seen in the past. One thing you can do is search out other schools in your area, and watch and see how things are done. Compare the schools, ask questions, and then narrow your choices down to what you think you will like best, and go from there. If this is the only place in town, then you may be stuck. thats the problem... i would, but A) their schedule is HUGELY flexible to fit in with my school and my mom/dads work. B) i have grown a bit emotionally attached to my instructors, they're kind and funny and i can ask them anything. As soon as i get into high school i will find a different place to practice a different art, and this time will search more diligently.

they say it takes about 5 yrs to get a blackbelt there... i say thats about reasonable.

well im in clarksburg, Md, and this area is growing really fast, so i imagine that they had to pay alot to get the slot in that shopping center. It opened in march, and the price: 130 bucks a month. seems like alot to me. our last belt exam cost us, 28 bucks. And when you say the 25 year old teachers are hard to come by, do you mean thats good or bad? yes we train kicking while the other one hold the pads, 2 times, switch. ad this week we start sparring! (equipment = 70 bucks... ) i feel it is expensive because its not a franchise and they need a boost to get going. goldbelt (for some reason) iis the belt coming after white, then yellow is after gold. all in all there are about 15 belts. and since the training is repetitive, we are getting the hang of it. ( the last time we learned a new kick was back in march, we have been doing the same stuff for a long time. and how could you not have heard of Kicks karate? its the mcdonald of karate. thx for your help!