Just had my first two classes!

[jaymac]

Side snap kick - extend your kick out and retract back to starting position.

Side thrust kick - kick out and go all the way through your opponent. Leg does not retract back to start.

Shotokan is an awesome art. Once I started years ago, my instructor must have been able to read my enthusiasm. He called me "A lifer." Meaning I would be doing this the rest of my life. I think, we also may be able to give you that nickname. Never lose your enthusiasm, and try not to let rank ever get in the way of your training.

[Havoc88]

thanks jeymac!

So when executing a side thrust kick you 'walk' a step further every time you execute one. And when doing a side snap kick, you don't change place.

I haven't heard from my sensei that I am a lifer, but hopefully I can come up wth the discipline every training to preform at my best. Alway's dreamd about this, like most young men, and now I have taken the first step into the ma world.

Learned my first kata today, do not remember the name exactly. Screwd up a few time, made wrong turns and stuf. But I just told myself that everyone screws up the first time, so it's no big deal.

Also landed wrong on my big to during the kata, hopefully it will heal fast.

Sorry for all the story's, probably not very interesting, I am just very enthausiastic at the moment

osu, Tom

ps: does anyone have a good site with the kata's, how to preform them and stuf, so I can practice this kata further at home, so I at least make the right turns next time. Thanks in advance!

Tom

[bushido_man96]

thanks again all!

BM, The reason I mainly strech my lower body is because my legs/hips aren't really flexible. Well, I always thought I wasn't flexible, but when executing a side kick, I can extend my legs so they are horizontal to the floor. Not to bad, but I really want to be able to kick about 20-25 cm higher than I can now. So I think streching and kicking is the way to accomplish that

Up till now, I haven't found my upper body to be to stiff, but if you're willing to tell me why it is still important to strech upperbody please tell me.

Stretching every part of your body is important. The more flexible a muscle is, the more relaxed it is. The more relaxed it is, the faster it can be. This goes for arms as well as legs. Also, keeping the arms, shoulders, and wrists flexible and loose is great for doing self-defense techniques like arm/wrist locks, and shoulder cranks and such. Also, stretching your back muscles will help with your spinning and turning kicks. Balance is important, and keeping the upper body in line with the lower body will help everything work together.

Strong abs and back muscles are important for good kicking. The core of the body is important for connecting upper body movements with lower body movements.

[bushido_man96]

Side snap kick - extend your kick out and retract back to starting position.

Side thrust kick - kick out and go all the way through your opponent. Leg does not retract back to start.

See, this is where it is different in TKD. The kick still retracts back to the chamber postition. We rotate our hips over during the course of the kick. Also, if I want a side 'snap' kick, I just try to kick faster, and don't follow through quite as much. Different strokes for different folks, though.

[bushido_man96]

I haven't heard from my sensei that I am a lifer, but hopefully I can come up wth the discipline every training to preform at my best. Alway's dreamd about this, like most young men, and now I have taken the first step into the ma world.

Sorry for all the story's, probably not very interesting, I am just very enthausiastic at the moment

Your enthusiasm is great, and we love to hear about it. I just want to throw out one warning. As you train, you may hit some tough spots and plateaus. Don't let these areas of training get you down. Stay motivated, and know that you will get through them. Think about new things you can do to push through, or find some good martial arts books to read, and just do some mental studying as well. It is all part of the learning process.

ps: does anyone have a good site with the kata's, how to preform them and stuf, so I can practice this kata further at home, so I at least make the right turns next time. Thanks in advance!

Tom

http://www.natkd.com/shotokan_katas.htm

This site has some diagrams, and some of the katas also have videos. The early ones do, so this should help.

[Havoc88]

Thank you very much BM!!

All the answers I needed.

I will start streching my shoulders, wrists and so also, It makes sense. Upper body and lower body must be in harmony.

I can train abs regulary ( is that a word?) during practice, so that shouldn't be to much of a problem. Lower back is tougher. Since I do not have the weights to preform proper deadlifts I must find an alternative. I do know this site though http://www.beastskills.com/. Maby someone knows it already, but if not, I think it is an amazing website. When you can preform the skills they show, like back levers and handstand and such, you have a really good controll over your body, which is needed in karate.

Thanks for the site, the movie of the first kata, heian shodan, is the same as we did it during practice. So this will help me really much, expecially in the beginning.

Thanks again Bushido_man96!

Tom

[wagnerk]

Wagnerk, could you explain to me the difference between those two kicks? I do not know all the names yet, and google didn't make me that much wiser.

I will try to explain the kick I was practicing.

You stand in a basic fighting position. left leg forwards, right leg behind. then you bent your left knee and lift it. Then you try to extend it in a linear motion. Hope this makes sense

Hi the two side kick's that I'm refering to are:

Yoko Geri Keage (Side Snap Kick)

(Assuming your in Kiba dachi - Horse riding stance) The left foot crosses in front of the opposite foot. Then the kicking knee then comes up and points to the target. Once that happens, the leg then snaps out in an upward arc adn then returns. The kick strick (contact) is made with the edge of teh foot (Sokuto).

Yoko Geri Kekomi (Side Thrust Kick)

(again in Kibi Dachi) The left foot crosses in front of the opposite foot. Keeping the hips at the same height, raise you knee, then thrust the hip in and strike the target.

Think about it this way, the side snap kick is a fast kick to stun. The Side thrust kick is a powerful kick.

A great book (in my opinion) to get to help you in your training of Shotokan Karate is this one: The Shotokan Karate Handbook: Beginner to Black Belt by Gursharan Sahota (Sensei) He was my Sensei in Shotokan Karate before I moved, he also does instructional video's so you can practice at home His sensei also release a booked: The Beginners Guide to Shotokan Karate by John Van Weenan(Sensei) but I haven't gone thru it but I'm told that it's very similar.

Hope this helps.

-Ken

[bushido_man96]

You are very welcome, Havoc88.

As for back exercises, you can do supermans, where you lay on your stomach and reach out forward, like when superman flies. Then, you raise your arms, chest, and legs off the floor all at once, flexing the back muscles. You can do it in reps and sets, or hold for a time period.

[Havoc88]

Thanks Wagnerk for explaining the differences to me more clearly.

BM, maby it's just a coincidence, but last night I started doing Supermans! They felt good, so I will continue to practice them. My goal will be to practice superman's so I can eventually get into a straight back elbow lever, which I think is a really good training mechanism because you have to hold your entire body straight.

But thanks for pointing it out to me!

Tom

[bushido_man96]

Thanks Wagnerk for explaining the differences to me more clearly.

BM, maby it's just a coincidence, but last night I started doing Supermans! They felt good, so I will continue to practice them. My goal will be to practice superman's so I can eventually get into a straight back elbow lever, which I think is a really good training mechanism because you have to hold your entire body straight.

But thanks for pointing it out to me!

Tom

You are welcome. I guess I have good timing.