Martial Arts

[Solodini]

What happened to your calf?

 

[_MonSTeR_]

What happened to your calf?

Not really sure to be honest ?!?!? I was just practicing some round kicks, and twang!!! Nice and bruised now!

 

[chassless]

same thing happened to my mother once, doing a very simple and light step in a dancing class, snap, calf tears. weird!

 

[Fiction]

My Step-dad also tore his calf muscle playing soccer against me and my step brother when we were 8, just some light sports with children and it tore out of no where.

Everyone watch out for your calves, the bastards.

 

[_MonSTeR_]

Yep, I'm putting it down to my age! I'm in my forties now and martial arts are my midlife crisis!

 

[Ebart]

Yep, I'm putting it down to my age! I'm in my forties now and martial arts are my midlife crisis!

Hahahahahaha, I am kind of in the same boat. I started late 20's, and now 36. I've definitely peaked and well on my way to being the old guy in the gym.

 

[Alberto7]

Read this, #10:
10 Japanese Words Everyone Misunderstands in Karate | KARATE by Jesse

Somehow I missed this! Sorry for the late reply.

Now that you've brought him up, I want to state my opinion on Jesse while also addressing the article's content.

I've read that article before. In fact, I've read quite a few of Jesse's articles, and a couple of short, autobiographical paragraphs he's written. From what I gather, he's an individual that has taken pieces of different styles and has adapted them and developed his own sort of style rather than belonging to a larger group with more standardized practices. While I think that's perfectly fine, (cliche example, but Bruce Lee) I think that the decision to become independent and incorporate things from different styles and reject stuff from the one with which you started should be made once you have advanced knowledge of both your initial style and of your own body and how it reacts to different kinds of strains and stresses, and knowledge of how the human body works in general. You also risk become more of a lone wolf whose technique becomes kind of hard to gauge, as there are no standards to compare against. Absolutely not saying Jesse does not have the credentials to do so. I'm just saying that I am not there yet, and thus I take everything I read by him with a grain of salt.

Same thing goes with any philosophy you choose to adopt. Different associations and styles of karate will have slight variations in their philosophies, teachings, and motto. Likewise, with the specific origin of the word "osu" being so vague, I assume different associations will use it slightly differently. From what I've seen, within JKA, (the one I belong to) even at headquarters in Tokyo the word "osu" is thrown around pretty mindlessly for pretty much everything. Funnily enough, the term is also a bit of a trope in Japanese anime, where characters who partake in martial arts, the army, and/or speak in a martial tone for whatever reason will throw the word "osu" around quite often. It's sometimes used in a more "kawaii" manner for added irony. (Or weirdness for its own sake... who knows, it's Japan. ) It's also true, however, that its widespread use is most popular among karate practitioners, both within and out of Japan. With that said, it surely isn't used commonly in everyday communication between Japanese speakers.

Adding to my thoughts on Jesse, there are some articles by him that are indeed quite interesting, and I seem to agree with his ideas for the most part. However, his spamminess also makes me somewhat wary of him. I like his videos and some of his articles, but for the most part I try not to pay too much attention to him and just focus on what I am taught at my dojo and by instructors belonging to JKA and/or any of its international branches.

And just to clarify, I do not actually care about any of this as much as I probably seem to in this post and I really don't care what other people choose to practice. I just like to muse over these things every now and again for fun. Given that my mind is on karate about 50% of the time these days, I've taken some arguments to some length... sometimes without much base, too.

 

[Alberto7]

Passed my 5th Kyu exam and finally got my blue belt! Half way to black.

I've been helping my sensei this summer while she took a couple of months off. I helped stabilize the classes and take care of the children, while also assisting the black belt instructors she left behind with demonstrations and what not. Teaching martial arts - especially to children who may not necessarily want to be there - is a challenge, but I loved every minute of it. Great experience. I definitely gained a new appreciation for what my sensei does, other than being very skilled and talented.

I also attended a camp with sensei Kazuaki Kurihara (for those of you who might possibly have any knowledge of JKA instructors) who is currently world champion in kata and kumite and 9-time Japanese kata champion. (Within JKA.) The dude is a total beast and I have a hard time wrapping my head around the way he moves his body so fast and so naturally. Very humble and outgoing guy, too. The camp was tough on the mind and body, but it was a total pleasure.

I also may or may not be going for 4th Kyu (purple belt) this December, depending on how often my training ends up being over the Fall semester along with school and work. Not in a hurry though. I enjoy taking my time to make sure I polish everything and to ensure that I make things as perfect as possible before examining.

That's my quick update on the matter.

 

[SoItGoesRVA]

Been a while since I've posted in this thread, but training has generally been going well. I've had a few Muay Thai fights, won all of them except a BS split decision loss (I put the guy on crutches FFS) and everything had been going perfect until last month. Found out I had put on too much muscle and can't make the cut to 147 lbs anymore, so I'm on a new diet and taking supplements for the first time since high school so we'll see how it goes from here. Planning on competing in a submission only BJJ tournament in December and I'll try that cut again. (probably worth mentioning that I've competed as heavy as 170 when I wasn't cutting at all)

 

[Solodini]

Good luck with getting back down to weight.

 

[Fathand]

Wait, I can post here too.

I've been doing BJJ/Submission wrestling for a few months. It is as challenging and fun as I assumed it would be, but a lot more demanding conditioning/stamina wise that I'd have expected. Every training leaves me pretty much beat (not literally) and I've found new muscles that can ache, and ache a lot it seems. Excellent way to get in shape, though.

 

[Alberto7]

Wait, I can post here too.

I've been doing BJJ/Submission wrestling for a few months. It is as challenging and fun as I assumed it would be, but a lot more demanding conditioning/stamina wise that I'd have expected. Every training leaves me pretty much beat (not literally) and I've found new muscles that can ache, and ache a lot it seems. Excellent way to get in shape, though.

Awesome! Glad you've been enjoying it.

Karate's been the same way for me. My lower body flexibility, strength, mobility, and overall physical and mental stamina have gone waaaayy up since I started. Much more than when I simply went to the gym for 15-20 mins of cardio and weightlifting 3-4 times a week. It's the best shape I've been in my whole life, I'd say. Save for my core muscles, upper body strength and shape haven't changed much, except I feel I have learned how to use more specific muscles that I never really knew how to move, or that I even could move, so punches and blocks have become a looot more efficient than they used to be, obviously.

I don't like wearing jeans or dress pants much these days just because I feel so restricted in my movement, and I like to do random stretches whenever I'm walking around or sitting down in class.

 

[odibrom]

So, a few weeks back, a friend and I gave a workshop on kung fu techniques. Mine was focused on the medium sized staff. These are an excerpt of what was studied, with improvised mix of several previously suggested techniques. Hope you like it...

 

[theo]

Thanks for sharing dude! that looks pretty cool!

Being self taught with a bo (mainly from youtube videos) it's interesting seeing the kung fu side of things which are quite different to what I've been exposed to.

 

[odibrom]

Glad you liked it. These videos are based on a Synthesis I've been making with this medium sized staff. It's bigger than the "stick" kind (an arm long) and smaller than the long traditional staff, which allows to incorporate techniques from both and from other weapons as well. This particular workshop gathered many adapted nunchaku moves.

Most of the students at this workshop used wood staffs, but mine was a stainless steel pipe (with covered ends), which is considered quite heavy from most my friends. It becomes a real weapon that can defy swords, spears and many others... in our dreams, of course, nobody carries swords or spears anymore and this won't stop bullets... but is pretty fun to practice.

 

[Alberto7]

Thought I'd post an update.

Got my brown belt about 3 months ago. Totally different game now. Really enjoying the new katas, and the free and semi-free sparring we do at this level. Now that I'm eligible, I'll likely be competing in the JKA nationals in May of next year. I'm probably doing only individual and team kata though. I've been to the nationals the past 2 years, and the sparring was a little too aggressive for my liking. Lots of broken noses and other kinds of injuries I am really not down for. I've got a life outside of karate that I need to take care of lol showing up to work with a broken nose often isn't particularly great.

 

[_MonSTeR_]

Congrats on going to nationals that's damn cool in my book!

Whilst I'm here I just wanted to share that my 8 year old just received his 1st dan black belt in wadoryu karate this month following a horrendous weekend of grading split over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning.

I literally could not be more proud.

 

[theo]

Congrats guys! that's awesome.

I'm finally gearing up to grade for my second kyu after around 8 years of training (with a few breaks) and then aiming to get my black belt in 2018!