Any fellow martial artists?

I used to do karate (Tang Soo Do), but I quit. Except even though it was a Tang Soo Do class, it wasn't exclusively Tang Soo Do... we did a few other things including some minor weapons use (swords, nunchucks, stick thing... although we didn't get into it too much) and we briefly did some Tai chi like once (although it wasn't what you'd think of as "Tai chi"... it was mostly open-hand combat involving several quick non-forceful strikes).
I quit because I really didn't care for forms at all (I really don't see the point in memorizing a 5-minute or so sequence of moves and being able to perform it with no error) and I didn't like calisthenics or stretching or pushups, etc. (although just about every physical activity does this... but we spent like a half hour to an hour doing it instead of doing the martial art itself). The only part I especially liked was the sparring, and even that was hard for me to keep up with after doing it for an extended amount of time (not to mention I found the mouth guard extremely uncomfortable). Also we never did anything involving qi... although maybe that's only for like advanced blackbelts or something.

I also did a different type of karate when I was a little kid (I think it was Kenpo) but I stopped after a few months because it was expensive.

Besides karate, I briefly did kendo, but not in a formal setting. Basically it was a club at school where the leaders (who were students) apparently did kendo at a dojo somewhere and then taught us the basics. I never got the hang of it really (the whole foot thing of keeping your feet on the ground at all times and always keeping the left foot in front was confusing) and we never did any sparring (although maybe we would have later into the class if I had stayed longer... I don't know). I quit because of that... all we ever did was practice the basics and it got really repetitive and boring.
 
I currently train in seido juku (seido karate). I'm a blue belt.
 
dannyjenn, way I'm hearing it is you didn't get good because you weren't into it.
Which is cool, different people are interested in different things.
But if you were wondering about these things you should've just asked your teacher, a good teacher will tirelessly explain all the applications.
And forms are very important, I've always thought them similar to poems; at first they may appear like a simple combination of moves strung pointlessly together, but as you advance you appreaciate them for the treasure trove of wisdom they are, particlarly in karate, movements such as sword finger may seem pointless. But later you discover it is a mudra to greatly improve chi flow, and represents the sword of enlightenment -which cuts away all delusion. This is as all Japanese arts orginated in China, which date back thousands of years to the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma at the Shaolin temple.
I see you complain about the physical strain, also an essential part of martial arts training. How can a weak body learn how to be strong and immovable as a mountain? Or leap and fly as a tiger and dragon? Yes there are internal arts such as Taijiquan, but even these require a fit and flexible body for maximum combat efficiency. This also strengthens the mind, excercing can feel horrible, but ignore the pain, and you will be all the stronger for it.
The stronger the mind, the stronger the body.
And chi/qi/ki can be attained easily should you practise your forms, I attained the ability to use chi to hit and push with less than a year of Wing Chun training, despite it being labeled an external art.

But sadly, the only way to get good at anything is by hours and hours of practise. There is no such thing as natural talent. You want to get good at Martial arts, you have to work like a dog. Even Muhammad Ali said he hated every minute of training, and you know how he got so good? Pure hard work, he started every training session with 1000 stiff jabs on each arm.

And sparring isn't necessarily a good thing unless you are an advanced student, when speed and power are added, many forget technique, that's why you hardly ever see decent kung fu anymore. And real masters dont put crap out on youtube, this particular video, however, shows competant practitioners are still out there
- Wing Chun Kung Fu 詠春拳: - 打生樁 - 少川靖男 - YouTube
I recommend you watch the video in it's entirety, pleasure to watch.

I would be very interested if you could share your calisthenics excerices with me, I find they are very good training tools.

Thank you
 
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Hello Prodigy, I have never heard of seido karate, what distingishes it from other lineages?
I would be grateful if we could share techniques with each other,

Thanks.
 
I do Karate (Goju-Ryu to be more specific), currently a blue belt (5th kyu) soon to be a purple belt (4th kyu).
Goju-Ryu is basically a balance/harmony between Go (hard and powerful movements) and Ju (soft and circular movements).
Most fights in Goju-ryu are at close range (CLOSE COMBAT!!! xD) so mawashi's (head kicks) or any other kicks are sometimes tough to land and easy to counter. Even so I'm not sure those are allowed but they might be, I haven't been in an official fight yet, but if that's the case it would suck for me because my specialty are kicks because I have long legs (people say I have more of a Shotokan Karate profile).
Even so it is fun. :D
Yay my first comment. xD
 
I missed this thread o_O

I am a shodan in kendo, and I did judo for about 4 months. I didn't get any rank in judo, I took it as a class for gym credits in college. I can throw someone if they allow me to, but that's about it.
 
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