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It's actually more dangerous for a lady to get hit in the groin. Our pelvises are designed to separate for the birthing process, and the bones there can be brittle and more prone to breaking. (This was one of the first things my MA instructor taught me.)

Any tips for going to my first jui-jitsu class in a few days??

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I had a friend, once, who would shin-strike trees as part of his training. Pretty sure the tire method is safer.

If anyone is asking "WTF?" about either shin-kicking trees or giant tires: the purpose is to damage and thus deaden the nerves over your shins. The impact will probably improve bone density, too.  Just be careful if you try this; any training that leaves you unable to train is bad training.

This is how El Cucuy conditions his shins

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Women’s Kata

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Rika Usami – The Undisputed Queen of Karate Kata

http://www.karatebyjesse.com/rika-usami-karate-kata-queen-interview/

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I took circuit training last quarter.  One girl absolutely refused to lift anything that would strain her because she didn't want to get bulky. She would not listen to anyone on this.

Seriously, kids, do your freaking research. 

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It don’t matter the style. In the end a man can only trust his fist.

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Bou-Jutsu

An ancient martial arts in Japan.

Boujyutsu is not national martial arts like a Kendo, Karate, AIKI . Only some village where has long history holds the tradition of Bojyutsu. And competition is just dedicated for shinto ceremony .

The photos are from a village in Takachiho , Miyazaki. The place where great grand father of 1st emperor lived . This place is called roots of Shintoism .

Not only in Here, in many villages in Japan, Bojyutsu are still alive.

http://takachiho.one-ness-fukuoka.com

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Felt like the world needed some Good Guy Jay memes.

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Just want to mention that I love buff chicks' ability to get excited about both panties and fitness

Hell yes she worked for that body

hell yes those panties are darling

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Humility is the first rule of martial arts. Either you learn humility quickly, or you leave because your ego can’t handle losing repeatedly.

Georges St-Pierre (via gentlewaymyass)

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I've done kata sessions TWICE this week, and yes, I'm proud of myself. As I've mentioned before, I haven't done much for a long while.  Taking the time to run through a few which I could remember felt really good.  It felt even better to move and realized that, while I might be a little rusty, I haven't actually lost much.  I threw a punch and could feel... something.  Something good and strong.

I rewrote my notes for Pinan Sandan, which helped with remembering how to do it right.  With that in mind, I've pulled out a bunch of kata notes which need rewriting anyway (if anything, for the sake of better organization) and I'm making a project of rewriting them.  Not all at once, just... as I discover I can't remember a certain part.  (Today, it was Pinan Nidan.  Tomorrow morning, I'll take that one on again.)

I sent a message to one of my old instructors and asked if she happened to have notes on hand for Wantsu and Passai, since I have nothing for the former and only about half for the latter.  

"I don't have notes, but I have video.  What's your email?"

Hell. Freaking. Yes.

We had a good chat while waiting for the attachments to upload.  It's been a while since we last talked.  One of the things we discussed is how martial arts can influence a person's life -- particularly in learning that it's okay if something doesn't come naturally to you.  There's a lot which takes determination and repetition to learn, and this is especially hard to internalize when you aren't seeing immediate results.  Learning to accept this has had a huge effect on the way I approach pretty much every other aspect of my life, and I've definitely become a better person for it.

So I've got more references and a pile of notes to sift through over the next few weeks, and I feel pretty good about this.

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11 year old karate swag queen is what I want to be when I grow up

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The Guts to Try, or How I Learned Pinan 4, by Jane nine-is-blue

Every year, my dojo holds an annual fundraiser called Kickathon, where we do a thousand kicks.  Recently, we’ve added the kata (forms) challenge and the sparring challenge, which, respectively, consist of a Whole Lotta Kata and a Whole Lotta Sparring.  I participate in the former and shudder to think of the latter (but that’s another story).

Year before last, I was in the midst of participating in the kata challenge.  I was the most junior rank there, having just gotten my green belt last week.  We quickly reached the end of my knowledge, and the rest of the group moved on.  Sensei told me to “just do a 20-count kata” and proceeded to count gek sai dai for the advanced belts.  Feeling left out and self-conscious, I tried to do sanchin kata, but sanchin has a slower pace than gek sai dai and I quickly fell behind count.  This only worsened my self-consciousness, as gek sai dai was actually in my curriculum at the time, but, having only had my green belt for a week, I did not know it.  It was a completely unreasonable way to feel, but I felt it nonetheless.

So for my next 20-count kata, I did Taikyoku 1, the most basic of them all.  Just be safe; do the one you can’t possibly screw up, I thought to myself.

Screw safe, I thought suddenly.  I’m gonna be dangerous.  I’m going to do Pinan 4, a new green belt kata I’d known for all of six days.  While the advanced belts did Overly Complicated Advanced kata number 3, I just went for it.  They say all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage, and in that moment, I was unstoppable. 

I think I may have possibly done a somewhat halfway decent job.

It’s not about whether you win or lose, or even about how you play the game.  It’s about having the guts to try.

I love when nine-is-blue submits.  I wish that I had the guts to try sometimes! I’m not always in that head space.  But when there’s nothing to lose? When you have the support of your community? Get after it!

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As I understand it, it isn't cultural appropriation if you are actually learning about things like historical context of the art and the history of your lineage.  There are a lot of McDojos which will tell you they practice karate.  What kind of karate? "Uh. Shorinryu." Okay... Which branch of Shorinryu?  Silence.  Blank stare. What's your instructor's educational lineage? "I don't know." 

It's one thing to be skilled in the art.  It's another thing entirely to have respect for it.

Hatsumi-sensei -- leader of the Bujinkan -- doesn't really care about the heritage of his students.  He accepts students from all over the world.  There are myriad other examples of people from various cultures welcoming and instructing students regardless of race. This does not, however, mean the student is granted a free pass on cultural appropriation.  It is still your responsibility to show respect to your teachers, their teachers, and the art you are learning.  What you do with your art reflects on them as well.  Don't make them look bad.

Cultural Appropriation

I see lots of people talking about cultural appropriation, and I’m trying to educate myself.  I’ve practiced Karate for over 10 years now, and I’ve made it to black belt (woo!) but is practicing Japanese martial arts a form of cultural appropriation? 

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"The Spear"

Model: Lutwolf Weapon: chinese spear photographer: me

during trainingscamp on the baltic sea, long spear form, mei hua tang lang kung fu

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After getting sick last fall, followed by the chaos that is the holiday season, I kinda just bailed on running.

Over the last couple months, though, I picked up a couple books relating to it, and I've made a new friend for whom running has been kind of a big deal, so... today, I coerced myself into my running shoes and out the door.  I had to walk for a little of it (stomach cramp), but I went a little over three quarters of a mile, and I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Between this, circuit training, and the occasional kata run-through, I'm starting to feel better about my health.