LEAST favourite aspect of karate?

[MasterH]

darkstar said:

angelag said:

there's nothing actually wrong with Scotland, but there's a whole lot of other places out there too.

I hope not! I hope to visit sometime soon. My family are traditionally from Huntly, thus my last name.

[subzero72]

I dont have a least fav. But sometimes I really want to get inot it that I dont like to warm up

[random]

subzero72 said:

I dont have a least fav. But sometimes I really want to get inot it that I dont like to warm up[/quote

I have so been there. And then limped back to my car with a strained muscle. ;D

[darkstar]

properly warming up is essential in any kind of energetic activity to reduce injury and improve performance.

IME karate & kung fu warm ups generally cover and follow modern sports approaches fairly well.

i can never understand people not wanting to warm up or work on fitness training except if they already do enough fitness training separately from their MA.

but for many it's the only physical activity they do, hence all the pot bellied, pear-shaped and unfit & overweight "experts" out there giving karate a bad name.

[random]

In my case impertinence of youth, now I like a good long warm up before I take a walk.

[steelwire1]

Darkstar mate,

What is your objection to katas (or sets as we call them in chow gar)? how else would you train the correct form, into the neurological pathways, so to speak.

Tony Leung mate, 1982, Mile end: "a grain of rice is just that, a grain of rice..but we strive in chow for that perfect gain of rice, that ideal rice-like grain. then when we put it all together we have the perfect chicken-fried-rice, as it were".

I would never have thought you would forget those words, so to speak.

You need to go back to your doi-chongs and forget about all this cross training mate, its turned your brains to mash if you ask me. Crystal clear mate, haha

nice one,

Steve

'Chow Gar Mantis family student wef: 1985'

[Aefibird]

random said:

I have so been there. And then limped back to my car with a strained muscle. ;D

Same here. After tearing a back muscle through not being warmed up before horseriding, I know all about the value of warm-ups.

[AngelaG]

darkstar said:

properly warming up is essential in any kind of energetic activity to reduce injury and improve performance.

IME karate & kung fu warm ups generally cover and follow modern sports approaches fairly well.

i can never understand people not wanting to warm up or work on fitness training except if they already do enough fitness training separately from their MA.

but for many it's the only physical activity they do, hence all the pot bellied, pear-shaped and unfit & overweight "experts" out there giving karate a bad name.

I think the point is that if you pay for a karate lesson why should you get an aerobics lesson? If people want to work on fitness they should join a gym, if they want to learn a Traditional Martial Art they may choose karate. No one has ever suggested that karate is the best way to lose weight or build fitness, they are just positive side-effects that can occur if training is conducted in that way.

There are unfit, overweight and lazy people in every walk of life, especially in Western Society, it's by no means just limited to karate instructors.

[darkstar]

I think the point is that if you pay for a karate lesson why should you get an aerobics lesson? If people want to work on fitness they should join a gym, if they want to learn a Traditional Martial Art they may choose karate. No one has ever suggested that karate is the best way to lose weight or build fitness, they are just positive side-effects that can occur if training is conducted in that way.

There are unfit, overweight and lazy people in every walk of life, especially in Western Society, it's by no means just limited to karate instructors.

i take your point, i think.

so it is possible then, to be overweight & unfit and still excel at karate?

surely, strength, speed & flexibility are all important aspects of fitness that play a part in how good you can become? ..in karate or any demanding physical activity?

[AngelaG]

darkstar said:

I think the point is that if you pay for a karate lesson why should you get an aerobics lesson? If people want to work on fitness they should join a gym, if they want to learn a Traditional Martial Art they may choose karate. No one has ever suggested that karate is the best way to lose weight or build fitness, they are just positive side-effects that can occur if training is conducted in that way.

There are unfit, overweight and lazy people in every walk of life, especially in Western Society, it's by no means just limited to karate instructors.

so it is possible then, to be overweight & unfit and still excel at karate?

At what aspect of karate? Again another massive generalisation within the question. But I've seen overweight people in all sorts of MA, from BJJ, to TKD, to WC. It's something purely confined to a particular art. Secndly being ripped does not necessarily mean being a great fighter, or being able to handle one's self. I'm sure there are plenty of people with wide ranges of bodies that can pack a punch or are skilled.

Either way, I still maintain that karate is not primarily about losing weight, or getting fit - but these are positive side-effects that can, and have, occured as a result of training. If fitness and weightloss is the prime objective then perhaps something else is more suitable, aerobics and Weight Watchers perhaps?