how do I become a good karate kid? Thai?
409881
Practice and Determination
529724
A knife-hand strike is a strong technique in karate. More popularly known as a 'karate chop,' the knife-hand is powerful enough to knock out an attacker.\n \nSteps:\n1.  Open your hand with your fingers extended and touching together.\n \n2.  Arch the hand backward, forcing the palm side of the knuckles forward.\n \n3.  Fold the thumb into the palm, bending the top of the thumb downward.\n \n4.  Curve the tips of your fingers in slightly while keeping the hand arched backward.\n \n5.  Move your striking hand, palm up, near the opposite-side shoulder.\n \n6.  Strike across your body, straightening your elbow as you go.\n \n7.  Twist your wrist immediately before contact, so that the palm faces down. The padded edge below the pinky is the striking surface.\n \n8.  Keep your other hand as a fist at your side. Pull back on this hand in the opposite direction of your strike to gain power.
330457
try lotsa stuff till u find what u love\n\ni went thru every sport,fencing,sciece camp,and loads more b4 i found what i love to do karate!\n\nHIYA!!!! jk\ngood luck
767100
not sure of any specific site, but plug in a search for Muay Thai techniques to get you started. don't bother with that Karate crap.\n\nBest site as a resource is www.geoffthompson.com the guy is a real hard street fighter with good techniques and advice.
291698
My advice is find a karate school or even see if your local YMCA or community center offers karate and take it for 3 to 6  months in order to learn the basics then you may be able to continue your training at home. You'll miss out on some important skill like sparring and self-defense that requires another person by training at home rather than a dojo.
1057783
I started Ishinru karate at age 9 and stopped at 14.  I feel it's never too early, especially if children are being taught the respect and discipline aspects which goes hand-in-hand with karate.  Just make sure you don't teach your wife, or you could really have a heck of a fight on your hands, LOL.
881512
It seems you like full contact sparring, so you have to train a full contact martial art! (Muay Thai, MMA, etc…)\n\nThe most Karate schools are not into full contact. For full contact you need different rules and different safety equipment ! \nSo go out and find a good full contact martial arts teacher. \n\nAnd forget this street fighting bullshit! If you are well trained in sportive full contact, you will do good in the street as well. (see the link)
321842
well, an art which does not break the body as much as it builds it, and is socially acceptable and easily available should do the trick.\n\nsee ?? if it was an adult i would suggest shootfighting, as it's one of the most complete three dimensional system(three dimensional meanins it covers grappling, striking and submissions in detail) in martial arts.\n\nIt also covers the aspects of spirtual growth, charecter development, building of the body, practical self defence and the sport aspect. These aspects are neglected by some modern "reality based" arts and on the other hand, over emphasised by arts such as Full contact Tai Chi.\n\nThe idea is that your kids need to have a proper base for physical and mental development using martial arts.\n\nModern hybrid martial arts, like the scaled down version of shootfighting under Frank Shamrock's student Kelly Dullanty (http://www.frankshamrock.com/wildcats.htm) called wildcats program caters to youth of 4-15 years of age. Though, such programs are hard to find everywhere.\n\nBrazillian Jiu Jitsu has it's drawbacks in the extensive time required to study the art, if studied at a young age it is one of the most respected systems for self development/defence and charecter building. Try http://www.gracieva.com/ for an idea.\n\nSpeaking from an alternative point of view, there is no real need for a child to learn advanced fighting systems like shootfighting or BJJ. If there is a Karate, Tai Kwan Do, Judo etc. class it should do just fine. Though if given an option, I'll take Judo over most traditional oriental martial arts. Judo is the fourth internationally accepted form of widely practiced amature wrestling and it involves wrestling, evasive movement patters (Kata), submission wrestling, manipulation of clothes to throw/takedown an opponent, live training with resisting opponents (Radori) and striking. Arts like Karate or Tae Kwan Do lack the three dimensional approach of judo in comparision.\n\nAnyways, it boils down to this........if easily available then always go for a hybrid, three dimensional modern fighting system like a scaled down version of Brazillian Jiu Jitsu or shootfighting.\n\nif these arts are not that easy to access then choose Judo or Jeet Kune Do over one dimensional arts like karate.
1145651
That depends on what you want out of it. They are all different. They all have strengths and weaknesses. I teach and train in Karate but that's because it's right for me, not necessarily for you. Here are some brief descriptions of the major arts.\n\nKarate - linear punching and kicking (similar to boxing and kickboxing)\nJudo - ground work, grappling, locks and throws\nTai-chi - slow beautiful movements used for exercises\nTae-kwon-do - A lot of kicking (and shouting)\nAikido - Circular movements with locks, holds and throws (non aggressive)\nKung-Fu - Chinese art that is very flashy and great for tournaments.\n\nThe best thing to do is to find an art for you, go to different Dojo's and watch classes. Most Dojo's will let you take a free class. Find whats best for you and work hard. Later you can add another art that compliments your first one.
38780
It really depends what you are looking for in a martial art.  Do you want to learn to handle yourself in any situation on the street?  Do you want to compete in a ring, forms or weapons?  Do you want to learn stand up fighting or grappling arts?  Or do simpy want to know some cool kicks to show your friends?  It comes down to your personal goals.  \n\nI've trained for five years in Kung Fu San Soo.  I'm an advanced brown belt today.  I've learned free form fighting from day one, weapons forms from day one and learned extremely effective methods for defending myself and my family from day one.  I enjoy it but it's not for everybody.\n\nSearch for KFSS, Jimmy H. Woo or Kug Fu San Soo online and you will find more than enough sites that share history, teachers, shcools etc...  Good luck on your quest.  \n\nEnjoy the journey as much as the goal.\n\nOne word of caution (beware of McDojos), if you are forced to sign a contract that ties you to a large debt $2,500 or more WALK.  If they want you to pay huge bucks $150 per month (WALK).  There are plenty of fantastic schools and instructors who will teach you Japanese, Chinese, Phillipine, Korean or Thai fighting arts and not break your bank.  In SoCal the usual fee ranges $45 to $60 per month and private lessons start around $100 per hour.
399654
My mom has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.  It is a hard martial art to master.  Some of the katas are really complicated.  She's broken ribs and toes during sparring.
850270
Hood_12, you are a FOOL!... You are spreading your nonsense about how martial arts need to be taught realistically. We are talking about a 3 year old child. I'm sure defending himself against a gang of armed thugs is the least of his worries.\n\nIn my opinion as a martial arts instructor, I think 3 years old is a little bit too young. I normally don't teach children until the age of 5. I find that children under this age usually lack the attention span needed to complete a full length class. If you can find an instructor that will teach your 3 year old then by all means sign him up. Certainly won't do him any harm.\n\nTaekwondo has many benefits for a young person. Your son would enjoy some exercise, discipline, and with a few years training will have a whole load of badges, trophies, etc to show off!\n\nTaekwondo teaches a variety of techniques from traditional 'line work' where techniques are practiced as a whole class moving up and down the training hall together. Katas (formal displays) are taught which are done in small groups and individually. One step sparring is self defence in Taekwondo and is only very basic. It is not taught to be realistic and useful to use on the street. It shows control and application of techniques you have learned usually as a counter to basic attack from an opponent. Later in training there is also board breaking which gives a huge boost to confidence.\n\nEach grade has a number of set techniques to learn. These should include punches, blocks, and mainly kicks. Some semi-contact sparring for the children, self defence, Katas and board breaking. Some push and sit ups are usually required too.\n\nBelts are not simply handed out. The basic pass percentage if 50%. It does cost an amount of money. I don't know what Hood_12's legal obligation thing is all about. BS in my opinion. He's probably confused about the fact that you will need insurance.\n\nCompletely disregard Hood_12's post above. Hope this is of some help to you.
796715
Hood_12, you have escaped the cult with your common sense still intact. awesome. TaeKwon Doughnut... ROFLMAO. that art is true BULLSHIDO\n\ngiving black belts to kids shows that it isnt a realistic thing. a black belt only shows you that they are good at TKD, not of reality. I ask parents to think about the illusions they will be feeding their kids if they put them into TKD. as a competitive sport, sure. as a self defence, no. we all need hobbies, but I prefer mine to include elbows and knees, throat chops and joint manipulation. not only punches and kicks. \n\nto limit yourself is to limit your potential. believing that a limited number of moves can be better than more is dumb, and I dont mean more moves, like kung fu animals, I mean other body tools like elbows, knees, and other target areas like knees. if you laugh at knee kicks, get one. \n\nstay safe in the McDojo, for that is the limit of your limitations power.\nno mystery there.
517256
it depends who teaches it and how well they teach it, find a good school, not the ones that just make you kick targets and punch air but ones that actually teach you how to react in situations
990813
This one is fun:-\n\nhttp://www.thai-language.com/\n\nGood Luck... (Choke dee na krab)
260493
When I was in your shoes, I signed up for Karate lessons.  I never had to actually fight, but the idea that I was studying fighting and was willing to fight for a hobby led the bullies to seek weaker victims.  The bullies themselves are essentially ego-challenged and won't risk being humiliated (although I wouldn't be so crude as to tell them this).  If you can, I recommend tradional Akido instead (not the crappy competitive junk "American" version).  If your dojo master is all about competition, move.  Real martial arts trains the body, mind, and soul, not just how to beat someone else up.\n\nIt's possible that your school is much worse than most (run more by gangs than the school staff).  If that's the case, moving would be a good career move because the quality of your school will be very low.  If that happens, then the REAL bullies (bosses, con artists, and the other adults that try to put you down) will haunt you for the rest of your life.  If you're in that situation and hellbent on staying, then good luck!  You will need to get a cultural change going and that will basically take getting the WHOLE school mobilized towards disempowering and ostracizing the gangs.  In this case, study either peaceful leaders like Gandhi and MLK if you want a pleasant school or violent leaders like the young Malcolm X or Ghengis Khan if you want the whole school carrying some sort of weapon.\n\nIn substantially less violent situations, calling on authorities like parents and teachers can be useful if done vindictively.  Don't let them think you're being a panzy about it, but present an attitude that the teacher/parent/other authority is actually seen as your tool of violence against them.  I also liked setting situations where they almost felt relieved to be caught - the "aren't you glad that it's the teacher solving your problem and not me and my friends beating your head in" routine works best after you've studied some martial arts.  At that point, you can emote pity for the bullies, who are really just stupid brutes and probably don't know any better.  This is a very different "telling the teacher" than when done in fear and cowardice because you are acting from a position of power.  Did I mention that they have fragile egos and hunt the weak and fearful?  They are slightly more evolved than dogs, although dogs are often better trained.  Being cruel doesn't really help and beating them up probably won't change them.  I was always willing to help them on their way to real rehabilitation services such that the teacher likewise understood that if they couldn't do the job and the principal couldn't do the job and their parents couldn't handle it, then the police were obliged to respond to calls - even if that led them to entering a classroom.  This also never had to happen, but my willingness to do whatever it took to get the kids not just punished but their heads "fixed."  Telling bullies directly that they have psychological problems is likewise not good advice, but the teacher should understand that counseling, juvenile detention, or having the bullies sent off to foster homes might also be the solution.  Again, for someone in your shoes, this isn't just a caring response, but also a "and I'll be damned if I am going to put up with this kind of crap!" attitude.
663827
A kid can start a matrial art at any age, so long as they learn that it is strictly for sport and self defense. Tae Kwan Do would be a really good one.