View Full Version : Hi everyone!!!
Estrella
10-19-2004, 14:05
Hi there! I'm new to this site, and feel that it would be polite to introduce myself. I thought this would be the best place to start, since I'm female. I've only been practising Wado-Ryu karate for about 7months(I got my yellow belt last month) but the difference it has already made to my confidence is nothing short of a miracle, and I have no intention of quitting now!
Anyway, everyone seems nice and friendly in these forums, and I really need somewhere to discuss martial arts apart from the academy I go to.
By the way, I read somewhere on one of the threads that you see more men doing martial arts than women, but the majority of the people in my class are female! Are we just a bit mixed up here in merry old England?
Lisa Smith
Mandeigh Wells
10-19-2004, 14:27
welcome to Budoseek Lisa......good to have another girl on the board!
What lead you to start training in Wado-Ryu karate ? :)
Estrella
10-19-2004, 15:07
Well, it's a sad story really! What drew me to it was my very, very low self-confidence. All my life(16 years, wow!) I'd had really low confidence and I was very shy- I found it hard to socialise with people. Then, when I went to secondary school, this girl decided I'd be oh-so-easy to victimise because I was quiet and also different from your regular teenage girl, so I was an easy target for her bullying. Obviously, that did not help my self-esteem. What shook me up was the fact that everyone joined in on her side. I couldn't believe it because I'd known the people in my year for 2years(I was 13 when all the trouble started) and then this girl came along after being booted out of another school and everyone just turned on me. Maybe they were scared of her, I don't know, but when everyone who I'd thought were friends just began to stab me in the back, I got paranoid and developed mental health problems because of it. I still feel really upset about it all sometimes because I stopped going to school in the end, my mental state was a mess, and as a result, I didn't take many GCSEs and didn't accomplish as much as I am capable of(I'm not boasting here, but I know fine well I am capable of a lot- I do have brains, contrary to what everyone else thinks because I walk around with my head in the clouds all the time.).
Thats why I started karate- I can't let myself be the victim again and let narrow-minded people destroy my future. I want to gain the self-esteem necessary to shrug comments off and to be able to deal with physical bullying rather than relying on others. I'm studying A-levels at college now- alongside mature, I said MATURE people!
Anyway, I'm sorry if I've bored you to tears, but I had to get that off my chest!
...Anyway, I'm sorry if I've bored you to tears, but I had to get that off my chest!
Not at all. It is a very inspiring story indeed.
Welcome to the board.
There are many extremely knowledgeable martial artists here (with the exception of yours truly)
Thats why I started karate- I can't let myself be the victim again and let narrow-minded people destroy my future.
We admire your courage.
Hello.
How you doin' :wink2: :D
Which part of the UK you from?
Wado ryu? That's the first art I trained in when I was 11yrs old.
Estrella
10-20-2004, 06:24
Hey, thanks for posting, fellas! I live in North Yorkshire, but I moved here from a grotty little backwater town in Somerset about 7years back. Northern people think its absolutely hilarious to tease me about farms and combine harvesters when they find out(which they always do- I only have to open my mouth!) but those jokes never bothered me- I actually find them funny. Its the people who call me posh I think "Oh, no, not again..." as they often end up causing me trouble. It's always the same type of people, isn't it?
Don't think I'm being nosy, StanLee, but how far did you get in Wado-Ryu? Why did you stop? And when you say dojo crash test victim, do you mean the, er, "volunteer" for the instructor's techniques?
Hey, thanks for posting, fellas! I live in North Yorkshire, but I moved here from a grotty little backwater town in Somerset about 7years back. Northern people think its absolutely hilarious to tease me about farms and combine harvesters when they find out(which they always do- I only have to open my mouth!) but those jokes never bothered me- I actually find them funny. Its the people who call me posh I think "Oh, no, not again..." as they often end up causing me trouble. It's always the same type of people, isn't it?
Don't think I'm being nosy, StanLee, but how far did you get in Wado-Ryu? Why did you stop? And when you say dojo crash test victim, do you mean the, er, "volunteer" for the instructor's techniques?
You're not nosy at all. But that nose on your avartar is rather big :D
I got to blue belt. But I don't think my training back then was that much in depth. Just learning waza and not really understanding them or how my body works and conected together.
I stopped because I'd just got to secondary school and it wasn't cool to be doing karate. I wanted to lounge about or go out on my bike, also, the instructor wasn't that inspiring.
Oh did I mention that I also tried to show this to a female classmate? She was a black girl who towered over me. Needless to say, I got battered! :D
Yes I take ukemi for my sensei. That usually involves me being thrown, man-handled, pinned and hurt.
One would not learn proper technique easily unless they have it done on them!
Estrella
10-20-2004, 10:03
Yeah, I picked that avatar because it's the spitting image of the guy who teaches Tai-Chi at our dojo- big-nosed and bald! Mind, he's also trained in karate, so I hope he's not reading this! He's so much bigger than me- I don't think I could handle him!
Blue's pretty good, I think- our Sensei doesn't award belts unless you've really earned it, and if you followed the same belt colour system as me, it's halfway to black belt. I could be biased, though,because blue's my favourite colour. :)
The instructors don't ask for volunteers at our dojo- they just pick whoever. They just slowly look round the room, and smirk as they find the perfect victim...
"Lisa, can I just borrow you for this one?"
You have to oblige, else you get push-ups(GRRRR!! I hate push-ups!) when all you really want to do is go "NO! NOOO! Not that move, sir! Not on me! Use someone else!" It's usually a move that involves a throw- they don't demonstate them on anyone below red belt because they don't know how to break fall properly.
Yes it is an honour to be picked by sensei.
I tend to be the dojo crash test dummy because I can take the punishment my sensei throws out and not all of the other seniors are there all of the time.
Sometimes it is nice to see techniques demonstrated on someone else so that I can see what is happening.
Well, happy training.
alexthorne
10-28-2006, 08:59
I moved here from a grotty little backwater town in Somerset
Heh.. wouldn't happen to be Taunton would it? :D
Sin Eater
11-07-2006, 05:43
Hello and even though I am new here myself, Welcome :D:
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