[dogscoff]

at least you have admitted that you eat poo

*sigh*, you have to have the Last word, don't you? I admitted nothing (and I have nothing to admit). Ah well.

The ranking annoys me a bit and I think Shotokan karate types are absolute snobs when it comes to belts, gi and stuff.

I've heard that high up in most of the UK Karate organisations, snobbery and lame politics are rife- I have met plenty of ppl who've got to their 2nd or 3rd Dan and become so dissillusioned with all the *****ing and backstabbing that they have moved away from karate altogether.

I've been lucky, because although I've trained at loads of different clubs as I've moved around, I've always been able to find at least one sensei who just wants to teach good karate, without any of that crap getting in the way.

I want to do more kickboxing as it is a better workout and probably more use when I finally come face to face with Gryphin!!

I'm not really qualified to start on about the comparative merits of different martial arts (and it's one of those discussions that usually degenerates into farcical stories about who's hardest) but I'm surprised to hear you say that- I'd have thought Shotokan would be far more useful IRL than kick boxing, and a better all-round workout, too.

Gryphin, I lost half a tooth (seriously) from a rather nasty punch to my jaw whilst my head was being ground into the mat by his foot. I go to the dentist this evening.

And the moral of the story? If you like your face the way it is, don't do full contact karate. I've never met a full contact person with all their own teeth.