sensei8

I need a Jet win and a Raven loss...lol

I understand what you're saying and I agree with you. Will his two son's be a good thing for the team? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about what the other students think, and if they don't like it, then all they have to do is...complain to the instructor....and then they can see just how far that will get them...not far! After all, like Brian said...you're there for YOU!

Solid post!!

Joe, you're staring right at black belt, aren't you? Way to go my friend...way to hang in there!

Good post!! Maybe it's more easier for them to say the reasons listed above in bold type, instead of saying self-defense or the akin because they don't want to appear "weak"...maybe...I'm spit-balling here. I'll go back to my corner for now.

Different styles, even different branches of Shito Ryu, could do Bassai Dai differently, and have different bunkai. I agree with sensei8. Ask your Shihan. He's your sensei! Your karate should be his karate. It might be interesting to know how others interpret the kata, but your sensei's version is the important one. Plus, of course, if you're tested on this, you have to know HIS bunkai. Solid post sir!!

When that practitioner knows that "it" isn't working. However, just because something is discarded now, it doesn't mean that it'll remain that way. As knowledge increases, so does the ability to recognize its viability across the board. It's the..."When I first learned the martial arts, a kick was just a kick and a punch was just a punch..." as told by Bruce Lee. The needed knowledge is an acquired element. Nonetheless, it varies from practitioner to practitioner for one reason or another. Good point! We'd only know by actually watching and/or interacting with the practitioner while that practitioner is executing said technique(s). They either will know or they won't and that's revealed on the floor...the floor doesn't lie.

But if I ever got into one at my age, I'd like to be able to get out of it before the years over.

I'm sure that I've answered a thread similar to this before, however.... GNR

No, I never "lost control", however, I wasn't ever in a situation like yours and your situation is understandable.

It was self-defense for me. I started when I was 7 years old because my lunch money was being stolen from me everyday at school by some older boys at school. I was raiding the frig after school and when my mom found out what was going on, she enrolled me in a local Karate school asap!

Ok...for a moment....let's forget about self-defense, which wasn't the reason for the thread in the first place. I used "Effective Self-Defense" to take the place of any technique(s) belonging to any practitioner and/or any style of the martial arts. **EFFECTIVE period...any technique(s)!! Imho... Martial artists can be so quick to judge another styles methodologies and the like without ever having even tried their technique(s) in person. We discuss on the internet with other martial artists and then just as soon as a technique(s) is shared...WHAM...it's judged over the internet as ineffective without given any technique(s) the litmus test. Every technique(s) that I've discarded, I've literally learned, trained, and experienced it for quite awhile first; I've tasted "it" to see if it was good for me. **What methods do you use to determine that a technique(s) are ineffective in your opinion? **What methods are used by the masses, i.e. a group and/or a style, to determine that a technique(s) are ineffective? That's why I wrote this thread...to see the who, what, where, when, how, and why: Define effective!! Effectiveness is a two way street. Down one street, the effectiveness or the lack thereof for any said technique(s) is what works for YOU. Down another street, the effectiveness or the lack thereof for any said technique(s) is what is a mutual agreed upon by the majority of the MASSES. Even when any said technique(s) are agreed upon by the masses, I still need to prove it for myself before I can be part of that agreed upon mass of martial artists because, imho, the masses, at one time or another, followed the lead of some practitioner who first said to fellow practitioners..."Is THIS effective? Let's find out beyond the shadow of any doubt". It's my fault that this thread went on a self-defense pro and con discussion because my OP wasn't concise, no, it had the air of ambiguity, and again, that was my fault. Sorry!!

New pop?!? I don't know Brian, the Rangers lost Lee....OUCHY! Hey Patrick...Do you think the Yankees will suffer at all in any area with the passing of George Steinbrenner? 3 months to SPRING TRAINING...OH BOY!! GO YANKEES!!

Enter The Dragon

If ones a black belt and this black belt isn't knowledgeable in self-defense, then imho, that practitioner shouldn't be a black belt in the first place...imho. True. But the reality is very far from that. We very well know that many black belts aren't truly deserving of such. I concur!!

I think the main reason is because they are targeting children ages 5-8 via the parents reading the ads. Parents look at it and say, "Ooh, my kid could use some more focus. Yeah, sounds good!" So, its the demographic they are targeting. The parents don't want their kids fighting (most of them, anyway), so these things fit what they are looking for in an activity for their kids. Generally speaking. I concur!

Well, you've already got a lot of great advice and so, I don't know what I could add except... If you do 50 each day for a week, then increase it by 1 each week, etc, etc; before the years out, you'll have increased your push up count substantially. Of course, it's not about quantity, it's about quality.

First of all...Welcome to KF!! Sorry for my answer in advance, and I'm sure that you are already quite aware of what I'm about to say in this post. I'd like to refer you back to your Shihan because your Shihan knows the syllabus and he knows your abilities. Just ask him any and all questions concerning EVERYTHING. However, I've done Bassai-dai about a billion times, and having said that, the Bunkai changes as much as the wind does. I could relate to you what I've discovered through Bunkai and Oyo Bunkai, but that discovery would be my own. Even though Bunkai is done with a partner or with a group, you'll discover YOUR Bunkai when you least expect it. It'll be one of your Aha moments. We learn the Bunkai per the syllabus and then we start discovering "new" Bunkai on our own. By that I mean, through your discoveries you'll find what works for YOU and what doesn't work for YOU! What doesn't work; you'll discard them. You'll take Bassai-dai, for example, apart and put it back together over and over and over....until you discover YOUR Bunkai. Bunkai, like kata, varies based on the style and the teacher and the practitioner.

Depending on rank. Won't be much help if his dad only has a white or yellow belt. I suppose, some is better than none...I suppose.

Great posts so far...THANKS...please keep them coming!!

If ones a black belt and this black belt isn't knowledgeable in self-defense, then imho, that practitioner shouldn't be a black belt in the first place...imho.

I see the Chiefs winning against the Ravens...21-17...just as long as they can put their lost against the Raiders behind them and FOCUS. The one and only time that the Ravens came to Arrowhead, the Ravens won 20-10. Then there was last year when the Ravens beat the Chiefs 38-24 even though Flacco threw 3 TD's and Rice ran over 100 yards. GO CHIEFS!! Then there's the Jets VS the Colts. Last year the Colts beat the Jets in the playoffs for the Conference 30-17. The Jets only scored in the 2nd quarter; not the 1st or the 3rd or the 4th. However, the Colts scored 13 in the 2nd and then 7 in the 3rd and then 10 in the 4th. The Jets sent the Colts to their locker room at half-time wondering, yet they came out and kept scoring, where the Jets couldn't. Payton against the wall; that's when he's the most dangerous. I see the Jets winning this one 31-28 just as long as they don't lay down and keep scoring in each and every quarter, with no exceptions. The Jets have to produce on both sides of the ball, and that means that the Jets' secondary must be solid against the long ball as well as the mid-field ball, and oh yeah...pressure Peyton hard or it'll be just one long game for the Jets. GO JETS!!

I can understand why schools of the martial arts target parents. These achievable goals are geared more for the kids than the adults, but I suppose adults might still need these as well.

Good point!