joesteph

Infighting! It does sound interesting, Wa-No-Michi; "giant killers" adding to the martial arts scene. Also, though, some men who are shorter will work out with weights to build themselves up, so two men can have a 4"-6" height difference, and yet weigh the same.

This isn't a posting that is necessarily directed towards tall martial artists; average height and even shorter martial artists could answer as well. I'm 5'6" for example, and I could be sparring against someone who's 5' or 5'1". Tonight, during class, I was doing certain sparring exercises with a boy who's twelve. I have a height advantage over him, but what's permitted today is something not permitted in the past: you can kick to the thighs. I didn't take advantage of the height difference regarding punches; I was working on the fact that he was going after my legs as well as up to my ribcage. It was interesting, thinking of how just because someone is shorter, it doesn't always mean s/he is at a disadvantage. For this exercise, sparring against a man who's taller (in my case, a half-foot over him), meant there's no lack of targets. Can you think of when you've sparred against a shorter opponent and found that s/he was really a handful?

But any special reason, Brian? I'd come back as a man because, from what I've observed, I think life makes more demands on you when you're a woman.

I've always been fond of hood ornaments. It says something special about the car. It's like a defining statement in sculpture form.

Congratulations, Tammy! Best of luck to you and your fiance!

Hey Joe. You're going to have to elaborate a bit more on the up and down positions. If you can clarify, then I might be able to shed some light on the subject. A "down" position is having my hands and wrists by my sides; an "up" position could be with my hands open-palm facing my opponent. With the "up" position, though, it could even be that my fists are raised (I "put up my dukes"), but the opponent's slick and grabbed hold of my lead arm's wrist.

I doubt it's to take a particular martial art, Truestar, and "major" in it. It's got to be highly academic, with everything from the orgins to the influences (of an art by other arts, on other arts), to the historical figures, to the philosophies, to the actual participation in a martial art, not the University's martial art, and so on. Stay in contact with Bridgeport, and consider visiting the campus to speak with someone from the department.

I've read that it's notoriously innaccurate, too. Some things from Hollywood really are taken from life; others are just Hollywood.

I need that time at home too, Fu Man. I need that time when I can get it to work on where I'm weak, or to concentrate on what I'd like to experiment with for well-roundedness. I was cautioned by my instructor's teacher not to compare myself with the 12+ year-olds, as they attend classes four times a week, sometimes taking two classes in one day, have boundless energy . . . I live in an adult world with adult responsibilities, and so I have to be practical. My instructor is big on us practicing when not in the dojang, knowing that we adults have to budget our time, so that if an opportunity comes up (there's no class right now, but I've got a free hour, and I'm weak on those newest moves in the latest hyung, or some sparring with BOB could make my punching precision even better . . .), she wants us to grab it. It must be hard to be an instructor, someone who has to consider the varied needs of the students, while making lesson plans that can carry those who can attend no more than twice-a-week not be terribly behind those coming more often.

At home: Leg stretches At class: Assisted both chief instructor and assistant instructor with special needs children including my boys. An especially active night.

I'm at the dojang four days a week, but . . . I take adult classes two days a week, Thursdays and Fridays. I ran into a former student of my instructor, who saw me wearing the orange belt and said he missed karate. He was there with his girlfriend, introduced me, and reminded her about how they'd talked about taking lessons together. I'm in classes my children take, assisting on Mondays and Wednesdays. I'm permitted to assist other children, especially since there are other children besides mine who are special needs. Sometimes, my boys need special attention (they're seven), and the chief instructor takes them aside; then I'll work with the two teenagers, sharing duties with another "regular" student who might be there to assist. Know what? Sometimes it's great for the boys to be working with Dad; sometimes it's better if they work with someone other than me, but the teenagers are fine if we work together. Each class is dependent on if the kids are having fun.

The problem as I see it is that it is a drill, likely causing you to stare instead of seeing naturally, and you become more focused on every blink more so than what you're supposed to be looking at/focusing on. It's more natural, to me, to blink "properly" if scanning your opponent, rather than drying out your eyes (and then being distracted) staring away at a target that can't harm you. And he blinks, too, the average blink taking making a quarter of a second.

Sometimes, in a social studies elective such as psychology or sociology, it comes up about fighting back, that the girl/woman should fight off her attacker, if only to get away. Rather than a fist, the girls tend to know the use of the palmheel. But there's always someone who says to the other girls that it shouldn't be used against his nose (target selection?), because you'll break it and the piece(s) will go into his brain and kill him. There's negative reaction (disgust/horror factor) upon hearing that, and I've shot this down as best I could, but the very fact that someone fears hurting (or killing) a man intent on raping and/or killing her makes me concerned. I remember one girl who said that even if it didn't happen the way described, she couldn't do that to another person, to break his nose. It's probably the nicest, the least likely to hurt a fly kind of girl/woman who feels the way that Dragon Warrior is describing. Dragon Warrior, have you ever addressed a group of students in a school setting about your experience? We had an alumna come to my school one year and talk about her experience, which she was fortunate to stop in time when she fought back. Akin to "What part of 'No' don't you understand?" Thank you for the posting, Dragon Warrior.

I've been introduced so far to four same-side and four cross-grip wrist seizes to defend against, and I've noted that in every one of these, the seized wrist is in the "down" position; there have been no seizes against your hand and wrist being in the "up" position, which can be just as common (more so?) than with the wrist "down." With all these wrist defenses, Brian, do you defend both "up" and "down," or all in the "down" position?

I just went to the cafeteria, where we have representatives from colleges present during junior and senior lunches, with literature to distribute and forms to fill out to be on a mailing list, etc. Today's college rep was a man from Bridgeport. I told him I had an "odd question" for him: Do you offer a degree in martial arts? He beamed a smile and began to tell me all about it; he wasn't recruiting me, I'm a faculty member, but he was so pleased, I got a brochure ("University of Bridgeport: Opening Doors, Building Futures") and a souvenir pen.

Thanks for the video link, Treebranch. It looks like a true survive-on-the-street martial art.

I don't either, DWx, unless you're a safe distance away, trying to have "Eye Wars" as my instructor's teacher has explained to us. I guess it's supposed to reflect that the timid cannot look you in the eye, cannot "stare you down," and so it's much more psychological when viewed in this manner. The question is, do you buy into it and concentrate on it if you're fighting, as opposed to showing no fear before fighting, and thereby possibly avoid the fight itself. (A female psychologist I once knew said that she gave advice to women who didn't like the looks of someone they'd have to pass while walking down the street to look straight ahead with head held high, as looking down and away was a submissive signal and might say "victim" to the one she wants to avoid.) If you're standing still, facing one another in a tournament, you can stare away to one another's heart's content, showing no fear, but also doing nothing until the referee gives a signal. I remember an Isshinryu black belt who was known to be a tough nut to crack saying that people talk about looking into a man's eyes and having his intentions revealed, but he preferred to look below there in order to see what the opponent intended to do, to catch hostile arm or leg movements. My opponent can look at my eyes all he wants, but I want to look all over the opponent's face-to-upper chest area when there's a fight--sparring or street--that, in my mind, will reveal what he's doing or about to do with his "weapons." My instructor emphasizes looking at the eyes or at least the face when sparring, because she works to have us avoid looking right where we intend to strike, telegraphing the move. She is right that you're more attuned to your peripheral vision when practicing utilizing it; I catch what I didn't catch before, and I can look ahead, such as to the face-to-chest area while kicking a roundhouse to the thigh, keeping the opponent's whole body in view, not just one section, and not telegraphing that that kick was coming--or at least doing my best not to telegraph it. If you're secure in your fight abilities, DWx, as I'm sure your are, you're not going to be intimidated by some dopey "I can stare at you and not blink" action (if it even qualifies as an action) on the part of your opponent.

Yes, I train at Lago Soo Bahk Do, and Bayonne Judo shares the dojang, making it into a dojo twice a week after Soo Bahk Do classes end (7:30). My instructor has no problem with having a striking art and a grappling one studied simultaneously, just so long as one doesn't suffer from neglect. I think there's a limit on how much can be posted, Joe, so I'll PM you what info you need.

Ever since I downloaded the last service pack for Explorer 7, Daisho, my Dell has experienced occasional frozen screens, and an old but very easy-to-use program to crop, brighten, and sharpen scanned photos won't work anymore. Completely opposite the Western view of Plato. Will East and West ever reconcile? Then do you reject the concept of a "stream of consciousness," Daisho? Or do you instead believe that we wink in and out, apply and suspend, conscious thought at given moments? Would you say, though, that your thought process is so rapid that you're unaware of how the brain (which I believe is the seat of the mind, even though one is tangible and the other intangible) is able to cause the body to apply technique? Thought process is not only rapid, it's also deceptive, but that's not necessarily an "evil" thing. Consider how we blink our eyes continually, as a natural healthy function, but meaning that we shut our eyes continually, and therefore "should" be seeing a veil or curtain (eyelids) drop and lift in our viewing the scene of the world. But this doesn't happen to us. We don't see the world like looking at people dancing under a strobe light. Instead, the brain compensates for the blinking, giving us the false view that we see a constant scene before us, when any high speed camera can record our blinking (shutting the eyes), and even with the naked eye, we can see one another--or become self-conscious of ourselves--closing our eyes to the world. We are unaware until made aware of this process. The self-examination process in full swing. And we surprise ourselves. Form as kata or hyung is what I'm reading here, Daisho, not quite the same as the eternal Forms of Socrates and Plato. Style, in your case, I'd say dormant, rather than dead (a finality). Is your style awakened from slumber when in combat? That's Bayonne for you, Joe, it seizes hold of you at birth and never lets go. I've seen the town go through many changes, evolving from an industrial one to being far more residential, and I always feel at home.

Very creative. I read some of the comments by those who loved the work and others who thought they were fakes. As for me, I'm a believer.

That was fun. I remember how popular Jackson was back in the 80s, which is when I think he should have stopped with the plastic surgery. In the movie 13 Going on 30, this was the song (and there was dancing with it, too) that Jennifer Garner's character used to pep up the company party.

I won again last night in the McDonald's game! Last time, I was an instant winner of a small Slurpy; this time, an instant winner of medium fries. At the rate I'm winning free food, I'll probably put on another five pounds through prizes!

There was a question asked of adult men and women about a decade ago, that if they could "come back," what would they like to be in the "next life," a man or a woman? I asked this of my psychology class, a high school class in an all-girls school, and over half said a man. When I asked why, one after the other said it was because they wanted to know what it was like to think like a boy, to understand how boys think, one girl explaining that she sees how her male friends view things with a different emotional response from her, and she wondered how they did that. I told them that when adult women (probably age 30+) explained why they would "come back" as a man in the survey, the number one reason was that they felt they would then have more freedom, be freer to try different things in life. So the question is, if you could "come back," would you come back as a man or as a woman? Why?

At home: Ki Cho Hyungs (Il, E, Sam Bu) Pyung Ahn Cho Dan Chil Sung E Ro Hyung (just past half as taught by instructor; used DVD and book to do a rough completion) Class at Night: Was my children's class. Manned two stations. David did takedowns with me, while Patrick worked with a dan member. Little ones are good at getting you behind the knee.

Hmmm . . . Looks like you've got to want to "mix it up" to make your skills pay off. It reminds me of a friend's brother who was average at kata, but was aces at sparring. This was at the time when karate was bare-knuckled, and "light" contact could feel pretty rough. The art was Isshinryu. He received a rapid promotion from white to green belt (I don't know if they've added belt colors since then), because he had to have something higher than white belt when battling the brown belts. His specialty was the back kick; not a spinning back kick, but a "straight back" donkey kick, and he could first kick back with one leg, have it land, then switch to kick with the other. He made brown belt before leaving for the police academy. I still think that gymnastics and dance will give a student a beginner's advantage in terms of skill/acquisition of proper technique. After that, there's the mindset; are you there for self-defense or not?