joesteph

This link is fun because it gives a variety of info, is in text but "types" it while you read, making it easier to keep reading, and there's no reason why you can't put in a relative's birthday (like a parent or even grandparent), just to see what comes up. BTW, when text does come up, some of it--like movies and books--are links. So if you're not familiar with a movie that was popular the year you were born, you could click on the link and find out something about it. Why not give it a shot: http://whathappenedinmybirthyear.com/

I tried to find this in my Soo Bahk Do manual, Rateh, but no such luck. I did find terms we don't actually use but are listed there anyway: Ko Dan Ja--Senior Dan holder (4th Dan and up)You Dan Ja--Dan holder (1st Dan through 3rd Dan) You Gup Ja--Gup holder

When I changed my studies for a period of time to a fighting school, Shihan permitted me to use strikes to the legs because I couldn't kick high, and the understanding was that my sparring partners could do the same. We wore gear and practiced control, so no one was hurt and the sparring was great!

Thanks for your post, PhoenixFire! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way. And you're very fortunate to have a Sensei who teaches so effectively.

There's an article in the August 19 New York Times, on how Tai Chi outperforms other treatments in dealing with fibromyalgia. From the article: [P]atients, who received twice-weekly tai chi classes and a DVD to practice with 20 minutes daily, showed weekly improvement on an established measurement, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire . . . A slimmed-down version is available online: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/health/19taichi.html?_r=1&hpw

I'd say that's accurate, Brian, and I'm going to make sure I see The Hobbit when Ian McKellan revives his role as Gandalf the Grey. It's expected to be out in 2012. But back to analogies . . .

Somehow we regularly get into kata. I like RW's kata analogy, and what works for him in the concept is song. I wouldn't say that kata is not song, ShoriKid, but I would say that, to you, it is not song but a classic speech, and that's what analogy concept works for you. There's still that connection with RW's talking/conversation base that separates an analogy of kata from that of an actual fight and of kumite. BTW, RW, your reference to song made me think of music, of course, and I wondered if you were familiar with the prequel to The Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillion. Tolkien has the universe created through music in that work.

The senior student is the Sun Beh (Nim), and the junior is the Hu Beh (no use of "Nim"). Usually, the teacher will just say Sun Beh and Hu Beh, as in telling the Hu Behs to hold the kick shields while the Sun Behs go first, then switch. (Pronounced as Sun Bay Nim and Hoo Bay. I've also seen "Beh" spelled "Bae," but the pronounciation's the same.) I might be the Sun Beh at 4th gup if paired with a 5th gup, Danielle, but then be the Hu Beh if paired with a 3rd gup.

I've gone to Renaissance Festivals in the past, but never got the chance to go to a Medieval Times. This YouTube video interview shows the combat side of medieval entertainment:

A short light stick was in my apartment; whatever had been glued to one end had fallen off. Patrick was playing with the stick, but I explained to him that it's not something that's to be played with, that it can hurt somebody. Then I had an idea, thinking of a common karate drill. As he's only 8, I was in an upright position on my knees, so that it was as though a bully (about his age) with a stick were in front of him. I showed him how a bully could use the stick to hit him on the head, then had Patrick hold the stick to do the movement against me, with his twin brother David watching. He did the proper arc, tapping me on my head. I then had Patrick do it again, and I did high block--but remember that I'm standing on my knees, so I'm blocking while staying in place. Bonk! When I high-blocked his forearm, his little hand bent forward at his wrist, and Daddy got it right on the head. I hadn't moved, and so though I'd blocked, I'd also remained in the arc's path. Undaunted, I told Patrick that now I was going to do it the better way, which was to move in. When he came down with the light stick, I "walked" on my knees (actually one knee) to move in, and though his hand bent at the wrist again, the stick didn't land on my head. We changed roles and worked on that he could do high block against the stick coming down, so long as he moved in. He also gave me a punch and kick to the midsection. I did the same with David, this time knowing I was going to get hit on the head at first, and then we did it the better way, which was practiced along with the punch and kick to Daddy's midsection. It just goes to show you that you wind up knowing--or remembering--something better when you teach someone else, even if it's an eight-year-old.

So . . . - Would you say, RW, that if we extend what you've said about a conversation (real fighting) going wrong, it's like having an argument? - While kumite, which has rules, is like formal debate, which also has rules? - And kata is as a song whose words are carefully chosen, expected to be pondered, and meant to convey a message?I like the analogy; you obviously gave it a lot of thought. I just wanted to go with the flow of it.

Interesting about the hard-backed chair, Brian. At home, the chair I have is the "comfortable" one that came with the desk--meaning it's not hard-backed, and I have to concentrate more about slumping. But in school, when I use the computer on a table in my classroom, I use a hard-backed chair. I'll bet I sit better there without even realizing it. BTW, for those of us who have young ones and we're sitting on the floor with them, as I do with my 8-yr-olds, instead of sitting cross-legged, if I sit in the "half-lotus" position (lots of luck getting my legs into that full lotus!), I sit up better.

There's an article online at Tang Soo Do World as to why a father started his son in martial arts or, more specifically, that his young son wanted to start. The boy was painfully shy, and though it was Tang Soo Do (related to Soo Bahk Do and Tae Kwon Do) that his son was introduced to, the benefits might be applied to other martial arts. Guidelines say I can't "hot link" right to the article, so please go to Tang Soo Do World and select the article link listed right on the home page, "Tang Soo Do - Benefits for Children."

When I was first introduced to martial arts in my thirties, it was by being tutored by an Isshinryu friend who'd earned his green belt when he was younger. A striking art; contact sparring was our main focus. I decided to try attending karate class, taking lessons in Tae Kwon Do, but it's a high-kicking art, my kicks were and are all low, and it was non-contact at that time. I did receive a promotion, but when a Tai Chi class was being offered locally, I signed up for it, as my Isshinryu-background friend signed up for it in his area. Both were Yang style. My Tai Chi instructor became ill and the classes ended; my friend married and where he moved to, my area, meant the end of his classes in his old school. So we combined Tai Chi knowledge in a sense, and he was more advanced than I was. At a certain point, we got a Tai Chi book and practiced a two-man form. Here it is, years later, that I've studied Soo Bahk Do, a Korean art that my children study, and there's a series developed by GM Hwang Kee, the founder, called the Chil Sung (Seven Stars) series. I'm at green belt level and learned the first two of these forms. In one portion of the second in the series, it was explained that a certain move within the form that's done three times is, each time, capable of seizing someone's lapel and crossing it in front of him, as a clothing choke. I see it as borrowed from the Yang long form, and found something I'd learned in the two-man form having direct application as well. To me, the first part of the move is like an X to strongly pop someone's hands off you or lacking control of you as you pull down on his arms at the upper-lower arm crease, unbalancing him while you are "rooted" so that he can't kick you in the groin, but you can give him a good kick underneath to strike the scrotum. You might accidentally head butt him in the nose while doing this. Your hands are in place to ram your thumbs into his eyes; your hands are in place to seize him by his chin and the back of his head and twist him to the floor. Your hands are in place to seize him with both hands at the back of his head, pull his head down, and then go to town. That X-pop, moving the arms for control of his arms/balance, and kick were all practiced by my friend and me years ago; the two-man form demonstrated how the pull on your opponent unbalances him so that he can't kick you--as soon as he even tries to raise his leg he's way off balance. I tried to get a couple of others interested in this application, but it was after class, and I'm certainly not a MA teacher. Yet what little I did do, I realized was feasible, and that's one segment in the karate form that I interpreted through Tai Chi. Tai Chi will enable you to maintain balance on one leg and fight, not always needing two. A way of generating power into your strikes through being rooted and in more perceptive control of your body will be found. You will also move slowly to achieve proficiency in the form, and martial applications will unfold. I wouldn't recommend it for someone under age thirty, simply because youth craves rapid action. In my hometown, what's offered tends to be during the day at senior centers, or in the community ed program that meets a limited number of times. A neighboring town had offered it in the past, but no more. I've wondered if the latest emphasis on yoga has had an impact. I envy you that you have Tai Chi lessons available to you, Adam. Good luck with them.

Those strikes with the shin were like hitting someone with a baseball bat! Many were so fast, the question might be if the lower shin or the instep connected, but then the slow motion replay answered that. Hands up doesn't mean never getting hit in the head, but you could see that if the opening's there, the opponent's going to try for it, and if he's slick, it's goodnight.

Speaking for myself, I don't want to eliminate kata in my training. Just tonight, I was speaking with a guest instructor for my children who's also instructed me, and he thinks as I do, that individuals who learn kata should have an introduction to/some amount of training in the applications. I have been accepted to return to training in September to remember and practice what is required of me as a 4th gup. Whatever applications I can learn, and it's clear that I'm not going for promotions (my proficiency has its limits), can be based on the katas I already know. There's so much gold there, not only to mine, but to practice, practice, practice. Students will practice, say, the side kick hundreds of times (add it up!), but have no practice in the abundant bunkai from kata they've performed on the floor even once.

Had you intended two different videos, ps1?

Since the Jissen article and posting the posture topic, I have really been working at my posture. It's easier for me to remind myself about posture while standing than sitting, but I'm making headway. When I sit at the computer, sit watching a DVD with the children, or read a newspaper (I put a pillow on my lap to help me keep the newspaper higher), I'm careful about slumping in the seat. Ouch! Now that I've been doing this, when I do forget and sit slumped, I start to feel it in my upper back! There's a spot on the right side of my spine (maybe b/c I'm right-handed) where the muscle will tighten if I don't correct my posture. I've heard of "listen to your body," but mine is giving me a poke!

Brian's observation reinforces that forms/kata/hyungs were never meant to be for sparring, but for real-world applications. Tournaments are for sport, sport has rules, and lots of people enjoy that aspect. I see kata and kumite as overlapping when it comes to real-world applications, but separate should it be for forms competition and tournament sparring. I think honoluludesktop made an interesting observation about when the competition level gets higher.

What concerns me, Bob, is that trailers used to start off with: The following preview has been approved for General Audiences but now they say: The following preview has been approved for Appropriate Audiences And that's something I don't like! If I'm bringing my children to a movie, I expect the trailers to be along a softer line. If I'm going to a movie for teens and adults, then the trailer can refer to other movies that adults are expected to be interested in with no complaint by me. I don't like a trailer "for Appropriate Audiences" that my children are present for, but would be what they'd call "a big people's movie," b/c there's some content they shouldn't be hit with. I've actually "asked" the boys if they'd like to see a certain movie (which I'd never bring them to, but the trailer just played), and they've told me "No!" That way, they feel we all decided together.

I'm speaking in terms of real-world applications, ps1.

That's what I mean, Bob. Is it something that you could only do at another time in our society, i.e., not today? Would it be seen as "corny"? I remember an old segment of Dennis the Menace shown on a TV talk show, with Jay North, as an adult, there to talk about TV in the past. He commented that there was an innocence at that time, that you couldn't do these shows again today. Watch the reruns, yes; put on a new show like it, he thought not. What StrangeBacon said, that it might apply to some movies, is a possibility, but I don't think the length of time and actors would be good for the trailer. I think that today it has to be short and with "real folks"; if it's with actors, the word "reenactment" would have to appear, as it does with certain TV commercials.

If the person perfoming the kata has no or very little idea of the bunkai, then that's commendable hard work resulting in good performance. Kumite speaks for itself. If the person performing the kata is aware of, has even practiced, the bunkai, then there is a direct overlap. I chose hard work for both because all-too-often there isn't adequate teaching and practice of the bunkai permeating the kata. It's an improper separation, but still a separation, to me. Edit: I'm getting new contacts and glasses! Not catching typos!

I received another newsletter from Iain Abernethy about Extreme Impact training, and there was a YouTube link. He is holding two focus mitts, and his partner Steve first first strikes hard against them, but then Iain turns away to force his partner to circle around to deliver another uppercut-hook combo. There's an explanation of the why of Extreme Impact at .45, then of the drill at 3:10. The drill is demonstrated and it looks demanding on the cardio.

It won't have the power, but I was taught it at a "fighting school" I attended for a couple of months to get contact sparring time in, that it's got a better chance of slipping under the elbow. I found that it gives me a better chance of hitting the ribs of my opponent, because of a combo of my height (5'6" compared with mostly taller opponents) and the fact that I'm a low kicker even with someone who is my own height. When I shin-kicked (trying it as Muay Thai-like as possible) the heavy bag, I was told I had a lot of power, and that it'd be to my benefit in an actual altercation to just go for the knees/thighs. Incidentally, tufrthanu, when I took Jeet Kune Do lessons (mostly to learn the straight lead, but kicks were brought in), I practiced striking a roundhouse (JKD "hook") kick to the knee area, and was encouraged to try to come in on a diagonal down to the side of the knee, the idea being that more power would be generated against that joint to blow it out.