joesteph

Is levity permitted here? Does anyone remember the old "Andy Griffith Show"? I remember an episode in which Barney ("Barney Fife") was steamed up about what some kids had written about him on a wall: There once was a deputy called Fife, Who carried a gun and a knife. His gun was all dusty, His knife was all rusty, 'Cause he never caught a crook in his life! If you do remember the show, Barney carried a bullet in his pocket instead of in his gun--because when he had it in his gun, he'd fool around with the sidearm and it'd go off, firing into the floor.

I once owned four firearms, two revolvers and two rifles, all for target shooting. In my home, I have swords and a combination tear gas-pepper spray, called Sabre. In answering for home defense, the sword is my choice of weapon. 1. You can't accidentally shoot a family member with a sword. 2. The very sight of the thing, with you screaming for the intruder to get out of your house, has a good chance of him thinking you're insane and taking off. 3. The sword can not only keep him at bay, it can be used to do poking motions (no need to run him through) against his body, or slice at his hands if they should be forward. He's very likely to back up to get out while he's leaking (blood) like a sieve--and you've avoided using lethal force. 4. If he's foolish enough to grab the blade to take the sword from you, his hand will experience a deep slice of fingers and palm. After he escapes, he'll be picked up by the police at the local hospital. If it's something to carry on my person for self-defense on the street, then I prefer to use Sabre. It's a combo of millitary tear gas and pepper spray, will burn like mad if it even touches the skin, and you can back away from him while spraying him (or them) several times. It even leaves a residue that's picked up under ultraviolet light--the mark of identification if the criminal(s) should be picked up by the police. Then again, I've got natural weapons: hands, elbows, knees, and feet. You see, I've been studying a martial art . . . _____ _____

I realize your interest is in medieval swordsmanship, JKD, but if you ever wanted to try a Western sword that's a potent weapon, you could sign up for fencing lessons with the saber. When I went for fencing lessons some years ago, the swords offered were the foil (lightest--strike zone above the waist), the epee (heavier--strike zone the entire body), and the saber (heaviest of the three--strike zone above the waist). I was actually most interested in the saber, which I found out from the instructor was the quickest of the three to progress with, and I really liked the feel of it in my hand. (It's so "military," too.) But my girlfriend couldn't handle anything heavier than the foil, so that's what our lessons were on. (Now, women not only use the epee, but women compete in the Olympics with the saber.) Incidentally, I have a small sword collection, the swords ordered by Internet: a Roman sword, a Viking sword, a Medieval sword, a Scottish Claymore, and a Samurai sword. The Roman, Viking, and Medieval swords I sharpened myself; the Samurai sword came razor-sharp; the Scottish Claymore isn't designed to be sharp, but to keep its edge to crash through English armor and break the bones underneath. I hope you find what you're looking for, but don't discount the saber.

It's really "resocialization" to the world of the dojang. I admit to hesitating, but I didn't object to throwing the strike--so there's hope for me yet! Several years ago, a woman friend was nearly killed in a neighboring city when a young woman robbed her by slashing her with a razor blade. She's lucky she didn't bleed to death. There are some law enforcement members of this forum, so they can correct me on this if I'm wrong, but I understand that violent crimes by females has been constantly rising for at least a decade now.

I checked it out from the drop-down menu, DWx, and centered on the following: Article 53. Attacking Tools 53.1 Hand parts – fore fist, back fist, side fist, knife hand and reverse knife hand. 53.2 Foot parts - ball of the foot, foot sword, back heel, instep and sole. Article 54. Target Area 54.1 Face and neck area at the front and sides (excluding the back). 54.2 Frontal area of trunk of the body from a line drawn from the armpit vertically down to the waist on each side (excluding the back). 54.3 When the arm, from the elbow to the fingers, is in contact with the body, then this is regarded as part of the body, by which the opponent can therefore score points. When I read this, I thought it was contact sparring, and I didn't like the reference to having the front of the neck being a permitted target. Article 55. Criteria for Point Award All attacks will be valid only when they are stopped 2cm away from the target. Then when I read this, I concluded it was non-contact, but likely with protective gear. 2cm? Unless I'm mistaken, this is a difficult stopping point to reach; isn't it likely that you either make contact or are too far away? Article 56. Fouls 56.1 Warnings 56.1.1 For the following offences I selected this to focus on where punches were referred to. Three or more consecutive punch without a valid follow up technique Nope, no two-punch rule 56.1.2. One (1) point will be deducted for every 3 warnings. Here's the only "punching penalty" I could see. I respect not wanting to turn a tournament match into a brawl, but the additional rule of two consecutive punches as a limit is simply too conservative to me. Does the tournament permit contact, or follow the non-contact (2cm) rule? Was that out-of-control six-footer you described making contact? If so, I found: 56. 2. Deduction of Points for serious fouls (Yellow card) 56.2.1 And in its list: Excessive contact

At home: Ki Cho Hyung Il Bu Ki Cho Hyung E Bu Ki Cho Hyung Sam Bu Pyung Ahn Cho Dan At the dojang: 1. Drills focusing on the upcoming test 2. New combinations of what we have to perform for the test; a break from just test-preparation _____ _____

I respect your feelings on this, JKD, although I believe you're directing your posting to a "street" situation. My original posting was that I found myself hesitating in a self-defense technique with a woman--my instructor--in the dojang. As a man, do you find yourself hesitating or reluctant when in contact or non-contact situations in the dojo/dojang when your partner (sparring or self-defense technique) is a woman? It's been very interesting, reading the responses not only of the men, but of the women regarding what they expect of fellow students who are male.

A great journey into the mind of a man of automotive vision. And not just one kind of car, a variety. I like that Earl actually used some of these vehicles--riding in style, I'd say.

Yes! Congratulations, again, Tiger!

Great! Congratulations!

The five levels are clear and concise. This posting caused me to look for an age-old Chinese saying that I'm sure everyone's heard parts of: "Build rather than destroy; Avoid rather than check; Check rather than hurt; Hurt rather than maim; Maim rather than kill; For all life is precious; Nor can any be replaced" - Shaolin Monastery Credo This came from a site called The Harmonious Fist Chinese Athletic Association, and its URL is: http://www.harmoniousfist.com/the24elements.html

I didn't know about this rule against uppercuts, etc., that it has to be straight forward. If you do use another punch, is it simply no point awarded, or do you receive a warning that you can lose a point for an illegal strike?

Three very good points made, Tallgeese.

I found it as a June 4, 2007 posting, USCMAAI. I don't know how to link to it, so I quoted a section: He must have really given that drunk some shot; too much firepower. The throat strikes we've been discussing can be controlled, such as using limited force or the jugular notch move, so as not to deal a lethal blow.

Okay, USCMAAI, I've read the Blocking Techniques printout, and it may be premature, but I've got a scenario that I'd like to see if I've identified two blocks properly--according to your breakdown--and they're both open-hand blocks. In a video by Peyton Quinn some years ago, "Defense Against the Sucker Puncher," the scenario was that the sucker puncher was throwing a right cross to the face. According to Quinn, splitting the opponent in half vertically, if you're on his right-hand side, the punch is coming in fairly straight, but if you're on his left-hand side, it's curving/hooking. The curving/hooking punch is the one I analyzed. Quinn says to step forward to the opponent, turning your body so that your face would actually be looking at the inside of his punching arm. While doing this, both arms go up, your inner wrists touching one another and forming an "X," and this open-hands block would press against the attacker's inner wrist/forearm. I think this is a parry. From this position, you can strike the attacker with a knife hand, but Quinn warns that the opponent might be fast to react to your block, and so there would be a second punch, this one by the attacker's left arm and going for your head. Quinn then demonstrated taking the hand that would have made the knife hand strike and rapidly placing it at the shoulder of the opponent's left arm, stopping the power of the strike at what I'd call its "root." I think this is a check. I hope I've explained it so that it's able to be envisioned. If I have, would I be right about what kind of blocks these open-hand ones are?

When I read your first posting, DWx, I thought I'd identified that the reason for the rule was to eliminate a boxing emphasis in the tournament, to keep it as legs-oriented as possible. When infighting, talented boxers can really hammer away; not exactly as flashy as kicking away. With your second posting, it looks like the tournament people you'd first dealt with had gone through one brawl too many and just lowered the boom on what could lead to it reoccurring. That second tournament you were in, with the six-footer who sounds like she was out of control, could have used some sort of rule to deal with "competitors" like her. I'd say, though, that if there were to be a rule on limiting the number of punches, three would be the limit. It can be two if that's the right thing to do, with up to three you have a better choice than the old "one-two" and then look for a spot to kick at, and three punches do not a brawl make.

I really liked the way you explained what is usually referred to as "striking through the target," John. It's not just stretching your arm more; it's firing off the shot from a closer position to bury your fist in the other guy. I think it refers to kicks, too, of course, and I have a sort of "problem" when it comes to kicks in self-defense techniques, where one person throws the lunge punch, and the other practices the technique. Other students aren't as close as I am to the face of their partner when they throw their punches at what is a stationary target; there, I have it down to the right spot automatically. When performing a kick, though, I tend to be close--striking distance close--so I wind up not fully extending the leg. If I did, I'd connect within the targeted area. When I practice with BOB, I have no problem driving a punch in. When it comes to kicking, I use a WaveMaster, and I find myself either kicking too light or too heavy. It's as though I kick too light when I want to control the strike (which also implies distance), and too heavy when I'm less concerned about control; I get right in there and just want to slam away. Your advice about punching is certainly sound. I think it just takes longer when it comes to kicks.

This is a good find. I come from NJ, so I put the mouse over it, and the focus was on Mickey Walker, whose weight was usually under 170lbs, but "became a legitimate heavyweight contender," fighting to a draw a man who outweighed him by 29lbs (169 to 198) in 1931. I don't know boxing regulations, so I wonder if he'd be permitted to have such a fight today--that he wouldn't make the weight class despite his talent. Something else, too . . . The boxing career that Walker had likely meant that you could fight in a heavier weight class, but a heavier man couldn't choose to fight in a lighter one.

Would you know the rules involved here, Waza? I can swear I saw plenty of openings to punch to the face, but punches went to the body. There were kicks to the thighs and also to the head/face. I wasn't surprised at what might not be the traditional "no hitting below the belt," in this case the thighs, but seeing no punches to the face, only kicks there, made me wonder if there were special rules being enforced.

In looking through the site TKDTutor (http://www.tdktutor.com), I came across an article "Best Art." It's got a good content to it. The direct link is: http://www.tkdtutor.com/01MartialArts/BestArt/BestArt01.htm

In looking over postings from earlier this year, I found these postings about training. This one by Kajukenbopr is one I have a question about. Would it actually be better to change partners every time, or would it be better to work with a particular partner for a number of times, in a sense "figuring out" his fighting personal style, and then move on to a different partner, who will have a new personal style, and sparring with him for a number times, etc.? I wonder if changing partners every time is something that only a seasoned fighter would profit by, as those of us who are of lower belt ranks/not seasoned need more background, more experience, before getting hit with something different each time. BTW, this training link posted by hertao is still functioning: http://www.hertao.com/selfdefense/training.html

I was able to connect to it, Tiger, but there was a message above: "We are currently performing site maintenance. Be cool - we'll be back 100% in a bit." It's probably just when you happened to access it.

I'd gone to the site, copied and pasted the article into Word, and even ran it off, but I couldn't remember where I'd gotten it from in the forum to give a Thank You. Thank you very much, Aces Red, for this link/article. It's something I've been reading with a blocking posting by USCMAAI.

Welcome to the forum. I noticed you said "we." Will there be several people posting for BlackEagle?

I'm not an instructor, Truestar, but since the instructor for my boys and me refers to the Eight Key Concepts at least in part for my children, I use two of them myself with them, sometimes in the dojang, sometimes outside it. Yon Gi is translated in my art as Courage, and also "I can do it" for children. I use this with them--and they respond to me in the Korean--when there's a need for it. I say Chung Shin Tong Il, which is translated as Concentration, when I need to remind them to focus, to concentrate, when they're not quite themselves and the task may seem frustrating. They don't remember the Korean, but I say it and they repeat it after me. The boys do understand what message I'm conveying to them. That's only the first two of the Eight Key Concepts, but they're just shy of age seven, and these two work well for them--and for Dad to help them along.