Chikara

That's exactly what Isshinryu teaches, make them think twice about attacking again. I haven't had a single bruise on my arms for a year, even though we still block really hard. My other dojo teaches just the opposite, so I'm learning a new way to block and move out of the way of the oncoming energy. Sensei says it's a ploy to make them think you're weaker than you are. Block soft, hit hard.

Horseman's Form is a bo kata designed to deal with men on horses. It comes from the Burmese martial art Bando. Some of the Isshinryu senseis are friends with the Bando senseis and hold competitions together, so we learn that kata. BTW, I've been reading every msg too. I know absolutely nothing about most of the styles on here, so this is the perfect place to learn. Yesterday: 20 front kicks 20 side kicks Seisan went to Aiki J-J class (Noticed a bit of improvement!) Today I'm going to balance homework with working out: 2 pg's of h/w 10 pushups, situps, squats 1 kata 2 pg's h/w same as above and etc.

Amazing! Though we're all different styles, we still go for the same targets and suggest the same strikes.

Thanks a lot, Joe! Anger was the furthest thing from my mind. I just wanted to make sure. Our sensei loves good contact. He was in the Air Force, so he understands true combat. He always says, "Give them more juice." The only thing that really annoys me would be the obsenely obvious telegraphing and the spinning of his whole arm to make me block the way he thinks I should. The only thing I can do is stop midway and nicely tell him how people really attack. Thanks again!

Before I got to your 2nd paragraph, I knew immediately you were talking about Goku. Yes, I'm sure at some point we've all seen it. I use it as inspiration. I just didn't know the Japanese name for it. Thanks and welcome to the forum, O'Nerd.

No matter how big they are, all men have the same vulnerable areas as other men. Big or small, they've all got johnsons, ears, eyes, noses, mouths, knees, and throats. The bigger ones usually have knee issues because of their weight. And we all have elbows, knees, kicks, chops, punches, and palms. No need for anything more than the stuff we will remember in a real fight. I'm 5'1". People like me have to think like this if we ever get into a confrontation or we'd probably panic.

And what if the guy was a wrestler in HS? He'd have been able to keep you from throwing him. Besides, it sounds like it was a long range attack that was coming at you. Judo is completely short range.

Good one Joe! I often find myself in the same situation, only light sparring (even with a lot of gear; head, mouth, foot, hand)! I really want to know it works, the only way is with lots of gear and med-heavy contact. But, when we're doing certain drills together, Sensei will say not to go soft on each other. The others go soft because they're afraid of hurting me, so I crank up my own attacks and tell them to do it harder. In this other dojo I'm going to, there's this sweet guy (father of 2) and he does the worst techniques in order to go soft on me. He'll grab his fist to let me know he's going to punch, he'll punch in slow-mo, then he'll make it spin when I've already blocked to make sure I block the "right" way. It totally throws me off. How do I fix that problem?

Yeah, I looked. But, I didn't find anything. Why does being a martial artist have to feel so lonely sometimes? Is it because we're constantly told to keep it secret? I just constantly want to do it, talk about it, watch it on tv, and dream about it. It's a tiny campus (very good school though), so there aren't that many martial artists there. The most students in one of my classes was 15 on the roster, not many showed up. BTW, there's a smiley on here, the one with the red flashing aura. It says "kaioken". What does that mean? Do you know?

They're all Jehovah's Witnesses. They're SUPER against martial arts. Not bored at all! I find family histories to be very interesting.

I couldn't help myself! This blog is too good a blog to skip and it makes me accountable to workout everyday. I get emails for responses on here and all the other threads on here so I can keep up and read all of you guys' stuff too! I'll do stuff later, had school today.

Thanks! I found an mma place around here. I don't know that I'll have enough $ for that and the dojo I want. If it comes down to it, I'll still go for the Aiki J-J place instead of mma. Of course, I hope I can afford both!

Absolutely! I would love to fight in something like that, point fighting sucks.

I'll bet! My mom can't understand why I love karate so much, she respects it though. Today: Chatan Yara No Sai Urashi Bo Horseman's Form Nunchaku Kata Went to karate class. Today was also my very 1st day of college! YAY! I added 2 classes, so now I have 18 credits.

Ahh! Such good friends I've found on here!

You lucky! Be nice to have a huge MA library to work from, it'd sure mix things up for me. All I ever do are normal calisthenics, kata, and self defense techniques. Today: empty handed stuff: Seisan, Seiuchin, Wansu weapons: Nunchaku kata, Horseman's Form That's all, I was really lazy today. I'm celebrating for the first day of school tomorrow.

Luckily, being martial arts makes that crazy stuff unnecessary. (I'm a major chocoholic.)

That's why MMA judging is better; they don't hit for points (though they are counted), they hit to hurt. Judges can't judge against a KO or TKO.

Definitely! I think anywhere on the face is the Juiciest target.

Did 20 of everything and went to Aiki Jiu-Jitsu class, which made up for the rest and then some.

Cool! I hadn't really explored the Chinese arts before at all, none of the American arts. I come from a very rigid Okinawan dojo (in America). Oops! Gotta go right now! More later, sad home issues.

I didn't know he was also a scholar. It would figure though, he did create his own style.

Yes, I guess I'll have to look it up. I only know a couple of Bruce Lee's sayings.

Better than nothing but honey, right?

I'm sure, it's horribly bland.