FitOrDie

Okay, so much quoting, cross talking... I get lost, so let's just ask. Does anyone posting still believe in the Dim Mak?

I tend to have them loose, because the only time you want to tighten your fist is right before punching. Otherwise it slows you down. However, my blocking is pretty much that of a boxer without gloves (forearms and elbows if I can), so I couldn't offer an opinion on parrying (other than it is usually ineffective in real confrontations).

If he is going for a single, you can always try to reverse it.

I'm sure a criminal or two would be interested in my Chevy Tahoe...

Being "purposely built for exercise" should hardly make a difference in a karate class. Unless there are mats on the floor, and weren't elsewhere, who would even know the difference? Dude, you just said you are anaemic and asthmatic. Start there!!!

It sounds like a flexibility issue, but you might also want to strengthen your hip flexors (one of the most overlooked, and important muscle groups). Leg lifts, sit-ups, glute-ham sit-ups (a.k.a. roman sit-ups), ab wheel rollouts, will all help with that, in that order of difficulty. Be sure to actively extend (push out) your leg (or flex your quads) to activate ALL your hip flexors. Concerning flexibility, look into "contract-relax stretching" to increase flexibility quickly. It's the only thing out there that has been proven to work quickly, I think.

You know what these Dim Mak things are? They're just like ghosts. You meet people, time and again, who knew someone's roomate's brother's whatever... every one who has heard of one or believes in them seems to know someone who can do it... but no one has ever actually seen it themselves. Every now and then, as in ghosts, you see a TV show about one, and you say "Hey! See? It's real!" Yet, still, never a shred of proof, lots of theories, and no one has actually seen one themselves... OOOoooOOOooo... BOO!

Car jackers go after crappy cars too.

Oh, here's a question for everyone. Don't you think "big guns" are just for other guys, anyway? I have found that the ladies like lean, fit looking bodies. In fact, in all my experience with the ladies, and I've been out with a few... and none of them ever cared about my biceps, or even looked that them.

Fantastic! If I might suggest pull-ups. Can't get enough of those.

Yea, that thing is hilarious. I have the full version somewhere... its a little less humorous and more in depth. It basically is really good for ideas where you say "oh yea, duh."

It may be that you reacted with a side kick because it was more fresh in your mind, having trained in kempo a day or two before. Memory often works that way. As far as that drunk is concerned, the only reason I can think to feel bad (which I wouldn't, don't get me wrong), is that he deserved a lot more punishment than he got. Good for you.

In another thread, FitOrDie, "effective" and "efficient" were brought up as terms to consider. A technique or chain of techniques may be effective, but are they efficient? From the postings referring to these terms, and your reference, above, if straightforward, nothing fancy, nothing from a movie, techniques are used, and these are done quickly so that they are efficient, and effective enough (e.g., a palmheel to the lead adversary's nose) to enable you the precious seconds you need to get out of there, you're right on the money. If you think about it, if something is not very efficient, it won't be very effective either.

You have any proof of all this? Kodenkan Ju-Jitsu, from which my humble martial arts history began, has many such points. There is another point along the stomach meridian located near the bladder that when struck will cause the attacker to begin heaving, as if vomiting, I have personally seen this one many times...it seems to be a favorite amongh black belts sparring one another...seeing who can tag the other first. Some systems still retain such anatomical point attacks, but as I said in my response to Bushido-man, most have purposely stopped teaching such techniques for fear of misuse. Good evidence can be found in any black belt of a system still retaining such knowledge, you would just have to find such a system near you. I have had some of the less dangerous ones done to me, kind of like when Polise Officers have to be tazed when they are being tazer certified, they have to know what it feels like in case they ever have to use it. They aren't fun to experience...but they are real and they do work. None of this is proof of the ability to make a heart just stop pumping blood.

I think Cross hit it on the head here. In fact, you know you have a good martial art when there is no discouraging of experimenting, but you don't need to most of the time anyway. My first experience with martial arts was at this Kung Fu place. It was ridiculous. The things we "learned" were so obscure and odd and unnatural that no one would ever actually be able to fight that way. They were strange, too, in that if I had never been in class to see the second half of a form or something, it wouldn't be kosher to show it to me. That's how uptight they were. Now, take a BJJ class, boxing/kickboxing... anyone will show anyone anything that they want. People still add to BJJ from time to time, and people experiement and develop their own personal "styles" BJJ and especially boxing/kickboxing.. but what is there is there because it works and has evolved just like a species. The strong techniques survive, the weak are forgotten. And that, to repeat my point, is why I know I go to good schools. No one is going to refuse to show me an armbar from knee-on-stomache because I missed that class/seminar. No one is going to refuse to show me how to set up a lead hook to the body. And, if I develop a strategy that works, no one is going to say "that is now how Shao-Lin [or whoever] does it." So, to repeat my original point, a good martial art has no need for such strict adherance to tradition that you can't experiment or try things differently. However, a good martial art also will often correct you when you do so because you keep losing.