KickChick

...well, Chris I kinda mean't in the as far as martial arts studios go -- I'm sure it's basically a popularity contest and whether the MA schools highlighted are in fact highly rated due to the quality of their instruction or their student base etc. etc. For a band to get #1 two years in a row is (yes) quite the achievement (and I in no way mean't to "belittle" that one for you) .... what happened to 2002?

#1 .... Karate Center of Milford #2 .... Black Dragon / North Haven sorry , no mention of web sites for either! Keep in mind .... it's a Reader's poll of the advocate (I wouldn't place too much worth in it) _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Black Tae Kwon Do CardioKickboxing/Fitness Inst. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-04 15:11 ]

Believe me .... I know first-hand what she went through and has accomplished. I attained my bb a month before my 40th! CONGRATS *Joanne Siddall* MUM .... (be sure to tell her from me OK?)

y'know ... I have to say it depends. I am the mother of a daughter who got her black belt at at 12, however while all her little girlfriends were doing tap dance and pointe ... at age 5 she was training in TKD.... thats 7 years of 3 days a week training. I was truly proud of her accomplishments and she deserved the attainment.... it is when they are handed out (such as that link described) ... Something could also be said of the 60 year old man or woman who in their middle age decides to train .... should they be as "proficient" at the style as their 21 yr old counterparts??? oh ... btw, no jr. bb standing at our school although I do believe there should be. What makes you an adult? Age 18 or 21 .... or at your Master's discretion? I believe the latter. _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Black Tae Kwon Do CardioKickboxing/Fitness Inst. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-04 15:01 ]

Ouch .... gotme! Heck ... I don't care .... whoever wrote it ... it is very Carlin-istic .... I like it ...'specially the part about the passing lane!!!

A water-bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it and the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for the task for which it was created, but the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half of my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said. The water-bearer answered, "As we return to the master's house I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path. Do you notice that there are flowers only on your side of the path but not on the other pot's side? This is because I have always known about your flaw. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path and every day while we walk back from the stream you have watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are there would not be this beauty to grace the house." Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We are all cracked pots, but its the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. Take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. There is a lot of good out there. Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape. Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life! Or, as I like to think of it, if it hadn't been for the crackpots in my life it would have been pretty boring and life certainly wouldn't have been very interesting.

Here is an excellent website. Check it out! The image is a panoramic view of the world from the new space station. It is a night photo with the lights clearly indicating the populated areas. You can scroll East-West and North-South. Note that Canada's population is almost exclusively along the US border. Moving east to Europe, there is a high population concentration along the Mediterranean Coast. It's easy to spot London, Paris, Stockholm and Vienna. Check out the development of Israel compared to the rest of the Arab countries. Note the Nile River and the rest of the "Dark Continent." After the Nile, the lights don't come on again until Johannesburg. Look at the Australian Outback and the Trans-Siberian Rail Route. Moving east, the most striking observation is the difference between North and South Korea. Note the density of Japan. What a piece of photography! It is an absolutely awesome picture of the Earth taken from the Boeing built Space Station on a perfect night with no obscuring atmospheric conditions. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg <http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg>

George puts things in such a context that it is hard to disagree with him. I Am A Bad American George Carlin Speaks Out... I Am Your Worst Nightmare. I am a BAD American. I am George Carlin. I like big cars, big hooters, and big paychecks. I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some midlevel governmental functionary with a bad comb-over who wants to give it away to crack addicts squirting out babies. I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac, you'd better do it in English. I'm not in touch with my feelings and I like it that way. I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child, it takes two parents. I want to know which church is it exactly where the Reverend Jesse Jackson preaches, where does he get his money & why is he always part of the problem and not the solution? I think that being a student doesn't give you any more enlightenment than working at Blockbuster. In fact, if your parents are footing the bill to put your pansy tail through 4-7 years of college, you haven't begun to be enlightened. I believe it's called the Boy Scouts for a reason. I don't think being a minority makes you noble or victimized. I don't use the excuse "it's for the children" as a shield for unpopular opinions or actions. I think fireworks should be legal on the 4th of July. My heroes are John Wayne, the Simpsons, and whoever canceled Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor. I know wrestling is fake and I don't waste my time arguing about it. I think global warming is a big lie. Where are all those experts now, when I'm freezing my butt through a long winter? I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I didn't wander forty years in the desert after getting chased out of Egypt, I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks and neither have you, so shut up already. I think the cops have every right to shoot your sorry ass if you're running from them. I also think they have the right to pull your ass over if you are breaking the law, regardless of what color you are. I think if you are too stupid to know how a ballot works, I don't want you deciding who should be running the most powerful nation of the world for the next four years. I think if you are in the passing lane, and not passing, your license should be revoked, and you should be forced to ride the bus until you promise to never delay the rest of us again. I think Dr. Seuss was a genius. If that makes me a BAD American, then yes, I'm a BAD American.

Anything vs. anything fuels a debate ... and as I posted before.... martial artists are very egotistical when it comes to their own style and practice, IMHO that is.... so its no wonder why there are so many pages posted.... it starts to get played ... but then again anything that has TKD in it interests me!!! _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Black Tae Kwon Do CardioKickboxing/Fitness Inst. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-03 20:25 ]

My instructor/owner of our school and I were discussing ranking requirements just the other day and how other schools conduct their gradings etc. etc. I just sent him this link ... and WOW ...I have managed to frustrate 2 guys in one night! Wait .... "Honey, I'll be there in a second .... I'm still posting on KarateForums".... Make that 3!

You're very welcome flash ... good luck and come back and post here with your feedback! (... I am interested in what you think of both!) BTW .... the 2nd one was voted 3rd best Martial Arts instruction in he NH Advocate poll of The Best of New Haven 2002 _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Black Tae Kwon Do CardioKickboxing/Fitness Inst. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-03 19:57 ]

ha ... I expected that from you Bon! I posted it and saw you in the forum and was just waiting for your response.... (exactly what I thought you would say!) .... But check out the style of the martial art taught .... and their ranking system .... check out their black belt requirements..... http://ksdi.net/bbtest.htm .... I don't mean to put them under a microscope or anything but it rather unique to me. Also on the url I listed it talks about the rebreakable boards that are talked about in the "breaking" thread http://www.karateforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=2748&forum=2 _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Black Tae Kwon Do CardioKickboxing/Fitness Inst. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-03 19:50 ]

Makes me wonder if anyone quotes any of our threads here and points out the "intellect" we have here on this forum. Reading threads in other forums that consist of "this" vs. "that" truly bores me!

My 7 year old son (who just got his 2nd deg. blue) rented Jackie Chan "Drunken Master" dvd the other day. (He has gotten on this kick that he wants to try Kung Fu/Shaolin next after he gets his TKD black belt .... plays way too much PS2 Virtual Streetfighter and WuTang Shaolin).... well, anyway after we we switched the language to English (we watched about 10 minutes of it in Cantonese!) we then could understand the movie.... but it was so slapstick and 3 stooges-like! Jackie was pretty cool as a youngin' with long hair and quite the eye for the ladies ... but really a pretty of a flick!

Just happened upon this on the net today .... thoughts anyone?? http://ksdi.net/wybb.htm

Yes have heard of them ... http://www.ussd.com/ ... instruction in Kung Fu and Karate. If you are interested in Shaolin Wushu instruction in CT check out http://www.aiping-taichi.com/ _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Black Tae Kwon Do CardioKickboxing/Fitness Inst. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-05-03 12:35 ]

... ...c'mon ... it's better the other 5-letter word!

3rddanblack ... seems people want to make up their own poll and their own submissions for the Olympics! But sorry .... a poll is when you cast a vote among legitimate contenders. Heck I wish "shopping" was an Olympic event ... but you don't see me whining!

There are so many cultural aspects to consider with regards to the beginnings of the different arts. The Japanese martial arts were governed by their principal weapon, the sword. Sword fights usually lasted one or two exchanges. That has influenced the Japanese viewpoint so that they emphasize the "one punch kill" coming from the one cut kill. The Japanese took over and ruled Okinwa. Only the Japanese were allowed weapons so the Okinawans had to develop a martial art that could go against someone with a weapon and armor. They only had one chance (the one kill concept) so they developed their fists to be as hard as stone so they could break through the armor and kill their attacker. In Korea, it is an insult to punch someone in the face, but ok to kick them in the face!. This is where the kick oriented arts began. The art originates from a culture and this stylizes the art. In America we take what works and apply it. We are not bound by any cultural tradition, that is to say, doing it a certain way because that was the way it's been done for years. We have taken some of the Oriental arts and molded them them to our own culture ... Some of the "Fathers of Martial Arts in America" are Pat Burleson, Bruce Lee, Anthony Mirakian, Jhoon Rhee, Allen Steen, George Matteson, Ed Parker, Tsutomu Oshima and Robert Trias. (...this going back only 40 years or so).... Burleson is known as the founder of the American Karate system. "Americans had never heard of karate. They only knew the mystical aspects of it. We took it out of that realm and made it an effective fighting method. That was part of martial art's evolution in America. And that's why we did what we did." "But," adds Burleson, "in doing that we neglected 90% of the character building aspects that go with it. We were so busy fighting and showing that it worked that we neglected the emphasis the true martial spirit and the mental aspects that go with it. But I'm proud of what we've done in this country. We've pioneered a rugged art, one that's respected anywhere in the world. I hope that we are now coming a full-circle and emphasizing the philosophies that should go along with any martial art, even an American one."

...although you posted this in H&F ... I believe it should go into MA general. Yes, TKD does involve alot of kicking ... and spinning, jumping....alot of hip movement ... sometimes aggravates those with bad backs and causes many to develop back problems. You must train your hip flexors and core muscle groups while training in TKD so as not to fall prone to such injuries. How about kickboxing???

Check it out for yourself ad http://www.dumblaws.com/countries/england.html "many of the laws on this site have been verified, but many have been copied from sources which do not include law citations. The laws have been taken from newsgroups, websites, city governments, and visitors to the site. Keep in mind that this is an entertainment site, we wouldn't recommend using our laws as evidence in court, unless you'd like the judge to laugh you into jail! If you'd like to send in a law, or comment on our site (remember: what you say may be published for the entertainment of others!)" In Liverpool England It is illegal for a woman to be topless in public except as a clerk in a tropical fish store. ...now maybe thats an exaggeration huh? :brow:

OK guys YOU also have dumb laws in England too (that you just happened not to mention!) like.... *Placing a postage stamp that bears the Queen (or King) upside down is considered treason. *Any boy under the age of 10 may not see a naked manequin. *It is legal for a male to urinate in public, as long it is on the rear wheel of his motor vehicle and his right hand is on the vehicle *A bed may not be hung out of a window. *You may not make out in public.

Oh man [CT]pizzaboy you are a riot!! You can be our comic relief here! to board breaking ... great post Ti-Kwon-Leap!

Seems we got a bit off topic here guys! Glad to hear that the 'pulled hammy' isn't that serious ... and yes do take it easy and do that light stretching everyday. Unfortunately this is one of those reoccuring injuries that every martial artist is prone to. It is so very important to stretch everyday.... once in morning upon waking and prior to class (at home). One thing that I have noticed is that many classes do not give you sufficient time to stretch before your floor exercises or even set aside time at end of class for a stretch (which is also important ... you gain all that more flexibility once you are warmed up!) No pulled hammies!

Welcome to KarateForums Withers M.A.A. Good Luck on the grand opening!