Pyros

Sorry, I hadn't noticed this post at all! Yes, I know Kirves, we both work for the same company and also train together. We sort of handle these discussion forums together, as I haven't got Internet-access from my house. I can only get to the net from work or Kirves' place so often we are typing these posts "together".

Exactly. A belt rank means one is proficient in all the techniques required for that rank in that particular system. If a Hapkido blackbelt beats up a BJJ blackbelt in a ring, no way is he supposed to get a black belt in BJJ just for that. And vice versa.

I agree. My sister was walking with me down a street and was attacked by a stoned narc with intent of stealing her purse. This unknown pedestrian suddenly pulled the purse knocking my sister down on the pavement. When he realized the purse sling went around my sisters neck, he started using serious violence to get the purse sling off around her head. She was just screaming in panic. I stepped in to get him stop and he attacked me. My sister got up and ran away, and after she got far enough, I started running too. You are very right, me and my sister have very weak characters for getting into this situation. We need to meditate more so it won't happen again.

Seen Kurosawa's "Yojimbo"? Excellent!

Joined JKD Unlimited to study JKD.

Style, yes. A new art, no. If you want to start a new karate style or tae kwon do style or jujutsu style, if you want it to be recognized you have to go to the (a) head organization of that art. But if you start a completely new art, say Onidokan Budo (let's assume such an art doesn't accidentally exist.. ) there's no head organization to ask. You are the organization! You start the World International Onidokan Budo Association and name yourself it's chairman. Then you get some students and start teaching. There really is noone you answer to, as long as you don't lie to people. Just say it out lout: In the year 2003 I founded a new art. Period.

It's not always a case of forgery. Often a (hypothetical) guy has 1st dan in TKD and 1st dan in Judo and also has a huge need for immediate gratification. Thus he launches his own organization creating a new martial art style "Han Kuk Sool Hwang Do" combining TKD and Judo techniques and suddenly he has a curriculum up to 5th dan with himself already ranked at the top. All legal. All common.

You won't build bodybuilder muscles with martial arts classes. You get trim and toned, like you took a good power aerobics class. You will only look better, don't worry. External arts tend to be more physical. They are easier at first to learn and apply but they need more speed and strength that will diminish when you get old. An extreme example is Thai Boxing. Internal arts tend to be more subtle and technical. They take more time to learn so it'll work in real life (say five years of internal arts, say one year for external arts, for you to get basic self defence skills that may come from the blue when you get jumped). As they rely less on physical attributes, you tend to keep the skills when you're nearing a hundred years old. An extreme example is Tai Chi (not just the morning exercise but trained with the traditional combat side included).

Welcome! I hope you feel as welcome here as I did, I was pleasantly surprised by this board as I have posted on E-Budo, MartialTalk, BudoSeek and occasionally on other boards and this one just gave me a warm and welcomed feeling from the get go!

In USA that is. Here in Europe we still have the disctinction even in the ignorant public's mind. Here you rarely see (I have never seen or heard of) a "Korean Karate" school or such. Here just about everyone who has heard of karate or judo, has also heard of tae kwon do, kung fu, jujutsu, etc.

Yeah, I supposed that was the case at least in some cases. Of course it depends on the instructor, some are incorporating BJJ and similar stuff to theirs as a marketing tactic. Which is fine if it is done by bringing in a certified instructor, but I hate it when the instructor goes to a couple of BJJ seminars (or even stars training in a club for what it's worth) and then starts to add the techniques he learns to his own classes. He has no right or skill to teach those techniques! That sucks!

There are crane and other techniques in karate. Karate kid did Okinawan karate. But Mr. Miyagi's name was just coincidentally same as the Goju Ryu master. Like "John" in America - lots of Johns around, eh? Remember that on Okinawa, the most influence on karate came from China, that's why it was at first called "The Chinese Hand" instead of "The Empty Hand" as it is now called. Shorin is a direct translation of Shaolin, just to give an example. I also, as a European, for some years wondered why americans call everything karate. But later I found out from my personal contacts that in USA they try to make it more familiar to the public. Like Chuck Norris started training Tae Kwon Do but he called it Korean Karate instead to make it more familiar to the public who didn't really know anything about the stuff.

Here's an excellent article about the street and the street people from a man who knows what he's talking about, first hand. http://www.lwcbooks.com/articles/Streetpeoplearticle.html

Wow, I feel at home already with such welcoming! Great spirit on this forum, it seems!

-afraid of getting hit -not confident enough to commit to an attack