Kirves

I'd like to add JKD to my curriculum and/or take BJJ too.

It's just a small joke.

Many styles have their strategic preferences (some prefer "weak side forward", some "strong side forward", all have their reasons why their tactics work better from that stance) but IMHO all styles should do some practice from the not-so-preferred stance also, just to make it more familiar.

Except some teenagers!

Perhaps you should've put the word "modern" in the title too?

It is used in koryu bujutsu (old Japanese styles). Licence to wear it depends on the style. In most aikido styles, you get to wear hakama at brown or black belt. In many koryu jujutsu you have to be a black belt, or shoden menkyo to be allowed to wear it. As said, depends on style.

I had the same problem: my mother didn't want me to start training anything that involved fighting. And being christian, she was also afraid I'd get involved in some kind of asian religions if I started karate.

How many of you got interested in martial arts, because you saw some martial arts flicks as a kid? How about computer/video games? I got my first tastes of martial arts from Chackie Chan kung fu flicks when I was about 7-9 years old, plus from several computer games like The Way of The Exploding Fist, Karateka, Bruce Lee, Yie Ar Kungfu, International Karate and so on. All those in the eighties, as a kid. Those sparked my enthusiasm and as a teenager I finally got to join a martial art club. How about you folks?

Excellent post, Rich! That is exactly what I've been saying in not so many words around here before, but you put is so eloquently. People often ask "which art is best for a real life street situation" or "who has been in one" but as stated, there are so many different levels. You forgot things like domestic violence (if your dad's using your mama as a punching bag, it can be dangerous, but you probably won't want to hurt your dad too bad) and similar situations when you just want to control someone without hurting him (a drunk friend charges you out of a misunderstanding or jealousy incident).

I am a member of a national karate association and they inform about such events in their member newsletter, website and so on. Find an organization that suits you and your particular style. Or several.

Okay, now that you explained what you consider a street fight, then I get into some frequently - because of my job as a guard. When I get a call from someone in the staff that there's an aggressive customer that needs to be taken out of the building, it's my job to come and make it so. Often the customers aren't that co-operative and so a "fight" ensues. Or I'd prefer to call it a struggle. There are people on this forum who don't consider such incidents fights, unless they are dead serious situations, that is why I asked for the clarification. Nevertheless, they are situations where my MA training helps.

Depends on what ninjutsu we are talking about. If we talk about koryu ninjutsu (old/medieval ninjutsu) then they do have the same kind of menkyo ranking system as the other bujutsu arts did. For example Masaaki Hatsumi has the rank of Menkyo Kaiden in Togakure-ryu - if I remember correctly. This Menkyo system was the "standard" ranking system in most Japanese bujutsu arts. If we talk about the modern systems called ninjutsu, many of them have developed their own modern ranking systems with belts and whatever.

Yeah. Never take these online forum talks so seriously. People often get too personal when discussing views about things. You can't change the other person, and even if you could, (s)he's just one of the 6 billion on this planet. Let them make their own kata even if they don't understand the one's they've been taught. Big deal. Focus on what makes you a better fighter and then look in the mirror with a satisfied look. The martial arts are about what you can do not what you can make someone else do. Happy training!

What is a street fight? If it means a fight to the death where you rip his eyes and flesh out, then I haven't been in one. If it is something else, I may have been in some.

Distance should'nt cause contact. You should be in control of your punches regardless of the distance. I can punch a brick wall from any distance without hitting it. Of course accidents happen, but not as the rule.

Hmmm... Where did you get that idea. Full contact means nothing but 100% contact. There are lots of full contact tournaments with different rules. Shootfighting is full contact. Boxing is full contact. K1 is full contact. UFC is full contact. Kyokushin knockdown tournaments are full contact. They just have different rule sets. Full contact does not equal fight without any rules. It only means you use full contact (= you won't restrict your power). UFC is nothing more than Vale Tudo sparring with some added rules.

There is some grey between black and white. No-contact and Full-contact are not the only options.

Fun yes. And useful when you already know how to fight! Now, there's something to look forward to. I was just picky about calling one a "ninjutsu-student" when one has started training in one of the X-kans. Nothing personal.

I got a black belt in a week. It came with a book I mail ordered (it took a week for it to arrive). It was a ninja book written by Ashida Kim and there was a black belt certificate with it. LOL!

Yeah, I regret just telling anyone that I train any martial art. It really was a mistake.

Depends. Where are you studying Taichi and how? If you study it full contact, it won't take that long. If you are studying it doing solo form on the backyard lawn every sunrise, it may take a decade or two. I agree with the rest of your post though. Just like you said, some arts teach more effective tactics, some not. Some teach stuff that take more time to perfect than some. One has to make the judgement for his/her own needs when beginning training.

Great. But who are you disagreeing with?

Face the fact: some techniques, methods, tactics and strategies are better than others. Big deal. Not all arts are alike, some have developed more efficient methods than others. It is like military armies. Some countries have better trained and better equipped armies than others. No big deal. And some armies are better on land and others on sea. Not to mention the ones who rule the sky. Same with martial arts, some are best on the ground, some best when you're standing. Some are best when in the ring. Some when armed. And so on. One art gives you the tools to kill ASAP. Another art gives you the tools to control an agressive person without harming him. And so on. The problem is: everyone seems to be looking for the best. Best at what? There are thousands of styles and arts. Their effectiveness ranges from poor to great. And that depends on what you are using them for. Problem is, nobody can give you an objective view. The best you can do is research and trial. Or if you don't care if it's "the best you can find" then pick one you are comfortable with and don't listen to what other people say. And yes. Just about any fighting training helps you when a drunk is trying to shoot his haymaker into your mouth. But most of the people who say "karate is no good" or "tae kwon do is no good" or "judo is no good" are the people who claim that you must also be able to defend against a sober MMA expert. Everyone suit yourself, if you are afraid that you are attacked by a sober MMA expert then train for that goal. If you are afraid that you are attacked by a drunk bastard, then train for that. You can't train for all possible scenarios, no matter what you train, five sober robbers with firearms will make all your empty hand skills moot. Do what you like and that way you'll stick to it. That's what counts.

I'm always a bit wary with the word "never". To say "sparring _never_ works" is quite a statement. Those who believe it, are free to do so. I don't believe that it will never work, but that's just my opinion. Another issue is this assumption that a fight always means ripping the other guys eyes out, crippling him for life and overall maiming the gsus out of him. Lucky for us, most aggressive situations are not this serious. It doesn't matter wether it is my sister (a waitress in a bar) or me (a security guard of a public/crowded building), both of us have to handle aggressive customers (some of them drunk or on drugs) almost on daily basis. Neither of us can blind, cripple or maim our customers in any way or we'll spend a long while in jail. True, if I'm attacked in the dark alley, I will be more aggressive myself in my response, but not all self defence/martial arts students train for that purpose alone. The person you are defending your family member against, may be a family member too! You don't want to kill him just for losing temper and slapping your sister too hard... Nor do you want to cripple or kill your customer who came back filing a complaint that went a bit overboard and got physical. Most of real life fights are these little incidents when you must be able to handle the situation and regain control without seriously hurting anybody involved.

Personally I agree with you (I study a bare-knuckle knockdown style), but several styles/arts/instructors/schools/tournaments do no-contact sparring because a) they are afraid of injuries so they take the extreme precaution b) they say you must be able to control your techniques 100% so it is (in their mind) actually "cool" to be able to punch someone in the face and stop within fraction of an inch before contact. c) they target towards small kids