MasterPain

The problem lies in something that was said to someone further back in my lineage. "No, they're not (vulgar term for weak people), they're customers."

If I could tell someone was honestly the victim of violence, I'd help them. But, like Zaine says, confidence is a factor. I'm trained for violence. Now, if a stranger was drowning, they better hope I have a rope.

That is awesome!

I feel that contact level should be what is safe and consented to. No one should be struck harder than they want to be. And no one should be treated like a child based on gender.

Start with a Stuart Smally Daily Affirmation. Physically, start with your hands, go almost limp wristed, if your fists are clenched you are holding tension in your arms and shoulders, including in the muscles that are counterproductive to good punching power. Focus on that and the rest of your body should relax more by extension.

I'm full of high school humor. Trouble is, I'm 30. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTDGb-Ooi64 Enjoy.

I would love to read it.

Hey, don't knock the Kino Mutai....

Yay! Thanks and congrats to the other winners.

Just some thoughts here. How many times have you heard someone say that you should respect someone for their mind? Am I alone in thinking that to be superficial? Sure, a bright mind is something to be admired, but so is athletic ability, artistic talent, or just being too sexy for your lands in New York and Japan as you do your little turn on the catwalk. All these are things you are born with a certain capacity for, and maybe can improve somewhat with effort. They are simply attributes, stats on your character sheet for the D&D game of life. Why should intelligence be given a place of honor among these? Isn't Alignment more important? Chances are by law of averages, Ted Kaczynski has a higher IQ than you. Is the Unabomber somehow more worthy of respect than me? The effort to improve these things is more commendable than the results, in my opinion. But is even that effort worthy of a deeper respect? I believe the motivation behind the effort is where we find true worth. The mind and body are vessels for our will. It is not the cup that is of value, but what we choose to fill it with. It is my conclusion that kindness and compassion are all that commands true respect.

Total bust. Financial problems and stress. However, things are improving, as is my attitude toward them. Time to prepare for 2013.

I agree with you, but I can see the other side as well. Which is the entire issue, people not seeing the other side.

Are there any other kinds of drills?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanchin read the part on shime. May help some. Also, keep in mind that before Funakoshi, Karate was sometimes written with kanji for Chinese hand.

I feel you there. High school is hard for an introvert. When a high priority is placed on winning, as it often is in school sports, the abundance of testosterone can run you right out of the room. My school didn't have wrestling, but I felt that way about a lot of people. BJJ tends to discourage the overblown ego thing by the very nature of the practice. This is of course a blatant generalization, so your mileage may vary.

I've not worked with the wooden dummy before. Looks like fun though.

This stuff is some of my favorite parts of the arts. I wish there were more like you to preserve it.

Another thing you see a lot is people trying to catch a punch out of the air, rather than feeding into the capturing hand. Much of this Tallgeese covered in another thread, but I figured why not give tuite in general it's own topic.

Sorry, bad pun. First off, what is tuite? It's Japanese for "I need something to hit you with, I'll just take your arm, it looks like a good club." The Japanese can fit a lot into a word. Let me begin with a few problems with tuite. First, it is often taught as separate techniques rather than as a part of a systematic response pattern. This makes it hard to use against random attacks. To train it live requires people who have spent enough time as uke and tori to understand what is safe, and enough control to not hurt each other. Sadly, this step often never happens. Also, it is often taught as takedowns and compliance holds, ruining the effectiveness of movements that are meant to be destructions, with no time to defend or fall before the limb is broken. The nature of the proper use of most tuite makes it inappropriate for competition and for what JusticeZero calls a Drunk Uncle Situation. Here is an example of well executed tuite in a place it should never be used. Warning: nasty! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_718dOW09k It should always be used in conjunction with striking or at least breaking the attackers balance by means of stepping through his center. Often it is not taught this way. If you notice, my issues are mainly with poor teaching, rather than technical. Although I will say that it is most useful when defending against a weapon, as most of the attackers attention will be on the weapon hand when you seize it.

Ninjutsu has competions? Ever see Gymkata?

Yes.

Thanks, that would have taken a long time for me to type.

What an ungrateful lot. You probably don't celebrate the fourth of July either. Positively unpatriotic. LOL Nope but we do celebrate 5 and 11 November (what the hell are those I hear you ask! ) so !! I can't help I ain't never got educated. I'll look those up later.

Someone said that a nation that does not value courage and wisdom equally will be run by cowards and defended by idiots, or something like that. We need more Lord Byrons in the world. He wrote She Walks in Beauty, and fought for Greece's independence when the British army wouldn't accept him. Well, that other matter we'll just pretend didn't happen.

What an ungrateful lot. You probably don't celebrate the fourth of July either. Positively unpatriotic.