MasterPain

Did you manage to keep a straight face?

Just to clarify here...you meant you call it by an "English name" right? We don't speak English, we talk American.

That's awesome.I ran a class on the Bujin system basics (Aikijutsu-type things) at my friendly neighborhood MMA gym tonight. Really like the spirit of sharing they have there.

Remember the basketball coach in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie? "Assert your personhood." Aggression has a negative connotative meaning for you. That's just part of your neuro-linguistic programming based on your particular personal sociologic human experience. And as Stuart Smalley would say, "That's okay." So just think of the more forward moving attitude needed to prevail in conflict as "assertiveness" and it may be easier for you. From a more technical standpoint, Brickshooter makes a great point. A forward moving counterfighter can be a good strategy. I do a lot of it, mostly because I'm short and have to defend on my way in. Reach has a lot to do with how you build your game.

Respectfully, I am a BJJ black belt under Pedro Sauer. It's not rude to ask me, or any other black belt to roll. It's all about how it's done. If I was in the middle of teaching a class and the guy asks, I'd simply say, "during open mat." If he keeps pushing the issue, that borders more on the "challenge match" type of thing. But that wasn't the issue in the scenario presented. I've trained with many world champs and none were ever upset with me for asking for a roll. I've only ever been turned down if there was a good reason (injury, no time, ect..). In my area, we have some MMA schools and I come from a hybrid art. To train with a BJJ black belt, or someone with similar experience in a primarily stand up or weapons system, involves a bit of travel. Going through the trouble of getting there and not having the opportunity to get beat up in their particular area of expertise would be disappointing. To have it happen that way because of a rule against asking would really turn me off.

If your reluctance to attack comes from experience telling you that you are good at counterfighting, fine. If it comes from moral issues and a feeling of wrongness, reexamine your personal philosophy.

The Japanese were making Godzilla movies during the Shaw Brothers era.

Football hooligans.... Europe's ridiculous phenomenon to answer us crazy armed "Mericans. Anyway, I also see first aid as good training for anyone.

I carry a knife. Not because I think I'm "hard" but because it gives me a better chance in case of serious danger. And it's a useful day to day tool. I don't see how that should be a crime. Nor do I feel that I am an idiot or a coward.Also stabbing already is attempted murder, and threats ore a crime. Criminalizing a defensive tool is not constructive.

Low round kick and side kick.

Agreed! A bit blunt, but yeah. All flash in place of substance.

If a person was worried about kata being killed by a sport, they should not worry about MMA, but kata competition. Extra points for acrobatics and screaming.

I wasn't so much offering my opinion as stating the general American attitude. As a nation, we have a very pragmatic and violent and imperialistic history. For me the focus of my practice is combative, with the forging of the spirit being just part of the process, but that is not to say I don't see the value of a sport or spiritual focus- it's just not mine.

If you consider the literal definition of "martial arts", a lot of us consider taking a fighting art without learning how to fight to be silly.

I think it's amusing when this argument comes up, that the spiritual side of the arts always comes up as part of the draw towards traditional Asian arts. Usually by people who follow Judeo-Christian beliefs. On the other side of the spectrum are those of us who practice hybrid styles and MMA while being a (not very devout) Buddhist. Does this qualify as ironic or did I miss the mark like Alanis?

That guy is either ignorant of a jerk. Or both.

How do you define these things? Speaking of Zen, it's founder was willing to teach his Way to warriors, but disliked that they used just the applied psychology aspects of it to become better fighters. Dogen was a pacifist.

Kyu ranks are not allowed to break kayfabe.

According to Genesis, the first thing the first man did was to go around naming things with binomial nomenclature. Not sure if my theology is 100 percent accurate. The second generation had the first violence. I'm going to assume that in 10 years time, there were 20 sub-styles of Rockupsideyohead Jutsu in the Land of Nod. Cause people have always liked naming things.

Thank you, Grandmaster O'Keefe. It's about time these jabronis start treating me with the proper respect and deferment.

Thanks for posting Tallgeese, it's always fun to watch 2 people who could kick my butt. Speaking of brown belts kicking my butt, I got to roll with Dan Hornbuckle the other day. Followed by his coach, who caught me trying to crawl off the mat. Lots of fun.

Those can be a blast, but you better look for submission cause the scoring system is much less certain to be well defined. Relax and have fun.

First off, welcome to the forum and to the wonderful world of martial arts. Don't know what Bondo would be, but the c-lot would be spelled Silat, it's an Indonesian art, quite beautiful. Are you training in a mixed art, or separate arts? The heavyweight gi is great for Jiu Jutsu, a lightweight Karate gi just would not hold up for grappling purposes. The only problem you may have is that Kali and Silat are weapon based arts and the punyo (butt end) of a stick will tend to catch in the long sleeves. The heat can be a problem, especially since being a girl, you'll have a sportsbra and shirt on under the gi. A heavy gi top over two others layers can be quite warm, so I'd suggest getting a rash guard shirt to wear under it. They're much better at keeping the sweat off of you and staying cool.

That's where it really gets dangerous. Women are culturally taught to be passive aggressive, whereas men are conditioned to be aggressive outright. Add in mob mentality and it can get ugly really quick.