delta1

It is understandable that you don't want to upset your current schoolmates and teacher. But you are not getting what you want out of the martial arts at your current school, and can not be expected to keep paying and practicing something you aren't satisfied with. The problem the two instructors have with each other is their problem, not yours. If he takes an attitude toward you for switching schools, maybe he isn't so well versed in the self improvement arts he apparently teaches. On the other hand, he may understand your position and wish you well. I'd be honest with him. Tell him what you want out of the arts,and that you want to try the other schools approach to teaching it. Try not to close any doors behind you, as you may find the other school has some things you don't like as well. But, in the end, if he gives you an ultimatum or even a hard time about trying the other school, I'd make the switch.

Thanx, WW. One thing I should clarify- the purpose for writing these notes is not so they can be used in court. They are so your lawyer knows what he's going to have to deal with. Your lawyer can decide whether or not to use the notes in court. If the prosecution even suspects they exist, he will ask for them and use them against you. And, by the time he's finished twisting things around, even you won't know what happened. One other point, be honest with your lawyer. Lawyers are trained liars, you are not. Lie, it will come back on you big time. Don't tell anyone except your lawyer anything you don't have to, because the more you say the more they have to twist around and use against you. Keep it simple, direct, and honest. Take your time, allow your lawyer to cue you, and give him time to intervene. One tactic that is sure to be used against you is to get you going fast to try and trip you up. They will get you riled, then start fireing questions at you rapidly. Most people try to get those answers in fast, since we all want our say. Turn it around on them. Don't answer. When they stop, tell them to start over with their questions, restate them one at a time, and give you a chance to answer. I love this, since when stated slowly their questions usually prove to be pure *, and are seen for the trickery and lies they are. If they get too aggressive, your lawyer will be on them any way, and you don't want to try to talk over the two of them. Relax, enjoy the show. Trials are dead boreing, so you'll probably enjoy the break. Try to look at this as an adventure, but a seriouse one. You stand to learn many valuable lessons here. And the risks are not as great as they would be if this kind of thing happens later in life. Our legal system is a pathetic fact of life that we all have to contend with. You have an opportunity now to really see it at work and learn from it. One more reason not to take the easy road and cop a plea. But the main reason is still that a conviction here will mess with your life, no matter what they tell you. I'll give you another example how this can happen. Say you go into the military or into public service. For many of the best jobs, your record will be scrutinized with a fine tooth comb. Try getting on embassy duty, getting a security clearance, spec ops, or other duty that requires character and a clean record. You'll find out just how well those records were (not) sealed.

Try kiai drills. Two of you stand facing each other at uppercut range. Take a horse stance. One turns his head to the side (you'll see why when you do this ), the other punches him in the abdomen. The one being hit kiais with every punch. The punches should start off light, and each hit gets a little harder. Keep the strikes slow enough that he has the time to breathe- a common error is to speed up as the power increases. When the strikes get too hard to take, the guy getting hit steps back, and the drill is over, and you change roles. Medicine balls are also a good way to work the abs and kiais.

Most American Kenpo schools require you to create your own Thesis form at every level but yellow. I've done several, and they are an excelent training tool. You really have to understand and think about what you are doing. I'm useing the same method with my FSTKD, though it isn't required. I take the move that I want to work on from forms and one steps, rework them and put them in my own created form. I also get creative with the names: "Thesis Form 1, Thesis Form 2, ..."

It was probably a mistake to approach them. But, once they indicated they wanted to fight, three on one, you were justified in pre-emptive striking. Hard to say what the court will make of this, but I'm guessing they'll try to get you to cop a plea to a lesser charge. They will tell you that as a juvenile, it won't go on your permanent record. At this point, THEY ARE LIEING TO YOU! There are records, and they can be used against you the rest of your life. The biggie is Interpol, and if you ever decide to travel this one can bite you big time. Many US citizens are nailed by Canadian authorities for lieing when they enter the country. Convicted of minor offenses as juveniles, they were told their records would be cleared at 18, so they answer no when asked about previouse convictions. If Canadian officials check, for any reason, the person is arrested and charged. Of course, answer yes and you can cancel any immediate travel plans. If you can, get a good lawyer. Meantime, shut up! Starting with us here, do not make any more statements to anyone without your lawyer present. Sit down right now and write down everything you can remember saying to anyone. Details are important- exactly what was said, when, to who, and who might have overheard. Most of this will be approximations, and should be noted as such. If you have exact times or quotes, log why you have such details hours or days after the fact. Don't forget to note the exact time and date you made the notes, and any additions or changes. Make the notes neat, and changes should be made by crossing out the error with one line,writing the change, and initialing all changes. The ONLY person you should even hint to that these notes exist is your lawyer. They are a discoverable document, which means that they can be read by the prosecution and later called into evidence. Until you are aquitted, you are in a different kind of fight with these jerks and the system. The outcome of this fight will effect your entire life. Do not expect fair treatment from the system, and be on your guard at all times. But don't go in with an attitude either. It is possible they may be sympathetic to your case. One other thing about dealing with the system- they are for the most part beaurocrats who are overworked, and think they are more overworked than they are as well. Stand up firmly without being dissrespectful, and they often back down. Your case may not be worth the effort to them if they can't bully you into a plea bargain. Unfortunately, that also applies to most lawyers, so don't let yours sluff you off. You'll have to make up your own mind, but I'd fight it all the way, just given the few details you gave.

I have to go with the kiai as the first line of defense. An uppercut to the mid section is quick and powerful, and no matter what you do it is highly likely it will connect. Also, move the target. A kiai will help you absorb the blow to your stomache, but if it connects with the solar plex you are in trouble, so you want to get the target moving even if he's going to land the shot. If you are guarding with both hands up and elbows in, turn and drop an elbow and try to take it on the arm. If you have a high/low guard with mid check in place, step and turn with a downward forearm block. Step in or out, whichever suits you, as either can set you up for and extremely quick counter strike with your elbow. Steping in can set you up to attack simultaneously on three levels: base, elbow strike from the block, and finger technique from the upper checking hand.

Security jobs, and assignments in the same job, tend to be varried. Depends on the company, what the customer contracted for, and what you are watching. Don't expect it to be like being a cop, and it can be dead boreing. Also, you aren't allways working with the best co-workers, as it isn't the type of job a lot of quality people decide to make a carreer out of. There are a lot of different kinds of security as well, but answering an add in the paper and without a lot of training and experience, you are probably talking about general security work: watching gates, makeing rounds, punching in at security stations, or maybe wearing a uniform and showing a presence. Not that it is bad work, just don't expect too much of it.

That would be me! I'm curiouse about this statement. First off, communicating with an assailant would depend on the situation. If I do choose to communicate with someone I'm holding at gunpoint, conversation is liable to be curt, commanding, and decidedly one sided. But mostly, I'm interested in why you don't want to have him show his hands. If he did something seriouse enough for me to point a gun at him, I definately want to see those hands. Anything he does will probably involve useing his hands, so I want to know where they are and exactly what they are doing. And, he'd best show them to me slowly and in exactly the manner I tell him to do it. Any deviation is a trigger. If I point a gun, I intend to shoot, and he is the trigger that carries that intention into action.

Sauzin, excellent point! While sometimes the 'block' and strike occur simultaneously, more often they occur as you state here, with a quarter or half beat delay between the parry and the 'block'. To continue the theme, your initial parry gives sensitivity to your 'defense'. The 'block' can actually be a pinning check, parry, positioning block, crane and pull, cutting punch, ..., whatever flows into place. It all depends on relative position and what you feel him doing. This is one of the reasons I prefer the term 'recieve' rather than 'block'.

Good site, Red J. I think it was Hank Slemansky that Al Tracy said Ed Parker sent Elvis to train under before he'd promote Elvis to black. But, that is trusting my memory a lot. Anyhow, it's not important. What is important is that according to all reliable sources, Elvis was good. TCB Flash!

ditto

From those listed, definately BJJ for grappling and in close striking. Probably Kali and Escrima for the stand up and weapons system. But so much depends on the school and instruction that any advice from us here has to be taken in a general sense only.

Talking with MGM right now, but they are insisting on footage of the Lions tournament, which I don't think is germain to the story. So far, my efforts at casting have only gotten me several severe beat downs! I'll let you know when I get lucky... I mean, when I fill the parts!

If we could be hung for what our relatives did, I'd be in trouble too! Most of mine are horse thieves and train robbers- and my ancestors were worse!

That's what honorary means. Sort of like a university giving an honorary doctorate to a high school dropout for donating a million bucks to them. Elvis actively promoted AK at a time when Ed Parker needed to get hte word out. So, while he earned his black the hard way, Elvis was apparently awarded an advanced 'honorary' degree.

Probably not Segal. Elvis was apparently, from what I've heard, the real thing.

For JG, who's skepticism inspired this tome. THE THREE BARES, a Grimmy Fairy Tale by someone called delta1. Once upon a time, there were three bares- that is to say three ladies that liked to sunbathe in the raw. They weren't weird or anything, they just wanted to be able to wear evening gowns and such without tan lines. One of them had some property where they could go and bake in seclusion, and most people respected their privacy. But there was also a notoriouse wolf in their town, and this guy had no respect for anyone. One day, he charged in and attacked the three bares. They got away, but just barely, which was a little embarrassing for them. It did provide the townsfolk with a lot to talk about, and many jokes were made at their expense. Now, our three young protagonists decided to do something about this situation. They were going to learn to fight, so that in the future they would not have to run away, exposing themselves to ridicule and derision. They bought some protective gear and started fighting each other on a regular basis. Of course, they weren't going to win Pride or UFC (the local Lions tourney or the Unicorn Fencing Challenge), but they were certainly getting better. Even amatures can improve with realistic practice. But these were smart gals- they realized there was still a large gap between what they were doing and what they would face in another attack. Experience, even bad experience, is a wonderful teacher. So, they hired a street ruffian to attack them repeatedly, with realism but control. At first, they were woefully inept. But they kept at it and improved. Their awareness increased, and they learned not to panic or freeze under force. But, still they thought there must be more they could do. The three went to the only McMartial Master of Mayhem and Money Matters in their town and signed up for class. They were taught many wonderful looking techniques to deal with a wide variety of attacks. But something didn't ring true. They had experienced an assault, and it did not go down with the attacker walking up, gently wraping his arms around you and standing there waiting for you to do something about it. So, they kept their street friend on the payroll. Furthermore, the word had spread so that several street types were assisting with their training. Street 1 (a close relative of the author, so I have all this first hand) was more a coordinator now than a Personal Palladin. As they were attacked by different people with ever increasing force they noted several things. First, some of what they were being taught did not work outside the class. Second, what did work had to be changed and adjusted, sometimes radically, to work even in a controled situation. And some things would work for one of them, but not so well for another. Also, just because it workrd on one attacker was no guarantee it would work on another, and often more adjustments had to be made with different attackers. But, they kept at it, and they actually were getting pretty good. One class, when the Grand Poo-Butt of their system was visiting, one of them asked about this phenominon. Well, the GPB was a little incensed, to say the least! Immagine- these junior nobodies were questioning the system, handed down by generations of successful money grubbers (two generations is still plural, right?)! They were disloyal, actually practicing with other people and doing things they were not taught. So, he decided to teach everyone a lesson. The young heroine who had questioned him was ordered to step onto the mat and take a fighting stance. With much trepidation, she did as instructed. She was told to defend herself, and the GPB attacked. Hard! The GPB first demonstrated his flying feet and tail defense against a hip throw. Next, he demonstrated his turn purple and look pannicked counter to a choke hold. After tapping furiously, a well known street defense to these assaults, he escaped and proceeded to chew the young lady out for useing those moves in his purely striking class in the first place. Having clearly established the superiority of his striking only system, he brought up the next young Amazon and ordered her to take a fighting stance. But, before she even had time to set, he attacked. Hard! Her blocking punch was so quick, that when he came to someone had to explain what had happened to him. Needless to say, she was severely chastised for doing that! The nerve! Did not all students know that the proper method was to Block- then punch? She was sent back to her seat in disgrace. Now, with much trepidation, the GPB summoned the third frail young thing to the mat to be disciplined. She was told to take a fighting stance- "AND STOP GRINNING LIKE AN IDIOT, DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO YOU?"! She was instructed in the proper etiquite, no more silly throws, chokes, or moves that combined functions. As she shook her head in agreement, he attacked. Hard! She sidestepped and nailed the GPB. As he continued to attack, she continued to use footwork to evade and gain position. Finally, wheezing and trying to catch his breath, the GPB said he thought she'd had enough. And, if she could not stand like she was posing for BB Mag and fight with honor, she did not belong in his class. In fact, all three were expelled in shame, and told never to return. Well, this being a fairy tale, we have to have a happy ending, right? So, let's look in on our three wonderful women and see what happened. One started her own school, and eventually took over the old school after the scandals (which are beyond the scope of this tale; suffice to say there were truly scandalous doings going on there). She teaches self defense classes that make the whole town safer. The first bare (they still don't like looking like zebras) donates space to the second bare. She runs an outreach program for street kids, teaching them martial arts, discipline, and citizenship. She gets a lot of kids in the program because they recognize the real deal when they see it. Also, her rep proceeds her as the original assault group gets a lot of free beers telling about the old days. Bare three became a real bare, that is, she joined the police force and uses her skills to make the streets safer for everyone. Now for the moral of the story (you did know this was comeing, right?): There is actually a lot to be learned here, but, YOU HAVE TO BE ALIVE TO LEARN IT! (Pittiful, I know, but YOU try writing this kind of drivel )

I thought so when I first chose this site, and havn't regretted the decission yet! Welcome aboard!

I'm not going to vote, because I've paid by several methods: Per lesson for private instruction. We chip in as a group and buy training apparatus as needed. Per week. Per month. Walk in fees when visiting, which is like per lesson or week. Free when i get really lucky. Seminar fees, which cover varrying ammounts of time and training. I've paid for video courses for supplimental training. When you live in a semi rural environment, away from the large towns, you take what you can where you can find it. One thing I won't do is sign a contract.

I keep a notebook on techniques, forms, and general ma subjects. Anything important gets recorded, including questions or things I notice, or try and have good results with. It's an outstanding training aid. Good post.

Nope, AK's customs, sayings, and all are good ole' US vernacular type English. We give a Chinese salut of respect, but then we just say 'howdy'. FSTKD and Arnis is the same way (at least here). A simple bow shows respect, but other than that all the hollerin', cussin' and sweatin' gets done in English. I looked up some of the Korean terms once, and quickly decided I didn't want to impress anyone enough to learn them. Besides, they'd all have thought I'd lost it if I started useing Korean.

*whispers to JG* "That would worry some people, but thanks!"

John G, yes, aliveness is a concept. Their 'system' is a mixed venue, aliveness is how they train it. And of course you need to train with opponents who will challenge you. These guys have just given a term to what I call practicing your skills under force. His point with the chess analogy was that you have to practice taking your moves through to a logical conclusion, another point I've talked about before. He just illustrates it. You need to learn to do opening moves, but you'll never win at chess unless you practice playing the game through to checkmate against someone who's trying to beat you. Same with fighting. You may learn the moves in isolation (a point he didn't develope- he assumes we knew that since that is how most people train, according to him) but unless you learn to put them together to defeat a resisting opponent, you've lost. For those who want their skills to work in real life assaults, I think he makes some good points.

And good instincts! He trained with Mr. Parker and some of his early students, but he did not study Kenpo. His base was Wing Chun, and Jeet Kun Do was his philosophy. It was Ed Parker who introduced Bruce Lee in the US, and Mr. Parker had a lot of respect for Bruce. I've heard stories from some of the AK seniors who trained with Bruce. They say he wasn't undefeatable, but if you made a mistake against him, you seldom got a second chance. And if you put a hand just a hair over center line, you were tied up and hit faster than you could realize your mistake. Some of the best of that era said he was good, and that's good enough for me!

Such a high rank would have been honorary, as Elvis didn't live long enough to attain an 8th. And he was good, as well as tough, from what I've heard. Mr Parker did give out other high, honorary ranks as well. He was trying to promote his system, which was fairly new at the time. Like I said, I know Elvis studied Kenpo, and othr martial arts. And I've heard he earned a black belt the hard way. Past that, I'm not sure what level he achieved. But the advanced honorary degree is feasable.