delta1

That says a lot, all true. It goes back to my point about will, intent, andskill. You have to understand and train for the difference before you need to use your skills for real. You'll find that getting in and really hitting someone is easier talked about than done. And taking a light tag on the chin is a lot different than having it wrench your head and neck. Likewise, it is a different animal to see what is comeing in a light match and one where the blows come fast and hurt more. Your mindset has to be to occupy his space, take his will, and destroy his ability to continue to fight, which means hurting him severely and quickly, and continuing to hurt him as long as is necessary. It means there are no cheap shots or dirty tricks, only surviving. Another quote I like, "If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't prepare well enough." But, as sevenstar points out, this is an alien mindset to most of us. We need to train for this mindset from time to time, as well as doing basics and techniques under stress. Start having your uke deliver his attacks with street force and I bet you find a few things: first, you need to practice some more, then you need to modify the response somewhat from the dojo response, and mostly you'll notice that it is a lot harder to pull anything off under a forcefull assault, even in the relatively safe training environment.

aefibird, self control is nice! By train, do you mean classes or workout sesssions? Either way, mine varries depending on what I want or need to concentrate on. I try to work out every day, and usually get in some of everything. I sometimes have to choose which classes I'll miss due to other commitments. It's the price you have to pay to play as much as you want.

First off, looking for a job is allways uncertain, and usually plays havoc with your emotional state. Get over the feeling of being stupid, as it will show up in job interviews as insecurity and incompetence. You might reconsider sales. It may open other doors for you, and in any case it is good experience to call on later on. If nothing else, it may see you through until you find what you want. You have a job now- maybe not the best, but it will allow you the time to put out resumes to positions you want, without the feeling of being desperate and having to jump into another questionable position. Take your time, look around, find a job you want in an area you'd like to be in. Take a second job if you have to. It's only for a while. But don't get in a hurry. I'd advise against moving back in with your parents. It is a little tough on everyone to do that, and you'll probably end up resenting having to live under their rules again. And, while they'll probably be willing to help, having adult children move back in is not what they are hoping for at this point in their life. Another thing, learning to work through these tough times is part of growing up and matureing. It is best learned now, before you get married and have children (assuming that you are not married and don't have children). I can't give you any advice on the Peace Corps. But don't panic and run to it, or anything else. You are probably correct about getting some experience before graduate school. Also, a lot of people who panic and stay in school fall into the trap of becomeing 'professional students', and are generally worthless for any thing in the real world. Hang in there. You aren't the first person to go through this, and the bad news is it probably won't be the last time you have to do it. The good news is, most of us survive it pretty well.

White Warlock, good to have you aboard. I've enjoyed your posts so far, and you seem to be pretty knowlegable. I've studied under both belt and no belt systems, and really don't have a preference. But, I agree that too often people get hung up on the belt or other status symbols. Like Ed Parker said, "Stripes show, doesn't mean you know."

It is great here, and great to have you. What style kempo?

Don't be too sure it doesn't work. A few years ago I was visiting a class and the instructor had one guy who wouldn't shut up. So, he walked over to the kid and did a serries of pressure points on him, and said "That was Dim Mak. Now, all your children will be born naked." The kid just stood there for a minute, too stunned to say anything, and the instructor got the class back on track without more interruptions for push ups. It was an amazing thing to see.

I dyed it. I had a white ghi, which I didn't like. I was dyeing a large piece of leather, and I got the bright idea to just add some hot water to what was left and throw in the ghi. It came out gray, really looks good and has held up that way for a few years.

'nother Britt! Good to have you here.

Good question. The answer is yes, but the aproach varries some in the systems I've syudied. There is one glaring constant, though, in all of them. You have to think outside the box, be mentally flexable. Taiji is a form based art, in that the form is the primary instrument for teaching you to move and fight. Every move has an infinite number of applications. Meditation, contemplation, and experimentation often yield surprising results in formulating applications. My TKD class doesn't usually get into extrapolating applications until higher ranking, usually after black. But if you are interested and show an aptitude they'll work with you on it earlier. They want you to take both the forms and the one steps and self defenses, rework them for martial applications, and combine them to form techniques. With a base in American Kenpo, this is right up my alley. They even allow me to inject some soft moves from AK and Taiji American Kenpo starts you out on understanding principles and concepts at white. You break down the techniques and forms into their detailed components, learn the how and the why of each part of each move, and recombine it into the whole. Then you learn to change it up, recombine things to deal with the 'what ifs'. AK's early forms give you a dictionary of motion. The more advanced forms combine techniques to teach borrowing and technique flow. And, from orange on up, you are required to create your own thesis form. Arnis forms are pretty self explanatory at beggining levels. But later on I'm told I'll have to re-interpret the stick work to empty hands applications. I have worked with FMA practitioners before, and have seen this done. It is pretty awesome.

White Warlock, good post. I have to agree with you and the others who've posted on this. Even in hard contact sparing you aren't out to just beat the opponent into submission. Sparing is not about 'winning', but learning.

Welcome, EC.

Welcome to the martial arts, and to this forum. Hope you stay a while, and enjoy your stay.

ranger, good to have you aboard!

Ox, glad to see another 'martial' TKD guy here. Yes, one of the ways I interpret the forms is with a twist, where appropriate. Twist stances are awesome when used correctly. Hope to talk with you about it down the road.

Hello to you too. And welcome.

Don't know how much you'll learn from this bunch of ya-hoos (just kidding, there's some good people here). Welcome.

Welcome aboard!

Pre-med and pre-law? You seriously need to work off some steam! A good Arnis school should do that for you. A few sessions of live stick sparing, you can give the med students some practice, and you'll be a natural as the uke in moot court! Good to have you here.

'lo, and welcome.

welcome.

You're welcome (I was going to say 'do itashe mashtae', but I'd probably miss-spell it). We can allways use another positive attitude and good sense of humor here.

Call sign.

That is probably true with some people, and a good thing to consider in ourselves. But I don't think it is necessarily a given that this is the case. I love American Kenpo, and still train it when I can. But a regular class is not possible for me right now. I am in a TKD class here, and even though they are non-traditional, they still lack the soft moves of AK. But they do allow me some leeway, and I enjoy picking apart their moves, techniques and forms and digging out the principles and concepts, then 'Kenpoizing' them. They work with me on this, as long as I also know the base move correctly. They also do Arnis, which I enjoy immensely. So, I don't think looking at the possibility of someday going back to Kenpo detracts from my experience now. If anything, the possibility encourages me to work more dilligently now. And, instead of looking at it as "settling for second best," I feel pretty lucky to have found a school that will work with me without being insulted or intimidated. The head of their system has some AK in his background, so they are more open to my deviances than others might be. I guess it's more to do with the attitude of those involved and how they choose to deal with the situation. If you are allways moaning over what you lost, you can't enjoy what you have.

Grey I have one grey ghi that I like to train in, especially when with other stylists. It has no patches or anything, just grey. I have one faded black (read that grey) ghi with insignia that I also like, especially in the winter since it is a heavyweight ghi. Then there's the newer black ghi, which I don't wear much. I never wear white- I figure there's no pureity in fighting, and it sucks for night/low light training. And, I'm too much of a stick in the mud to wear colors, or patterns, or mix'n match, or worst of all, prints - that's disgusting!