tommarker

Look to the filipino martial arts for bandana material as well as other flexible weaponry. I'd highly reccomend James A. Keating's bandana videos.

you couldn't beat up a week old bear cub, you'd be overwhelmed by it's innate cuteness.

Also note the difference in the two following questions: 1. "Why do YOU give ME such bad grades?" 2. "What can I do to improve?" Both questions may get the same answer, but only one of the questions really shows the sincerity to learn. I see lots of karateka perform amazing things and I always see people asking "how do you do that? is it hard?" and seem dissatisfied with their answers... Try asking what they did to get to that point and you see the real key. It's all about asking the right question...

Show me a man who can fight unarmed (and unarmored) against a healthy bear and win. He does not exist. If they are fighting sick old crippled drugged pet bears, where is the honor exactly? But then, Oyama fought sick bulls too, didn't he? Maybe Kyokushin is doing some sort of primitive euthanisation program..

You said it all right there. If you have poor balance in kibadachi, I would imagine it is present in your other stances as well. It might just be more obvious to you when you're in kibadachi. You can't get very far with poor balance, and it sounds like he's holding you to a higher standard. I've said it over and over again to our students, and I'll say it to you: Worry about yourself, not those around you. Most people have enough to deal with when it comes to fixing their own faults. Different people receive different feedback based on what the instructor thinks they need at the time. Some people receive negative scores and work hard to convince their instructor they deserve better. Other people get negative scores and become disheartened and give up. It's all a dress rehearsal for your Dan test anyway, which is just a rehearsal for your Kodanja test, etc

Patrick, I didn't mean that in any way against you or this site, hope you didn't misunderstand. I meant more that Rob was an individual who put a lot into his site, he gave everything he could and held nothing back. Try to find some of that information, for example, given on the JKA's homepage. The web gives a voice to those who would otherwise be unheard of outside of their little Atlanta suburb. A lot of other sites out there are very bland and generic, offering nothing to the user. The best ones are those run by a person with a passion. Unfortunately, the reality is that it gets expensive for them to share with others, and the more people who visit, the more expensive it is. This is all speculation anyways... as Rob didn't give a reason. For all I know, he just got sick of running the site.

Could be that he just got the monthly bill. I know Rob has mentioned in the past that the cost of the site's bandwidth was fairly high due to the great demand. If it's true, it's a real shame, and shows how the internet is moving away from it's roots only to be full of corporate *. Ironically, the people who try to fight this move get choked by the people who so desparately seek useful content. I'll miss his site, but I can't say I blame him for pulling the plug entirely.

I don't think they get much "cheaper" than this one. The Ebay stuff is probably the same thing at wholesale price. I would be seriously concerned with it falling apart, even just casually playing with it... Striking anything is probably a bad idea, too For me, a "cool thing to own" would either be a lot more utilitarian, or at least a little more authentic looking

How dare you question your government and what they say is good for you! (sarcasm)

I find a shot or two of Wild Turkey loosens me up before a competition Oh... Don't drink kids.. it's bad, mmkay

I wanted to do some form of Goju when I was a kid, but my parents couldn't afford it. When I came to college, I was torn between the Shorin-Ryu club and the Tang Soo Do club. The Shorin-ryu teacher didn't seem very interested in having me as a student (3 months later, he moved his school) so the choice became apparent

I'm interested in hearing how other schools treat Il Soo Sik Dae Ryun. In case there are differences in vocabulary, something like this: 1. Attacker steps back to attack. Kihaps when ready. 2. Defender in ready stance kihaps when ready to recieve. 3. Attacker attacks. 4. Defender, using one of several prescibed defenses, counters attack. In our Association, we have 90 different types of Il Soo Sik, divided into hand, foot, and hosinsul (more hapikido-like) categories. As you advance, you learn more of them. At Cho Dan, you are expected to know them all. I'm curious to see how people use these tools, if they interject any variety into them, and why. I'm prepared for long answers, and will give mine after I get back from class.

Sounds like you've got a great attitude about the whole thing! A lot of people are intimidated by senior rank, and therefore never allow themselves to be challenged. Their improvement is also much slower..

Surprisingly, no. I think we're different enough from the other clubs, and viceversa that there's not too much a problem. There's 20 martial arts clubs on campus, but about 50,000 students, so we've all got more than enough of a base to draw from.

We share a room at our University with a few other clubs. Right before us is a TKD class, and there is also wushu and kendo on other days in the same room. As long as everyone is respectful of their time limits, there shouldn't be a problem. The problems start when classes start to go a little long, they are slow to leave, etc. We used to have to share the room with the fencing team, and they always stayed past their time, left a mess (including foil slivers that would get caught in the floor and not swept) and were generally very rude to us. We usually responded with an equal amount of rudeness.

If you're looking for traditional methods, I'd guess the Bujinkan would be the way to go. I imagine it's actual use was a lot more like thug-fu, though. I *really* like that term

I can throw one rather well. I've never seen a "quality" one, just ninja catalog stuff... not that I'd tell the difference when someone whacked me in the head with one! Amante Marinas talks about these briefly in his book on pananandata. His book "Pananandata Rope Fighting" is pretty much the bible of flexible weaponry. Good luck finding such an out-of-print book though, since Paladin Press doesn't seem interested in re-leasing it. I could teach a bit of thug-fu with it, but I'm not versed in the traditional aspects of the weapon.

Well, since 90% of karate schools aren't much better than TKD schools, I see no problem with such an event.

Does anyone practice sanbon nunchaku? I'm curious to learn more about its usage. From what I would guess, I imagine that it is mainly used to wrap, block and snare the opponent in the same way a three section staff might be. It appears that it can also be quickly extended for a long rang strike, and given enough time, can produce a lot of force behind swinging strikes. Wrapping it around the body seems like it might be possible, but not as quick as nunchaku, or as fluid as a rope dart/chain whip. Holding the middle stick looks like it could be used for some nunchaku techniques, but I bet the meat of the material is performed holding the end sticks in forward grip. The reverse grip that you would do with a longer 3 section staff seems plausible, but not as practical. Comments?

Me, but I can only spin counter-clockwise. As you take the spinning step into it, the TKD tendacy is to probably keep your body upright. As the first foot launches up, bend at the waist. I try to describe it as a horizontal jump spinning wheel kick. If you can do a tornado kick, you've got more than enough athletic ability

Simple = Bad? Cruelty to animals aside, that's a bit of a cheap shot. Sometimes the most "simple" application is the one that "works". Oyama's style was simplicity, but that doesn't necessarily imply that his knowledge of kata was lacking.

well, if you go the rival school, you might get to fight a whole lot more.

In many states, it is perfectly legal to carry a firearm openly. It really depends on where you are.

I like the concept of a celebratory burrito, as long as it is from Chipotle

I'm confused. I'm sure you won't forget the sequences while on holiday... but you did come here asking what to do so that you wouldn't lose your edge If your saifa looks the same at your next belt test as it did the last, why promote you?