tommarker

I completely forgot about the Region Eight Tournament! When I got my Cho Dan there in front of everyone that was such a rush. I can guess that you'll be more than just a little jazzed. Congratulations on your acheivement. I have heard the occasional story about the Sah Dan test and I can only imagine how tough that testing panel is! Tang Soo! Tom

Subject says it all. Fall cycle dan test in Michigan Friday evening. It should be pretty fun. I'm not really nervous, but I'll of course feel better when it is all done. My only real concern is that I don't feel like I'm in as top form as I was about a month ago. As it is I've got three nagging injuries to deal with: a sprained finger, tendonitis in my left knee, and possibly a broken toe! That's what Aleve is for though. Maybe I'll take like 3 Aleve and 2 Red Bulls before the test! I'll be ready for 10 on 1 sparring then!!! There is also a written section which we take beforehand. I've been spending all week catching up on my more obscure korean vocabulary and memorizing dates, number of moves in Naihanchi E Dan, etc. I think I only have to score an 80% on the test. Luckily, I know a lot of the folks who will be testing, and it is a good solid group that should work together very well. And luckily, there are 3 people ahead of me testing for Sam Dan who will get the real misery I'll be sure to let you guys know how it all when I get back! I'm sure TangSooGuy is hoping that they pull out the shinai on us!!

Another way to do speed breaks is to have the board suspended in the air, holding it in place with one hand. You can also do self-held breaks in this manner. Our instructor likes to throw out this one: place a board on a table and speed break with a roundhouse or side kick. Considerably harder than it looks

i thought you were talking about unsu

ask your instructor where they get bricks for demos and what kind. man, trust me... picking the wrong kind of brick HURTS.

martial = war so we have empty hand skills, and weapons. from a historical perspective, this covers just about everything: spears, swords, staffs, guns, flails, horsemanship, etc. If kyudo is a martial art, than sharp shooting certainly is. Just a modern evolution. Hell, tank driving is just a modern evolution of horsemanship (cavalry.) Lemme get my BB in Tank-Jutsu

i tend not to wear a cup. but if you get hit in the juevos, you will really wish you had it on. to be honest though, the times that I've worn one, i've noticed they don't do much good if the strike comes at any angle aside from straight in. upwards kicks just jam the cup into your nuts

when a school has a zero tolerance policy towards fighting, it makes it much easier on the adminstrators, because they don't have to think or judge and end up having to deal with accusations of favoritism, racism, sexism etc. Zero tolerance = zero thinking. If you're in a situation where you cannot get away and you are truly afraid for your physical well being (and I mean more than a guy just shoving you and challenging your ego.) then screw the suspension and do what you need to do. No one is going to care that you got suspended from high school for three days. Colleges let in people who have done a hell of a lot worse Employers aren't going to get to look at your "permanent record" As dumb as it sounds, talk to your parents about it. Tell them you are getting crap at school, and are doing your best to avoid trouble. That way, your parents know you have problems ahead of time, and aren't going to be taken by complete surprise when they get the phone call. Indeed, they will be able to take your side, with facts

what do you want to do with it? if you just want to hang up a wicked cool looking sword on the wall, go for it. people spend more money on uglier interior decorations. i doubt the sword is well-balanced, or is properly tempered to hold a proper edge or handle the stress of cutting objects. keep in mind these swords probably cost about a buck to stamp out in a chinese slave labor factory and your money won't go to them. someone is getting rich, but not them. expect to spend a LOT of money (4 digits) on a good sword. sorry.

I am a bit torn on this. Bear with me while I babble! I practise this somewhat. I've gone through most of the Pinan/Heian/Pyung Ahns with the sai. I really like Bassai Dai with the sai, and it's as close as I can come to doing kusanku no sai without knowing kusanku (which is a 3rd dan form in my art.) I have learned a lot about the sai in this manner, and have sought advice on how to use the sai and adapt my empty handed forms to use them accordingly from experienced isshin-ryu practitioners. They have approved of my experiments and liked some of my interpretations, even though I've come up with some things that are a little outlandish. However, I would never consider myself to be a master of Saijutsu. Am I on the right path? I think so. Is my path filled with more potential sidetracks, pitfalls, and dead ends than someone who has the luxury of learning the traditional way? Probably. Practical application? With antiquated agrarian tools? I'd prefer a 12 gauge and a bowie knife In some respects, I may have some sort of advantage for coming up with a practical method compared to someone who is indoctrinated with a method of "how people attack each other with weapons." Maybe not A lot of people are out there, learning things the hard way, and putting the pieces of the puzzle together in a completely different way. Is it traditional? No. Heck no. Is it invalid? I don't agree completely. Sure, there are some things being produced in this way that are completely wrong, or miss the point. But, this can be said of the way the traditional arts are taught too. What Sauzin and Jussi are saying though are very true and must be kept in mind. Otherwise, you really are just doing a fun little dance with the weapon. If you understand that, then it's fine. Just don't fool yourself into thinking you "know" the weapon

aside from making sure that you are attempting to break a breakable brick (and not some ungodly dense brick) it sounds like you're a little psyched out by the thought of it. no one likes pain, and therefore causing pain to oneself or putting oneself in the position to inflict pain on yourself is difficult to get around. remember the first time you broke a board? before you did it, were you worried that you might hurt yourself? i know i was a little concerned. it is the instructor's job to set the student up to give them a successful attempt: good wood, easy technique, competent holders.. etc. That way, the student suceeds with a minimum amount of pain. so let's approach this with baby steps: 1. pick a strong technique: palm strike or hammerfist. 2. make a simulation with a stack of targets, kicking shields, etc. practice the technique on them, making especially sure to complete the motion after contact. This is what you want to focus on. 3. Practice the same break once or twice with wood. 4. visualize yourself successfully finishing the break. do it repeatedly. focus on making contact, and pushing through as the bricks shatter. this may sound cheesy, but a lot of elite athletes use visualization to "see" themselves winning the race, making the foul shot, kicking the field goal, etc. Mental rehearsal, going over the details of the actions at your own speed, is great. 5. go break that damn brick!

yet, it's perfectly acceptable to wonder if someone can kick faster than their shadow

yes, and it feels very awkward for me.

I'm not talking about the ball bearings, i'm talking about where it attaches to the stick. Maybe the stuff at the local store is just off these days, but I've seen some crap ones lately, and have seen a few break.

make sure you spend a little extra money than 10 bucks.. some of the cheaper ones have some really cheap rivets keeping the ball bearing mechanism in place. if the rivet falls out, there goes your other stick

http://www.taichiproductions.com/images/article/5styles/Men%20sea%202.jpg

who calls it a sobat kick?

oh and bring your swim trunks for that needle at the bottom of the sea

sano, you've got to stop taking things so literally, or you're going to need to get a crane, guitar, monkey, a snake, a fair lady, a shuttle, windows, etc just to do tai chi

ee dan dwi tollyo cha ki.

try the yellow pages I think you could probably get 20 different opinions on the nunchaku, which are best, and how to start. I too prefer the traidtional wooden, corded, octagonal nunchaku. The nice part about them is you can always change the string and make the sticks closer or further apart depending on your preference. Chances are, you'll find yourself buying several more pair in the future anyways as you experiment and try different things out

It certainly couldn't hurt to try. Let us know what you find out!

WTSDF?

Interestingly enough, our school is a college club, and the student elected officers DO run the club. The head instructor teaches, and offers advice, but ultimately is there because they want him there. It is in our club constitution, which was written by the head instructor when he founded the club. Seminars can be very expensive when you go for the "big names." but if you can find another like minded instructor, you can do a little "give and take." Find a club that does something completely different for example, and send your students to their instructor and yours to theirs for a class.

don't worry about the E dan, worry about yourself.