rowland

A true samuri. A pity the passengers did not succeed in regaining control of the aircraft in time, but at least they thwarted a dastardly plan. My condolances and respect to the victims families.

i believe that saddam is resonsible for many deaths, the papers say a million. How many is american foreign policy directly or indirectly resonsible for?

Jodo is an excellent source of staff kata, and aikido an excellent source of staff technique. Sensei Dave Paka from Birmingham West Midlands, is an excellent tutor of both bo and jo tecnique. Having trained under him periodically he taught me much about the use of theses weaons. I dissagree that a staff is not an effective weapon. If I had a bo or jo i would feel confident enough in my ability to fight multiple assailants. with respect to unarmed style, my boxing abilities, or lack of would restrict me during a fight involving many opponents. The fear of being penned in or swamped by bad guys would force either a retreat or me reaching for a weapon. If i had even a broom handle utilising my jo techniques i could keep good ditance (in aikido maiai*) and systematicaly dish out fractured skulls. Usheiba, the founder of aikido was adamant that aikido be developed to be as effective as possible. His style was an amalgam of japanese martial arts wich incororated much use of swords and spears. These styles he adapted into both an armed and an unarmed form which follow the same form, lots of low postures and sweeping movements. If your looking t train with weaponry i suggest taking a weapons class from the style in which you already train, with t he aim of becoming at least semi-proficient with as many as possible. The effective use of any weapon comes from its comfortable adaptation to your style. In reply to Andrew Green; bo(long) and jo(short) staff technique is very versitile. Some teach how to disarm an opponent when hes got a staff, some teach defence from assailants enraged enough to attack you even when u have a staff and they try to take it off you. Attack with a staff can be leathal It wouldn't take much to do someone a serious mischeif. The techniques help you attain or retain the weapon as well as use it. BTW i think there would be a gould chance you could safely disarm or neutralise even our 9 mil packing friend at close quaters with the correct use of a staff, as long as hes not too far away. If hes gonna shoot you what have you got to loose? For sword and stick kata check out aikido, jodo, kendo. For excellent close quater staff attack and defence try aikido

i must say that i believe the most effective martial form would incorporate lightning fast, effective attack and fluid, dynamic defence. One on one, if you believe thats where yu can best a fighter, take him to the ground. However the other seven of his friends may feel inclined to line up toe poke kicks to such delightful areas as your kidneys, groin and head. This type of savegry is the reality of self defence. My favorite style of defence is aikido, the posture and techniques teach you to take the energy of an incoming attack and turn it on the attacker without making yourself vunerable, or placing you on the ground also. I have seen during practice, one man sucessfully neutralise up to six simultaneous attackers. I have practiced multipal attack techniques and find the edge they give reassuring. Steven Segal (Groan! yeah yeah!) is increadably skilled in this area. Also I advocate the lightning fast combination of deavastating foot work and fast strikes used in styles such as Tae Kwon Do, and Muey*Thai. An amalgamation of these three styles would produce a formidable foe indeed. The ability to remain upright and effective during a multiple attack scenario is paramount. Perhaps 99% of fights do end up on the floor, for the loser. As for UFC, they are sportsmen who "play" to rules and although formidable one on one fighters, their skills have limits. Often it is the psycological battle you must fight before the physical. Try detering other attackers from committing by savaging the one who attacks you first. Chopper Reid, an Aussie hardcase once popped a mans eye out and ate it infront of his cohorts. They decided he wasnt worth the hassle, and went back to their drinks. For increadable NHB footage check out the BumFights website, or buy the CD from E-Bay.

zr440 forgive the assumption, i mean no disrespect. Yet you throw around words like "idiot" and "crazy person" and you carry a concealed handgun (now banned in my country) Tho you have taken time to reply to this post, i fear you have both missed my point and further contradicted yourself. By your own admission you have trained in the use firearm, studied techniques designed to improve your skill and the safety whith which you handle a firearm, a "gun katta". A limited application i know, however by your own judgement you are an "idiot". However you seem to possess the notion of responsibility, this i commend. Perhaps individuals like yourself could incorporate (within limits) the knowledge of effective, safe, and moral use of fire arms within the disciplin of you martial style. The person who does so would definitley draw a crowd. If studied sufficiently, and applied correctly this incorporation could save lives by exposing people to such theoretical situations. Giving them the knowledge may increase the probability that they survive an armed encounter where running away is not an option. Once started, the interactions of students and teachers would develop the style further. On a lighter note, arn't the NRA all a bit Political ? And this talk of "The Left", have They replaced "The Blacks" and "The Reds"? Concerning your friend in the special forces, his opinion is valid and from the experience of warfair, applied on the battlefield. He clearly doesn't appreaciate the extent to which gun crime has infiltrated society. Gangs now shoot each other in boaring districts in England and Wales (FFS! ), thanks to second hand IRA guns,( probably hand me downs from all the NRA members in Boston) and people are held up at gunpoint for money, then shot to ensure they dont identify their assailant. Being frank, and not meaning to offend, my opinion of the US forces is that their training is far below standard and without their numbers and technology they would fail tests against more vigerously trained individuals of fewer number. To blindly cynicise ideas because they were presented in a glamerised, artistic form is a restricted way of thinking. BTW Martial Girl do you mean Street Fighter 2? If so, i remember Ryu, Ken and Akuma useing the "pistol stance"!

zr440 how can make such statements. Dont answer, the question is rhetorical. Answer this, should people crazy enough to want to take up aikido be forbidden from owning a jo or bokken. You fear your inadiquacy and unfamiliarity with the firearm. As for the NRA they are also a martial organisation. Perhaps such gun clubs could be aproached to conferre, assimilate and share tactics, both armed and unarmed. P.S.For short range accuracy, maximum stopping power and reliability i reccomend a .45cal large frame revolver from either Colt or S&W.

"a samuri must take each decision wihtin the space of seven breaths" Yammomoto Tsunemoto; Hagakure (Hidden Leaves)

sorry havent worked out the edit/delete facility