LLLEARNER

One recent article said he was a blue belt. Cool.

I have Renzo Gracie's Academy liked on my Facebook account. Apparently Anthony Bourdain (the celebrity chef) trained at his place before he committed suicide. I do not know for how long or what rank he held, or if he competed.

A city with an airport that is cheap to fly into might be a consideration.

To the bold type above... ME TOO!! I do too! I am not sure if I would be able to make it, but I would try.

A jodan uke under the chin seems more appropriate.

It might be the equivalent of holding your pistol sideways.

I’d say Royce Gracie (and family) is easily the most current/latest game changer. Enormous impact on MA today. I’d also add whoever brought TKD to the US. There’s easily more TKD schools than any other style. In my area, possibly more than every other style combined. It’s not a stretch to say TKD schools make up at least half of the MA schools here, give or take 10%. The only reason I did not mention the rest of the Gracie family, was that it was Royce who was the face at the beginning. It probably could have been any of that generation at the time. TKD seems to do well in this country. TKD thrives in the US because of the Korean war. The US side with South Korea, against the Soviet and (unofficially) backed north. This meant that a lot of US service personnel were stationed in South Korea. It also meant meant that a lot of South Koreans became familiar with the US way of life, and so there was a significant cultural exchange. After the Japanese had all but crushed Korean culture including its martial arts during the occupation between 1903 and the just after WW2, they wanted to reassert themselves a bit. The Korean war came along. It was hardly a stroke of luck, but with the US presenting an opportunity, here was a chance for Korean martial arts to be shown to the western mainstream. Hence, TKD thrives in the US. But for the record, it didn't stop there. TKD is massive in the UK too. Perhaps not as much as in the US, over here karate still seems to hold the biggest share, but there are a lot of TKD clubs. If I am not mistaken, Chuck Norris got started in Korea when he was in the Air Force. We could call the servicemen who picked up karate in Japan and Okinawa after WW2 and TKD in Korea as game changers collectively.

I’d say Royce Gracie (and family) is easily the most current/latest game changer. Enormous impact on MA today. I’d also add whoever brought TKD to the US. There’s easily more TKD schools than any other style. In my area, possibly more than every other style combined. It’s not a stretch to say TKD schools make up at least half of the MA schools here, give or take 10%. The only reason I did not mention the rest of the Gracie family, was that it was Royce who was the face at the beginning. It probably could have been any of that generation at the time. TKD seems to do well in this country.

The movie has started. I came to work. I do have a nice new HD TV with a soon to be hooked up 5.1 surround sound system. I do also have an Amazon account where I can get the DVD. That sounds like a winner to me!It is. The best part was the surround sound was not my idea. I did not have to sell it! The other half brought it up when I had the living room walls down.

I would add Royce Gracie. He took an art with little to no striking (like other popular arts), used it to great effect and now it is one of the fastest growing arts in the world. Most of the major movie starts in the 80's and 90's. Fumio Demura. he taught much of Hollywood, and really pioneered the MA in the US.

Just stop in and say hi...Before I do that maybe you guys can answer if it's worth it... They offer something called "physical training for excercisers". Do you think that will include actual wrestling for recreational guys or is it just a cardio class? The only way to find out for sure is to ask. However, I would expect it to be heavy on cardio and strength training designed for and around wrestling. Maybe some wrestling movements incorporated into the workouts.

There are people that still practice many styles into old age. But I wonder how many. start a new style in their later years. I have two main worries about starting judo now. 1. I don't bounce quite as well as I did when I was young. I'm quite used to being thrown at the floor because we practice that in TSD, but we don't really land hard there. We're more kind of tipped over than thrown. When we've done break fall practice I tend to be, shall we say, rendered inert, if I land wrong. 2. Being a fully grown man, and quite big (big as in a bit fat, but also big as in quite well built), and with plenty of other martial arts experience, I think this may make me a person to experiment on, with the assumption that I can be smashed down to the floor without problems. I started karate at 38. Sensei blends in judo and jujitsu. We throw and get thrown. Not as hard as I see in the big tournaments, but hard enough to hurt if you breakfall wrong. You will learn to breakfall right. I say, try it. Give it a few months and see how your body takes to it. A good sensei will make sure you can breakfall correctly first.

Next year it is eligible for the draft.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KarateForums!

I don't have any MA specific clothing other than my gi. That only goes to class and tournaments. If the tournament is more than a few minutes away I change there and change back to street clothes before leaving. I am always one who wants to blend in and not be noticed. I am an introvert.

I just finished it today. I could not sleep last night so I got 7 episodes in and finished it this morning. I enjoyed it a lot. They really took the time for character development in their limited screen time. Daniel comes off as a jerk. Johnny is struggling. And they all seem to forget high school ended decades ago.

That is less than crossfit.

Great job!

Welcome

I get a sharp pain on the outside of my hip when I kick too high. It feels muscular. I can really only get higher after an hour or more of stretching and kicking. I am working on my hip flexibility this summer. Hopefully I will be able to post improvement. My goal is both front and side splits.

Thank you

All true in general terms. But in Britain and Europe we have seen a rise in terrorist attacks involving some nutter running around stabbing random people. The original question was, can we train to be prepared for that? Giving people guns is not the answer. That just puts more guns in circulation, and the person planning the attack always has the advantage, because after all, they know what they're going to do. And do we really want lots of panicked civilians opening fire in a crowded street? That would be like doing the terrorist's job for them. What I really don't want to get into is a gun debate. That's happened plenty of times and innocent people still get shot dead. What I'm really interested in is, do we think it's possible for someone who has not gone out armed expecting conflict, to suddenly successfully neutralise an attacker armed with a bladed weapon? Unarmed? Not bloody likely. With some training, sparring and an improvised weapon or bit of cover? Yeah, that could happen. In my experience the key to responding to emergencies is awareness and properly taking advantage of anything you can in the moment. Going against a knife unarmed with little to no warning is a fools errand, but improvising a weapon or bit of cover, if you have the experience of going full contact with people, COULD work. Except for the part where you may get stabbed to death. Unarmed or not. I intend to make it as difficult for the offender as I can.

My opinion, is that the weapons are not the problem. It is the culture change that has been happening since the 60's ish, and really picked up speed since the late 90's/early 2000's. Gun use and ownership was more wide spread and accepted. High school students often took hunting rifles to school and kept them in the principles office or in their vehicles because they went hunting (unsupervised) before and after school. The increase of single parent homes only worsens the use of electronics as babysitters and schools as substitute parents and not for education. Children need a father and mother, and if none is available a strong, positive, male and female role model. As much as single parents work hard for their children and as well intended they may be, there is always something missing. The best thing we can do is teach our children to not be jerks (or worse) to each other, and to deal with the ones that are. There will always be bullying (because, human nature), but if we can teach our children to have proper self-esteem (through accomplishment), and self-respect the impact of bullying will be minimized. Now, in many cases we have feminized the education process so much that it excludes and labels really active boys. It increases their frustration, and decreases the learning potential. Instead we drug them into stupors and label them as dysfunctional. Instead, the classrooms should be designed around the children's learning styles. Camden, Maine experimented (with great success) by creating a classroom designed with more interactive learning and physical movement for hyper boys. It made the other classrooms more peaceful learning environment for the other kids, and the hyper kids actually learned. My mother (a retired special ed teacher) volunteers in my daughter's classroom when she visits. One day her class had a substitute who classified one of the hyper boys as the "problem child." He would rather play with Legos and blocks than sit quietly for story time. He just needed more interactive learning. Now all the teachers, substitute teachers, and kids know him as the "problem child." It will follow him all the way through school unless he gets an understanding teacher who is willing to work with him. Make the classrooms fit the kids, not the kids fit the classrooms.

My belt keeps my pants up and gi closed. My rank is what I smell like when I skip a shower or 2.

The movie has started. I came to work. I do have a nice new HD TV with a soon to be hooked up 5.1 surround sound system. I do also have an Amazon account where I can get the DVD.