Kamidake

Any other Christians here who offer up the various aches and pains and bruises that result from training? Our class opens with a non-denominational prayer. I'm not sure about my teacher's religious beliefs; I think he may be a Shintoist since he claps when he prays. (I think, but am not sure, that Shinto is the only religion that does that.) I usually direct the prayer either to God, Jesus, or Saint Michael. I don't know if there's a patron saint of Christian budoka, but if there is, it's probably Saint Michael. Don't know who my teacher or classmates (also Christians) are addressing the prayer to, and don't care, that's their business. My point is not to get too wrapped up in religious issues. Just learn what you're there to learn.

Johnny Cash died. He was a great American talent, appreciated even by those, such as myself, who don't usually care for country music. He will be greatly missed.

I crave sweets at that time too. I usually just go ahead and have them; it's only a day or two and doesn't seem to affect my overall performance that much. What would affect it more, I think, is having my mind on the cookies instead of the kata!

K-mart! I refuse to shop there. They plastered Martha Stewart's name all over everything and jacked up the prices about 30% on the same old merchandise. At least, I think it was 30%. It was hard to tell what anything cost at K-mart because the prices were never right in their computer. Also: --people who whine about how much they hate talking to pest callers. So don't talk to them. Spend ten bucks on an answering machine and shut up, already. --double parking! I think the samurai custom of kirisute gomen should be revived for these people. --tailgaters. Ditto on the kirisute gomen. Every vehicle should have rear-mounted guns to deal with these dangerous jerks. And while I'm on driving peeves: hang up the $#$%#^%#$ phone and pay attention to driving! Thank you. I feel much better now. -

Meditation is not an exclusively Buddhist practice. I believe it's common to nearly all religions, and it's certainly got a long history in Christendom. Christians have been meditating on the Rosary since at least the 1200's, possibly earlier, and then there's St. Teresa of Avila and her "interior castle."

I'll be darned. I certainly never thought of Tai Chi as having any combat applications, but they've got the pictures right there showing what they're talking about! That's why I like Karate Forums. I learn a lot.

Are you talking about weapons for self-defense? If so, you need firearms training. If it's just for general MA practice, I'd go with whichever ones look like the most fun.

So far, my proudest moment in my 5-month MA career was when I took my teacher down without him having to talk me through it. I reasoned it out all by myself.

What a shame. I'm so sorry.

I've seen ukiyo-e pictures showing this type of underwear, so whoever thought that original questioner had been watching too many movies, I'd say you owe him an apology. I remember reading the purpose of it somewhere but can't think what it was. If I run across it again I'll mention it.

After 5 months, I have already learned things that, combined with the surprise factor of a woman launching an aggressive counterattack, would be helpful in an emergency. Having learned how hard it is to throw even a small man, I do think women should stay away from arts requiring a lot of throwing. (I'm talking about self-defense here; I think competitions have weight classes, so that might not be as much of a problem.) I think we're better off with techniques that emphasize joint locking and eye gouging and finger breaking and kicking, things that don't require as much strength.

*snort* If everyone had a 9 mm. (Glocks and Sigs excepted) we'd all be equally defenseless! Most of those 9 mm. are worthless weapons. Not sure why, but that seems to be the case. Maybe most people aren't running hollow-point ammunition in them?

Bart, where the heck are you that law-abiding citizens can't even carry a pocketknife? There's got to be SOMETHING you can use to defend yourself. Maybe you can become a transvestite and make good use of spike heels.

And don't forget, the colored-belt system only goes back to the 19th century. So don't get too wrapped up in it (sorry, unintentional pun); it's not as if you're violating centuries of samurai tradition if you change colors! Actually, you're violating centuries of samurai tradition if you get involved in the belt system at all. The reason Kano Jigoro started the belt system was he wanted to put his snobbish ex-samurai students on an equal footing with the common ruck; he wanted everybody to start out on a level field and for only merit to count, rather than one's bloodlines. This was a laudable goal, but conditions in the 21st century are different. So I suggest that you enjoy the belt system if that's your thing, but don't let a change of colors bother you unduly. I bet Kano sensei wouldn't have. (He seems to have been an eminently practical person.)

Probably your best bet would be something that has been tested in actual hand-to-hand combat, and the further back it goes, the more testing it's had, so maybe the best pick would be budo taijutsu or koryu budo (not sure of the name of that last one; I'm thinking of the ones that started way back in the day with samurai trying to kill each other). Also you might want to look for something that teaches a variety of weapons. The more options you have for self-defense, the better.