Tigerclaw

Por2003,i know i don,t have to do it..please don,t get mad if i speak my opinion about something.Its like monkeygirl said..its a debate and lets keep it friendly..ok?One of the reasons why i don,t care much for it is because i would rather spend more time training for self defense then be using a watered down technique to goto some tournament to fight for points.

This is what pro2006 said it is different in a tournament because you are fighting someone with around the same general skills So basicaly your sayin that its ok to fight if they know martial arts to? Tournament fighting only exsist today so schools can make money off you...like the enrolment fees and test fees ain,t enough.I had a friend of mine who used to fight in competition,and he said one time during the fight he was in,the crowd sounded like a blood thirsty mob,yellin and encouraging the fighters to hit harder,knock his brains out,ect.My point is people that its wrong to fight,remember first rule of karate? Only use karate for self defense!

I would have to say that your extreamly lucky karatekid.Most Tae Kwon Do Dojang's are competiton based,and have no concept of self defense.Im glad you found a place thats gonna teach you what the art is truly about cause i have seen true Tae Kwon Do and i have alot of respect for the dedicated people who try to keep it strong.

Keep in mind that we as Martial Artist are not gods,we are just simple people who choose to train ourself both physicaly,spiritualy and mentaly.Keep in mind that if we were perfect,we would not need to train.(Grandmasters still train to...hopefully)

I totaly agree,politics have no place in the martial arts but like some have said,its just something we have to tolorate.Take there actions as a lesson learned of what NOT to do.

I wish to open a debate on tournament fighting and what it has done to the martial arts of today.I for one strongly feel that tournament fighting is wrong,and i feel like this because i was always taught that using the physical side of my art for anything other then self defense is wrong.I hope that i do not offend any of you because i know there are alot of people who love competition,but i was trained in a school where it is forbidden,and my instructor has explained his reasons to me many times why we do not compete and i have to agree with him.The martial arts was never ment to become a sport.

To me the Martial Arts is more then just learning how to fight,its a way of life,a way of thinking.IMHO when you begin to learn martial arts,don,t just except the physical,learn the mental and the spiritual as well,cause that is the only true way to reach the final levels of your training

The belt system is a good idea,but i agree with many on this forum who have said that instructors charging a arm and a leg for a Test fee is ridiculious.fortunatly for me,we only pay 30 dollars per test per kyu rank,and 50 dollars when we test for black belt.

Yeah,its a myth,nobody has to register for anything.

I agree that nobody should hold the rank of Black Belt till age 16.Fortunatly the kids that have to wait in our art don,t got to keep going over the same old stuff till they reach that age.My instuctor has master ranks in several diffrent martial arts,and teaches them some auxillary art like Aki-jujistu or Goju-ryu Karate which they can actually gain ranks in so if theu hit 1st brown like at age 12 or 13,by the time they hit 16,they can go for 2 black belts which is really kool.

i agree with chuck_girl..call 911,don,t try to jump into a conflict of 9 on 1 or 2 ect,thats an extreamly dangerous situation there,but if you feel that you can handle it,then so be it.(pulls out a AK-47 LOL j/k.

Yes,its better to train on a harder surface then a soft one.So stick with the hard bag to develop power and to toughen up your hands.

I agree with the others,try to find out if its point based or full contact cause theres a big diffrence in both.

Its good to condition yourself for the possibility that you may one day be attacked,but even though you might have abbs of steel,or a rock hard head,it ain,t gonna make a kick to your goin area or the temple feel any better.I suggest training so you don,t have to exchange with an attacker for 5 min straight till someone falls over from lack of exhaustion,or from being knocked out(knock them out quick or disable them fast).Proper breathing and stance transition is vital just in case you are hit so you don,t get the wind knocked out of you,or so your not knocked off balance when hit.if you train in the MA for sport,then you need to spar to get a feel for it,plus what i said above will help.If your like me and you train for self defense alone,then just work out hard,practise breathing and proper stance transition cause in a real fight,there are no pads to protect you.Also..learn how to dodge correctly so you don,t get hit to begin with cause the hand comming at you may have a knife in it or another weapon.

I think that in order to defend yourself on the street,you have to TRAIN in self defense rather then training for some up coming tournament or competition.For example,sparring in class is not making you a better fighter..sure it teaches you timing,footwork,and a few other things,but keep in mind you don,t wanna be trading licks with some guy weilding a knife,your gonna get cut up!.Training in real self defense ,you must keep in mind that you wanna end the confrontation quick,so training to hit vital points of the body like the throat,eye,kidneys,temple,groin ect are but a few examples.When sparring in class..these vital areas are off limits,and therefore how you train is how most will usally react in a REAL confrontation.Keep in mind that if you wann have effective skills for the streets,you gotta train with the mentality that if attacked,that your assaliant will probably try and kill you,so you must train with that in mind cause unlike a competition,your attacker ain,t gonna bow to you after your match up,hes probabaly gonna take your wallet,purse,vechicle,ect.Let me share a story with you guys and gals on a situation where i had to fight off a attacker.I was parked in front of a grocery store a few years back,and a guy walked up to me who looked like he had a chip on his sholder.He basicaly started running his mouth and i tied to settle the dispute by trying to talk my way out of the situation.At first i thought i had things under control and he walked away.well i turned to get into my car and the guy turned around and started charging me.I spun around and i delivered a side snap kick into his upper torso that stunned him,then delivered a right handed goju ryu hook punch to the guys temple that dazzed him severly.Seeing that he was very determined,i immediatly took that oppertunity to grapple him since he was stunned and grabbed him by his ponytail and used a one handed jujitsu thumb choke wrapping my fingers around the cartoroid arteries of the kneck(forgive my spelling)while sticking my thumb into the soft spot below the adams apple.Basicaly i choked him intill he was knocked out.Once he was no longer a threat,i got in my car and drove away.The point i wanna make is 2 of the techniques i used would be severly illegal in a sparring match or a competition,and in the school i work out in we don,t even spar(we use jiyu kata,embu and renzoku ken) as our main training tools for self defense.The martial arts has to be trained in with one key element in mind..it is and never was ment to be a sport..it is a way of life..train in it with that in mind,and it might even save your life.