KarateKen

Thanks.

Well done.

Hi, thanks for coming back.

I agree that BJJ and MMA are replacing a lot of traditional styles in commercial success. However, I am not aware of Karate fading away, I guess I thought Karate is probably the most recognized name in the history of martial arts and that it would draw an audience.

Hmmmm.... Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee would have to be on mine for sure, those two are no brainers. Otherwise, I'd have to think about the other two.

What a week it was. Jacksonville fell out of the playoffs, Pittsburg made it in, and the Dolphins end up the 6 seed and play the Chiefs in Arrowhead. That's going to be a tough one, I think. Hopefully, the cold weather will be to KC's advantage. That AFC East truly went down to the wire. The NFL had to like having what basically amounted to a couple of Division Championship games last Sunday, between the Bills and Dolphins, and the Texans and Colts. It's crazy to think that if the Dolphins would have won, they would have had Buffalo coming back to town the very next week. Jax absolutely laid an egg. This was an 8-3 team and in the running for the top seed, then lost five of six to end the season. All they had to do was win against a lousy Titans team and they would be back in the playoffs. They lost. Then the next day the Titans fired their head coach anyway.

If the Lions win on Sunday against the Rams it will be only their second playoff win in the Super Bowl era, and their first since January of 1992. Bill Belichick and the Patriots have officially parted ways. This was expected after the poor season the Patriots had, the writing was on the wall back in October. I'm guessing Bill will get some offers and will coach somewhere next year. Frontrunners appear to be the Chargers and Falcons.

Excellent! Keep us posted on your training.

How was the experience of being at the game?

Well the Lions got screwed by the refs against the Cowboys, but I am not bitter! After decades of dissapo......eh.......I have almost grown numb to it. It is to be expected. That ending was a bunch of......... Alright. Final weekend of the regular season is here, let's see how the games go, we know Baltimore and San Fran have the top seed, the rest is being sorted out this weekend.

This is what is so scary about real fights, and a big reason why I hope to never be in another as long as I live. You just don't know the intent of the assailant. Because of this, you have to assume the worst. My original sensei would always tell us that in this situations, be ready to kill someone because they could be ready to kill you. Now, he also taught constraint, and how to incapacitate rather than kill, but the message was always there. If it's them or me, I'm going to choose me. That is kind of how I look at it. Every street fight is a potential life or death situation for the fighter. Even if the attacker is not intending to kill there have been times where a person died in a street fight from hitting their head after being knocked down. You also don't know if someone is hiding in the bushes and will jump out and attack you from behind.

Don't look now (or do look, idc) but it is January 6 and the Winnipeg Jets have the best record in the NHL.

Have a happy new year.

It's not a bad idea for a gag gift but this was not even that, it was intended to be legit. I'd say at least 80 percent of the gifts I have gotten were either bad or I just did not have any use for. I'm not a big consumer and don't even really want anything, it has been that way for years, so a lot of the stuff either gets returned, regifted (that's right I said it) or donated (this is especially true for clothing and books.)

Same to you, thanks.

Even though someone might have good intentions, there are times when a Christmas gift is either lazy, bad, or even offensive. We have all had these, I assume, and I think it is funny to hear about it. If you have any experiences as a child or adult receiving rotten or bizarre gifts, please share. When I was 21 and back home from college a family friend gave me a wind-up toy penguin as a gift. Years later the same guy gave our family a framed photo of himself. When I was about 10 my dad's bother gave me a used gym bag and when we opened the bag we saw it had mold in it. Another year he gave me a book, not remembering that he gave me the exact same book a year earlier. From another relative once I got a check that bounced. I could keep going but I want to hear yours.

I'm a Lions fan. They are having their best season in decades (they have not had a record this good this late since 1991) but I still find they are too inconsistent. I like coach Cambell's aggressive approach but sometimes it gets too aggressive, like the fake punt against the Packers on Thanksgiving. It's great when it works but it is a mess when it doesn't. I do think they hang on and win the division. If they do it will be the first time since 1993. Thirty years without a division title has to be the longest current streak in the NFL, though I have not done the research. This is a franchise that has one total playoff win in the entire Super Bowl era (1991 season) and has not won a road playoff game since they won the NFL Championship in 1957! The worm has turned for the Lions but they might be one more year away from making a deep playoff run.

Yes, I first started TKD in the 1980s because of the karate kid movie. I only took it for a year, but I really liked it. I was later inspired by the Steven Seagall and Jean Claude Van Damme movies (and are still inspired by them, even though the type of karate I do now is much different than their movies). Interesting. I was inspired by the Karate Kid series as well as some Van Damme movies. Though I had been training for a year or two before I ever saw any of those films watching them did inspire me to push myself and put in more training.

I will have to think about it, I don't really consider New Year goal until Jan 1, so rain check on this one!

Personally I get quickly offput when others are not considerate of boundaries and personal space. Either seeking inappropriate types of relationships, oversharing, or being all touchy feeling with someone they just met. Unfortunately, many times these people are either drunk and/or high, or are mentally ill and do not react well when boundaries are being set. I am a reserved person anyway, so when someone I just met two minutes ago is talking to me like we have been friends for years it kind of creeps me out. Same with people who get too physically close.

For me, it was at 1st dan. You felt you were overcharged when testing for 1st dan?

In this case, we are talking about two professional athletes and competitors with differing specializations. I don't think Lebron James has the advantage in this situation, due to the level of specialization in training (I don't know that Lebron James has done any kind of MA training, but many professional athletes have in the past). Now, put James in the lower rungs of MMA competition, and we have a more interesting discussion. Fair enough. Former NFL player Greg Hardy took to the MMA world after leaving football. He beat some low level fighters in the UFC I think, but once he had to face top ranked competitors he was defeated quickly and easily.

The Fraiser Christmas episode that ran the other day was pretty good. I think I will watch that one again, reminded me of the old show.

Yep, about 16 head coaches get fired every two years, so half the people who were head coach of a team when this season started will be fired by the end of next year. It seems the firings are happening earlier and earlier, teams used to wait until the season was over but we have already seen several coaches fired this year. Three that I can think of off the top of my head. Raiders, Panthers, and now Chargers.

Penguins fans were chanting "We Want Fleury" tonight since it is likely Fleury will retire after the season and this was his final chance to play in Pittsburg. However, the fans did not get their wish as Fleury sat on the bench the entire game. Penguins won it 4-3.