Shorin Ryuu

A good book on the history of karate is Okinawan karate by Mark Bishop. The Classical Budo and Classical Bujutsu that are written by Draeger and mentioned in Kirves earlier post are good as well.

Good stuff. Just something to add, the term "karate" was not officially adopted (with the characters being changed to mean empty hand) until 1936. Its first known use with the empty hand meaning was in 1906 (or 3, i forget) in published writing. I have a copy of the Bubishi, it is pretty nice.

Plus I'm sure if he was teaching people, that means that he might potentially steal some of their current or future students. $$$

kihon just means "basic". What exactly are you referring to?

Neat...I just went to a seminar that hosted Master Kise last weekend. It was a lot of fun, although there were some awkward moments because I don't take Matsumura Seito Ryu.

Cool, I didn't know that.

I'm not going to say one is better than the other in a fight. I just do want to mention that the nunchaku can be a very defensive weapon, and that all the spinning and Hollywood moves sort of blind people to half of its application. If you watch nunchaku kata (traditional as opposed to a tournament kata) you might be able to see some of those. I am not super great with nunchaku, but I just wanted to say something that I do not think was mentioned earlier. You might find more things resembling a bo than nunchaku, unless you want to use your belt or something.

I was home for college and I saw an episode of Rurouni Kenshin on Cartoon Network (not for too long because I hate dubbing) and the editing was humorous. They showed the scene at the Ikedaya inn where the Shinsengumi wasted a bunch of people. It was funny because they would slice someone and they wouldn't be bleeding, but sometimes their swords would be red or there would be some blood spraying out that they didn't quite get. Or in times where they would be cut and lo and behold, only their clothes were hurt (they must be tougher in the American version). Of course, you probably can't blame them, parents would go psycho if they saw blood...in a cartoon...!

I reccomend a translation of the Bubishi by George Alexander. Its considered the Okinawan "martial arts bible" and is an Chinese manual hundreds of years old. It has medicine and pressure points and all sorts of fun stuff...

If i recall correctly, when you have Guile as your character, hold down for two seconds, then press up and kick at the same time.

I've read a couple of books on zen for one of my history classes. I liked these two books: King, Winston L. Zen and the Way of the Sword: Arming the Japanese Psyche. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Suzuki, Daisetz. Zen and Japanese Culture. New York: Bollingen Foundation, 1960 You can probably pick them up at a library near you! (And yeah, that line did sound like a commercial). As far as zen experiences go, I've found that I've been able to simply clear my mind (doing it rather than thinking about it) and block out pain (that isn't exactly the best way to describe it, maybe acknowledging the pain without letting it affect you would be better). I "learned" probably as a mechanism to cope with continual physical duress. One instance was back when I was stupid and did not know how to use a makiwara properly, I would hit it 1,000 times (and I've found out that that is probably a bad method because I would have to take off a few days at a time because my knuckles would be squishy, ewww) and it was a way to cope with the pain. I have more examples, but you all get the picture (most of them involve me being too enthusiastic for my own good and paying for it later ).

I'm not really all that afraid of dying. I try to live my live each day with a positive attitude and the way I like (as much as the military lets me, anyway ) and if its my time to go, then its my time. Of course, I don't have a spouse or kids or anything like that, so this philosophy is much easier for me to hold now then possibly later.

Thanks for everyone's responses so far and for keeping it all civil.

Those are always very humurous. As someone who is learning Japanese, it is even more so. There's only one gojushiho though, but i can see where gojushiho would sound like gisen sho.

Yeah, I always thought it was wierd when a school would label some kata (usually new) as their fighting kata and then the others would be traditional kata. Come on! Traditional kata SHOULD be fighting kata! ~SIGH~ Kirves always beats me to replying to posts and I always feel like I want to say the same thing. Also, when you look at kata and someone explains a movement as "chambering" or "preparing for the next move", then 99 out of 100 (if not 100 out of 100) times it means something else...

I went to a seminar and had the opportunity to briefly use a pair of shureido sai. Having handled those, I just HAVE to go and buy some because the difference is unbelievable. Some benefits are that the balance is correct, it isn't hollow (like some sai), and where they weld all the pieces together it is flat, which allows you to use your thumb more effectively when you have to place it there (as opposed to most mass-produced sai that have sort of a bubble or protrusion there). If you rationalize it as a life-time purchase, then they aren't that expensive. Of course, I have to save up for them...

I must mention that aggravated assault (which his obviously consummated by battery) is the most punishable offenses in regards to pure physical attack. Aggravated assault is the assault with a weapon or item that could be construed as lethal in context, an attack with the intention of causing grevious bodily harm (which includes death) or actually causing grevious bodily harm.

My family has a black lab and she is so friendly. She loves to run and play all the time and looks like a horse when she's either running or bounding. She's pretty fast and catches birds and squirrels all the time before they can fly or run away. While she is very protective and suspicious of things out of the ordninary, she is more bark than bite. I must say she gets scared easy by things like thunder. She'll curl into a ball in the corner of the garage and just shake...its kinda funny but I feel sorry for her. She is real smart though. They got this dog when I was at college, so I can't say too much more. The dog I had growing up was a mix of lab, retriever, and bloodhound. He loved running and just playing and was pretty smart. Just a "good ol' dog" I guess.

I agree with the last post. You have to remember, the Wachowski brothers (apart from being huge anime geeks) are also philosophy majors or something like that and its very Nietzchean (I can't ever spell that man's name the same way twice) such as the only limits you have are those you confine yourself to. Choice is the essential expression of will, those who have choice have power and those that do not have choice (in actuality do not have power) etc. I like some of Nieztche's stuff and he does get a real bad rap because of how the Nazis twisted much of his works, but I don't agree with all of it...

I could be wrong, but I think in some places like California, they are banned. Although to what exent, I am unsure.

Yeah, Kirves brings up a good point. Most peasants and such had to spend their time farming and such. It was the nobility, the shizoku, who had time to dedicate themselves to its study (think Sokon Matsumura, he was the king's bodyguard and a bushi, which is pretty much a samurai in effect). Most peasants did not have the inclination nor the ability to do this.

Sadly...I have... I played it in Japan and it was fun I actually bought two pads and the game a year ago, but I've only played it once since then...its fun though, in a wierd, geeky sorta way (at least I've always felt funny doing it).

Just a quick follow-up on my last post on this topic...I am very sure (reading his works and watching videos and talking to my instructor that has gone to some of his camps) that George Dillman does not suscribe to "no-touch" knockouts. I am strongly convinced that he humors those that do at his seminars in order to not offend them and take advantage of their other knowledge. Thus the post that all the masters of Dillman Karate International do no-touch knockouts is slightly off. But there have been instances of guest instructors demonstrating these techniques at seminars. Once again, Dillman is pretty much a very scientific (and very much needing to touch people to initiate energy transfer, which is a term that can mean something as simply as a corkscrew punch) advocate of pressure points and chinese meridian theory. Just if anyone was curious...although the lack of responses indicates that I may be the only one.

Yes!!! I loved it!!! Although I must say I like the manga (comics) much better. You get to see a lot more depth and the Jinchuu Arc with Enishi, which just rules (the new OVA just doesn't do it justice at all). I hear Viz might release the manga translated into English in the States...but I tend to dislike Viz's translation works *shudders at Inu Yasha (Its INUYASHA, Viz! ONE WORD!!!) among other disappointments* Luckily I can buy the imported Japanese comics and not get the watered down stuff...

I usually buy dvds nowadays, as they are usually hybrids with either japanese language or english language...of course this eats into my budget quite a bit...also, you can download "fan-subbed" files of shows that are airing in japan still on programs like mirc. I used to do this for stuff that wasn't licensed in the U.S. and as a result, have seen some anime that hasn't been released in the U.S. or are just starting. Of course nowadays, the U.S. is releasing some stuff that just finished airing in Japan less than a year ago (Noir, Chobits, etc). Now I just buy dvds because I like them...(and I'm a hopeless addict)...