battousai16

...i'm trying to figure out how to word this without stirring up political conversation... and after trying long and hard, it can't be done. as for the multiple choices... come on... nader didn't even get a full percent of the vote, did he? we don't really have more than 2.... they're more like a hypothetical addition to make the ballot look nice. y'know, "see ma? i cleaned my room, my bed is made!" when the rest of the room is a disaster... not the greatest analogy, i know, but it's late with ross perot having the record at 17%, i think we can all say that there are really 2 choices.

without getting into a political debate, as those are strictly forbidden, allow me to point out that i were to, say, vote for kerry, and my state voted bush, bush gets all the points, and now my vote dosen't help my candidate. thus, my vote dosen't count; not on the grand scale, anyway. and no one said i wasn't proud to participate in the democratic process. as DM pointed out, if i don't vote, i can't complain seriously, i have nothing against the democratic process, i just don't like the electoral porcess, and feel it strays from the "one man, one vote" ideal.

i suppose it's not required, but it's really a given that it doesn't hurt. hip looseners and legraisers, i'd suggest, with splits after your work out.

well, but with the electoral college, not every vote counts. it only counts if the person you voted for won your state. and in my case, my guy conceded before my wonderful state of WI was even done counting.

there was supposed to be a record turnout of young voters this year and... it turned out to be about the same. except for in my great state of WI, where i heard today 80% of us ran out an voted! yeah! congratulations to mr. bush... now where did i put my passport...

"Personally, I think he played on it for as long as possible in order to get the maximum amount of sympathy from mum and dad! " that's what i plan on doing ...well, from my mum and dad, not yours... and to shotochem...you poor thing....

whenever they come in.... .... if they need pulling.

unless your new art is differen't in principle to your base. i doubt a hard stylist, say, from shotokan, can just jump right in to tai chi. capoeira to wing chun. my buddy just started wado ryu, and what she was saying was just so different from what i'd learned before. i don't believe that just because you have a strong base in aikido, you'll be able to jump right in to tkd.

hey, my dentist just told me that too! only mine are coming in completely sideways... and i was told a week of rest... . what dosen't kill you, y'know?

i know little to nothing about goju ryu, but it they're differen't enough i can see where someone would get jumbled. i know i'm having a hell of a time with wing chun. that said, it really shouldn't mattered. you should be focused on yourself, not her.

i'm a rurouni kenshin fan, myself. and there's some neat stuff in GTO, but the fighting's usually takes back seat to the ingenious story and hilarious comedy.

oh come on DM, where's the spirit? even i've had one that said "this is my costume"

yeah, i took my step siblings about, and went as rasputin. it didn't take much, just a robe, a fake beard, a knife in the back, i put some red paint down the front foor bullet holes, coloring to make it look like i drowned.... it was great fun, but only one person got it

well, yeah, that's kinda why i put up that "as i've been taught it" disclaimer

i've just never been able to get into fantasy, it's just not really my thing. however, a friend of mine made me read "so you want to be a wizard" by diane duane, and i didn't hate it.

i must say, i've always been a bit surprised by the similarities between hwa rang do and kuk sool won, myself. i think the only real difference is that we have a heavier emphasis on weapons, but it never ceases to amaze me how often i'll point out something about HRD and some KSW guy will say "oh yeah, we do that too". i have found that a lot of our kicking has more in common with muay thai than tae kwon do, but i think a lot of that is simply because we try to adapt for delivering pain than scoring points. i don't mean to sound condescending, i mean just in methods of delivery and follow through, and striking surfaces, sometimes. i've yet to see, however, many other people use their heal as a striking surface for a straight legged spinn kick like we do. aside from that, i've noticed we've "borrowed" some meditation exercises from tai chi, though that may be an instructor thing. and i've yet to see WC really compare to anything, though i have little to know experience with kempo.

well thanks y'all; i know i can write about anything, that's the trouble. it's a bit overwhelming, but i think i got a topic

oh, that's another one, my instructor sometimes calls me "the wet dog". he was demonstrating a throw, and i sweat a lot in practice and this was towards the end, and i was pretty new and still learning how to fall. he threw me, i landed but not quite right and i made this "thwok" sound. he said i didn't go with the throw and that it was like trying to throw a dog in a bath tub.

well, as long as y'all helped the other fellow... i have this essay for vietnam history... and to clear up any misconceptions, that's on the history of the vietnam war, not the history of the country. i know it's called the american war in vietnam, i dunno what the rest of the world calls it, or if they even concern themselves with it. at any rate, the paper can be on anything at all concerning the war, as long as it's not to vague. so... now i have no idea what to write about. any suggestions?

she's a runner, don't worry... but i hear we look very similar

i gotta' say, once this person said that enrolling children in the martial arts is worse than forcing them into pornography ... i think it's safe to say s/he dosen't have a clue.

well, but it dosen't seem as though he was dismissing him because he's learning but rather because he's a disrespectful, newbie showboat.

actually DM, i think the McDonalds thing is starting to fall through, because it's been recently proposed that obesity could very well be a virus, and a contagious one at that. as far as gene doping goes, i don't know how i feel about that. if one were to look at my parents, it becomes apparent that i'm fighting an uphill battle... hell, i'm from WI, the obesity capital of the world. but although i can stand to lost a few pounds here or there, i'd like to think myself quite fit. i think y'all have hit the nail on the head when you say it's up to the person, which brings up another point that shorinryu sensei is fond of bringing up- it's not the instructors job to make you work out, that's something everyone should do on their own time. looking around my dojang, i don't know if people don't realise that, or they just don't care, or what. but it's foolish to just assume that going to class alone, even if you do it effectively, will make you into a modeling stud/stud-ette( ). at anyrate, just my 2 cents

i gotta' say, walking in the rain with my lady friend the feeling you get when you've just finished a really good book driving about with my dad and the feeling you get when you just beat your best friend at anything

a few people in my old school called me batt, because i did a form with a sword with a blade reversed. i just took it out of my sensei's office without looking at it, cuz he had 5 or 6 in there, and that one looked the nicest. i didn't realise until later that it was backwards... i think it was a gift to him for novelty purposes or something, because the sword was balanced weird. at any rate, people call me bogbeast, since i used to train with my best buddy, and he started calling me that, and... gah, nicnames are never especially flattering. and, y'know, DM, if you can cook.... god knows no one in my family can, and my sister's 21...