battousai16

"First off, at some point, every black belt was a white belt. I don't know how any of you can say you'd be rude to white belts when you're "tired". " true, but not every blackbelt was a lazy, arrogant, and disrespectful white belt.

i agree with that. as long as y'all want equal rights, equal pay, and equal opportunities, you can be sure i'll go in equally as hard as i would with a guy. the reason I sigh when i see i've been paired up with a girl is you have to go out of your way to walk on egg shells to avoid offending them. personally, i tend to look at the shoulders when i spar. something about seeing movements coming earlier. i look at everybodies shoulders, men and women, but if i'm against a woman i'm suddenly stairing at her breasts... or in take down situations, you can't just instinctually go for what you would normally on a guy, because whether you're anywhere near anything or whether or not you had the intent, a slight miss and you're called for sexual harassment. i have no qualms sparring or grappling with women i know and who know me, since no problems come up then. but if it's someone newer or it's in a tournament setting with someone i haven't met before (in something like team sparring or the like, where you're not necessarily seperated by gender), i get a bit hesitant.

moving backwards is generally not a good idea; it's a good way to get cornered. avoid it, if you can.

y'all can't kick to the back of the head? i thought you could... ach, i suppose you'd know better than i would.

the trouble with sword is that there are so many little intracacies to sword, that you can't really learn it without a good instructor. a simple cut, unsheathing and sheathing... right down to finger placement. i've always had a wicked hard time with it, and i've been told i have a knack for it. it's something you can't get off of a website.

congratulations, ms. bird

oh i don't know about that... perhaps i'll get little comic strips printed on my undergarments so the person behind me can have something to read during dynamic stretching

i'm surprised no one threw out thomas hobbes yet... . if you want to clear out a lot of the myths of the constitution, the relatively new book John Adams i thought did a good job with that... i wanna' say it's by a fella called mccullough, but i don't remember off hand... of course, if that essay is due tommorow or something, you should probably get on that before you read the small library we've assigned you

hey, that's two in the bag

i don't know... you'll have some competition for most attractive...

bah, i found both paine and locke to be a bit dry, but they're certainly important people to read, if for no other reason than to know where your government came from... y'know, if you're american and all.

actually, dosen't a lot of our constitution come from the works of thomas paine, john locke, etc.? or am i confusing stuff again?

i'm a freshman in college. i took a whole bunch of history classes, because i really love it, and a few literature classes, cuz i love thouse too, and...forgot to take any math classes ah well... next semester

i went to eau claire and visited my sister and a few buddies up there at the university. so... ...yeah, how'd you do?

well, it's not even just in a tournament environment. my older sister goes to school with a second dan at my school. she always talks about how much he drives her nuts on account of the fact that he's always talking about how great he is, how humble he is (she often says "anyone who calls himself humble really isn't humble"), and how amazing it is that he's gotten so far so young. i've never really talked to him outside of the dojang, he could very well be expressing pride... though i guess he tries to pick up girls with it too at any rate, i don't think it's even a martial arts thing as much as a societal thing.

oh, i disagree beiner. what does a UFC fighter have to prove? that his style is better than your style? sounds like a "my dad could beat up your dad" sort of thing. most of them are mixed anyway. that they're the best fighter around? that dosen't prove anything; they just did the best job that day of e veryone who competed. sure, some of them gain a bunch of money, but you could do that easier elsewhere. more importantly, the UFC is sport. a violent sport, but a sport none the less, with two trained fighters who agreed to do this. they're fighting. and they're doing it in a controlled environment, with a medic and a referee. it's totally different than going out looking for fights, in which case you're no longer fighting, you're just attacking which you touched on yourself, and i think was the point. unless of course there's something i'm missing.

"Slight variation to topic: I have a teacher, so I will use him for form and technique. However, does anyone know of a good book that will explain the history, development, and differences of the various Karate styles. Which ones make use of weapons? Which weapons? How long have styles been around? etc, etc. Thank you in advance." there are a lot of good books, and a lot of not so good books. i could give you a few, but i'm not even sure they're still in print. i've had the most luck looking for stuff in second hand bookstores. go to the MA section, look through, see what i can find. i think there's a book sticky around here somewhere... aha, here it is: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=8082

personally, i'm just never mad or upset when i go train. it may have happened before, but i don't remember. there's just something about going in there and seeing everyone that just kind of....warms me up, i guess. if i don't wanna go to class, or do my homework, or anything, really, i generally go outside, take a few deep breaths and just try to see the beauty in things, and that generally makes me forget about anything that kept me from wanting to go. this woman wont be the end of the world. in no time at all she'll forget why she's even mad... unless of course you said something REALLY bad... in which case, just wait it out. coming from a family of all girls, i can tell you that they're never mad forever, even if they pretend they are.

^mark makes a point^; meet a bunch of people and make a bunch of friends. it ups the ante in friendly competition, and just makes for an all around more enjoyable experience

well, i guess i'll take initiative then. your best bet is to...buy a bokken. if you want proper weight, length, balance, etc., a stick you find in the front yard just wont do. as for instruction, i've yet to see a half way decent internet link, or book. sword is just something you need an instructor for.

you brits must have a different edition than the lot of us; i believe "bedshaped" is track 11 on my copy... i'd have to check, though...

...i'll concur; the last TMA tournament i entered, my traditional staff form lost to the flashy double nunchaku form... he wasn't even holding them right... i think that very much depends on the tournament, though, and the luck of the draw as far as you get for judges.

well, y'know, i don't have the perfect judging panel. the point was that it's impossible to obtain one, so, y'know... be happy with what you have.

well, i was obviously picking extremes, it's just that... well, with little siblings who have a tendancy to throw things at you, and i would bet poke you, i really wouldn't want my first reaction to be "SIDE KICK!". god knows if that happened to me, my little sister would be covered in bruises. not to say, of course, that it's bad to be aware of your surroundings, but i really don't think it's good to thrash out when when your 3 year old neighbor jumps out this halloween and jumps out "BOO!"...or your little brother, or you loving wife hoping to surprise you when you get home from work, or...