battousai16

yeah, big trouble with calf exercises is the cramps. but they're numerous. sprint on your toes for short distances. find a wood box or a chair (something that wont break under your weight) and, staying on your toes, jump from the ground to the box and back, as fast as you can, for a good while. come to think of it, you could probably do it with stairs. in fact, run up and down stairs on your toes (just don't fall). there's something we did in cross country we called dot drills that have 5 dots space fairly far apart on a mat arranged like the 5-side of a 6-sided die. then you'd jump (on your toes) in different patterns as fast as you could. i guess the key is speed and staying on your toes.

well, yeah, the medical attention thing, but my foot used to cramp up too. eventually after awhile it just went away (the cramping, not the foot ). and lately i've found i've been having a bit of knee trouble too (just in the left one, though...). i've been doing hindu squats in the mornings and taking long walks. it's really quite pleasant; bring a cd player and listen to some music you haven't heard in awhile, or just listen to the night. it's all good fun until someone calls neighborhood watch on you

well, first of all, there's not just one way to lift. you can lift for power (lifting lots of weight a few times), or you can lift for endurance (lifting a little weight lots of times). so the results are different depending on what you do. it dosen't hurt as long as you remember to stretch well and what not. i used to lift weights, but in the end i just kind of dumped it; it was fun and i made some buddies, but with training and what not i was running low on time and i wasn't seeing benefits to it. i dunno; it just didn't seem worth it i guess. judge for yourself. but yeah, it wont slow you down if you stretch and work on something or other that makes you faster. y'know, your explosive-ness. i'm sure there's an official term for it, but like i said, but it's been awhile since i've been lifting

also, the more moving parts, the higher chance of a child playing where s/he shouldn't be and getting injured. another advantage to the gym. every now and then my parents will get into health funks. y'know, "i'm gonna' exercise and eat right and lose a lot of weight!". then they go and by an exercise machine. we have all sorts of stuff sitting in storage. my little sister has taken to something or other. but in the end it just gets thrown in the back next to my dad's record player from college and some spare shingles. i was having an interesting conversation with my instructor not to long ago at an open work out, and he has a firm belief that there isn't really much that machines and weights can do that you can't do with aeorbic activity. he showed me his work out routine, and it was mostly weird swoosh-y push ups and hindu squats. well, that and hwarang do. and a bit of stretching. and he's pretty fit. i dunno, i'm no expert, it just seems that people who buy gym equipment just end up taking space in there basement. feel free to show me wrong. just be sure to remember to use it

"As for my address...I'd give it to you, but then everybody else on this forum would probably want to send me money too...and I would just hate like heck to have to do all that paperwork that would be involved in claiming it to the IRS. " of course i'm just itching to send my pay check to you my experience with kali was great fun. by all means stick with shorin ryu if you enjoy it, but don't discount kali.

is that any good? i read Of Love and Shadows and hated it. i was told House of the Spirits was just as bad. do her characters have sex at every turn in that book too?

bingo. i've seen 'em go anywhere from $20-$150. they're not "swords" as much as fancy toys. there's no way to fix it. sorry.

blazing saddles Waco kid: "i used to have the fastest hands in the world!" Bart the sheriff: "steady as a rock!" Waco kid: "yeah... but i shoot with this hand"

"i think the film you're talking about is 'island of fire'.... maybe.... " yeah, could be. i don't know, it's been a long time since i've been on a jackie chan binge... i forget. a movie called "they live", now that i think of it, has a pretty realistic (i guess) fight scene in it, though they have ridiculously high endurance (one of them takes, like, seven knees to the groin). but that's about as realistic as i can think of.

well, i don't know what you mean by a "good" showing of a 3 section staff (realistic? sweet? ), but the master of the flying guillotine has a pretty neat fight, though it's short. i've also seen a quick clip of one from a jackie chan movie; i think it was fearless hyena, but i'm not sure on that one. for realistic fight scenes, it's been awhile since i've seen it, but i seem to remember jackie chan's the prisoner (actually, it's not really a jackie chan movie as much as he's in it and fights once or twice) as being farely brawl-ish. maybe not to much. snatch? else, i'd just go for UFC maybe? i dunno. i don't dig realistic fight scenes that much; they're not as entertaining. i can't think of any double sword stuff off hand, but jackie chan's city hunter (a terrible movie, i really don't recomend it) has some double tonfa versus double club/whip thingies.... ummm... yeah, i got nothin'.

you know, advice is what you ask for when you know the answer and wish you didn't you've gotten lots of great advice here, good luck to you.

i guess. but always remember there's a boston corbett in every crowd. and he was made into a national hero... a weak one, but an honored one none the less. still, i see your point.

sorry all... habit from my sci fi lit. and society days

i'm with TDA on this one (always side with the member of the month ). hulk's head may not be empty, but parker's a super genious. and when the hulk gets super mad, he tends to think less, where as spidey tends to think more. and if you read enough spidey comics, when spidey gets mad, we're talking super mad. i give the edge to spider man here. but once again, batman takes 'em both.

well, Louis XIV was also known as the sun king and was the last success france had (one might argue napolean, but i would argue otherwise, and besides, he was corsican ). he did all sorts of neat stuff and ruled for a super long time, like, 70 years. during his reign all of europe wanted to be like the french. peter the great, in a desperate attempt to modernize russia, cut down a forest and filled in a swamp to build the ultra-modern st. petersburg. the city faces the west, creating a "window to europe". he did all sorts of other neat stuff too, and some weird stuff. y'know, FYI. i dig history

also, don't forget simple technique things. don't forget to rotate the shoulders, keep your eyes on the target, etc.

well, if you're looking for self defense, WTF tae kwon do probably isn't the way to go... you'll learn more about flashy moves and point sparring there, which, although great fun, dosen't transfer to the street very well.

not to hassle you luckyboxer, but how were you breaking said bones? i mean, i've seen on two seperate occasions what bullydog was talking about; where someone doesn't tap out and a wrist snaps (both happened with a c-lock). and i live in the dairy state he wasn't trying to break it, and i doubt he was putting over 10 pounds on it. it might have been because it was a training scenario and was thus easier to set everything, but... yeah, i just dunno. bones can be pretty weak, and once you get those angles down... can't say that i've ever broken anybodys bones before, though, so i can't say for sure.

hey, did y'all hear about karl marx's grave? it's just another communist plot!

oh, and i can't believe i forgot them, but electric 6. i totally dig them; they're a disco/rock combo with lyrics so ridiculously cliche that they're hilarious. definitely check 'em out.

if the blade is wobbling, i don't think it's even half tang. if it's dirt cheap stainless steel, i think i know the sword you're talking about (generally comes in a set of 3?), and the blade was just stamped out of a sheet of metal and fixed into the handle. it's a stage prop, not a weapon. if it's the sword i'm thinking of, that is. and even if it was just because it was half tang, there's nothing especially wrong with that if the sword is light enough. i've never known a half tang sword to wobble.

hwarang do has knife fighting too, but you probably don't spend as much time with it as you would in kali/arnis/escrima/whatever. and kali sticks are cool

^i suppose that would do it too^

since no one seems to be answering your question, the SAT is an entrance exam for university, though kind of unnecisary cuz most universities accept the ACT. you just sign up for it and give them a bunch of money, and the prestigious colleges look at it and rank you, as well as with your GPA and a submitted essay, and any other factors that university looks at. i didn't take 'em, i just took the ACT. but some places require the SAT, and it's generally good to have it taken; i'm just really lazy

") if that dosen't help stick your finger in the end of the barrel..." from 10 ft. away u must have a hell of an arm... me, i'd just do exactly what the gunman told me to. if though was no immediate threat of him/her actually firing, just do whatever s/he wants. if s/he obviously intends to kill you anyway, you'd might as well just take a gamble. that's probably just the macho male in me talking, though