battousai16

"At the moment, my fingers are still recovering from practicing chords. Anyone else got little lines of bruises on their finger tips? I never even knew you could bruise like that....." yeah, that sounds familiar...

i'm a big kurt vonnegut geek, i could read his stuff forever. george orwell and ha jin are other personal favorites. if we're going into comics too, i like GTO and Sin City.

i just started playing guitar a week ago today. i'm working on the f major chord, but i just can't get the first and second strings to make any noise. it's extremely frustrating. grahg! i can play percussion, too.

the jumping through hoops didn't get to me as them making you watch it again... and again... and again.... all at sslightly different angles

"You are incorrect. The first Hwa Rang Do school started in Seoul, Korea. And there are still recognized instructors of this art form in Korea. Here is a link to some Hwa Rang Do academies throughout the world, including Korea: http://www.hwarangdo.com/Academy.htm " Indeed, I stand corrected. I was told otherwise, that'll teach me to leave facts unchecked. "That's funny. So I shouldn't take the words of the very people and culture from which Hwa Rang Do came from (including ranked members in the art) as meaning much? Then who's word should I take? Should I take the authorities to be a bunch of white dudes who wear pjs a few times per week, and were born into a completely different culture, to mean more? I think it's reasonable to assume that the Koreans would know more about their own history, culture, and art, especially if they are practitioners." To this, I'll respond with your quote here: "I think you're confusing modern Hwa Rang Do, as it has been reconstructed by Joo Bang Lee and subsequent instructors, to what the ancient Hwa Rang warriors used during the reign of Silla." I think you're confusing Hwa Rang Do with Um Yang Kwan, the style used by the Hwarang that Hwa Rang Do is based off of. Hwa Rang Do was developed by Dr. Joo Bang Lee and... a white dude who wore pjs a few times per week, and was born into a completely different culture. Go Figure. Besides, if I want good pizza, I'll go to the guy with the better pizza, not necissarily the guy who's Italian. "But since you mentioned jumping kicks, here is a link with a picture of your founder performing a jumping kick on the cover of volume 2: The Ancient Martial Art of Hwarang Do. You can check it out here:" First of all, I'm sorry, I forget I'd addressed your post specifically, and started addressing the whole thread. At any rate, I didn't say we don't have jump kicks, in fact, I said we do. But out of the 4,000 techniques in out system, only 365 of them are kicks. I was never very good at math, but those proportions don't seem right for kicks to be that major a focus. I think he put that ridiculously showy picture on the cover because it entices more people to buy. "Also, I never stated or meant to imply that Hwa Rang Do only consisted of kicks. But kicking (and high kicking) is a big part of its striking techniques. If you disagree with me, then you may wish to browse through volume 1 of Joo Bang Lee's book. Much of that volume is devoted to kicking and they look very much like TKD style kicks. " Again, I didn't say they weren't there. In fact, I said they were. I said they weren't as big as y'all were making them out to be. As it turns out, I've read the book quite recently, as the history and philosophy section is great review for the written exams we take during our tests. That section takes up quite a bit, as I recall. I also seem to recall a large portion being devoted to falling techniques, for when we get thrown or swept... not to mention a flip fall and a back flip. Their purpose, as explained in the book, is to escape from joint locks. Joint locks aren't in the book because the book is recomended for beginners for home review. The chambers are emphasised because, again, it's for beginners, and indeed, the kicks, particularly the front and the chop, are in a TKD style at the novice level (white through yellow). Buy the time you advance to green however, that's expected to evolve into something more power oriented, ala muay thai. That may very well be a midwest thing, but we all do it. That said, I do admit that we keep a lot of them in our forms, as they look prettier. Not to say that the power kicks aren't in them, but a standing kick will generally have emphasized chambers. "I think the reason your school emphasizes grappling so much and downplays the kicks now is because of the popularity of MMA, which has shown that strikers have been neglecting an important range of combat in their training. A lot of traditional striking schools have begun doing the same. But from what I saw of the art during the 80s, while Hwa Rang Do did teach grappling, it was far from being a grappling style and no where near as sophisticated as today's grappling systems. Even modern TKD teaches grappling but I wouldn't call it a grappling oriented system." I was born in 1986, so I don't know what they were selling then. But I can assure you that joint manipulation has been a large part of the system for the last 25 years at least. And as long as you're throwing the books into play, perhaps you should take a gander at volume 3, the black book, or put a reserve on Master Lee's upcoming book "silver bullets", which all deal more with grappling. I'll admit I never read volume 2, I don't know what that deals with. "Besides, the ancient Hwa Rang warriors were soldiers. They supposedly used this stuff on the battlefield. So like any battlefield art the emphasis would've been on weapons (and rightfully so), not empty hands or grappling. The Romans also knew how to strike and grapple (think about the gladiators) but their military emphasized the gladius and the scutum because that was what was going to save them in battle, not punching, kicking, a double leg takedown, or an ankle lock. " Indeed, hence our 108 weapons which, by the way, have a greater emphasis than jump kicks. "As for the expression of the roundhouse kick, I think a quick thumb through Joo Bang Lee's books will end this discussion. It is definitely a TKD-style kick and looks nothing like a properly executed muay Thai round kick. If your school teaches muay Thai kicks, that's great. But it's not the Hwa Rang Do that Joo Bang Lee promoted during the 80s. " Just the blue book, I think. I'm pretty sure it transitions by volume 3, as I'm fairly certain it does by the panther series videos. "While I cannot say what it is you are learning at your specific school, I can tell you that since the birth of the UFC and Pride tournaments, many schools have integrated various styles into their curriculum without changing the name of the system. " That may be, but I don't see how it applies. First of all, of all the MMA matches I've seen, none have ended in the small joint manipulation I was reffering to. Ground fighting dosen't actually have that large an emphasis in our school, although I think they do it more in California. That said, I think ours is a bit wussier than BJJ. My humble opinion. "All I can say is that whatever you're learning, as long as it's effective, then great." Agreed. Y'know, if that's what you're going for. "But you shouldn't mistake the art, its history, or its culture for ancient Hwa Rang Do." I'm not. That's Um Yang Kwan. That's in the blue book you made reference too. "Glean through some old martial arts books, magazines, and videos from back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s and compare them to the way the arts are presented today. You may find that many things have changed, and that a large percentage of schools in the States do not adhere to the original founders' of their systems teachings, though they may claim to do so. I'm not saying its wrong, I'm just stating its different from how the original founders expressed the techniques or taught their curriculums." I have. I'd quote them, but I'm in the middle of a move and they're all packed away. However, their main points are that it's an effective well rounded system based on the style the Hwarang studied, not that it had a lot of high flying kicks. Those are just the photo ops. An old issue of Black Belt Magazine, the want ads of MA literature, says it's great because it has everything from grappling to weapons. Some adjustments have indeed been made, but in things like the sequence of forms and the like. Or a technique would be taken out of one form and into another. And, for the record, the founder is alive and well, and still practicing, and is the head of the Academy. Even if it had changed, and nothing as large as the inclusion as joint manipulation has in the last 25 years, it would still be his teachings. And again, his school is in the United States. He actually went back to Korea for the first time since he left in the 70's last year. "Finally, I did not state that Hwa Rang Do or TKD lacked any combat effective elements." Again, I'm sorry, I meant to direct that at the thread, not you specifically. "I just feel there are better arts to learn" Of course, but that depends entirely on what the person wants out of his/her training. "can teach a person to fight much more quickly." Quicker does not equal more effective.

coincidentally, tony jaa has a new movie in the works right now, and rumor has it that lateef crowder, an amazing capoeirista, will be in it. you can see some of lateef crowder's stuff at the zero gravity website.

um... out of curiosity, how did you end up hitting a cd case?

if JKD is what you really want to do, i'd work on what you have until the school comes around again.

hey, to each his own

actually, i find blood sport to be utter trash, especially since it was presented as a true story. mostly, i love the soundtrack. KUMITE! KUMITE! KUMITE!

i gotta' say, what's attracted me to my styles is mostly how well i get along with my instructors. y'know, both personally, how our philosophies compare, and the like. sit 'em down and talk to them for awhile, that's what i did.

in addition to what everybody else has said, in defense of the roda, it really gets you used to fighting in enclosed spaces and it gets rid of that nagging fear that comes when getting in real close... at least, the one i always got.

i gotta' say, my tai chi instructor rocks. he has a nack for high lighting the applications in the form, and i must say, it's pretty simple. and that's yang style. isn't chen supposed to be the easiest to apply? i think i heard that somewhere. the eagle claw school around here, however, is wushu, and thus isn't much in the way of fighting. have you looked at both schools? you may find that you like one instructor considerably more than the other, and decide that way. maybe one has a far more down to earth teaching style than the other, ie: my instructor compared to the eagle claw guy. that said, 45 minutes is a long way away. that's a lot of gas. how long are the classes? if they're an hour, it's only barely worth it, and that's if it's an awsome class. also don't forget, 45 minutes there, 45 back. man, that's a long time. i'd really take that into consideration. y'know, i wonder if that ground percentage just comes from the fact that one person is always knocked down? and it's only 99% to allow for a margin of error....

none? really? huh... well alright. my beefs with hansen's statements are, well, as far as i know, there isn't actually a hwa rang do school in korea... our headquarters is in LA. Be it their creation or not, it was their creation 2000 years ago, and i wouldn't take your encounters in korea as the ultimate authorities on the style. you also seem to be insinuating that the hwa rang do arsenal consists of jump kicks and the like, of which it does not. well, that's not true. they're there, but of everything we train, they come up the least. joint manipulation is actually what i see the most of. still, 4,000 techniques and not a single one applicable to live fighting? i don't buy it, i think we've quite a few. and for the record, you listed our roundhouse closer to the technique of a TKD one, where as in reality it's much closer to that of muay thai. we may have a sketchy history and lousy politics, but i think we're pretty combat effective.

do they say stellar over in rainy ol' england? i think i pulled it from an incubus song. coincidentally "stellar". that said, i probably watch to many brit movies for my own good. i think i'll watch shaun of the dead again tonight...

i'm a big guy too, and after a few nights i could move with the rest of 'em. y'know, not as smooth... or as talented... but i was up to speed. and hip flexibility, for sure.

psh, don't even get me started on the kicks, i'm still trying to get comfortable in the ground movement... and trying to esquiva instead of blocking... some day.

yeah, i don't know if your signature is out of date now, but capoeira is fundamentally different from everything i've studied before, and has gotten a bit confusing at times. that said, it was more confusing for capoeira than it was for hwa rang do. the trouble came when all of the sudden i went back to hwa rang do and the little changes, like foot positioning and a lot of my arcs and the like, changed drastically. for example, the worst being hwa rang do's high spin, which is a kick with your foot parallel to the ground. by the time i got the armada underway in capoeira, which has your foot perpendicular to the ground, my high spin was ruined, as that's an important detail in hwa rang do. just a word of warning: make sure you're comfortable before you move on. if you do decide to play capoeira, however, i'll be you'll like it, as it's a blast.

yeah, there were two. the first wasn't very good, but the first one was excellent, with a wonderful musical score and a pretty good script ("what about the 'I' word?" "the 'I' word?" "ingagement!" . that one also went over the batman's origins, and i thought it did so a little better, although that may very well be simple nastalgia for the cartoon series that i grew up with.

you think so? because Toby Maguire is what made the spiderman movies sketchy to me. i dunno, i hear he's a less than stellar fellow. that said, i'm partial to the first animated batman movie. i'm not gonna' lie, i bought all three of the batman: the animated series boxed sets when they came out. batman begins is definitely second, though.

hmmm... 3-4.5 inches. i'm not gonna' lie, i'm a pretty lousy fisherman. i, like monkey girl, just get too restless and frustrated that i'm not catching more fish.

hey, good luck in college. i'm a full time student, a waiter, an instructor at my school, and i work at the local target (my first job with a large corporation. it's quite awkward; i've never had to work for the good of the company before).

remember, "lifes obstacles aren't meant to paralyze you, rather to let you see what kind of person you really are". you did what i'd have done; you bit your tounge and later asked your instructor what you should do to get the kind of improvement she wants. way to be.

one of the instructors in my dojang is a security guard.

well, just because sport oriented TKD have rendered blocking semi-impractical dosen't mean there's a huge anti-blocking movement sweeping the world. most all places i've ever seen (including sport TKD) have put, IMO, a proper emphasis on blocking. i've also seen that when people aren't focusing on blocking, it's because their focus is on foot work and intercepting, and they're usually at the intermediate level, so you can't very well expect perfection. they generally learn. quite frankly, i don't care if people spar with their hands down and turn their back to me. it makes me look better