Nikkolaiashimon

well ive taken fencing, and kendo, and hopeing about starting aikibudo soon(similar to iaido). fencing, i dont know, its ok, but not as fun as kendo, fencing is kinda to controled, where you can hit, how you can stand all that. kendo is much more active and full out. though it is more expensive. id go with kendo, but if thats to expensive then iaido !

just want to add that a lot of aikibudo(aikido) schools teach katana, along with other traditional samurai weapons!

sorry, to clarify, in the law of self defense, it has to be a door, cause i personally could not open a window(my back to my enemy) and get out before i was killed... could you? so thats why the law states a door.

i have a machette hanging on my bedpost, so probably that, and concering self defense laws...in most states if its on your property and your in a room with no quick exit, aka a bedroom, and your opponent is coming at you, you are allowed to use leathal force. a good example of this is when a 13 and 18 year old boy were home alone and their house was broken into, they hid in their parents bedroom, but the guy came after them. he started pounding on the door and was gonna break through it, so the 18 year old got his fathers gun and shot the guy through the door. he was an adult, but had no charges pressed against him.

here is a great link about the combat applications of Taijiquan. http://www.wahnam.com/TheShaolinWahnamInstitute.htm go to the Taijiquan section obviously hehe. I agree that if you trained on how to use taijiquan effectively that it would be very useful in combat!

if your not super obsessed with how the weapon works then id suggest two things that i do. to fix it cheap, get medical tape (its a rough cloth tape) and wrap your grip with it. this will increase the friction so it wont slide. if you want to spend a bit more money, and make it look a bit better then buy tennis grip, you can get all sorts of nice colors, and it works wonders.

well its the same reason weight lifters wear weight belts, it helps keep your organs nice and tight inside. it helps support your back, and helps prevent hernias and internal organ damage. wrapping your gut up tight is an effective way to protect that area of your body.

I agree, being a martial artist has absolutly nothing to do with a building, and everything to do with the mindset of wanting to improve yourself in the ways of martial arts!

Hey i recently started looking into Quigong(Chi Kung) and well i find that it is really interesting. however i have a couple questions. 1) Is the practice "lifting the sky" used to clear blockages of your chi flow? 2) What does the practice "Raising the moon" do? 3) Does "Abdominal breathing" increase your energy store? any information from someone that studies quigong would be great!! Thanks!

i have mixed feelings... some of the stuff looked pretty good, but the weapons forms really disappointed me. it all seemed so "showy" but with no real useful technique. especially the katana forms... oh well, i guess its just not my style to be all flashy? anyways the point of this post. if i want to learn how to REALLY use a katana, not what i just saw on tv, where should i go? any styles teach real katana use???

yea but it was only 15 minutes...the rest was kind of bunk, and the new one doesnt have the spooky "what is that thing" pull. but i still wanna see it get cut up and buried in different parts of the world so ill go see it anyways hehe

hey, not everybody can be the best right from the get go, though i know thats not much consolation. back when i started sparring i hated that i could never do anything... its like the worst feeling ever. anyways, some people just have a natural ability, so your partner may have that edge for now. but one thing is for sure, every time you spar you get a little bit better. so you will get better. Ok so enough with the motivation on with ways to improve faster. Practice practice practice, thats key... and spar spar spar! shadowbox, bag work, form work. if you want to be strong, work for it. go for it all the way!!! ok now to win your match. everytime i spar, its not just a game to me, you must put your heart into it. i know it sounds corney and all but it really works. if you fight with your heart, you will do so much better i promise. fight like you mean it, fight better then you know you can! thats all i can say.

Personally, i loved the early 90s FOX version of X-Men, but i also really like the new X-Men evolution. it has a lot of similarities to the new movies, and i think its a nice new spin on the story. though it is very different. Also i think the new Ninja turtles is AMAZING, as good if not better then the origional(wont say for sure if its better till we get more episodes!!!) Anyways i voted for robotech, cause i love giant robots!

firstly, on the regeneration aspect it depends on what universe you take your wolverine from. in some he can be almost completely disitingrated and come back...but i think thats dumb anyways. as for hercule/kenshin which are two of my fav characters... i dont think that even kenshins techniques could cut through adamantium, and wolverine is considerably stronger then hercule. the thing about wolverine is that his regeneration makes him so strong and fast. Muscles grow by being torn and regrowing...well his grow REALLY fast hehe. ah well though, just food for thought!

my hip also "clunks" when i do higher kicks, and my wrists, knees, and ankles crack a lot nowadays...i hope its not bad, but i personally dont know... i hope someone can shed some light on this

ok here is a scientific reply: By speed im gonna guess that you mean lightening fast reflexes, and not the ability to run a mile in 5 flat. In that case there are a couple things you can do. First REPITION of motion is key for two reasons. Firstly if you constantly repeat the motion you want to speed up, the "fast-twitch" muscles in your arm will develop, this increases your speed, and your control of the motion. Secondly the repition helps build the nerve connections between your muscles and your brain. this allows you to REACT faster. Now to supplement that there are some other things you can. to help speed up the development of your "fast-twitch" muscles you can wear small amounts arm/leg/torso weights. this allows your muscles to become stronger. However when using weights, never practice at full speed cause you can cause injury. (look up further information on using weights in this forum) Lastly to really increase your reaction time sparring is the best thing you can do. the intenseness of combat allows your brain to develop proper responces, and this will help you speed up considerably.

since we live in a world without superhuman powers then id want to have wolverines powers. cause he cant be hurt by any convential means, and his abilities make him an AMAZING martial artist!!!

hey guys, thanks a lot for the run down. From the sounds of it, i want to sign up for jujitsu, sounds a bit more useful. Ill have to try to find a place where i can learn!! Thanks again for the info!

KSN, where do you train at? and what style?? Everybody else, thank you so much for such a warm welcome!

im not going to judge, but you sound like your over reacting a bit. my girlfriend used to do this a lot, she always felt like she was being stared at, but we talked about it, and she realized that she was just over reacting. and that it was just people randomly looking over, if anything at all. Id suggest you also try to take a look at this objectively, and maybe try to notice that people arent always staring at you. People are just people, and just because they look your way doesnt mean they want your wife... take a chill pill. And honestly im not trying to be harsh, ive been through this personally, and just sharing what i learned. I hope this helps a bit.

The big reason i do it is for the knowledge it holds, im big into the history behind it all!!

hey, this is probably really dumb, but close-in combat is not my forte, so i dont know much about it, and i had always thought that judo and jujuitsu was the same thing, could someone give me a run down on the differences? Thanks a bunch!

ankle weights work, but be careful how much weight you wear...and when useing weights dont kick full speed, slow your kicks down and let your legs feel the weight...with a lot of slow repition with like 5-10 pounds of weight, you will really see a speed improvment!

In my opinion i think that its not the time, but the knowledge that makes you a master. If you understand everything about your art, then your a master, but it has to be a deep understanding, about the dynamics, and philosophy, everything...not just being able to do the forms well for the last 15 years. And yes, i think the philosophy matters, you must understand why we fight if you want to be a master warrior.

All im gonna add is that JKD is not a style, just a theory, so its not really better then anything...its just something to use as you train in martial arts!