Bdaze

cross train seriously, it's the only way. i don't buy all this stuff about how traditional martial arts don't teach you to fight. they do, they just teach them slower so you have a more concrete base. so if you want to learn something fast, but also well, you can supliment with another art. my Dojo offers Budo taijitsu (traditonal) and Comabtive Concepts. i take both. it works out well.

The Bujinkan is a pretty tight knitt community. most high ranks and instructers know each other from Tai Kai's and seminars. it's almost definetly not a McDojo because there are only 100 registed Bujinkan Dojos in the US. to constitute as a McDojo there have to be alot more than 100 dojos nation wide. I'm pretty sure my Sensei went there for a seminar a few weeks ago actually. he said he went to a dojo in phildelphia and as far as i could tell, thats the only bujinkan dojo in philidelphia. the 10th degree thing isn't all that unbelieveable. if he started learning at the same time i did and keept doing it until his age, he could easily be a 37 year old 10th degree who just looks a litte younger.

yes. i can do them basically it's like a hand spin. this is done by spinning the nunchaku, letting go with your hand and allowing it to spin around the back of your hand, then catching it again in reverse grip. the finger spin is acoumplished in a similiar way, but you stick your finger around. i dont like these to much because the chain pinches your finger too much theyre pretty easy once you get the hang of them here are some web sites which have video instructions: http://members.tripod.com/~PGresh/moveindex.htm http://www.ninjitsu.com/Video_Gallery/Video_-_Weapons/Nunchaku_Videos/nunchaku_videos.html on the second link i believe they call them "wrist rolls" if you can do these, you can do finger spins. good luck.

what's that, the "royal we"? YOU may be talking about 100+ years ago, but I am talking about less than 50 years ago. obviously 100+ years ago things where diferant. living was alot more survival based and honor meant alot more than it does today. people died for it durring duels and challenges. 100 years ago or not, i still think the idea of getting in a simple argument or looking at someone the wrong way and having them say "Wanna fight about it?!" is puerile and idiotic.

A shinai is used for Kenjutsu or the more sportlike Kendo. firstly: the ropes are not to tighten the bamboo they are to keep it from falling apart. don't mess around with them. Secondly: you use it like a sword. that's what it is. you hit things with it. it's made out of bamboo so it makes a loud noise in training and you can gauge the power and acuracy of your strikes. you learn to use it through careful training administered by a Kendo instructor. if you want to practice with it before you take up training with an instructor, practice the basic cut (called "Men" which means "head" because thats what you're aiming for) this is an over head cut. the sword should come close to toouching your back. you should grip it tightly with your pinky, middle and ring fingerwith left hand on bottom and right hand up by the gaurd. scream "MEN!!!!" at the top of your lungs while preforming this cut and have absolutley no emotion. a warrior has no time for emotion. repeat until you feel it's time to move on and then find an instructor.

in my class sensei emphisizing using locks and manipluations so you can get an opponent into a "human sheild" position. for instance a blood choke from behind off of a punch can not only knock out your targeted opponent, but it will also make his buddy think twice about attmpting to punch at you and risk hitting his friend

Just because martial arts where intended for killing doens't mean you should use lethal force just because of a simple challenge. the only person who would do that is someone who was trying to provwe something because of insecurities. martial arts should only be used when your life, property or loved ones are in imediate parril, not because some 17 year old kid said he could beat you up.

you're right, i was thinking of work visas. you do need an entrance visa (more commmonly reffered to as a passport) to entry a country my bad

it does happen. Sensei has taught in the philipines and done seminars many many times and his instructor in Sayoc Kali has also. i can't remeber the name of the guy whos possee did this. ill ask him on tuesday if i remeber, but he named one of the old masters (he's about 80 now) PS: a visa is not required to visit a country. it's only necissary if you intend to become a citizen and seek employment

last night i was talking history with Sensei and we got onto the subject of the inergration of martial arts into American society. then we got into the early "karate wars" between dojos. in the earley 50's-60's (not possotive on dates) students would challenge other dojos which sometimes resulted in all out gang brawls bwteeen dojos. one of the most famous of which of course involves a man known as Count Dante, the self proclaimed "Worlds Deadliest man" and his black dragon fighting society. one such brawl ended in the brutal deaths of several students (one got a spear through the chest, another bleed to death). needless to say, Count Dante was liable for this and went to jail for a long time. we also talked about even today in the filipines, you have to be careful who you speak to and how you speak to them when training, because some times it can be seen as a challenge. Sensei talked about alot of masters (and particulairly members of their entourage) who would talk online with someone in the states who would bad mouth their system, hop on a plain, come to the US and duel with them i was wondering what people think about challenges and duels between dojos. personally i think they're i good way to test your skills, but some people take them to far. a duel is a seriuos thing, not something you can do at the drop of a hat.

thanks, thats more or less what i was looking for. the only diferance is the way it starts out the two other people i've seen do it strat with a roll and this person starts with a leg sweep. thanks alot, thats perfect.

i've seen 2 people do this move before. it looks cool, very stylish, not of any real use in the real world. it's bastically a flahy way of getting up, but it's differant than a kip up. anyway, you start it sort of like a backward roll going over one shoulder (koho kiaten) but when you get to one shoulder you torque your legs and body to wind up on your elbows with your body up in the air like a yoga possition. then i guess you push off or let your momentum carry you onto your legs. i was wondering if anyone knows the name of this move or where to go to see how it's done.

those are some pretty solid rules. if you want something the elaborates on them a little more pick up "The Fighter's Fact Book" by Loren W. Christensen it's full of training methods, tactics and many writes and wrongs of training. it's also got a section on improving your kata and fightig in tournaments, but i imagine thats not really of any interest to the people in the Combative forum.

"if he dies.....he dies" to quote the russian guy from Rocky also a big fan of smiling and laughing. generally puts people off gaurd. if they think you're just going to have a freindly joking sparring match, they'll never see it coming

i hear alot of things to the effect of: *everyone should carry and use guns for self defense. everything else is obsolete *fighting dirty is the only way to win a fight *assume any and all physical contact is a direct threat on your life and lethal force must be implimented, no matter who the assailant is * _____ style is ineffective * if you did ______ i'd just counter with ______ * Ninjas can fly/walk on water/ become invisible/chop mountains in half etc. *_______ is just a myth (this may be true in some cases, but you can't entirely dissmiss the abilities of some martial artists as a myth)

exactly LeaF well said. this isn't meant to be an argument or a comparison, more like a pooling of information.

a few days ago i accidentally destroyed my trusty folder while building some framework in my basement. it was nothing special, cost me about 10 dollars at a department store, but somehow it survived for about 2 years until now. so, im in the market for a new knife and i realized i dont know a whole lot about quality brands, blade materials, harware quality, temper and generally how to buy a good knife. so i though maybe i'd start a thread so people could pool their knowledge on blade quality and knife design.

good point, but it still asks one question. if this sort of thing is useless other than looking cool, what would you do in such a situation? if you are UNARMED (no gun, no knife, not even a ball point pen) and there are several people, with guns, who ARE going to kill you (or at least thats what they think), what would you do? if such a gunkata wouldn't help you, is there really any training you can do to avoid beeing killed in that situation?

the way I see it, the NFC is great, but it's not to be taken to literally. some things i would see in the UFC i would NEVER use in a real fight. there is no better style, only better training. i have seen a 70 year old man use a Take Ori (thats what it's calld in my style, but it equates to a standing wrist break) on a physically fit 20 year old who was very well trained in parker kenpo and combative grappeling. and i honestly believe he wanted to kill this man. the reason the 70 year old won was because he has trained in aikido for 10 year. there is no ultimate unbeatable style. this man just trained harder and was able to counter more effectivley. things work in diferant situations, there is no set counter for any one move. thats why i don't trust these "Combative" martial arts that teach you "quick and effective ways of nutralizing any atack". it's really the training rather than the techniques that make you a good martial artist.

kill bill was amazing. Tarintino is amazing. 10/10 end of story.

i saw it last night, despite many of my freinds telling me it was terrible. i have to say, i liked it.... alot. i thought the end was perfect for the series. sure it left some questions, but thats what the series was all about. thats what made it so cool, it was an awesome action movie that made you think. the final fight scene was extremely remeniscnet of dragon ball Z. but it was still pretty neat. ill give it an 8/10. maybe 8.5

i agree, it's really cool to meet someone who does the same style. i study at.... The Bujinkan Dojo in manchester NH. this is their web site http://www.bujinkandojo.net/

Taijitsu is absolutley awesome. best martial art i've ever taken. so what happens when you run outta bullets eh? what if you don't want to use lethal force? likesay your freind is in some kind of fit of rage or has been drinking to much and comes at you with a blunt weapon or like a knife and you don''t wanna blow his head off. anyway, the idea is to be prepaired in all situations. i think no martial arts trainaing can be complete without weapon and unarmed training. it's sort of like that. if you think of a loaded gun as armed and an unloaded one as unarmed, your training isn;t com,plete unless you've learned defense with both. the pivitol word in your sentence is "should". you SHOULD have it loaded. but theres a pretty good chance at some point in your life you will have your gun unloaded. and what happens when someone atacks you? close your eyes and hope they go away?

hey, we did some of this last night in my Budo Taijuitsu school. we did some techniques using a gun (obviously not shooting it) and some defending against a draw. they where pretty cool. most used the gun in a similair fassion to an impact weapon like a kubotan or ju-jo, but with a bit of an edge. an unloaded gun actually makes an EXCELANT close range weapon. and if it doesnt work you can always pretend it's loaded. they wont know the diferance

i agree. they're so simple, but thats what makes them so powerful. plus many of the techniques with tonfa can be aplied to other weapons and common household items. although, i am a larger fan of the jutte or jitte. so deliciously evil, and even simpler than the tonfa. but still, tonfas rock