Sasori_Te

I teach because I love to do it. I teach because I learn something new everytime I teach something I thought I knew. I teach because it's the best way that I can repay my instructors for teaching me. There's my condensed list of reasons.

I have the Dragon Society material and The Erle Montaigue material. They actually complement each other. They do, however, look at the same information with differing philosophies. I've been to several of Rick Moneymaker's seminars and they are outstanding. I have also trained with one of his higher ranking students in Arizona. Niether Mr. Montaigue nor Mr Moneymaker recommends using the horary aspect of pressure points for martial arts as it is very limiting. Unless you are trying to kill or seriously injure, or maybe get into the healing aspects, you shouldn't really need to delve into the meridians and their most active times.

You'd pick Matt Mullins to watch your back? What mind set and especially ability do they show that could possibly transfer to real world situation? I don't know what "traditional" martial arts schools you've been looking at but I suggest that you go look some more. Also, as for being the best in the world. Wouldn't that be subjective? They, at most, are the best in the organization that promotes these open tournaments. To give them some credit I would say that they are very hard workers and look pretty doing what they do.

welcome to the forums.

Welcome to the forum.

welcome to the forum. I'd like to know more about your style. For example, what katas do you do? Do you incorporate grappling? That type of thing. Thanks. I'm always interested in learning.

welcome to the forum.

First, you don't need a fast computer to put up a website. You do need a good understanding of HTML or some other language that you can use to make web pages. Second, have you tried putting up flyers or taking a small ad in a local newspaper? This worked well for me when I was opening my school. You just have to be careful and closely examine your potential students. Good luck. It's tough to get things going sometimes.

I believe, and correct me if I'm mistaken, that Saifa kata is a goju-ryu kata from the naha te lineage.

I don't want to burst any bubbles, but there is no bullet-proof style. By that I mean that anyone in any style can be beaten given the right time and circumstances. I will say that karate, my chosen art as well, is as good as any other art at self-defense. It mostly depends on the practitioner as to the effectiveness.

Yeah, what delta 1 said.

Niether if you want to do them properly. punching properly is every bit as intricate as grappling done properly. Books show you hand position and maybe some sort of mechanical movement to deliver. Where as to be an effective striker you need to be relaxed and know target areas as well as strategy to get the punch delivered to the target. The same goes with grappling. You not only need to know the proper mechanics (some books) but you need to know the strategy to employ the mechanics. There are many other fine details to both of these examples but I have chosen to use these to demonstrate my point. If you have trained for 10 or 15 years and you already have an idea about these fine points, by all means pick up a book and expand your horizons. If not, go learn from a good instructor. Note that I said good instructor because a lot of instructors these days are no better than trying to learn from a book. They don't understand any of the underlying concepts either.

smr is right again. "Testing" is only a formality to recognize what you have learned. If you haven't learned the material at a proficient level for your rank then you shouldn't be asked to test. I believe that goes with any rank. Testing is merely a way to recognize achievement. This sounds like it might be more a problem with your instructor than you. That is the best answer I can give only having one side of the story.

smr has a point. Karate didn't have this zen "train to not fight" attitude until Karate was introduced to Japan in the early 1900's. Karate was originally all about fighting to protect yourself and your family and friends. If you want a morality lesson go to church. If you don't think that you can use your techniques to defend yourself then you need to seriously examine the reasons why. Bring your concerns to your instructors. They will either listen to your concerns with an open mind or they'll tell you that you don't know enough to know what you're talking about. If they're not receptive I would personally walk.

Congratulations! Now the real learning can begin.

I've been quoted. Thanks Kempocos. *L*Just kidding. There are several good points being made on this thread. Cross has a good point in that a kata can be many things on many different levels. Kata and its performance is what makes karate personal to the individual practitioner. No two people do a kata the exact same way because no two people are exactly the same. Anyway, before I go off on yet another rant, this is a good thread.

nastia that's the point. You need to know what you can and can't do cold. If you can't do it cold you should probably leave it out of your self defense tool box. I would never kick much higher than waist level at any rate, but that's just me. Also, most folks, especially jiu jitsu practitioners should get the feel for having to do techniques against opponents that aren't wearing a gi.

I try not to, but I favor the roundhouse for toe kicks. I don't go above CV-14 (bottom of the sternum) for most kicks but especially not toe kicks.

I think what Jerry Love is saying is that Taiji is "an art or skill mastered over time" which is the meaning of kung fu. What style of Taiji Chu'an do you practice? There are many.

Right on the money Shorin Ryu Sensei. Was it Abraham Lincoln that said, "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." I doubt that there will ever be one art that can be everything to everyone.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum. I have a friend that is a 3rd dan in Kuk Sool.

Here's a link. Check out the definition. http://www.wckfc.com/article/kungfu/kungfu.htm

I'm going to play devils advocate here. Drunken Monkey, couldn't any master in any field be reffered to as a kung fu master? kung fu is not solely a martial arts term is it?

Welcome to the board!