DLopez

No, it isn't the norm. But driving kids around all day in a car is the norm. I'm glad you decided to point this out because if we are going to start a crusade against putting kids in harms way, what a better place to start than to prevent irresponsible parents, who are arguably relatively unskilled at driving, from transporting their children in these deadly rolling contraptions called automobiles. The statistics will clearly show that automobiles are a larger danger to children than anything else. Now, if you have no problem with the above scenario, then why is it so outrageous that someone, who probably possess much more skill at what he does than the average driver on the road posseses, and is performing under much more controlled conditions than there is out on the road, is including a child in his act? Let the crusading begin!

Whew!! I thought you knew they were no longer dazzling crowds around the world with their high flying, highly skilled feats of aerial ballet! Which brings up a point. Just because you might not be highly skilled at something, do you think everyone that has some sort of act like that is equally unskilled and is just a blink away from disaster? The child endangerment laws are designed to protect kids from negligence and deliberate harm, and to assume that someone who performs an act like that is either negligent or has deliberate intentions on harming a child simply because their act "shocks" you is just plain ignorant. Heh. One could very easily argue that if you put a child in a car (even with a fancy-shmancy car seat) that you are being negligent and deliberately placing the child in harms way, because you have no control over other drivers on the road, and have little ability to prevent an accident from happening that could injure the child. Funny, squiggly little line there, eh? As you can see, I don't sway with the PC mob mentality.

What??? Say it isn't so!! The Flying Wallendas don't include the entire family anymore?? Don't tell me the politically correct nazis have neutered the circus too!!!!

Eh. I've seen more "shocking" stuff at the circus. Kids on the high trapeze, or little girls riding a trotting horse around the ring - standing on it's back, or a blindfolded child standing still while a knife thrower sends a dozen knives his way... Sheesh! Let's do away with the circus while we're at it!!

Some of my faves, in no particular order: The Last Emperor Blade Runner The Ghost and The Darkness Office Space Man On Fire Heat Face Off Event Horizon 2001: A Space Odyssey Zoolander Airplane! Harrison Bergeron Gattaca Pi The Deer Hunter I've probably left off a bunch...

Sorry to read about your loss. It makes me very angry to read about something like this, and the circumstances surrounding the perp. I can't help but wonder how all the "bleeding hearts" that think violent criminals can be re-habilitated and given chance after chance, can sleep at night after seeing example after example of how flawed that thinking process is. Here is just one more example. According to them, the criminal is the real victim here, not the murdered ones. I better stop now before I type something really offensive.

Okay, I'm familiar with "liberated" women, but emancipated?? It kinda sounds like you dig former "harem" girls... Hmmm... Okay! So I was a little slow on that one... Good call!

Here's a similar one that folks might be interested in: SETI@home Help search for extra-terrestrial intelligence on your PC!

I realize many people believe this assumption, as it is parroted so often. In fact, many here have taken that same logic of "fight like you train" and have applied it to the hard contact vs. light contact argument, where it is purported that someone who trains with light contact will not know how to really punch or kick in a real-life situation. The reality is quite the opposite. I practice light contact sparring and I find that I really have to concentrate on keeping it light. It turns out that the natural tendency is to revert to full contact, and is something that will happen without even having to think about it, which goes contrary to the "fight like you train" theory. That by itself is enough to cause me to doubt that the rest of the "fight like you train" arguments are so cut and dry. I believe it's totally possible for someone to fight Olympic style TKD, then turn around and fight capably in any other style within its rules of sparring. I know I'm in the minority on this, but maybe I've simply chosen to keep an open mind about someone's capabilities as a martial artist, and not let (un)popular perceptions of their particular style trick me into underestimating their skill level.

You may have us on beer (some brands, not all. I'm keen on Shiner Bock brewed here in Texas), give me a call when you Brits figure out how to make a decent Margarita. If you were here I could whip some up for y'all! Leaving someone for someone else isn't cheating... technically. As long as it's a clean break. Now, seeing two people at the same time? That's cheating, unless it's by mutual consent.

It's been so long since a major hurricane has hit Texas, I get really nervous with each coming hurricane season. We're due. The last hurricane to hit the greater Houston area was Alicia. We did get dumped on by Tropical Storm Allison a few years back, but that was mostly flood damage. There was really no wind damage to speak of. We have gone relatively unscathed since then.

You know, that sounds more like a challenge than just an FYI! Hey, all's fair in love, and she may just want to see if you really want to be with her bad enough to "steal" her from her current guy. It's up to you to play it if you got game. As for the engineering course work, engineering was not a "natural gift" for me, and even though I had to work quite hard to learn all the math required, I am doing quite well with it now as all the "hard work" is behind me. Just remember that keeping your GPA up is what will attract the most interest from prospective employers with the best job offers. And you can take that to the bank.

She got a sister? Just kidding!

Well, I hope you persevere through your engineering studies and join the club! What branch of engineering are you studying? I am EE myself. You have a tough choice to make, I'm afraid. You have to choose if you're going to focus on your studies or on relationships. If your studies are anything like mine, there is probably very little time spent away from studying and preparing for the next test. Actually, I never had much luck finding dates with girls on campus as it seemed they all usually had boyfriends already. Believe it or not, I found I got more dates by going to the local night clubs (yeh, meat markets - but that's where the guys met girls and vice versa) and just striking up a conversation with girls that didn't look like they were there with a guy. However, I couldn't do that as much as I liked because I had my studies always to stay on top of. I know it's tough right now, but getting your engineering degree should be #1 on your priorities list. Don't let anything get in the way of getting your degree. You'll have the rest of your life to work on relationships.

Oh. Well then, it sounds like you're making the presumption that those TKD fighters that participate in Olympic style competition don't know how to fight any other way and would all fair poorly in a "real" fight. If so, can you explain how you came to that conclusion? The way I see it, if someone is a poor TKD practioner, they will probably fair poorly in a "real" fight. But that is also true for someone practicing Karate or any other fighting sport for that matter. By "poor practitioner", I mean makes poor judgments or decisions, not just posessing poor skill level. I'm not convinced that Olympic style competition is the cause of poor TKD skills, because there are probably just as many poor Karate or Jiu Jitsu practitioners out there that don't have the benefit of blaming it on "watered down" Olympic rules.

I've heard of it. Sounds pretty cool, and if I wasn't in Kuk Sool Won, I'd have to check it out. But that's one of the things I love about Kuk Sool Won... I'm learning the Korean straight sword as part of my KSW curriculum. I don't have to go take another class somewhere else to learn various weapons. After the straigtht sword, I'll learn the double short swords.

I would tend to think the opposite. In a street fight, are you more likely to fight against another skilled fighter, or is it going to be just some cocky lughead? In competitions such as K-1 with relatively equally skilled fighters, whenever I've seen a high kick thrown, the opponent usually is trying to evade such a kick and is not in a position to effect a successful counter. Sometimes the kicks land successfully, but most times they are misses, and still, effective counters are few and far between. While takedowns are not allowed in K-1, the opponents are usually out of position anyways after taking evasive action from a high kick to be able to affect a counter, and you've bought yourself the recovery time. I bet if you are fighting someone unskilled in fighting arts, then you will probably have great success with high kicks, even if you don't even manage to land one because you will put extreme doubt in the other person's mind whether he can still take you. I think it all depends on your skill level whether high kicks are effective, and not something to be afraid of using if you know how to use them. Remember, if you doubt your abilities, that doubt is usually justified. If you follow the train of thought that high kicks are to be avoided at all costs, you may simply be short changing yourself of a pretty effective weapon.

Could be, but I would bet that the TKD fighters have already tried that and found through the natural evolution of the matches that kicks gets the results they want, namely more points in a shorter amount of time? Whether that's "poor fighting" is a subjective opinion. If it acheives the objective better (winning matches), how can it legitimately be considered "poor" compared with other methods like body punches?

If you think Reno is a "big" city, good lo-ward!! You must be from a really small town! Good luck with your move, and beware of the one-armed bandits!

Well, "expensive" is relative. I didn't find the price objectionable. Remember, cheap shoes are generally "cheap" shoes. Expensive shoes can be "cheap" too, but from my experience, these are not like that at all. You get what you pay for. I give them my own personal recommendation!

When I wear MA shoes, I wear Mooto "Wings". They are very light and comfortable, and look pretty nice too. Mooto "Wings"

Ahh, the memories... I used to have a '67 Chevelle. Not an original SS 396, but it became one! That was the first and only Chevy I've ever owned, and I loved that car! But, sadly, someone else lusted after it and I woke up one morning to find it missing from the driveway where I parked it. Eventually, the police recovered what was left. Took me a while to get over that heartbreak.

Okay, here's some advice... take it or leave it. Get a tattoo on each ankle. On the left ankle the tattoo should read "Thunder", on the right ankle, the tattoo should read "Lightning". Then when you go work out you can tell your sparring partners, "Meet my two friends, Thunder and Lightning!" Well, that's what I would get if I were into tattoos. (Saw that in a movie, thought it was hilarious!)

You're kidding, right? You complain about my tone while insulting a martial art that others here practice by ridiculing a sport version that has earned it's way into the Olympics? That's rich! Your "proof" is all well for Judo, as I certainly don't doubt the capabilities of any Judo, wrestling, or boxing practitioner the way you doubt the capabilities of Olympic TKD practitioners. Your implication that a TKD fighter would not be able to accomplish the same feat as those Judo practitioners did in your "proof" is not only unfounded, but purely "derisive" as well. It's clear you have an anti-TKD bias for no good reason at all that I can tell. A little bit of advice (for free!): Try showing a little respect and you might get some in return.

Excellent response Kicks! Drop the "combat" and you have it right. This particular criticism is probably the most ignorant one I've read. Olympic TKD is just sport. That's all. If you believe TKD is supposed to be "combat", then isn't boxing combat in your thinking too? I am supposed to believe that someone that doesn't know how to block a kick or throw a kick knows how to protect themselves? What about wrestling? Wrestlers don't punch or kick! Neither does Judo, so how realistic to combat can either of those competitions be? Why do you not apply the same reasoning that because a wrestler doesn't punch or kick, that they wouldn't know how to protect themself in a "real life" situation? Why is that opinion saved only for TKD? Please! Olympic TKD isn't real life any more than boxing, and it's pretty ridiculous to read such comments about TKD's "realism" when other Olympic "combat" sports have the exact same limitations. Sorry, but that "reason" doesn't cut the mustard.