SaiFightsMS

Just the other day I saw a show on AMC about special effects. They were showing how many of the things like that were done using wires. It was very interesting. The chinese are masters of this. They did show and discuss specific scenes in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon as well as the Matrix.

Interesting thought ChangWuJi. I so see great value in what you said. There are so many points to an issue. One of the things I am coming to appreciate about this board is the diversity in the back ground of the participants.

I see throwing knives and archery in here now. One of my lesser known weapons I have experimented with is the blowgun. Actually I got my first blowgun at a time when I was having a lot of trouble breathing. I did it then as a respiratory exercise. One of my home health nurses helped me get one. Later I found it to be a fun and effective anger management tool. It is very satisfying to take down a picture of someone and find a nice little hole right between the eyes. I should cut out a picture of Osama and put him up on by target board.

I did archery a long time ago. Like back when I was in junior high. At the time I really enjoyed it. That was long before I developed an interest in the martial arts. I have not rememberence of why I started archery. But, I definately remember enjoying it.

Very interesting. You did however leave out one of the first phrases a GI in Korea learns - Yobo say- oh. Kim chi oh man don't ever get on a bus full of koreans who just had kime che for lunch. The collective bad breath will kill you. Bul go gi on the other hand is quiet nice. But, if you are ever in Itaewon don't worry about the Korean. Most Koreans there you are likely to encounter can express themselves in Engish - to a degree.

I can do full splits and it took me a couple of years. The last couple of inches were the hard ones. Basically just work consistently. Sit down and go as far as you can, then gently lean forward. Some people go down and up in after about 30 seconds or so. I find it helpful once a week to stretch out in front of the tv and hold my stretch 10-15 minutes. You should not stretch hard every day. The muscle fibers need a chance to recover. Another traditional way to help warmup while stretching for the splits is to percuss the insides of your thighs with your fists or the sides of your hands. In some really hard core college clubs in the past a student would be helped along the way to full splits by someone behind him pushing -forcing - him all the way down. OUCH. Yes it tore the muscles. Not all tradition makes sense. But hey, go ask Kickchick she can come up with really wonderfull technical information.

Very interesting. I liked the video clip. Ouch. I have done hammerfist, straight punch, elbow,knee, front kick, side kick and roundhouse kick breaks. My faovorite breaking technique is a hammerfist break.

If it makes you feel any better many Sensei give their most promising students extra help and attention of that nature. When you are offered no corrections, they worry.

So how do we find Martial Arts Radio?

Succinct and to the point Winterkarate. You boiled down what everyone else said to its essence.

Sometimes I wonder if the way a successfull break pumps us up inside gives us a distorted view of it's importance. In a way though, if you every really have to defend yourself and the first time your hand makes contact with a reall attacker you need to know how to deal with any pain you might feel at the time so as to keep going. If the first time you hit the guy you yell owe and start shaking your hand how likely is he to leave you alone. If on the other hand you hurt the guy he may be more likely to rethink wether or not he wants to conitue this.

Oh the Tekki's. I so still occasionally tangle my feet up crossing over into kosa dachi. It can be embarrasing to have to flail my arms to keep my balanace. I allways hope no one is looking then. The best thing about the first 2 is I can do them in my living room without having to adjust my stances.

Mawashi geri, hey that's my best kicking techinique. For some reason I have the best control and the best speed with that than with any other kick. I do have a very slow side kick though. I am working on it, but progress is coming slow.

:spitlaugh:I was kind of surpized to see this topic at first. Like how can you peform a martial art at high level and pollute your lungs at the same time? So I read through. Some of the post's kind of amaze me. A few amuse. I can honestly say I have no idea on earth why smoking is still an accepted part of militairy life. (And I was in the army for a couple of years right after high school.) I can see why teens still smoke even given the education about the harmfull effects. It is easy to condemn. But, is that really helpfull? Probably not. You will do what you think is right in your situation to fit in. But still karate and smoking? If you are trying to stop and want to talk about it come on back and tell us. I am sure you will get a reaction out of somebody.

Busy, busy, busy. Is this your new favorite internet site or what? Hey it's my new favorite.

Awesome reply Kickchick. For me another part of successfully breaking help me in terms of anger control. Seeing what I could do puts the brakes on me when I really start feeling like I want to hit something. These days the only thing I hit is anger is my punching bag.

Congrats Jack. Hope your cat does okay. How old is your little furry friend? I too have a cat and she is developing into a first rate companion. Our belt ranks are a bit odd: white, red, orange, yellow, purple, blue, green, green with stripe, brown, brown with stripe, then black. My green belt test was the one I really thought I might have failed. When I sat back down I thought "Oh no". But it was okay. I think coming close like that (I made a mistake on kata) made me appreciate my green belt more. Funny thing happened that test though. The belt order didn't have enough larger belts. And some of us only had like 2 or 3 inches of belt sticking out on each side of the knot after it was tied. Wow did that feel funny. By the way my next grading went much better.

Hello and thank you all. I cannot imagine living now without some kind of involvement in the martial arts. Kickbutt there is a vast amount of material on the martial arts on the internet. Maybe your friend would enjoy doing some research? She might learn more about what makes you tick.

One of the most amazing thing about the martial arts is that there are so many and that they are so different. There are arts that are suited to body types. Some developed in relation to the physical terrain. Weapons developed in deference to the weather and the amount and style of clothing worn. I truely believe that there is a type of martial art out there for anyone interested. Some Shor-in ryu styles of karate have much higher stances than other karate styles. Issh-in ryu karate utilizes kicks only to the lower body areas. They have really high stances. Some of their schools also have a really kick-butt attitude. Keep looking and trying there is a style that will fit you.

:bawling:I found Heian shodan to be very difficult to learn. For some reason I just could not remember what I learned from class to class. I found Jutte easy to remember how to do but, very hard to do properly.

It is odd but, I really didn't hit upon the idea of raising my left hand in my stance until after I was a brown belt. So I don't think any objection would be over rank. I found it rather satisfying to quit walking into hand pads face first. But then, anyone who ever fell victim to a press block into a tekki shodan style backfist didn't appreciate it.

Wow Kickchick, the more of your posts I read the more of my respect you earn. It is not everyone who is so well versed in anatomy, physiology, kineseology, and sports medicine training theories. I too am mystified at the lack of intense kicking activities in class without adequate warmup. One location I trained at was in a fourth floor room. We allways joked about that as the workout before the workout. But, it really did help with the warmup.

oops I kind of meant TKD McGee. :dead:Hey, I never said I wasn't a space cadet. I am terrible at mixing names up. So you shall see.

This is a fascinating topic. I cant believe there aren't 259 different posts in here. You know, one from everyone. I see many reasons for starting are common. What I really see is passion. I started for anger management. Then, I got hooked. Now I cannot imagine living without doing something almost every day related to the martial arts. Hey, does anyone else brush their teeth while in shiko dachi to help their stance get stronger?

WOW DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR!!!!!!!! Darkmonkey do we go to the same school? Your dirty laundry list sounds like that of every other serious student at your level of training. I have heard eveyone of them announced to the class. Trying to properly say ossu and correct the problem AGAIN. Your mae geri will improve as your flexibility improves in areas like you lower back, hamstrings and hips. It might help you to take a minute or so every day and hold your hand palm down in front of you. Kick upwards with your knee trying to hit the palm of your hand with your knee. Don't be dissapointed at first. Keep doing that and your center kick will improve. :weirdlook:You sure we aren't in the same school? Your post really hooked me.