The Evil Betty

I wouldn't be TEB unless I were truly evil now, would I? Fireka - And I thought you were my compatriot in evil...! LOL!

In TSD, the long staffs are called bongs. The short sticks are called dan bong or escrima sticks. A bong is my primary weapon - haven't had any expereience yet with the dan bongs.

I'm not sure if you're aware or not, but it's considered rude to give away as much of the movie as you did without giving some kind of fair warning. Something like what I have below in order to give someone a chance to skip the section they don't want to necessarily read. GOI!

I'm a 6 - A Romantic ( fairly true! LOL)

Just saw Kill Bill for the 1st time lastnight. I don't like Quentin Tarantino films ( hated Pulp Fiction), and I hate all of the excessive gore. But he makes no bones about the fact that he made it deliberately over the top, and for everyone to get a life and not take it seriously. With that being said, I did enjoy it, although the movie could be much shorter without all of the excessive killing scenes. Ironically, the passage of time always occurred with the black screen that simply said: ":13 hours later..." or "4 years later". I did like all of the names, characters, camera angles. I don't like Tarantino, because he ALWAYS acts like the dweebie movie store clerk that he was/is. Like, "Gosh, I'm so clever!" I did like the sword fighting - very accurate as far as I can tell with some of the techniques. I just wonder what the whole Bill thing and Bride thing were about - Bill's child?! Why was the Bride getting married in Texas? Who was she marying? Who were the others in the bridal party? It was pretty funny in places though. I'm glad that the cell phone lady won't have to worry about being on the phone too much anymore - LOL. And I don't never liked Lucy Liu either, although she did do well in the movie. Last point: why do all MA movies anymore ALWAYS use wires?! Can't we some honest-to-goodness genuine MA, instead of all of this wire choreography? If I see one more person suddenly fly through the air...

Works for me ...

How about "Fuel" by Metallica? Or some music from Motrtal Kombat/Matrix soundtracks?

I won't get into the whole old Metallica vs. new Metallica debate. But I do like some of the newer Metallica (MI2, St Anger, Load, Reload, Black Album) to get pumped, as well as a bunch of different kinds of artists (mostly female) - Alanis Morrissette, Fiona Apple, Heather Nova, Avril Lavigne, Genesis, Evanescence, Christina Aguilera's "Fighter", Joe Jackson's Heaven & Hell, the first Bush album (forget the name), etc. Anything that has a good beat that I want to sing along with, as well as work out to.

Usually 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Thanks Fireka - it is an honor! Boy can't wait until "Tongue of Fury" then! He'll have to add some Matrix II & III stuff as well. Maybe Chosen One & the albino twins ( or the blue man group) can battle it out on top of some trucks or a train or something...

I'm 5'3''. I take Tang Soo Do and love it, especially because I get a variety. We do self-defense, kicking, punching, stretching, blocks, forms, sparring. We also do some work with dynamic tension, breakfalls, rolls, breaking, weapons, judo, and lots of hapkido. It keeps me interested and motivated. It was difficult for me at first, but the culture of my school/studio was great. Very supportive, not pushy, relaxed but focused and well-established. I think that it all depends on what your personality is like, and the environment of your school. You can always feel free to watch a class at just about any studio. So observe a few different styles first - determine what looks most interesting to you ( not too boring, but not too hard). Then narrow it down by studio cost, location, schedule, and most importantly - how you like the way classes are run/students are treated. Tang Soo!

I am only 5'3'', and most times am the only female sparring or in class. :pony: I'm not a great sparrer at all, but here's what I try to do (at least in class): - Fake them out. -I block with my feet A LOT. They're stronger than my arms, and I still can keep my hands up to punch and protect my torso. - I have a short torso but long legs, so I like to stealthily close the distance when I can ( hopping kicks, scissor moves, etc). - in class, I have to do a lot of shoving since everyone's bigger and stronger than me. I can't do high kicks or wheel kicks well, so sometimes I have to shove back, or use a jumping back kick or a push kick to get someone away from me. (especially my 6'1'' black belt husband!) - Sometimes you can intimidate a taller opponent by using the power of your ki-hap ( yell). People don't always expect smaller (especially female) people to be fierce. - Quickness definitely helps against slower, stronger tall people. So does energy - taller people can tire out more easily at times ( just look around when your class does jumping kick practice) - Try to get the taller opponent boxed into a corner or against a wall.

<> Needless to say, I'd like to discuss Kung Pow, and not waste my breath or effort on someone like Jim Carrey (Ugh!).

That's great!

Has anyone heard if Steve O. is actually going to make a sequel to Kung Pow? That would be so awesome. The very 1st time I watched it, I laughed so hard! My husband loves it too, even though he thinks that the Matrix/Cow part was dumb. I think that it's one of the funniest movies ever. Too bad that he wastes time on Jim Carrey movies : o ( I love Wimp Lo's squeaky shoes, the Intermission commercial, when the guy brings out the boombox for the fight scenes, and especially The Evil Betty! ( Never call him Sally! ) Tiger...Tiger...BIRD!

I agree - I'm a very visual person - I need to see the words and pictures - especially in learning languages, memorizing Korean terms for testing, etc. With learning new things in TSD, I have no memory or ease in learning things like self-defense, hapkido, etc. I'm much better at things like forms and weapons. Even then, I have to break it down into chunks, then memorize the chunks, gain the muscle memory, etc. Unless I practice it just about every day until I get it down, I'll forget. I also may watch the instructor show a technique, and it looks simple. But when I try it, I get all messed up, or I freeze. It's extremely frustrating - almost everyone in the class picks things up very quickly, but I'm so slow. Once I get it down though, I'm fine.

LOL! I like those ones : )

In my studio, we use both front and back leg techniques, cross-over leg techniques, etc. I find both to be effective strategies. Or you can use the front leg to do a fake, then come in with the back leg. I also like bit cha ki's (diagonal kicks) - they're fairly sneaky.

Does anyone else have a pet that has a martial arts-related name? My husband and I named our cat "Ki-hap" ( which is the TSD equivalent of ki-hai, yell, etc). When we take her to the vet, they think her name is "Kia" like the car. She is a great karate cat - studies the stealth tactics of the Way of the Squirrel, the quickness of the Way of the Grasshopper, and takes on cats 3x her size (even without her front claws!). Her favorite tactic on her owners is called "stalk-pounce-bite-run"...particularly on legs!

I think that traditional musical forms are a lot of fun, and help you to look at a form in a new way. Or if it's an open form, it's fun being creative and pasting together new or different techniques. The music really pumps me up if it's got a good beat, and if it's a mellow song (classical, romantic, soundtrack, etc), then it helps me slow it down a notch, pace myself more, focus, etc. I do NOT feel that "baton-twirling", acrobatics, dance moves, shakin' the butt, etc are appropriate, as this takes away from the form and techniques themselves. I wish that there were more competitions that had them though - they really give me a new perspective on the same old forms, and I like the adrenaline rush.

Thanks!

Hi! I am a 1st degree black belt (Cho Dan) in Tang Soo Do (WTSDA), who will be testing in the next few months for my 2nd degree. I really enjoy Tang Soo Do. I never thought that I'd enjoy martial arts so much - I was always the last kid picked in gym class. I also enjoy the KF - I think that it's wonderful! I also love the movie Kung Pow - so funny! Can't wait until there's a sequel.