SBN Doug

Macbeth would have to be my favorite. Knights and Kings and castles, etc. Ooops, I left my Age of Empires on.

Let's see.. Slow songs - "Careless Whisper" by Wham Prince (or whatever he calls himself now)always had good non-disco dance music. And a sprinkle of Beastie Boys add some good flavor. Can you tell what era I was going to high school dances in??? :lol: :lol:

Oh man! My fingers just finished healing from the last "most posts" challenge.

Tobias, Yeah, when you play standard it can be that way. However, I'm stuck on Gengas Kahns campaign. When you're handed 3 villagers, a few horsemen, and some money, wood, food, and stone and are expected to go up against three enemies that are already at the empire age, it gets a BIT more difficult. AHHHH! my castle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil:

Master Yoda, you can't leave. I've returned to finish my training. :sad:

Yes, it also has double long swords, but not a double edged sword that I've seen.

Personally, I have no problem with those that want to cross train. I find enough to satisfy my desire for new skills and challenges in my own art, but that's me. I do have a slight problem with someone studying two arts at the same time. If I had a student come from another art, I would welcome him/her in. If they came to me a year later and said they wanted to try something else for a while, I would let them know they were welcome to come back if they so desired. However, in my opinion, they would not have the time available to train "properly" in two different arts at the same time.

Ooops. That'll teach me to do too much work at work.

There's a couple similar topics in the Weapons forum. We have not specifically covered gun defense, but I would end up using some of the same principles as knife defense. However, as already stated, I would need to already be in close for this to work.

That is correct. No sai in KSW. I believe, but cannot be 100% sure, that sai are restricted to a few Japanese arts.

Some would argue you were way too general with your Kung Fu reference. Tang Soo Do (Korea) Kuk Sool Won (Korea) Hapkido (Korea)

Uh oh! Can anybody say, "Get your hands off me you damn filthy ape!"

I don't take it, but it was one that I was investigating early on. Again, there are variations of Kenpo also. Mainly fast and hard hand strikes. Some kicks, but usually kept below waist level. Mostly a striking art though. Some weapons at the higher levels. I would have gone with it had I not found something similar to Hapkido. Check out Jeff Speakman in "The Perfect Weapon" and you'll see some good Kenpo action.

:up: from me and my kids. I agree on the love sceens, and the death stick scene. My only problem with episode II is I'm starting to see the uncontrolled anger start to emerge from Anikan. Sad to see that sweet little boy in episode I start to make the inevitable change.

:lol: :lol: I have to wait one more day, sorry master. 3:00pm est

Definately right. KSW has a lot of similarities to Hapkido (like the empty handed aspects), but it goes well past that. There are a number of articles in the Black Belt Magazine archives that depict an attempt, many years ago, to join the two arts into a unified federation. I think there were too many disagreements by the Grandmasters of each to pull it off. Unfortunately, it also caused a splinter group in Korea. I think it was something like the Hapkido Kuk Sool Association, or something close to that.

Chris T., You should not expect a black belt before a minimum of four years. The average that is usually quoted is 4-6 yrs. I got mine in about 4 1/2, and that was going 4 times a week, in Master Harmon's school, and being a member of the Black Belt Club and getting the extra instruction. Aaaannnd, I was taking black belt tests every quarter at headquarters in Houston. Remember, you're still pretty early in the process. As you learn more and more material, it will take you longer and longer to review it all in class before they'll teach you new material. I'm sure you're smokin' now, but expect it to slow down as you progress. And the Grandmaster loves us to make sure all our students learn the valuable lesson of the 2 Ps, Patience and Perseverence. Two things you just won't get in only two years. Oh yeah, and typically you're not allowed to test more frequently than every 3 months after yellow, and you actually must have 2 blk stripes on you brown before going to black belt testing (which are the equivalent of two more tests). And, unless you are stellar, don't expect to get promoted on only your second blk belt test. If you use these numbers, you should come closer to the 4-6 year range. Chris from CT, I drive over to Mahopac, NY every week. [ This Message was edited by: KSN Doug on 2002-05-15 12:57 ]

3 yrs!!!!!!????????? I guess they have to let Obi Won age a little. My son is psyched. I bought advanced tickets for this Saturday.

Rickster, KSW is comprehensive, but also slow going because of it. You'll be taught a lot of material between promotions, so don't expect quick promotions. A number of the weapons aren't even discussed untill you're a master, so I can't even name them all. A couple tessone missed are spear, throwing knives, archery, jool bong (nunchucks), sword-staff, and of course my favorite...your hands. tessone is right about the falling. And, everyone is only asked to do what they can physically pull off. You're limits will be pushed occationally to make sure it's not your own mental fears holding you back. I travel an hour each way, once a week to continue my training. At 2nd degree, I don't plan on ever changing. Kyo Sa Nim Doug

Hey, everybody. I'll be out of town all next week. I'll try and access from somewhere, but not sure if possible.

O.k., I've been fighting the desire since before I started here. I finally bought AOE II with the Conquorers expansion. Pretty damn cool! :nod:

I agree. As long as it's close phonetically.

Ah, o.k. We call it pre-arranged sparing. Same thing.

Personally, I would prefer Hapkido. It has more offense than Akido. Akido is almost (if not completely) defensive. I prefer the ability to attack first if necessary. You can probably expect a decent workout in either. You're going to need some good fore-arm strength to maintain holds properly. And, you need some good upper body conditioning to be able to take getting thrown yourself.

Glad you're on my team, then. Because I think I stunk this one up!