hajime

last time I was drunk was 1987. never again. self control is everything and I think drunk people are disgusting. most I've ever drank since is 2 glasses of wine one evening. Dam I sound boring!

Dan Simmons Hyperion saga Iain Banks sci fi - great, brilliant, sometimes savage fun Murakami - the alienation of modern life and the search for love/meaning JG Ballard - the closeness we all are to barbarians Primo Levi - tales of humanity in hell so many others. I love reading

the intellectual I was pleased until it said like 'Michael Jackson' I mean........ nooooooooooo

Hi I'm sick of downloading short films of fights in which the so called 'Karate' fighter looses in about 4 seconds to a grappler. They don't adopt a stance. They don't defend themselves. They don't strike their opponent either with any force or sometimes they just don't hit at all?! A link for seeing grapplers get beaten would cheer me up

you would be surprised m8. the ability to surprise someone in a fight is great. people have all kinds of strange ideas about how to fight, what's right and wrong etc. If I had to fight someone seriously. then anything goes. no mercy imo

I disagree. all Dan martial artists at the clubs I went to were strong, from the petite women to the large men. seriously.

Are you sure you are spelling it right? english spelling of asian words can vary

how about a lance? do you have a horse to charge through where you live? claymore mines? what's that got to do with martial arts Have you been watching Kill Bill or Braveheart recently?

every day I am tempted to hurt someone. I never do. I pride myself on self control.

breakdance. The 80's are back capoeria is cool though

Yes Kempocos I saw your post if you mean me. Your subtle agreement with me was missed the first time. now I see it I'm getting old

kick the youngsters * I say. they have no respect and dress horrible as well. They think they are so tough as well young people make me laugh. I'm wiser now you see.

I'm from England and so we learnt french in school and going to France was brilliant cos the girls loved English boys and they were very cute. And the female french accent is very sexy. Anyway. What is the french cane technique? This is not a SM forum m8

arrogance for anyone is a defence mechanism normally based upon delusion. that your way of fighting is the best ever. It's good to have confidence and belief in what you do but life can teach such people harsh lessons

I just got 'you're f***ing mental' before they ran off. you had a more interesting conversation then

thanks kempocos for your useful info one knuckle fist to that point sounds very nasty indeed. I'm not trying to be petty but consider this: how confident are you that for the sake of argument a 3rd Dan 16 stone man could not kill a skinny opponent with a hiraken strike to the throat delivered at maximum power and perfect aim? would you risk being the one hit yourself?

1st Kyu and above only in my schools for the reason I believe that if someone tried and failed too early they might loose confidence and be scared of hitting I'm not saying failure is always bad of course not. I've done it and if's a feeling of achievement. Sure you can say it's only wood. Boards don't fight back etc but if you can punch wood with ease it makes you feel you could punch a person and hurt them with ease (under the right conditions!)

I used to teach the grades lower than myself sometimes. I didn't get paid but didn't expect to. For the official instructors they got paid - it was their full time job. It was easy to tell when they demonstrated the techniques and sparred they weren't fakers in any sense.

Hi I take it by strong you mean in karate rather than physical strength? 4th Kyu meant in my version you can with certain skill carry out front, side, back, hook, roundhouse, crescent, axe, as well as jumping, spinning versions and in combination 8 katas elbow stirkes, knife hand, spearhand, punches, backfists all in various combinations I'd stay if you don't have any confidence by them you never will. and YES wear a box/ some groin protection. Accidents can happen and being careful always makes sense

I was never tough. beaten up a few times in my youth and this really kills confidence (and have nice broken teeth!) lying on the floor getting kicked in the face by two older men when you are 16 does wonders for self esteem I carried a knife for years and was fully prepared to use it. Later I carried pepper spray I had always loved martial films (Jackie Chan especially) moved and found this Karate club, found the instructors friendly and genuine nice blokes as well as the students. trained regularly, practised at home all the time. Now I have great confidence in my strength and ability to use it. I don't need to fight anyone cos I know I could badly injure them. During training I was hit many times and I learnt that when adrenaline flows you don't even care about being punched and kicked. I was no longer afraid. An excellent learning experience

most people watch a fighter's upper body (not a fellow martial artist hopefully!) so when you pull back your left arm as if to do a stupidly obvious punch they aren't expecting your mae geri into the groin are they?

Wado Ryo cos you aim to finish off people with devastating blows to vital areas you weave and move lightly rather than blocking harsly you combine strikes and blocks with locks and throws and I got to use various weapons all excellent fun

don't know a lot about Shotokan but Wado Ryu had plenty of locks, a few throws not much groundwork seriously outside of a ring fight who the hell would want to wrestle someone to the ground and grapple? sounds like a great way to get a kicking off the opponents mates who are probably nearby it would be nice to think you would have a 'fair fight' but in this country it's almost guaranteed if you are on the floor various people will kick you while you are down

I don't train any more cos of injury. However I would if I could and I'm 35. one of my instructors didn't start learning karate until he was 40. You are never too old unless you have some injury/health problem. never surrender

ok in the situation I'm imagining the attacker takes the victim by surprise and hits straight into the adam's apple from the front at maximum power/ speed/ correct angle etc I wasn't trying to suggest that any blow to any part of the neck was lethal