cathal

A friend of the family was into Tai Chi and a guest instructor came, who was into this full application of the martil aspect. She felt that it sullied the art of Tai Chi and that it promoted violence. I wasn't old enough at the time to understand the differences or even to challenge her opinion but she was adamant that it was for health purposes only. It's only recently in my life that I learned of a martial aspect (for lack of a better term) of Tai Chi. Shuai Chiao is an example of that as well I think.

I've posted on this topic before, there was a show in Discovery channel and they were trying to prove it's existence scientifically. They were doing some fascinating measurements and they concluded it did exist but we lacked the technology to measure it fully.

After viewing a few websites specific to the style I've found some website directly contradicting some others, yet claming to have affiliation to international Yoshukai. Based on some pics etc it is difinitely Chito-Ryu or very very similar. Here is a link with a lot of good info on that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chito-ryu

Was Wong Fei Hung a fictional character?

Think about your state of mind as well. Try to clear your mind of memories, songs, active thoughts, plans, worries etc. In Karate we practice "no mind" and I'm sure it's not a unique concept. So if you clear all the clutter I'm sure you'll find results. But, just like learning a new physical technique, time is a major factor. Practice & patience are key.

Good work Zorbasan.

When I wanted my mother to quit, we stole her cigarettes and flushed them. It became too expensive and she went cold turkey, but she did it. It ended up to be too late for her though. A trick, I remember, was a dirty one. A friend of mine was 13 and smoking a pack a day. So under the guide of volunteer work at the hospital for a community day we tricked him into going to the room of someone who was in for an operation on his esophagus, directly related to his smoking. My friend was scared straight after a few hours sitting with the man, watching over him, and learning the ugly side of hospital visits. Those are the things even nurses don't really talk about amungst themselves.

Do you think that a fight between the two would have solved anything, at that point?

In our system the panel will not tell you right away. You learn if you have passed on the next training day, because the panel may have specific information to give to your own sensei about your performance, etc. Especially if you did not pass.

Welcome to the forum,

Um, moving slowly I suspect. j/k My mother did Tai Chi for many years and even taught a few classes, she enjoyed it very much. Keep it up, it really helps you learn balance.

Just after I got my green belt a guy burst into our dojo, he pointed a finger at our sensei and screamed: "You must die, I alone am best!" But seriously, the funniest thing to happen in recent memory was during a grading. A young guy was going for his first purple belt (5th kyu) and for that he had to perform Heian Yondan. In that kata one of the techniques is a jodan-level ridgehand with the palm up. WHen he executed the technique he flicked his fingers like in Kung Fu movies, as if to invite an attacker closer to him. Everyone cracked up but he completed the kata with no problems despite the laughter.

Congrats, remember these times & take lots of pictures for when you're a black belt.

I suggest simply using the wakizashi instead of the second long sword.

The tournaments I've seen, daggers seem to be preferred. Otherwise swords, and then the nunchucku

I'm pretty sure that you're asking if it's OK that you teach someone brand new. If you are a 4th Kyu some instructors have no problems having you assist. But to answer that question you'd really need to speak with your instructor directly.

There was something on Discovery about that a while back. It was very interesting. They were taking measurements on the energies which are around our bodies. They were able to measure the ones around plants and wanted to see if humans and animals were the same. As I recall they concluded that there are similar electric fields around animals & humans as well, and subtle manipulations of those fields could result in a lot of different things. I am going to try finding it and I'll let you know what that program was called.

If all that fails try to get some leverage over the instructor. LOL

Experience, confidence, adrenaline, they are all factors. The fight-or-flight response is going to govern your physiological response here though. If he perceived a major threat that he felt he couldn't over come - like say 3 guys instead of 1 guy - he might have physiologically decided flight. So his brain started to get his adrenaline pumping to prep for running away. Instead he stood his ground or couldn't run away. Then personal experience comes into play. If he's been in fights before he can adapt and start defending himself.

What we do is learn the kata application. Then we have the students make up their own application and demonstrate that to us. Then we just have a class where we play around a bit with different applications.

Where in Mass are you?

In North America yes, but he'd been in a lot of films and had a fairly large cult following here.

He put his name on it to help promote the film, so more people would consider watching it. Much in the same way he did for Hostel.

Got a few links for images/video of some examples?

I am merely assisting instructors at this point, but I can answer your qustions specific to our dojo. We don't separate children, youth & adults in our dojo as it is very small. But yes we do teach bunkai to everyone. As for how we present that class what we'll do is begin by demonstrating the technique...next by demonstrating with a partner. For example, if we're doing the straight punch we'll have a punch be "struck" by a punch, or block it, grab, etc. We'll practice those movements to become familiar. Then, we'll do practical applications. For a punch we'd press our fists against the partner and do the slow motion of the punch..the hikite, etc and then have them mull over different applications and test...then practice & practice & practice. PM me and I'll give you more detail on one of our practice sessions called "5 Kata Kumite"