Ripper

Killer Miller; how do you know MA helped you to improve on other sports? Couldn't it also be the other way around? Because you live in the States I'm guessing you did baseball before you did MA. So maybe baseball helped you in MA?

The place to be is Amsterdam. There you can find the schools where they train guys like Hoost and Bonyaski. Here are some links: https://www.mejirogym.com (founder Jan Plas) chakuriki.info (founder Thom Harinck) https://www.vosproductions.nl (founder Johan Vos)

I seriously doubt that. Most of us start off with martial art when we were quite young. A lot of people here seem to be still at (high) school. I guess a lot of us started because we saw the cool moves on tv, or because we wanted to be tough or be able to defend ourselves. Why did you start? Self discipline, self control, respect, honor or courage is not something solely for martial arts. When you want to become good at soccer you need to have these things too. These things you probably can learn to a certain degree, but it also depends on who you are as a person. It is not something you get just by doing a martial art. There are many other factors involved.

Again a winner of K1 from the Netherlands! Sem Schilt won the finals. After Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost and Remy Bonyaski another champ. We must be doing something good.

That's the reason I'm against that knuckle hardening. It's not worth the risk.

The fact that you disagree is obvious. Now I can say; I disagree with you, but that doesn't bring us any further. I would like to know why you disagree. You can also say that a MA is so much more; and I can say it's not. That doesn't bring us any further either. So; why is a MA so much more?

We don't have these oaths. Do you say them out loud every training or so? Sounds to me more like a religious sect. So, please enlighten me, what am I missing here? What does a master return to the art?

My question was and still is; which part of your training teaches you this?

Why is it that as soon as someone does a martial art he/she has to "help the world" and be a "good person"? Which part of your training teaches you this stuff? Just because we kick each other butts we become good persons? Martial arts are just sports like any other. People who play soccer don't go around and say that they help the world. People who do martial arts shouldn't do that either.

And you learn all this by doing martial arts????!!!!!!!!

We don't use the term Master, but I know enough people that have high degrees who are obnoxious, arrogant, and what not. Anyhow, you (or anyone else) are not answering my questions.

The short answer is; I can turn your question round. What if their mental state does not match their though body? You also do boxing. A lot of punches in boxing go to your head. How do you condition your head? Are you hitting your chin to a concrete wall? I think not. Still, you (and others) keep on boxing. Why? Because you learned to deal with your fear and focussed on your techniques and tactics. Not because you conditioned your head (physically).

This makes me wonder. How do you (you; not personally but in general) determine whether someone is a "master"? How can you judge people by their character? Who are you to decide whether someones character is better then the other? And the other things mentioned in earlier posts. What have the things you do for the community to do with a martial art? Those two things have nothing to do with each other. You're training a martial art and not "how to be the best character on earth".

I allways hit carwindows. This way I don't only get hard knuckles but as an extra benefit I can also collect various radio's, cd's, dvd's, etc........

Hmmm..... I wonder how I would see the difference between the black and the white tiger!!