White Warlock

lol

Interesting, and familiar. Exploitation of social norms. Women striking men, elderly abusing mature folk, kids attacking adults... these are actually quite common occurances, pitting the victim in a catch-22. Thanks for bringing attention to an angle of yet other issues practitioners must contend with and which once again reminds us that the martial arts is not merely about knowing how to strike, but when not to.

I noticed your instructor really didn't answer the question.

"Patches?" "Patches?!?" "We don' need no Patches!" "We don' need no stickin' Patches!!!"

ty, haven't checked yet but i'm sure it's there.

Yeah, and i met a black man that wasn't black. There are always going to be exceptions, but the norm far outweighs the exceptions. In the case of instructors, i've found it more to be those who are good instructors, and those who simply suck at relaying their knowledge to others. The intelligence aspect rarely comes into play, at least for the purposes of relaying information... teaching. If, however, you want to debate with your teacher, telling him he's wrong on something unrelated to the topic matter he should be instructing on, and thus disrupt his class just because you want to impress upon the class that you have knowledge on things the teacher does not... well, by all means.

*burp*

But enough about me, what's your thoughts on this topic?

I think i'll stay out of this.

There are both good and bad reporters. Sometimes being loud and reminding them a horrible tragedy had just occurred, and for them to show compassion by backing off before they're hit with a charge of harrassment... gets them to go away. Then again, sometimes it's easier to just ignore them completely and, without saying a word, push them softly out of your way if they impede your travel or enter into your personal space. Well wishes to Sami

Within the niche of its own competitions, it excells against other systems. Same holds true for just about every system out there. Pull a Muay Thai person in a boxing competition, against a boxer, and he'll get smoked. Pull a muay thai person in a TKD competition, and he'll get disqualified. hehe Pull a muay thai fighter in a street fight, and it all depends on the overall skills and adaptability of the fighters he must contend with. What makes the biggest difference, as 7Star likes to preach... is the conditioning/training regimen. How intense, how often, and how much full-contact the average muay thai practitioner does, as compared to many other martial art practitioners. On the average, they're more intense during training.

Gmail is an invitation only (at least for now) email service from Google. It allows for really big sends and receives (attachments, etc), a huge storage space (how many gigs again?), and an entirely new way to access email. From what i've been told, each account is setup on their own separate database, which allows you to search through your emails as you would search things through google itself. Other neatsie fine features as well. Supposedly the next generation in online email services. The big things are the amount of space they give you for free, so you never have to delete your email again, and the 'easy' means to sort them in various folders (the regular means pretty much requires the pages refresh every time. I understand it is quite different with Gmail.)

Don't look at me. I suck at kicking anything above the waist.

North

Well, that's not necessarily true. Bruce Lee developed JKD as a theory of study. He originally studied dance (traditional sixties Hong Kong hip hop dance champion, if i recall), and later studied wing chun taught by Yip Man for many years. After he went to the U.S., he continued his studies into a variety of other systems. He eventually opened up a school and began teaching Jun Fan Do (Jun Fan being Bruce's 'real' name). In time, he developed JKD as a theory of study (it is not a martial art per se, but an approach to the study of martial arts). GoGoGo, understanding what you are like helps to understand what it is you would like to study. It also helps to know what's available in your area, and who is teaching. Not all schools are alike, nor is the quality the same.

No argument there. If a woman is attracted to a man, she should let him know. However, most societies tend to frown on that, and thus women are less 'inclined' to do so. In most societies, it is 'expected' of men to pursue and court, while the woman gameplays. Hard to break hundreds, even thousands of years of societal bad habits. First off, they aren't rules. Second, it is usually the man that doesn't apply those recommendations and the woman who does. It is the norm for men to put careers first, family second, or sometimes even third, while it is the norm for women to put family first and careers second, or third. Such cutout caricatures are hard to 'step-out' of. Especially when all your friends and acquaintances happen to draw from the same canvas. I.e., it is traditionally taught that men are the breadwinners and women are the childbearers and home guardians. And while these may no longer be true, in the economical sense, it is quite ingrained as stereotypes of a 'normal' household (whatever that is). Therefore, in order to obtain a 'normal' household, many couples step to their respective roles... and play house. Unfortunately, if such 'normal' stereotypes aren't working for Ken and Barbie, they will eventually have to shed their plastic skins. ooo, it's so fun to do stupid little metaphors.

Well, here's a rule for every martial artist to follow: -= Stick to what you know =- Don't adjust what you know to accommodate a different system, unless you've had sufficient time and training against that particular system to have thoroughly tested any adjustments made. In the example you posed, Gilbert, that adjustment of dropping your lead arm is a knee-jerk response to knowing someone may attack low. However, it serves absolutely no defensive purpose, actually encourages possible bad response, and especially... takes you out of your game. Boxing provides sufficient training to allow you to handle most any type of attack style. The problem happens at the practitioner's level, where he abandons some of his training just because a kick comes from a different part of the body and can be aimed for an area that the boxer traditionally does not study to defend. However, if he sticks to his game, and treats an appendage as an appendage, rather than a punch as a punch and a kick as a kick, he will be able to overcome his opposition. The tactics are there... and need merely to be applied with a more 'liberal' brush. You should always fight your fight, and not allow someone to cause you to fight their fight.

lol I'm sorry... that one caught me off guard.

It's that haircut of yours dude. They're mistaking it for a runway.

white_warlock@hotmail.com

lol, "Shane! Shane! Come back Shane!"

He didn't escape any of the bullets, actually. All of them hit him, but none of them hit any vital organs. His adrenalin allowed him to stay active and alert during the confrontation. His action of using the tree, bobbing to each side of it, worked for him because the shooter was friggin' nuts and wasn't thinking straight.

Well, 'smart' is a very ambiguous description. There is information, insight, and common sense. One can have plenty of information in one area, and be completely ignorant on just about any other topic. One can have insight into human behavior, business dealings, numbers, concepts, shapes and forms. Common sense is so friggin' wide open, i won't even try to break it down into the various 'types.' Personally, i like to look at everyone and find their strengths and weaknesses. I then gleen from their strengths and assist in their weaknesses. Of course, i do the opposite of that if they are trying to rip my nipples off.

How about a list to choose from? Non Standard Weapons Sash Bench Chopsticks Iron Comb Flute Iron Ring Iron Ruler Iron Smoking Pipe Iron Toad Mandarin Duck Spade Monk Cudgel Monk Spade Whip Chain Rake Ring Wheel Scholar's Brush Pen Sickle Tiger Fork Four Section Sickle Steel Fan Hoe Dragon Whisker Fork Ox Horn Fork Two Point Fork Two Teeth Fork Flail Rope Pounding or Bludgeoning Weapons Crutch or Cane Dragon Head Stick Eight Corner Hammer Golden Melon Hammers Buddha Hand Cymbals Hammer Hook Lashing Staff Mace Mother and Son Hammer Shield Three Section Staff Flail Two Section Staff Water Parting Shield Wolf Teeth Club Wolf Teeth Hammer Sharp Edged Weapons Arhat Coin Axe , Dagger Axe, Long Stick Axe Brush Attacker Brush, Wolf Claw, Long Handed Claw, Talon Comb, Palace Heaven Crescent Rake Daggers, Twin Fist, Brass Fork Short Fork, Flying Fork, Horse Fork, Scholar Fork, Steel Fork, Wolf Teeth Spiked Halberd , Horse Halberd , Large Horse Halberd, Single Ended Halberd, Twin Ended Halberd Hand, Buddha Heaven Lotus Phoenix Tail Heaven Lotus Wind Tail Tan Hoe Hook, Fire Hook, Nine Teeth Knives , Butterfly Knives , Deer Antler Knives, Double Deer Antler Kris (Sword Breaker) L Shaped Halberd Lance, Long Lance Pincers, Long Handed Rake Rod , Nine Chi Tapered Rod, Eighteen-Chi Tapered Rod Scissor & Ruler Shovel, Golden Bell Shovel, Golden Coin Shovel, Heaven Tangled Shovel, Lotus Flower Shovel/Spade Sickle Spade , Gold Coin Spade, Convenient Spade, Crescent Moon Spade, Golden Bell Spade, Lotus Flower Spear , Double Headed Spear , Hooked Single Spear, Hook-Scythe Double Spear, Hook-Scythe Spear, Snake Spear, Throwing Spear, throwing Spear, Wolf Spear Sting, Moon Tooth Sting, Emei Piercers Stirring Heaven Killer Sword, Cicada Wing Sword, Eagle Head Sword, Heaven & Earth, Sun & Moon Sword, Horse Chopping Sword, Large Long Handed Broad Sword, Broad, Ghost Head Sword, Broad, Long Sword, Broad, Nine Hook Sword, Broad, Nine Ring Sword, Broad, Southern Sword, Broad, Swallow Tail Sword, Broad, Twin Sword, Broad, Two-Handed Sword, Butterfly Double Sword, Dashing Sword, Eyebrow Tip Sword, Hook Sickle Sword, Kick Sword, Long Handed Elephant Nose Sword, Long Handled Sword, Long-Handed Yue Fei Sword, Ox Ear Sharp Sword, Sleeve Sword, Slip or Thin Sword, Straight, Piercer Sword, Straight, Snake Sword, Straight, 3 Point Double-Blade Sword, Straight, Twin Sword, Straight, Two-handed Sword, Straight, Unicorn Horn Tree Knot Flexible Weapons 7-12 Section Whip Bull Whip Rope Weighted Rope Kriss Sword Breaker Double Headed Comet Star Hammer Double Headed Flying Maul Iron Chain Linking Club Three Section Staff Soft Hammer Stick Soft Whip Four Section 'Tang' Rope Dart Comet Star Hammer Dragon Head Whip Club Dragon or Plum Flower Claw Flying Claw/Hook Lether Soft Whip Hook Swords Throwing/Missile Weapons Bow & Arrow Crossbow Back Cross Bow Fly Whisk Flying Dart Flying Fork Flying Locust Stone Flying Knife Flying Weight Meteor Hammer Dart Knife Rope Javelin Rope Sling Shot Sling Shot Mother Sun Cross Darts Sleeve Arrow Blow Dart Flying Sting Brass Chopsticks Iron Madarin Duck Blum Flower Needles (Red) Poison Sand Of this list, the flexible weapons are my favored. (( list obtained from http://gungfu.com and includes weapons that are classical, mythical, movie-born, and modern ))