Luckykboxer

that was the question... was your first comment.... Ummm doesnt this fall under the category of you had real fights to become a good fighter? I personally think fighting is alot like riding a bike.. you may not have the chance to do it after 10 years but when you do again you will know how... this comes from the actual experience. I think it actually helps bolster the point of having to have real fights

silly question. I am of course

Just being a veteran of many many fights, different types and different conditions, I can state with 100% confidence that the experience that comes from true combat, in this case hand to hand does in fact mean the difference between a good fighter and a great fighter. Every fight i have i go in more comfortable and more knowledgable having faced 1 more scenario or 1 more different thing the fight before.

interesting topic. I obviously dont want to die. I have no fear of attempting dangerous stunts that i feel i can successfully complete and test my skills. I do not let the fact that i dont want to die hold me back from enjoying amazing experiences. I believe the quality of ones life can be measures in the extremes of the experiences they have while they are alive. I would not want to be a 100 year old man whos only adventures when alive was drinking a soda when i was a teenager, or taking the risk of crossing the road once... I would have no problem living to a much younger age and have had done many of the things i have done and still have on my wish list. I would hate to leave this world and have a long list on expereinces i was unable to complete. a saying i love to this day... " It isnt tragic to die doing what you love to do"

So i was at the 2004 Long Beach Internationals yesterday, and i am browsing through the small tables of items that are set up throughout the halls. Everything from shirts and gis and belts to swords and toys and custom items. probably a good 20 or so tables. I am walking around just quietly browsing and i come to a table with Ed Parkers books, and a book i had never seen.... Ed PArkers Nunchaku book. As I am looking down at it a person next to me with a hat on and very ordinary looking says wow i didnt know they reprinted this book. He said " I had the original printing of this and it went out of print" He picked it up and started thumbing through it and i was looking at the book as we were standing right next to each other. He stops at a page and holds it over for me to see and says" I looked funny with sideburns didnt I?" I almost felt my Jaw drop when I realized this unassuming man standing next to me was Huk Planas himself, considered one of the top Kenpo Martial artists period. I quickly introduced myself and tried to hide embarassment for not recognizing him. It just goes to show you never know who that person is you stand next to every day. Sure i was in a place with alot higher probability of seeing that type of a personality.. But the fact remains in street clothes its hard to see how a person carries himself.

I think there is a similar thread elsewhere.. I am surprised that you test in front of all the other students. I can imagine that would be very distracting My style... American Kenpo we do all our tests behind closed doors with the only participants being the people testing and the testing board. I know for our test its over two days with day 1 being a physical fitness poriton, including running several miles under a specific time, pull ups to failure, pushups and situps to failure.... all three under a specific time. and then hundreds of kicks and punchs on bags, all followed up by several full out sprints. everything is done and checked for improvement on a pretest that we take a couple months before the real test. day two involves all our curriculum and basics. we drill over the basics and i would estimate we throw several hundred kicks and punches if not over a thousand. all the sets forms and self defense techniques. our own curriculum and then we fight at all distances and types including... full karate.... boxing,... kickboxing... grappling.... everything goes.. for special cases like myself they brought in other professional fighters to give me a hard time. i have to say looking back at my test, and then looking at the test i sat on the biggest thing wasnt the physical and the curriculum it was the mental aspect and making sure that everyone had that attitude and ability to hang in and past the point of exhaustion and truely have what it takes to excell in a hard situation

good conclusion sicne i live in San Diego and am not about to board a plane ond come to your town and save you, as no others here are willing to do as well. I dont think anyone could help you win this battle. You are in a no win situation. once you realize that you will realize you have to go about it differently. the best solution to any problem is a Win - Win result... meaning you get something positive out of it and so does the other person. the next best solution is a win - no loss result... meaning you win something and the other person doesnt lose anything. the next best solution is a no loss - no loss result... meaning you dont win anything and neither does the other person, you are both in the same standing you were before. after this it gets ugly let me try to explain. a win - loss situation means you gain something and the other person loses something. In normal situations this usually is a good thing, but in your situation it can be deadly. if you get a confrontation and you hurt them and get away thats a win - loss..... you momentarily got out of a situation with no pain, but they did. I have known many gang bangers, and hard *. They wont let it rest at that... they will come back after you and they will attack you harder and with more people.... and they will keep coming back until they get a WIN on their side. now a win - loss might be able to work if you were in a random situation where the opponent didnt know you, didnt live near you, didnt live near where you frequent.... this isnt the case. I dont know what to tell you, but I have to say i am concerned for your safety. You seem to be learning some physical skills, and you are feeling fairly confident with your physical skill level and ability to handle yourself. the problem i see is that your mental skill level is still at a begining stage and you are ot thinking out all the scenarios. I really hope this helps you understand what we are talking about a little bit more.

its funny how things hit us when we least expect it.

where in Cali are you located? there are many many events going on every weekend in all styles and skill levels. I attend some type of competition nearly every weekend. last weekend i was in mexico for some no holds barred fights. this weekend its up to long beach for the long beach international championships. next weekend its smoker fights for kickboxing and boxing. and august 14th its up to LA for grappling competitions

oh one thing i forgot to add. I highly recommend not wearing colognes or perfume either. some peopel can have reactions to it that are negative. I recommend wearing just plain old unscented deoderant. As a teacher I have had student come up to me to ask for help in confronting others who have worn fragrances, makeup, or who have odor issues... its no fun for anyone to deal with :/

ok then if thats his question my answer is... Pray your face outlasts their fists the question is almost ridiculous in that it is common sense how to avoid it and if the information he has given is correct there is absolutely no way i could see him coming out on top of this. Its about Winning... and getting your head beat, or getting shot, or worse is not a win situation. at his skill level, against peopel he described I am almost completely confident that there is absolutely nothing he could do to help himsel fin that situation other then what has been mentioned already, and i refuse to add any false confidence to him in this situation by giving him a hopeless scenario in dealing with it.

well personally i think you should leave the makeup at home. if you are doing sparring drills, self defense drills, or even different types of workout drills your face may come in contact with other students. The last thing anyone wants to do is to clean off another students make up from their cloths or gear or skin. Its about respect... you are there to workout you are going to sweat.... if you are trying hard you should be anyways..... i am sure you dont want to have your makeup running either.... Jewelry is also a big nono in the dojo... can get it caught snagged or broken... either bad fo ryou or bad fo rthe person who gets scratched or snagged on it. the karate Dojo should be a place where you humble yourself and through all else out to learn.... or at least as close as you can come to it. It isnt a place to worry about impressing others. Of course good hygene should be used at all times, as in cleaned and kempt feet and toenails, bathed and deodorized body, and no brushed teeth. Nothing worse then having a funk and not having anyoen want to train with you.

as opposed to what?

I have to say that the observations in main post here are disturbing and appear to be more of a comedy sketch attempt then a valid attempt to help find McDojos.. First off lets see what experience you have with this school and its credentials? I saw none other then your overwhelming dislike for the adds. I think your attempt at being funny clouded your judgement and as it is apparant you tried to put thought in your post you didnt put the right kind of thought. as in what are the important questions to ask about a school to determine its a mcdojo... is being patriotic solely a mcdojo trait? Highly unlikely, most schools are going to be patriotis, otherwise they will have some kind of undertones of discontent which leads to problems.. is advertising specials for different groups of peopel a Mcdojo? No, its called advertising, and i have yet to see where a great martial arts studio has to be seperated from a great advertising campaign. is stating your schools awards in advertising a sign of McDojos? Well if they make up the quotes then quite possibly, but if the school was voted by a panel from say the better business bureau, or the chamber of commerce... then no its called smart advertising, listing awards for your school from outside sources. lets hit your list directly... Ok down teh line.. being patriotic i already answered. as far as appealing to kids.... HELLO where have you been? Kids make up the majority of martial arts schools now. Parents spend money to educate their kids in sports, or activities, Who says that martial arts cannot be taught to children. Now if you said that the McDojo caters to children through Black Belt programs to elevate children to the rank of black belt by getting parents to sign contracts that give specific dates for advancement regardless fo the kids ability then id agree... but so far you are 0 for 2 as far as using peoples fear? Sorry i think you are overstating it, advertising is used to get people in to the schoolt hat either are interested in it, need it, or want it. If people have a legitimate issue with fear then a martial arts school should be good for them right? Now if you said that they went out of their way to instill fear into people by harping on them either in person or in print adds that the world is going downt he tubes, and that they are going to be attacked and they have to come get training now... then i might agree with you more... 0 for 3 sometimes they are wildly successful and have lots of schools... um ya and sometimes great systems and instructors are wildly successful and have lots fo schools too... this has nothing to do with mcdojos. 0 for 4 they dont say what kind of karate they teach...... now ill agree here... but i think you mean in the add... as far as that goes a little mystery is a good thing if someone is interested they will call in and a person on the phone can give alot more questions then an add can... what if someone reads the add and doesnt think the style is good from what he has heard... say Tae Kwon Do.... but when he calls in to find out what style is taught the person ont he other end talks to him about his goals, what he is looking for in the martial arts, adn can either help him, or direct him elsewhere... this i see as no issue... if they say we do Karate period... then ya i have issues.. so ill give you this point.... 1 for 5 as far as using the appeal of awards and media exposure..... HELLO what do you want them to do, put their best of awards in a trunk and hide them? If they are awarded something for being good isnt that something peopel should know? If they have self awarded themselves and flaunt that then there is an issue... but once again i disagree with you... 1 for 6 cardio kickboxing to lure the mom too.... gee and we all know how terrible it is to help peopel get into shape. How horrible it is to give a family something in common.... How horrible it is to offer a program so a mother can stay near her child and both have something they like.. I wont even comment any more on this one i think my opinion is apparant... 1 for 7 Freebies?.... yes cause we all know that anything good cant have any free stuff attached to it, it must be super expensive and cost a ton of money... so giving a free uniform that is cheap so that someone can be more comfortable about trying something out that they are not sure of is a bad thing? You want the person to spend 200 dollars for a custom uniform to try out a program they may or may not like? I have news for you, many many people started martial arts for free lessons or free uniform and decided they liked it and went on to devote their lifestyles to it. guess what?... yep 1 for 8 gross disgusting misuse of the word ninja..... Ok i am sorry this has annoyed you but i have news for you, there is a very successful childrens martial arts program called little ninjas and karate kids... it does a few things.... it helps stoke the fires of the kids imaginations, and it keeps them interested in soemthing longer then it may not. Its called a great advertising tool, a great motivational tool, and there is no mention of killing, spying, or assassinating when it comes to this.. apparantly there are real ninjas in your family so ill give you this one even though i disagree and call it 2 for 9 Master Instructor?.... This can be misleading, but i guess it depends on the ranking of the person claiming it. If a title goes with a rank such as ... instructor, assistant instructor, master instructor, professor, senior professor, im sure the list goes on and on.... then it can be valid.. If a first black belt is calling himself Master Instructor or something liek grandmaster then yes i agree it is bad, but i guess it depends on the rank of the person claiming it. ill give this one to you for a final score of 3 for 10.. thats 30% thats an F on any test i have seen. Maybe these questions should be asked... Is the curriculum worthy to teach and learn? Is the curriculum watered down and misleading? Is the instructor a valid martial artist with a valid belt rank and teaching credentials? Is the organizations after the best interests of everyone involved? or just the best interests of the school owner? Does the school make wild and unsubstantiated claims? Does the school win awards from other organizations? Is the school a value to the community its in? this list can go on and on but i think you get the message.

http://www.driscollinstitute.com/index.html that link is to a school in Pottsville, my suggestion would be to contact them and i bet they will know.

I just know one day the last human will die and a cockroach is going to walk over his head :/ dang cockroaches :/

in regards to new styles popping up all over the place.. one of the funniest to me is Joesondo(sp) the guys name is Joe Son.... a big sumo looking korean guy who had a fight or two in the UFC and played a little with some no holds barred fighting.. For whatever reason he didnt like being a lower level black belt in his arts so he made his own style and immediately promoted himself to 10th black.... :/ when i hear alot of these styles that i have never of before i often wonder how much is similar to that and how much is a valid system that is fairly unique and has its own variation that makes it useful and valid and not just some knockoff from another art that has maybe two or three different moves... and this is not saying anything about the art discussed here,.... just the comments made me think about this is all

well in my school we have 3 levels of brown and then black belt. for the first brown belt level they have to fight 10 rounds... it is really the most fighting done at any belt rank until Black Belt. for Black Belt, for mine anyways they brought in professional kickboxers, and grapplers, and I fought at every distance and every sport style including boxing, kickboxing, karate, grappling. I dont even remember how many rounds it was, but my Black belt test was a two day test with all kinds of physical aspects the first day then every single last piece of curriculum from white to black the second and the fighting was the last thing we did. Also at Black belt there was no holding back by my opponents in the fights I swear someoen told them.... knock him out and you get an ice cream sunday

ya i think you are going to want to get training shoes, I am sure your instructor would rather you wear them as well, as probably would the other students. From all i have heard warts in general are extremely contagious and if your warts on the foot are anything like what a friend of mine had then you are going to be pretty tender after having them removed... he had them removed almost the size of a silver dollar :/

check with construction companies, and look in the classified adds in your newpapers. I dont know how often you will find overstock material or mirrors people are getting rid of. Since its your basement i assume you wont need a custom made job to fit exact proportions, and im sure you can find something large this way \good luck

hrmm unless i am thinking of something different sport karate is the tournaments you compete in. sparring, either point or full contact is sports karate. at least that is how i have always understood it

my living room on saturday afternoons is the martial arts capital of the world. but only before 3pm pst

I would be surprised if anyone lists instructor solely. the only way i could see that truely being the case is if it is some 10th degree black belt somewhere who has no interest in learning new styles and systems and just teaches in his own little world. everyone really has some teacher or mentor

hey i have a question for you. If you already know this is a possibility why would you put yourself in the position to get yourself beat up? Why would you not alter one simple thing to avoid the situation? Why do you insist on asking for an impossible answer to a ridiculous question? Now... if you want to fight them that is a different story. If you have an itching to get into a fight then by all means plan it out and carry it out. But if both people are stronger faster and crazier then you then your only chance is skill..... and if they fight for a living in their gangs and you are a fairly new student then they may have skills that are as good as or better then yours. I would say let it fly if thats your choice and accept the consequences. However i will warn you if these are true gangbangers you are probably going to end up in the hospital, and your family will become the target of alot of trouble

well think of traditional styles.. traditional Kung Fu is usually very circular meaning it moves around alot it isnt in direct lines. traditional Karate is very linear... very hard low stances adn punches and kicks are very straightforward and powerful. now that is a fairly bad example.... but it is the best image i can give without getting into dicitonary type definitions.