Gorgoth

Jet Li - Fist of Legend... AWESOME fight scenes... you know its gonna be a kewl movie when in the first 5 minutes Jet Li kicks the crap out of 10 japanese martial artists... LOL.. hehe... -Gor

i was just lookin for info on Goju-Ryu... i was curious about what we might be doing in the near future in our class... so i was checkin it out .. hehe... but here's a pretty good web-site on Goju-Ry http://www.gojuryu.net/ They recently changed the layout of their page... the new one is kewl... i like it better.. the old one was too plain... hehe... anywho... its a kewl site with kata listings... and you can get your own @gojuryu.net email hehe... I'm trying to figure out if they offer POP access... i dont think they do... hehe... if they did... i might just get an email from there... anywho... its a kewl site... you might want to check it out...

i've trained in water many times before... we have put resistance type objects on our legs and arms and have done kicking and punching lines and such... those get hard... hehe... but if you think about it... if you get to where you can punch fast and strong with resistance objects IN the water... just think of what you will be able to do OUT of the water... hehe... -Gor

hehe... the hitting someone and they smile for some reason reminds me of DBZ... hehe... ya... i love anime and i love martial arts.. so naturally DBZ is a badass show in my eyes.. hehe... but ya... that happens a lot in that show... especially when it comes to Mr. Satan... in one show he talks to 18 and gets her to take a bribe to let him win the world martial arts tournament... he then hits her in the face with his strongest punch... the mega super 25 megaton punch... or something like that... and she looks at him and says, "is that the best you got?"... hehe... he says yes and she says, "then that'll have to do" and she jumps out of the ring... sorry... hehe... i'm weird... but its all good

After reading this discussion, i was reminded of a story my father once told me... there was a japanese martial artist that trained extensively all day every day... he was perhaps the best martial artist in japan and could kill anyone in hand to hand combat with ease... he walked out onto the battle field and was hit square between the eyes by a marine sniper at 600 yards... i've always found that a funny yet ironic story.. hehe.... but ya... no matter how good a martial artist you are... if you are put up against someone who is a crack shot and are at a distance... you have no chance what-so-ever... you better be finding something big to hide behind... hehe... but if the guy with the gun is close at hand and you are a skilled martial artist... in the words of jet li, "In the second that it takes you to pull that trigger, I will have more than enough time to kill you."

whie in Tae Kwon Do my instructor taught us a move that included us to reach out with the lead hand as if to back fist our opponent and at the last second (right before they block it) you pull your hand down and trap their arms and do a reverse punch to the bridge of your opponents nose. You have to execute this very quickly... or else it won't work... I have used a rendition of that in a tournament fight, only I jumped in the air back-fisted the guy (he didnt block it so i just hit him) then i trapped his arms and as i was coming down from my jump i put a downward punch on the bridge of his nose... naturally i broke his nose and it looked all funny like...

Thats some awesome advice, man... i look forward to reading more of your posts... you sound very knowledgeable and experienced in the martial art.... -Gor

i too have the "problem" of too much will power... I find often go out into the night to this field by my house and i train there... i've built some training equipment and such... often i will go out at around 8 or 9 and i'll lose track of time and not go inside until around 4 or 5... needless to say, the next morning when i wake up, my entire body hurts... hehe... especially my forearms and fists... whenever i set goals... i feel like i'm selling myself short... i just go outside and train until i can't train anymore... my friends say i'm obsessed... hehe... i dont think i am... i just train a lot anywho... three60roundhouse had good advice... set goals... meet the goals... and go beyond your goals... hehe... there's my advice for the day... lol... hehe... -Gor

As many of you know, I train in Goju-Ryu... Only it isnt traditional Goju-Ryu... I'm taught by a man who learned Goju in Okinawa, only he adapts things and only teaches us what he finds valuable in the Goju-Ryu system... He has been training since he was 13, and I think he is 42 now.... He has trained in many different systems: Hapkido, Shaolin Gung Fu, Goju-Ryu, Chinese Boxing, Ken Jitsu, Jiu Jitsu, Kenpo and Aikido... He adapts what we learn to all of what he has learned in his 29 years of experience... He trains us (I believe) in for the most part traditional Okinawan methods... Only he supplements our training with weights... We use Sanchin to build strength and we use weights to supplement our training with Sanchin... we also go through our training sessions wearing weights on our legs and arms... sometimes we wear 40-lb vests... we then train kicks, blocks, and punches with the weight.. Although we also take training methods from Wing Chun in the form of the 5-lb lead rings we wear on our arms while blocking training... and from Okinawan Karate, we use Makiwara pads... We also train on heavy bags... I dont know if what he trains us in is traditional or not... but he doesn't believe in having to pay for martial arts training and we train where ever we can... whether that be in the garage... in his house... in the yard... or in the woods... we train anywhere and everywhere there is some isolation and we are out of view of other people... He always says that we are learning a closed system and no one can watch us while we train... he accepts students, but they are allowed only to participate in regular training sessions until they join us, and they are not allowed to talk about what we do... what i talk about on this board is not anywhere near even a quarter of what we do... anywho... just thought i might add to the discussion -Gor

Thanks for the welcome Joe... I'm not too knowledgeable.... I just read a lot... mostly on martial arts and such... I got the training of Paper Teng Gung Fu from the book 'The Tao of Gung Fu' by Bruce Lee... Its in my "library" in the study somewhere... so I'm just gonna type on memory hehe... Well... the construction of the 'paper tent' is somewhat of an unknown to me... All I know is that its basically a solid box that you have made from paper... the paper shoud be atleast more than 20 Chinese ounces (however much that is... i dont know) ... It should have the dimension of 20 inches by 20 inches by 24 inches... Then you fasten a string to the center of the paper tent... Now you need to make a table that is 9 feet by 2 feet... and make the height just a comfortable height for you while you're in a bowl-horse stance... Once you have your paper tent and the table made... you put the paper tent on the table and hold the string with your left hand... you then strike the paper tent with a straight punch with your right hand... then pull the paper tent back to its original position with the string in your left hand... at first you should barely be able to move the paper tent... but once you can move it all the way across the table for a long time without any fatigue, you then get to make a new paper tent... only this time you put some lead weights in it as you're making it... you continue to do this... and you make more and more paper tents with lead weights, then you should have a paper tent that weighs over 100 chinese ounces... Once you can hit the paper tent far back and not even feel the resistance, even with the lead weights inside it... you then need to take one leaf out of your table so there is a gaping hole in the table... then you need to hit the paper tent over the hole and pull it back... at first you won't be able to do this very fast because the paper tent will be falling into the hole... once you get to where you can hit the paper tent into the air and over the hole, you need to remove another leaf from the table, so now the hole is much larger... you continue to do this until the table is a mere 3 feet long... 1/3 of its original length... at this point you should be able to hit the paper tent and have it travel aerodynamically back and forth without falling in the gaping hole... once you can do this... your punch will be so incredibly strong you will be able to hit a man 10 chinese yards back... thats everything i remember of Paper Tent Gung Fu... now... what i'm gonna do is make a paper tent out of newspaper first... then i'll make one with some lead weights... I dont know how much a chinese ounce is... so i have no clue as to how much the paper tent should weigh... do any of you know how much a chinese ounce is compared to the american customary system of measurement? becanse it can't be the same... if it is... the paper tent would weigh a little over a pound... and thats not nearly enough... in my opinion... anywho... if any of you know more about Paper Tent Gung Fu... please... let me know... -Gor

Ok... as for the iron forearms... I got the training ideas from the book 'The Tao of Gung Fu' and then I talked to my Sensei about it (I am too, a Goju-Ryu student)... Basically it entails you hitting your forearms on various objects... you start on a smooth pole indoors or something... you do that for a while (month or two) then you will notice your forearms much stronger than they were before... then you go outside and do the same kind of training on a tree with rough bark (I use the live oak trees around my house)... While training like this you have to make sure you hit EVERY part of your forearm on the tree... Once you have hit the tree for a LONG time (I've been doing it for 3 months now and am just now progressing to a tree with a larger diameter) then you start to hit your forearms on stones... you need to concentrate on hitting your forearms on the stones the same way you did on the tree... once you get to the point that you can shatter a stone on your forearm, your forearm is said to be as strong as iron... Where I am in the training, the simple momentum of my partner's punch hitting my block (which i execute as softly as I can and still have it be a block and not a parry) pops blood vessels in his arm and he says it hurts like hell... Only thing is... my sensei told me if i hurt my partner again I will start having punishment for it... So now I am barely hitting my partner with the blocks... which feels REALLY weird considering how i've always been trained to block with strength... anywho... We do that drill... only we have always done it for a lot longer than 3 minutes... we go until one of us bows out of the drill... which can last a LONG time... That drill, i believe, is to make the nerve in your arm numb to pressure... that way anybody tries to use that as a pressure point you will feel nothing from it... At least thats what my sensei told us the purpose of that training was... I also train on a makiwara pad... We made them ourselves (with some instruction from our Sensei)... Only ours doesn't have any fancy pads.... we have rice rope on japanese cedar... the rice rope was glued together and glued to the board, of course ... our Makiwaras are all outside... hehe... they're in my sensei's backyard... I'm planning on making one in my yard too, but have not yet had the chance... and i have to find out where my sensei got the rice rope and japanese cedar... can't find it for the life of me... Oh ya... and our sensei has us put some kind of sap on our knuckles when we work on the makiwara... I'm not sure what it is... but it helps a lot when we have an hour long session on the makiwara... have any of y'all ever heard of Paper Tent Gung Fu?? I've been trying to figure out how to make the "paper tent" for quite a while now... I have a theory about using newspaper... but I dont get the newspaper... and I dont have any neighbors (i live out in the middle of nowhere with hella-bunch of land ) I'm trying to collect them... hopefully I'll have enough fairly soon so i can start the paper tent gung fu training... Hopefully I didnt bore y'all too much -Gor

I practice the Iron Forearms training... the effects of it... well... my blocks hurt a lot more... hehe... i haven't begun to use stones for my training... I'm still hittin the good 'ole Oak tree... hehe... well... for instance... today... while i was training with my partner... i would barely block his punches and he said it hurt like hell... it even popped a few of his blood vessels... i really wasn't hitting him hard at all... i could have blocked MUCH harder than i was... i think he was just being a wuss... hehe... but i have seen a considerable increase in the strength of my forearms... like... the bone is much stronger... soon i'm gonna have to find a larger oak tree to train on... when i hit the one i train on currently... it shakes violently... i want one that doesn't move... like when i first started training on this one... it didnt move when i hit it... but anywho... thats my experience with it... i'm also trying to collect newspaper to try out some Paper Tent Gung Fu techniques... you can read from one of my previous posts in the Kung Fu section about that... -Gor

My sensei is a black belt in Kenpo Karate... I dont know if it was Ed Parker's system or whatnot... i just know he was a black belt in Kenpo.. consequently, he kind of teaches a mixture of Goju-Ryu, Kenpo, Aikido, and Jiu Jitsu... I read in Bruce Lee's book (The Tao of Gung Fu) that Kenpo is basically Japan's form of Gung Fu... is that true??? I dont know much about Kenpo... i've just learned a few self-defense techniques from it... i'm not sure what all he's teaching us was from Kenpo... -Gor

I used to have a problem with that.. whenever i threw a high front kick the area right at my hip joint would hurt like hell... I just started stretching more... with one particular stretch... you lay on your back and get a partner to your left leg down with his or her leg (kind of using the space on your shin to lock the leg down with your toes on the ground) then your partner picks up your right leg and pushes it straight back until you reach your maximum distance... then your partner pushes a little farther and holds it for a count to 12... then repeat this with the other leg... If that makes any sense at all... that is how i stretch before every training session... and by having your partner push you a little past the point you tell them to stop... you will get more flexible faster... i dont know if thats healthy or anything... you'd have to ask Kickchick about that... thats just what i do... anywho... Kickchick might be able to explain what i'm talking about (if even she knows what the hell i'm babbling about)... well... hopefully some of what i said makes sense... -Gor

hey.. i apologize for my incredibly stupid post... hehe... as for me using sensei and dragon kick, we didnt call my TKD master dude anything special, i just know we call our master sensei or sempai in the martial art i am in right now... (Goju-Ryu) As for the "dragon kick" thats just a flying side kick i dont remember or i was never told the other name for it... i just figured more people would know what a dragon kick was because of bruce lee... That large kick combo was exaggerated a WHOLE BUNCH.... if you didnt already catch that... hehe... the combo is basically... hell... i dunno what the hell its called... or how to describe it... its just that kick keanu reaves (neo) does in the movie The Matrix while he is fighting the agent in the subway... you run at the guy, jump in the air and throw a few kicks at their face... if you know what i'm talking about... kewl... if not... oh well... i dont know any other way to describe it... KickChick-- Yes... i was talking about TKD... I was in it for 5 or 6 years and reached Ni Dan... But my studio was not the best studio and i doubt it only taught us TKD... my sensei (or master whatever y'all called him...) was a well respected fighter in the tournament circuit... If you doubt my experience... kewl... i don't like TKD... i'm in Goju-Ryu now... its much better in my opinion... and yes... i believe jumping to be a very important part of TKD... my instructor emphasized jumping a lot... a kick to the head is worth extra points... and he taught us how to win tournaments... that is my two cents... -Gor