Vito

no, this guy was only stabbed once- and his name was definitely eddie sanchez, and he was pretty much a nobody.

jabs arent AS powerful as other punches, but they can still hurt, most definitely. id suggest working your jab a lot on the heavy bag- circle it jabbing, throw a few before your combos... just throw them on their own. also, make sure your footwork is dead on, even when jabbing they need to snap into their position so that you have your entire body behind it.

look into those rennosaunce (sp? i forget) fair people, some guys there know their stuff. know though, that the celtic sword isnt anything specific, like katanas- its just midieval (sp? dammit i forget again) sword fighting for the most part. they were known to have ridiculously big blades like on their bastard swords- but due to their size the practicality of such a weapon made it rather unpopular.

you know, theres nothing wrong with machines. while most people, myself included, dont like them as much as real weights (tend to get better results with real weights), resistance training is resistance training, and just like any, when done properly it will make you stronger. in fact, machines are a good way to start out lifting- ease yourself into it. also, dont just "eat lots," eat correctly, and a lot of protein.[/code]

perhaps a very slight injury to that muscle just below your abs (and above your you know what) ?

talk to a pediatrist (foot specialist doctor guy) if its a serious problem. also, why dont you just protect your feet, toes, in class? hell, maybe just a bandaid wrapped around the nail will help support it and keep it together.

if you have any friends who are into body building, start with them showing you how to do exercises and how to start off. remember- start SLOW. starting too fast will only hurt you. also- dont do deadlifts, find another lower back exercise that wont destroy your lower back.

id recommend against doing more than one style, with the exception that they are different areas of fighting (such as one striking, another grappling.) see which school you like the best, try to judge which will teach you how to fight better, and go with that.

man, i dont know about you, but im sick of being jumped by ninjas just because i killed their master. bastards. (and slept with his wife.) anyway- lucky, doesnt it being an offensive art make it a good defensive art? they way i figure it, on the street, offense IS most of your defense.

a lot of good advice ill barely add to.... even on your heavy bag work, act like your dodging punches. just move around, get used to doing it all the time, all the time, all the time.

wow. anyone see friday night fights yesterday (8/13/04)? some guy named jc somethingorother, ranked 9 in the world in his weight (154) was to take on some other guy who wasnt allowed to fight because he failed his health exam. just a random spectator, eddie sanchez is approached and asked to fight, so he says yea sure. he drops 8 lbs in a day, is officially told hell fight 7 hrs before the fight. and just for the record, hes still a nobody with no fights going past 8 rounds under his belt, hasnt boxed much since four years ago when he was stabbed. anyway, against jc, number nine in the world for his weight, he won. outboxed him almost every round and took the decision. a great fighter, even though muscular wise he didnt even look in the same class as jc, and record-wise he sure wasnt. it was really cool- anyone else see it?

one came from okinawa, one came from china. kung fu is a term for a ton of chinese things, very broad spectrum (mostly useless i say, but what do i know), while karate is not as diverse- if you can put it that way. what else? in general, kung fu could be described as more circular while karate is more linear. kung fu has a lot of animal mimicing stuff while karate is more punch kick etc.... i dunno, these are all generalizations really, but its kind of the idea... i guess.

id recommend against knuckle pushups.

okay, i just discovered "sailing" was an olympic event. what the hell is it exactly?

if youre still sore you havent recovered.

really? ive always wanted to have that- maybe not the the point of professional body builders, but big enough to be noticed and strong. taking hits, however, is still my number one concern.

lucky- i meant end up as a professional fighter such as yourself, but its good to know kenpo did that for you. was that your first real training in martial arts? how did you get into it?

well if youve been lifting, thats perfectly natural. so long as youre not too sore (hard to describe, but if its painful enough to where you more than simply notice it, its too sore).

ive really become bored with the olympics. i might watch a little boxing, because its my favorite sport to watch- (except KICKboxing) but most of the stuff they have just doesnt hold my interest. guys running, people jumping, the same ol' gymnastics thing... just doesnt do it for me personally.

i meant who are your students, my dear lucky. i didnt know you were an instructor of anything.

while no one is going do say that a dry 114 is too brutal to go out in (unless youre an idiot), a humid 105 is worse. trust me- growing up in vegas, id know.

haha yes and no. its just wierd because usually people in anythign called "kenpo" or "karate" dont end up like you.

all very interesting answers... but what i meant was what kind of exercises did you do to get your abs into shape- crunches, weighted situps, etc. also though- what about your obliques? anyone do those drills on your sides rather than abs?

keep doing them, youll get stronger.

well the constant exercise will drop it, but how much and how fast is due to all sorts of other things happening in your body. there are hormones and other activities youre not aware of that affect you all day... but theyre doing ilit (sp?) cell transplants these days, so cures are starting to become available.