spin_kick

i read an article on this the other day. Here's the abbreviated version: pak mei was a shaolin monk in the 1600's when the manchurians (or the 'ching') took power in china. these were rebellious times and the shaolin temple assisted in a rebellion against the ching. However, a monk was dismissed from the temple for breaking a sacred lamp. He betrayed the temple and led the manchurian forces to its destruction. 18 monks survived. Of these, 13 were hunted down and killed. The remaining 5 fled to a taoist temple to the north, where they developed a new system of kung fu. The monks challenged each other and it was found that, of all, pak mei was the most skilled. he was sent, with a small group of students, to spy on the ching royal palace. The group was captured. In order to save his students from torture and death, pak mei was forced to join the manchurians. He taught them his new style and led the army to the secret location of his comrades. All were killed and the temple once again was destroyed. pak mei was set free and spent his days teaching kung fu and taoism. word spread of his betrayal and his form became known as the forbidden style. he reputedly lived to over 100 years old.

this happened to me last friday i was at our tournament training class and we were doing basic point sparring drills. one person held a kick shield while the other skipped forward with a fast reverse punch then retreated. anyways, i skipped forward but i landed on the point of my big toe, right in the join between two mats. the rubber held my toe firmly in place while my whole body momentum kept going forward. the result: a compound dislocation of the middle joint in the toe and a transverse laceration running from the top of the toe, round the inside (i.e. between the big toe and the second toe) to the bottom. basically if you looked at the foot from the top the big toe pointed 45 degrees away from the rest of the foot, leaving the bone exposed. it looked really cool. it was such a freak accident. i mean, what are the chances of that happening? especially when its a week before the biggest tournament of the year, and six weeks before nationals (i am ranked first in my state for my division), so now i cant compete. by the way, i took a pic of it with my fone right after it happened. if anyone's interested in seeing it i'll post it when i can figure out how too....

from penrith, home of the mighty panthers. anyone else in syd on the iska circuit?

well i'm learning all the spinning kicks at the moment. before i signed up i'd been in the backyard practicing (well, falling down alot) for about three hours, so it was the first thing that came into my head.

22 goin on 17. i get carded for beer all the time, ppl think i look really young. annoying!

i would have to say that the bo is prob the easiest weapon to put a form together with, and it can really look quite good, esp at high speeds. Kamas are another fave of mine. a number of crisp strikes in succession can look spectacular. chain whips, if you have the skill and patience to learn it, are always crowd pleasers so, for the sake of winning tournaments, would be a good choice. by the way, does anyone have any info on the iron fans that samurais carried? i know that an art form was developed (tessen-jitsu?), are there any forms? i've been searching for ages with no success!

hey all i've been a kempo student for a while now and also train in muay thai kick boxing. i find that the styles complement, rather than interfere with, each other. there are many similarities, esp with the kicks. in muay thai your "fighting stance" will be shorter, this is for mobility around the ring, but the execution of techniques barely changes. never heard of numbered techniques tho...... in response to the comments regarding weapons, i started with the bo and arnis sticks and moved on to kamas and tonfas. as mentioned above, it depends on your teacher. generally you would start with blunt weapons and move on to cutting weapons - you have to learn to stand before you can run!

hey all a very good friend of mine has been searching for info on fans for the past few months, with very little success. very frustrating! all we have been able to track down is a vid of tai chi fan dancing. is this the same thing as fan fighting (tessen-jitsu?)?