GhostlySykanRyu

My highest was 82...after a while it takes too much for me to control him and the pointer goes off screen...

Did it

As soon as the last few books I ordered come in, I'll be making another order...I'd just like some input from people who have read either of these books. Please let me know if they are worth reading. The first is Gene Lebell's Encyclopedia of Finishing Holds. I thought it would be a nice reference for some grappling techniques. A lot of reviews I read said that it was very good and one of his best works. Others claimed that the photos showed poor transition, that many of the holds were ineffective and non applicable, and that there were too many "Pro Wrestling type moves". Worth a shot? I'm also thinking about ordering The Fighter's Fact Book by Loren Christensen. I see mixed reviews on this as well. Some say it has very good training techniques and covers all aspects of the martial arts. Others say that the entire book is simply "common sense". If you have any suggestions for great martial arts books, I'd be glad to hear them as well Any input is appreciated, thanks!

Can you do it? No, but I can't do gymnastics either. That doesn't make gymnastics "extreme", or a martial art. I'm not putting down the XMAs...I'm just curious as to why they claim to be "extreme" in comparison to the orginal arts meant for seld defense. Taking a kick and adding an extra spin/jump/split doesn't make it extreme...it makes it flashy and ineffective. If you want to defend yourself, train to do so. If you want to be a performer, then take up dance or gymnastics. Just my opinion.

But what makes it "extreme" is far beyond me. Must be the sparkles on the uniforms.

I would guess today that different Judoka have different opinions on whether Atemi Waza belong in the art any longer or not (similar to what hapenned with Aikido, but for different reasons). So yes, it didn't "supposedly" exist. It existed

Why block when you can stop-hit? I believe blocking has its place, and it may be underevaluated. But like others here have already said, proper stance makes it fairly easy to protect yourself, and it only takes a slight movement to make a strike useless.

I visit Lancaster as much as possible, love the place, but I would imagine there would be little there for the martial artist. Know how you feel though, I at first had a choice between a big commercial school(karate), and a BJJ school...not what I was looking for. Luckily I dug deep and found my Sensei...hopefully something similar will come up for you.

I couldn't really say. We all have our own beliefs about these things. When it comes to the paranormal, very little is fully proven. Therefore it would be hypocritical of me to say that someone else's idea is ridiculous.

Sorry, didn't see your post. Well, did you get my reply to your PM? That should answer it.

Just saw Blade Trinity today. Never saw the second one, but this to me is preferable to the first. Probably because of that comedian actor that was in it (played in that sitcom "Two Guys A Girl and a Pizza Place" and in the new Amityville movie).

Mine usually sounds like "HAI" or "ICE". Unless I time it improperly when I hit the mat...then it just sounds like a dry heave (don't try telling me that's never happened to you either ).

"do rising kicks too (front and side), they helped me a lot. ^_^" You practice kicks in order to do fancy splits? Isn't that kind of like practicing strikes to coordinate yourself for better push-ups?

Do you consider physical conditioning aside from strictly MA training to be MA trraining? Dojo: 3 MA Techniques, Stretches, Etc.:7 MA Conditioning:5 Regular Routine Lifting: 2 That comes to about 17 hours a week, give or take a few hours...

"Many arts get fragmented a lot. What I mean by that is, for instance, in goju ryu, we have at least 5 different organizations (meibukan, shorei shobukan...) with their differences . I would expect more of this in the future. What impact does it have? Is this a threat or is it just inoffensive? " If the concepts and majority of techniques are still there, change seems fine to me. In many instances the different organizations are formed out of politics. "XMA (extreme martial arts): though I think there is always room for any new form of MA including XMAs (great demo of physical ability btw), how do we balance combative arts and 'demo' arts? My concern is more for the general public...How do we fight the misrepresentation of MAs as just a bunch of fancy moves?" We don't need to. Let the general public think what it likes. We train so we can defend and improve ourselves, not to please the populous. "This is an extension of point #2: what about MMAs?. How do we then balance tradition and innovation? I believe everything is improvable and more importantly, everything has to be improved. How do we then improve MAs as the same time as we keep its traddition? For example, in arts using katas, is it acceptable for senseis or perhaps shihans to create new katas just like some previous masters in the lineage did?" I'd say there are too many variables in considering new techniques to an art for me to go either way on it. The modern MMAs however seem to be Americanized for the most part, I don't see much tradition there. "How do we perform quality assurance? I read many complaints of styles being watered down, how do we prevent this? For example, is it ok for a 1st degree black belt to open a school? If it continues, How will, say karate or TKD look like 2 centuries from now? Of course Im looking far ahead but it is just a thought. " How to we assure quality? I say that we should do our part to pass on what we have learned, and to not rush things. If others choose to err, let them. And I'm not very experienced at all, just wanted to put in my $.02