scottnshelly

This is quite an interesting topic. I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t already been said, but I’ll go ahead and throw my opinion out there. Nothing is bad for you in moderation; everything is bad for you in excess. Alcohol is one of those things that is easy to exceed the moderation limit, and easy to get addicted to. The only way that I think alcohol is bad for a Martial Artist is that we should always be aware of our surroundings, like a Ninja! Alcohol impairs one’s awareness. The only time I drink is when I’m at home and I don’t feel the need to be on the alert to protect my family from a burglar or something, like if they are out of town.

I grew up with Kiai’s and Kiyaps, so they are very natural to me. Sometimes I have entire conversations in this language! When I was just a kid, the Instructor would go outside and then the assistant Instructor would have us each Kiai one at a time. If the Instructor outside couldn’t hear us, we weren’t loud enough and would have to keep on until he could hear us. I haven’t always been comfortable with making these ‘noises’ but now I don’t have a problem with it. Try not to be so vocal, and let it come from your belly or chest. This might help you.

One phrase that I have heard from all of my previous Instructors is "ten more". I remember one Instructor when I was a brown belt would keep saying that. We'd do ten pushups, then he'd say "ten more", then we'd do ten more, then he'd say "ten more", then we'd do ten more, then he'd say "ten more", and so on.

I’ve no prior knowledge of this style or anything about it. I haven’t done any research at all yet, so I don’t want to pick a side on this topic. I only want to say and ask a few things about the ‘cultish-ness’ of the style. The word cult, as defined by https://www.dictionary.com, is very vague. See here for the full definition. When you say this style is a cult, to which definition are you referring? Are they pushing a religion on the followers? Any disease curing going on? This definition could refer to just about any group of people. Usually cults have an underlying agenda. We tend to think of them as a group brainwashing individuals so that they can achieve this hidden agenda. What is this style’s agenda? Are they trying to get the practitioners to convert to a religion, to give money or to do something radical? You can’t just say that the style is a cult because they taught bad technique. What is it about the style, or its leaders, that make it a cult?

I’ve been through four Black Belt tests so far. My first was at the age of 14 for Jr. Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. I’ll save the stories of the other three for a later time. The test was several hours long. We started off with the usual workout routine which consisted of pushups, jumping jacks, sit-ups and reverse sit-ups. Everyone did the same amount, but for Black Belt we do that routine four times. I can’t remember the exact number, but I know it came out to over 100 of each. Then we went through the kicks, blocks, stances and punches – 10 of each on each side. Everything that you can imagine, I did 10 times, then switched sides and did it again. Then came combinations. The Black Belts would make up a combination (i.e. jab, reverse, side kick, backfist, rear-leg roundhouse) then repeat 10 times, and then switch leads and repeat. Then came forms. I think I knew 12 forms (Chung-Gi through Gae-Baek) at the time. I also had to answer questions about the forms. They didn’t let me just go through them in order, but they would just call out the name of a form and I had to start without hesitating to think about which one to do. After the forms came self-defense. I had to defend against anything they said, impromptu style. After each one, I’d have to slow it down and say each move out loud and then answer questions about why I did it that way. After about 20 of those, I defended against a knife a couple times. On about my fifth defense against a knife, someone came up from behind and tried to stab me in the back with another knife. Defending against two knives at once is more than twice as hard as defending against one! After self-defense came sparring, 15 two-minute rounds, alternating between continuous and point (full contact, face and groin allowed). This was the first time I had a Gi torn. My Instructor’s Instructor grabbed my Gi at the get-go and didn’t let go until after the two minutes were up. You’d be surprised how much force you can add to your punch by pulling with the other hand! I thought I was done after the 15th round, but they surprised me with some grappling, one five-minute round with my Instructor. It was no pads, full force, submission grappling. Finally I was done with the physical part. This is the best time to start the mental part. They stood me in front of the panel and asked me questions. These were not particularly difficult questions, but all of my concentration was on standing in ready position. After all of the Black Belts on the panel were satisfied with my answers, they convened to discuss the test. They said that it was unanimous, I passed. It was quite a good feeling. They put the belt on me and presented me with a really nice plaque for being the first Jr. Black Belt in the organization. I got it all on tape so I can watch it and be humbled. Here’s my anecdote about that test: I remember explicitly that it was a Saturday night and we got done around 10 or 11. The school was on the turnaround of the ‘drag’. While I was trying to walk to my car, some of my friends happened to be turning around on the drag and spotted me. They stopped to talk to me and said that I looked really bad. I had several cuts and bruises on my face and quite a bit of swelling. I can’t remember, but I think I even perspired a little during the test, so I might have smelled a little funky.

I haven’t read it yet, but I’d be interested to hear your review when you finish to determine whether or not I should add it to my increasingly long list of books to read.

Sorry, never trained with any of the aforementioned Masters, however, I did see (from a distance) Jhoon Rhee. He got up on stage at a Super Grands World Games tournament and did his famous 100 pushups in 60 seconds. He also played the harmonica while standing on one foot and balancing an apple on his head (or something along those lines). John Chung was also at that tournament as a judge for the grand championship. I was more excited to meet Master Chung, to be honest.

Please don’t think that I was trying to say that everyone that claims to be a Ninja is a fake. I recognize that I don’t know everything (even though I try to tell my subordinates that!). I just thought it was weird how many people claim to study Ninjutsu or Taijutsu. I think it’s very similar to those who claim to study Jeet Kune Do even though their only exposure to the style is a couple Bruce Lee books. My point is: people shouldn’t put so much emphasis on style, lineage or school. There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but we all gaze at the same moon (or something like that).

White Warlock makes a great point about the sets being primarily for demonstration for laymen. I think that these drills are also good at building reflexes and coordination, among numerous other things. It’s okay to do these choreographed sets at beginner level. The problem that I see is that some schools do this, even at a slow pace, at Black Belt tests. By Black Belt, one should be able to adapt and react to the ‘attacker’ rather than anticipating a punch. Here’s an example: In my first Tae Kwon Do school all we did were one-steps. Every one-step was exactly the same from the attacker’s perspective. It was always attacker step back into a left foot forward front stance, low block. Then step forward right foot forward front stance, front punch. Then the exponent would do a simple block then strike. There was never any variance, not even for the advanced Black Belts. No one ever defended against a kick, grab, weapon or even a high punch. Every single one-step was the same. In my last Tae Kwon Do class, it was quite the opposite. The Instructor would give a few suggestions (if he does this then you can do this or that or the other) but we were never limited. By Black Belt we would stand in the middle with our eyes closed. The Instructor would then tell a person to attack with a specific attack (i.e. hair grab, bear hug, lapel grab, etc.) so it was always improvised. The arranged self-defense techniques, therefore, are good for learning the basics of self-defense, but when it comes to real-life situations you must be well versed in reacting to an attacker. If you are still practicing choreographed, finite sets by Black Belt then something’s wrong.

I haven’t seen any real statistics, but from my little bit of research I’ve concluded that Ninjutsu is a very rare Art, especially in the Western world. I’ve heard contradicting numbers regarding the amount of legitimate schools of Ninjutsu in America, but they all seem very low compared to other styles. For instance, you can go into any small city and find a couple Tae Kwon Do schools, two or three Karate Schools, some Judo/Jujitsu and a couple boxing schools. I’ve yet to see a real Ninjutsu school though. I understand the argument that the Ninjutsu schools are around, but are very secretive and Ninja-like; someone is teaching Ninjutsu, but it is a closely held secret. Even keeping that in mind, I think that the number of Ninjutsu schools is staggeringly low compared to the more popular styles. Despite the above two paragraphs, I have seen a very large number of people that are “Ninjas”. My question is where are all of these “Ninjas” coming from? Is it just that the idea of a Ninja is popular so people falsely claim to be Ninjas; are people learning the concepts of Ninja and thereby becoming Ninja; are there really that many Ninjutsu schools?

In response to the initial post: yes, most styles teach some form of self-defense sets, at least at a beginner level. There are also many different kinds depending on the style; a Tae Kwon Do ‘one-step’ is very different from a Kenpo self-defense set. In response to the conversation regarding the effectiveness and relevancy of self-defense sets: there are pros and cons. The downside to these is they are finite and limited. The upside is that you can learn to make the set conform to your opponent, rather than trying to make your opponent conform to your self-defense technique. They won’t necessarily make you any slower in your reaction, but should in fact do just the opposite. If you practice them enough, you they will become reflexes. The biggest problem with these is that the practitioner will only see the technique being taught at the time. When practicing, you have to practice with variations – different stances, different hand positions, different attacks, etc. Another problem (in my opinion) is that practitioners put too much effort into naming, ranking and categorizing these sets, thereby confining the possibilities. Instead of learning self-defense techniques 1-10, one should learn 10 variations of self-defense techniques against 10 different attacks.

I concur with the majority here, that finger tip strikes are generally a bad idea. I’m no physicist, but I’m sure hitting a large strong body part with a very, very small and fragile body part would not be smart. I remember in my fifth grade science class we did a neat experiment. The teacher brought in several items (coin, glass, metal and things of this nature). We struck two items together and determined that the weaker of the two inevitably suffered, while the stronger of the two showed no damage. I think the same principle applies here. If you want to make use of your fingers for fighting, think about grabs. Rather than trying to poke a hole in someone’s head with a spearhand, crush his skull with a powerful grab . Grabs are much more useful in a confrontation, you can grab a wrist and control the opponent.

Has anyone played the new Mortal Kombat yet?

Here in Oklahoma we have a large variety of dialects. It varies depending on the area of Oklahoma (rural or urban, panhandle, South, East or West, etc) and the age of the person in question. • Most real Oklahomans say coke, but we also have sodie, soda and pop. • We all have couches, no sofas. • Most of the old people say breakfast, dinner and supper. Most of the younger crowd says breakfast, lunch and dinner. • We don’t have hoagies or subs, just sandwiches and sammiches • We all go yonder, instead of up to or down to • We all call Oklahoma City “the city”. That’s the only “city” so it can be called “the city”. We sound really redneck when we say “have you been to the city lately?” “Nope, I ain’t been to the city in almost a year.” • We say cell phone. I’ve heard others say mobile, mobile (with a long I) and cellular • “Fixin’ to” instead of “about to” • I think most other people say “pants” while we say “britches”; and “drawers” for undergarments. The town that I live in has a branch of a fortune 500 company that is based in New York. It’s been quite a learning experience for me to work here and talk to the Yankees. We’ve learned terms like “button down shirt” whereas we say “button up shirt”. They also “call out” to work when sick, while we “call in” to work. We’re very fortunate that we never have to “wait in line at the movie theater”, while the Yankees complain about “standing on line at the movie theater”.

Just by browsing around on the Information Superhighway, I have found a lot of information on the first 10 or 12 Chun-gi patterns (Chun-gi through Gae-Baek). After that the information becomes scarcer. I can find very little information on Yoo-Shin, Ko-Dang, Po Eun and the other advanced forms. I’ve found a couple sites that tell the meaning of the names such as this one. I’m really looking for more in depth information such as the meaning for the pattern, such as the side-to-side pattern of Po Eun, and the almost entirely retreating pattern of Ko-Dang. I’m also interested in any hidden applications that may not be so obvious. Does anyone know of a website, book, video or any other media that has detailed information about these hyungs? Thanks.

My area isn’t on the poll, Oklahoma. As atalaya mentioned, we do have a lot of really good Masters and teachers in this area. Everyone should come here to train. Our population is less than the other areas mentioned, so we probably have less good teachers, but the ratio might be higher.

I'm not sure, I think they said his first name is Jason. I'll see if I can find out his last name.

Stretch! I think the common problem with this topic is that most people set a time of day to stretch and/or exercise. Stretching can be done all the time. When watching tv, instead of just sitting there, get in the floor and do some stretches. Instead of just walking to the kitchen for a drink, do rising kicks all the way there. You can stretch for an entire day; you’re not restricted to just right before or after a workout. The more you stretch the quicker you’ll be able to do high kicks. Don’t try to rush the high kicks though. Learn your boundaries, and don’t push too far. Pulled muscles are very unfortunate.

Loyalty to your Sensei is normal, however, we have to remember that he’s just a person – not a deity. It very well could be true that he beat your Instructor in a sparring match. The fact that he seemed to be bragging about it makes me suspicious, though. I also think that it was wrong for you to challenge him over this. He could have just been saying it to get you riled up - if that was his intention, he succeeded. Sometimes rival Instructors make up stories for marketing purposes. We know that this just makes them look bad in the long run; we don’t need to do anything to make them look bad. I think you should talk to your Instructor about this. He may have some additional insight for you. About two years ago, my Instructor sent out an e-mail to all of the Instructors in the area announcing moving to a new building. Some guy named Adrian Roman replied to all and included some very hateful remarks. I was waiting to see a response from someone else rebutting him, but I didn’t. So I though I’d send the rebuttal. I got to thinking about why no one tried to defend my Instructor then I realized: firing back an angry e-mail in return would only put us on the same level as him. Everyone on the distribution list was fully aware of who was telling the truth and who was making up slander. Moral: sometimes it’s better to just ignore those who are mud-slinging to make themselves look better.

Another possible reason for the low price is the area. $50/month is quite high for this area. Most people gawk at $30/month. The average income is very low in this area. Thanks for all of the information. It may be a while before I get a chance to go check this school out, but when I do I'll post the trascript.

It can increase reactions. You don’t necessarily have to toss it over your head, just up into the air. It is partly hand/eye coordination, but I think it also has to do with reaction. Start off just tossing it back and forth between your hands. After a while you can work up to tossing it in a different spot and catching it with your other hand. This helps you see the target and reach out to grab it.

I noticed recently that there was a new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in my town. I called today and got information. They only practice on Wednesdays and Thursdays right now and only have about 5 students in the adult class. The classes are $49/month or $10/class. I may not be able to change my days off at work or afford the tuition right now. I’ve never been to any type of grappling school. I’ve been to seminars and talked with grappling Instructors though. From many years of experience with Martial Arts schools in general, I have a pretty good idea of what to look for in a good Instructor. My questions are: 1) Is there anything specific that I should look for in the Instructor? 2) Is there anything specific I need to ask the Instructor? 3) Is there anything that would be different when judging a Jiu-Jitsu school from a Tae Kwon Do school? 4) Is there anything that would be different when judging a Jiu-Jitsu Instructor from a Tae Kwon Do Instructor? 5) What kind of equipment is generally expected? (They said they don’t require a uniform right away) Again, I have a general idea from dealing with many Tae Kwon Do, Kenpo, etc. Instructors. My questions are Jiu-Jitsu specific. Thanks,

I’m sure there are plenty of ways to train your overall reflexes; hopefully someone will post some on here. I’ll post more specifically. I’ve been working on my grabbing reflexes lately. I have an Iron Palm bag (12”x12” canvas bag with mung beans). In addition to striking it, I’ve also been tossing it up in the air and catching it with the other hand. At first I just tossed it back and forth, now I am tossing it and waiting before reaching out with the other hand. You could try something similar to this. Toss something – hacky-sack, bag of frozen peas or anything else – and catch it. This will improve one aspect of your reflexes. I would recommend finding other reflex building exercises in this manner. As far as overall reflexes, just try to be more aware.

Ignorance is nothing new in Martial Arts, and it’s not something exclusive to the Martial Arts. Everyone is ignorant is certain subjects. You may have heard of the subject but have little to no exposure to it. When this happens, you make associations in your mind. For example, if you have never been to a rodeo, never even met someone who had been to a rodeo, you would have no knowledge of it. You may have heard of a rodeo, but never actually witnessed one. If you meet someone wearing cowboy boots you might ask the same question that your friend asked you. When asked you might get “these are my rodeo boots” as a response. Since you have no exposure to rodeos, you would start to make associations in your mind. All of a sudden you might think of a cartoon that showed a rodeo; then you would think about that cartoon and how it depicted rodeos. This might give you the same response as it did your friend about Martial Arts. Some people’s only exposure to Martial Arts is what they see on the television and hear others talk about. This is why there are so many different perceptions of what Martial Arts are. Some think of people in white gi’s breaking boards while others think of little kids with yellow belts pretending to kick each other. Some people might think of old Zen Masters sitting on top of a mountain while others might think of UFC style fighting. Some people might think of the legendary Samurai while others might think of sneaky Ninjas. Everyone has heard of Martial Arts, but there are so many different styles that everyone’s experience with it is different. Everyone either went to a few classes as a kid, or some distant family member or former friend did. I personally have grown to like this mass ignorance. It makes for good conversations. Next time you get that look of awkwardness or angriness, ask what they know about Martial Arts. This is the best way to educate the uninformed.

I was just browsing the USMA website and noticed they had a list of 115 10th Dans that are members of the USMA. Some of the styles are unfamiliar to me, so I was looking for some additional insight. The complete list can be seen here, but these are some of the ones that I was wondering about: Wayne Carman - TCB Karate System Russell G. Carter Jr. - Ronin-Do Daryl R. Covington - Wha Moo Do Donald P. Hutton - Hutton Ryu Jitsu Jim P. Jarrell - Jarrell Ryu JuJitsu Gene LeBell - Crooked Shillelagh Scott Nelson - Nel-Son-Ryu Juergen Paterok - Taekido Joel M. Siegel - Tae Kwan Dance Ronald D. White - Cobra Wind Demon Style of Ninjitsu Warren M. Young - Warren Ryu Sorry for requesting information on so many styles at once, but I figured it would be better than a different thread for each one. I’m just curious as to the styles, Instructors, lineage, characteristics, etc. Thanks.