OceanDragon

Well, don't assume everyone who is Asian is a black belt, or even a martial artist at all. Some people assume everyone in Asia is a martial artist. And I doubt a burglar would dress as a martial artist would (I don't even know what he/she would look like). I'm pretty sure hands are not considered lethal weapons, but in certain cases your martial arts experience may work against you in the courts. You might want to try threatening with the gun first, and if he doesn't put his hands up, I'd say shoot him (preferably in a non-lethal spot like leg or arm) This is all assuming you would be home when the criminal breaks in (I think they usually they wait until you leave), and you are able to get your gun without him knowing you are home. Might want to reach for the phone before the gun.

LOL I'm such an idiot. #1 - it was .266, you're right. But I got it down to .176 by using the enter key instead of the mouse. #2 - http://www.happyhub.com/network/reflex/

Hey everybody, I found this really neat reflex tester online. You push the start button, and when the background color changes, you push stop. I'd like to see what everyone has. The fastest I've gotten (without lucky guessing) is 2.66 seconds, but I usually get around 2.97.

I don't know how many people carry calculators in their cars, but I read in a Hapkido book a calculator thrust to your opponent's temple can hurt. Other things I would think of would be hot coffee, a pedal/steering wheel lock(like the Club, even if it won't stop a carthief with a hacksaw), and whipping a seat belt at him(or her, you never know).

Boxing will only make you stupid if you get hit in the head enough lol. Why don't you have your parents come to your sparring and maybe they'll see it isn't too bad anyway. Or they'll dislike it even more. Sorry, never sparred before in my life.

Hapkido uses a knife, but that's only if you confiscate if from your attacker. (I don't know if that's what you mean.) It doesn't put a real emphasis on it though, and you're supposed to only make minor cuts to discourage your attack from fighting. But if you're looking for something that you could use in the street as something more effective than empty-hand techniques, I'd just go the extra step and get a gun license, which will be much better in real life. But if you just want to learn the art of using a knife, I can't help you.

My instructor supplements our TKD with other styles so we learn weapons and Hapkido techniques. We also learn alot of handstrikes, such as punches, knife hand strikes, and other things. While I'm sure there are other arts which are better for self defense (or EZ Defense if you really wanna go bare-bones), any martial artist would be better equipped for self-defense than before they had training.