Bleeding Lion

...and the MAist could have trained easy... the part "all parameters being equal" is meant to exclude that type of assumptions.

By street fighter i only mean somebody who fights a lot but never train. he knows what it is like to be in a fight but does not spend time perfecting any fighting techniques. I started this poll to see what is everybody's take on the pure technique vs. pure kumite experience debate.

that reminds me a story a fellow student told me once. He was faced with this bully in the metro, i dont remember all the details but somehow the situation escalated and the guy said "im a karate black belt" then my friend replied "well you might be able to fight me then" then the other guy freaked out and try to get out of the confrontation. Suprise is usually your best ally like someone mentioned earlier. You could face a cocky much higher belt who doesnt know you can fight, thats a big plus.

online trainning will only give you a false sense of confidence. its only effective as a supplement to actual trainning. if you want to know how to fight without somebody guiding you, getting a punching bag might be a fair start like someone suggested.

transition from shorin ryu to goju is not hard at all i believe. we had some shorin ryu visiting students in our dojo a few times. now i would suggest asking for a trial period, usuall head instructors are opened to that. it depends however and ranges from one class to one month. but if you could try out things that would be good. one mention to mix MAs, im not a big fan of it, not because its not good but because in my experience people who taught it didnt really know what they were doing and students would end up just with bits of knowledge. try it to see for yourself, at least your prior trainning in shorin ryu should guide you.

20 min walk on campus

I wanted to dress as a martial artist for Halloween, sort of like ryu in street fighter (white karate gi, black belt, red ribbon on the head). However, I am not a black belt. I didnt know if I could (morally) buy a black belt and dress just for this occasion. At the end I didnt do it cause I would have felt weird a belt i didnt earn, even though it was for a party. What do you guys think?

somebody who has done kata/techniques for 10 years but has never been into a fight vs. somebody who has been in a great amount of fights in 10 years but has never had formal MA trainning. All other parameters being equal (intrinsic skills, physical form...) for both, who would win? How about if it was best of 7 fights?

when i get to BB level, i dont think i'll do anything in particular as far as celebrating goes. I'll just get a spanking new white gi and one of those black belts with japanese characters on it. Not to be cliche, but I dont romantize the idea of having a black belt; it will almost be just a upper grade.

gi, belt, axe deodorant (who knows, it might be a weapon against female MAists out there lol).

one way you can improve your stamina with kata: do every kata you know in a row with transition moves from one to another. do every technique whole-heartedly: strike as if you were trying to kill with one strike, block as if you feared for your life. Do every move with all your energy. I know about 8 katas, and I easily have to slow down around the 5th kata. Its a very good cardio workout.

btw, im going there again today. last time i helped a kid whos hard to get focused, so i might get 1 month or so free if i keep doing that.

yup...

exactly

someone threatens you, you tell him "look, i know kung fu" then you do a back flip and do one of those bruce lee noises... he runs away, you defeated him.

i think there should be a general rule about age but flexible enough for exceptions. i think 97% of people should be held under the 16/18 rule and the other 3% considered for an exception. the experience of someone doing 2 years of MA at 8 is drastically different from the one you get if you started at 18. Just look in dojos, i dont even think students starting MA under 10 understand 50% of what they're being taught. However, very few of them will show you they actually understand and those are among the 3% i mentionned earlier. Here is my take: everything is shown on the mat. if you can show you're nidan, then you're nidan no matter how old you are. We had a 19 year old sandan visiting our dojo not long ago and my sensei told me afterwards that he was just a good 3rd kyu. heck, lets go back to the old good times and get rid of belts completely, that would put our minds back into trainning and true learning. Wont happen though, people like their belt too much.

the few girls in my dojo arent attractive to me and those who are come only for one class and vanish. so no problem here.

I always use my whole body, whatever the break is.

okinawan has its benefits, but i wouldnt say its better than shotokan necessarily. take that class, cross trainning is awesome, and makes you see your primary art from another angle, which is always a good thing.

to get size, i think you eventually have to work with weights.

may i suggest menshealth.com and their forums to pick up an appropriate routine for you.

you would perhaps be US champ, NOT world champ.

thats too funny

hey rick, im sorry, im the first one who posted (a not so serious post) and the first post usually set a trend for the thread , so im to blame if it turned out humorous. i was half serious tho, my style would just be a personalized goju ryu, with maybe some bjj.

his death touch actually had some effect. i almost slept watching that video...