spinninggumby

It was the one with Ja Rule and Seagal went into prison undercover to snuff out his gang or something like that. Horrible film all around, not really worth remembering.

Er...what does the time of response have to do with anything? I hope you're not just another martial-arts obsessed insecure meathead looking to prove himself on an online forum after getting beat up too much in grade school, something unfortunately too common. Btw, I just pretty much came back today or yesterday so it's not like I regularly visit this place so forgive me for not being "up-to-date" on my responses. Furthermore, I'm not a troll who desires to flame people, and engaging in childish back-and-forth banter isn't something exactly constructive. Even your time is more precious than that, haha. But I think you do have some issues and inner demons with that condescending attitude of yours. Hope you can get that sorted out in the future. Peace! ^^

Umm... for the money. Entertainment is a 'means' to an end, not the end in and of itself. As long as his movies sell tickets, videos are being purchased, and stations are paying for reruns, there's money in it. Seagal sells tickets, bottom line. I can accept this. But I guess my point is that martial arts movie stars are not and should not be judged to the same caliber as like...professional street fighters or by real-life application and self-defense standards. As entertainers, they should be judged on their ability to...entertain. I know Jet Li would get his * kicked in real life by many people who actually study practical combat training and not flowery modern wushu forms despite his excellent physical condition and training. However, that's not the point, which seems to have escaped many individuals when they rate or talk about people like Van Damme (ok bad example ), Jackie Chan, etc. And maybe it's just me (and the opinions of many other people, whether they be martial arts enthusiasts or not) that I think that Seagal's movies suck big time (ever seen Fire Down Below?), though obviously since he's still selling tickets, there are those who think he's great and/or decent. ^^ Dude what? I realize that these are action stars, therefore we can't really hold them to the same standard as say...Dustin Hoffman or Meryl Streep, but when you say "he's not too bad an actor", you mean in that he actually opens his mouth and has more than a single facial expression? Oh by the way, I don't mean to be come across as condescending, hehe. It's just that my friend and I used to rank on Seagal's complete lack of acting proficiency so I just find it really funny. It's not meant to insult your intelligence.

Movie fighting and choreography is obviously completely different from real-life or street fighting or self-defense. What's the problem here is the complete inability of Steven Seagal to entertain the audience in any way regardless of how good of a fighter he is. I mean, you can be the most well-trained street fighter in the world and suck onscreen, and if you're not gonna entertain the audience onscreen, why are you exactly doing movies in the first place?

Same here, but for the sake of this thread and this forum, I strongly recommend that you refrain from engaging me in a flame war ^^

I don't mean to be an a$$hole with no sense of humor, but...I find that mildly offensive, and it's not just cause I'm an Asian person.

This movie was badass. I was lucky enough to view the DVD my brother imported from Thailand a few weeks ago. Tony Ja (Phanom Yeerum) is amazing. Not only can he perform the basics with ease and ferocity, he also has a slew of superhuman martial art trick moves (obviously not native to Muay Thai) in his arsenal particularly displayed towards the end of the film. Ongbak was a breath of fresh air after all these seemingly dime-a-dozen CGI computer-generated Hollywood kung fu movies that have plagued action cinema ever since Hong Kong chop-socky flicks ceased to be profitable (which is very very unfortunate) due to rampant piracy. The action was brutal, flashy, and direct all at the same time. My only pet peeve was that they couldn't find any decent bad guys even close to Ja's caliber, and basically there was no awesome villain, an element which seems to be so crucial to me regarding what constitutes a good martial arts movie. Anyways, the DVD didn't even have subtitles and I don't understand any Thai whatsoever, but believe me when I say that you don't really need to understand the language to enjoy Ongbak. Sure it's a Muay Thai movie above all else (as opposed to kung fu, taekwondo, karate, etc.), but this is a must-add to the library of any martial arts or action enthusiast. Whoa I sounded like an advertisement ^^

haha I live like 2 minutes from that Minikami dojo place in Lake City. ^^

lemme guess, Bruce Lee

Happy Vday everyone...hope you will be spending more time with your significant other than in front of the heavy bag today

Perhaps you can still train intensively in Muay Thai, but without the extreme shin-conditioning and full-contact fights which allow your bones and shins to clash with the likes of others....but if you give that up, it might seem to you that you are missing the point of Muay Thai. Anyhow, I think that you can still become proficient by doing hard-core training on heavy bags and by shadow boxing or sparring with training partners. It also depends if you are training for the purpose of becoming really in shape and tough or just someone who actually needs to apply his work to real life and beat someone down (or you live for the actual fight in the ring).

What's up?

Hello Like everyone else here, I agree at it is definitely not too late, and 18 is a great time to start. Also, you have a greater capacity for attention and devotion to specifics and details as well as greater capacity for commitment to long-term goals (all of these which are very important to the study of anything, much less martial arts). Good luck! ^^

Yea like Taezee said, bungee cords are a good way to increase strength and explosiveness in your legs. Tie one end to one of your legs and another to a training partner's leg and then alternate/take turns throwing kicks with your backs to each other. Couple this type of training with dynamic stretching before a workout and static stretching after a workout and you should be off to a good start. The more flexible you are, the faster and easier you can kick at all heights and ranges of motion.

I've been studying WTF tkd for a while and I love it. I have also had prior training in Japanese (7 years of Aikido and some Shotokan) and traditional kung fu. Frankly, I don't really care whether or not one martial art will be likely to save my booty over another in a street fight. Taekwondo is friggin fun, gives you a great workout, and pretty much just gives me a rush. If i was so concerned with self-defense, I'd buy a gun and a retractable metal stick which I carry in my car. Sorry to say it but martial arts are no longer (these days) the most efficient way to ensure one's safety on the street and in unpredictable situations anyways. Doesn't matter how high or how hard you can kick, doesn't matter how fast your reflexes are, doesn't matter that your hands have the ability to incapitate a man and his vital organs in a split second. Try blocking a bullet. Sorry if so many purists will disagree with me. Self-defense, in my opinion, is a waste of time and money if it is your sole reason of studying a martial art. I feel that you should also be interested purely in it because it is enjoyable as well as the notable increase in health, well-being, self discovery, and fitness aspect. You should not train for 10 years in the slight possibility that you may be attacked one day by a drunk in some subway about 30 years from now. In the olden days, perhaps the danger was more imminent, however, that is not the case anymore unless, like I've mentioned before, you live in south-central Beirut.