Ted T.

Ahhh, I believe I was limiting myself by a lack of imagination - I had the 'stepping' to be by facing in the same direction, a shuffle step so to speak. I find a full step from kibadachi into kibadachi facing the other direction in Jion, Jiin, Jutte, and some of the weapon's kata, for instance. To make this easier, may I suggest that instead of stepping, ie, lifting your foot and then swinging it to the new position, that you drive into the new position by using a push into the floor like you would if you were skating. This driving push allows you to move your body weight without having to straighten the knees which breaks the stance. A step forces you to lift the body weight to move it from the back foot onto the front foot so the back can move. The drive cuts thru all that for a lower stronger stance change. One the other hand, many beginners get the habit of leaning away from or swaying away from the direction of the step to load their body weight back so they can use the momentum of shifting thieir body weight forward to "pull" the back foot up. You will / may even see black belts doing that but it is a sign in our club that that person is still deficient in skills and body control.

Which scientific test tests for grace, balance and focus? Which tests for perfection of technique? Some skills can only be evaluated by an observer - dance, gymnastics, diving etc. To get yourself into an observer's position, use video to replay your kata. Put it on slow motion forward and try not to hate me after for suggesting this!!

Good morning, Davison, off hand I'd like to remind yo that if you do your own research, you'll know more and understand it better than if you read someone else's... Google is great!

Good morning, I'm curious, what kata has stepping in kibadachi?

Google for Chen in your area. the best is Joseph Zhonghua Chen President and head instructor of Hunyuantaiji Academy 19th generation master of Chen Style Taijiquan under grandmaster Hong Junsheng. 2 generation master of Hunyuantaiji under grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang. Master Chen Zhonghua is the international standard bearer for Grandmaster Hong Junsheng of: http://chentaichi.org/chenzhonghua_new.php Not like other tai chi at all.

I've never even been able to use double strikes during sparring but in the "physical management and control of agressive angry clients" I have always used the block and push (soft strike) at the same time. Works very well.

We use them for scenario fighting and for sparring. They restrict the vision all right but don't seem to fog much. But that's ok because it simulates the periferal blindness caused by adrenaline!

I know of two light weight Korean brothers, here in town, who took on three gold's gym heavies who were bullying them. The first two were ko-ed by one kick from each brother and the third refised to engage. The guys suffered some damage, broken jaws etc but didn't sue or anything because they had been drinking and knew they were at fault. BUT, if those brothers were to go into a ufc and try to take on the heavy weight guys with that trick, they'd be pounded into oblivion. Big difference with a pro. AND, I dare say, if you told the gold's gym guys that in three months they would face a light weight Korean TKD guy in a ring, under ufc rules - I dare say that the outcome would have been different. Sparring does not = a real fight.

My advice; spar with him as much as possible. Just hang in there, do your best and learn learn learn, don't worry about winning. At one year of training, everything you do now will be changed later. Try everything, don't worry about bad habits....of course you will create bad habits, everyone does then everyone changes them.

A Warrior will fight to his death for his beliefs. A man will live for his.

Good morning Lisa, maybe I can help. Shorin and Shorin-ji are mainstream Okinawan styles. Kobudo is somewhat of a misnomer for Okinawan Weapons arts for the traditional five weapons, sai, tonfa, bo, jo and kama. Usually an Okinawan weapons club will focus on just one weapon and perfect it. Other clubs will train a cross section of weapons that the Sensei has picked up in his search. My Sensei, Sensei Richard Kim (deceased) spent over 70 years learning kata from every source he could find. He headed an international umbrella organisation covering a number of different styles and taught to each style in his seminars. The Shorin-ji (Japanese not Okinawan, empty hand) karate lineage that I belong to does not have kobudo training but, under Sensei Kim's tutlelege, I learned many kata for each traditional weapon. So, in my limited case anyway, it would be wrong to call my kobudo, Shorin-ji kobudo, tho it is the kobudo taught in my Shorin-ji club. That is why it is a separate black belt from the Shorin-ji and officialy called Okinawan kobudo. Many of the other clubs I know of who teach weapons have the same sort of history...

Oso was a young man who worked diligently at his martial arts for many years. He trained and fougth and repeated his kata endlessly to the amusement of his teachers. "Again!" teacher would say, and hit him with a stick. Over the years he grew strong and skilled and continued to work hard under the constant refrain, "Again!" whack! Finally his teacher died but the habit of compulsive training drove him on. His marriage suffered, his business suffered but his karate was so strong he could do no wrong . But the stress took its toll. He drank much to much saké and grew very boisterous after training. Soon he was drinking while training and then before training. Because his skill was so great, no one noticed but he began to get confused. One day he did an amusing version of chinto but added too many extra moves and found himslef missing his start point by "this much." So he hopped back into place, bowed and walked off the floor. Ever since his stuents have done the kata this way, and wonder why, but never hearing an answer except the giggle of an old man who has finally relaxed!

Hey Ghostfighter, we've all been there. Everyone has enemies. That's life. I wanted to destroy people too but alwasy resisted the temptation. But I then hated myself for being a wuss. So I trained. And yo know it all changed. Would you right now want to destroy a five yr old that came up to you and said he hated you and you were a creep and he was goingto kill you? Of course not. After training for a good long time, (everyone's different) anyone who has not trained starts to look like a petulant 5 yr old and so it's easy to smile and walk away. Stay true...

Go for a clear plastic full face hockey shield and duct tape it to your helmet. They are expensive new but you can get used (a little scratched up) for quite cheap at sports traders type places.

What if you gave up after losing your first three sparring matches??? I know even a 'little' death is depressing but try again. Just do better next time. Don't repeat your mistakes, learn from them and grow. Get a new tree and every time you eat, spill a little water onto it. Every Sunday morning, put it , pot and all, in a baisin of water. It'll thrive and so will you!

Look in the phone book for nurseries and start phoning them, asking about bonsai. Google for local bonsai clubs. Good luck,

No, not every club (style) follows this generality. We had a tough young man visit our club and join for the workouts. He was a 2nd or 3d dan in Shotokan and tho we were Shorin-ji, he flelt we had a better workout than the local Shotokan clubs. About a year after joining, during a sparring practice, when he was sparring with Sensei, he got hit with a hook punch to the short ribs but he hit Sensei back. Sensei stopped the match (which was getting pretty vigorous and somewhat ego driven) and told him, "I scored my hit. You should stop and acknowledge my hit before starting again." because it was a sort of informal shiai. P. said, "Oh, I'm willing to take a hit to give a hit." I saw Sensei make an "oh, is see" face and nod his head and they continued. Within thiry seconds, Sensei caught him with the same rib strike but sunk it in, dropping P. to his knees, gasping for breath. P. hung around for a few weeks but faded to open his own club which may just keep trying to take hits to give hits.

My purpose is to collaberate with the tree to form an art-object. Like a trained person is 'more than' the natural person, so a trained tree has a special character that can be seen and enjoyed. I also like to collect wild treee from our mountainous coastline here in BC and since half my trees are wild, they come in a wide variety of shapes but approximate the traditional uprights, wind-swept and literatti etc. I like to create in bonsia the shape of full size but dramatic trees I see on my hikes in the mountains too. For instance, we have a 10 k trail some miles from here at the local ski hill. It meanders thru a meadow that is under ice and snow for much of the year. This depresses the branches down against the ground so you see hundreds of 2' - 4' trees, 3" - 8" thick, that have all their branches downswept. I'm currently recreating the effect with a cedar rescued from a clear cut.

I had one of the toughest cqc guys ask me about little trees: here's my reply::: ----- Original Message ----- ted, what is a good starter bonsai? price? i have no exp. in this or with plants at all, is there a website to start me off?---XXX Well, XXX, if you start bonsai, you will kill a lot of little trees so steel your heart and start with cheap trees!! (That's an insider bonsai joke... ) There are two categories or choices: 1. Inside or outside bonsai 2. Pre-made or you prune a tree from a nursery. (Actually, there is a 3d choice for many and that is to get trees from the wilds, the mountains and take them home.) As for inside or outside, I suggest to folks that they try one of each and see how they like it. Because the root ball is so small, they dry out really fast so much care and attention is needed, especially inside. Pre-made can run from $50 to $200 on average tho many are works of art worth thousands. Pots can be very expensive but nice ceramic ones are as little as $30, and starter pots of plastic for less than $10. So, with all that, my first tree was a sargentia juniper. I find them to be strong and to withstand deep root pruning and fairly strong defoliation. Just be very gentle when you wash the roots. Any juniper, Alberta spruce is good for upright, most small pines are pretty easy, cedars don't mind overwatering, but are harder to make look interesting. I use bonsai books myself from the library and don't know much about the websites. Once you start looking at pics, you decide on the style that strikes your attention the most. I bet that when you look at it for awhile you will see that it is the trunk that makes the tree interesting, therefore if you buy a plant from a nursery, look for a strong interesting truck, and you can hardly go wrong. http://www.bonsaiweb.com/ looks good. Years ago, wild trees were the Japanese fovorites. When North Americans started to get world class trees from the California coastline, the Japanese changed the rules and "perfect" trees with a documented heritage going back 10 generations became the ideal. But I still go for a real wild look - I like the old warrior fighting for his life against all odds - So I'm a romantic!! http://www.bonsai-bci.com/whatis.html looks really good. http://www.bonsaiprimer.com/ might be good, I haven't really looked at it. The big thing is that your little tree will be a young tree but your shaping it will make it look like it is 100 years old, when you learn the tricks. This is what we try to achieve with the pruning and the wiring though I prefer selective pruning, I will wire a branch if needed. (I know I'm getting carried away but I just googled Alberta spruce bonsai and got: http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_shopping.jsp?mt=a&n=0&coe=0&oidPath=0%3A-23542%3A-23590%3A-39357%3A-39578%3A728121 The picture is a 'before' pic, bottom branches going up, no trunk visible etc. but lots of potential. ) An old tree has a wide base and thin trunk at top, so look for that at the nursery. An old tree has down sloping branches at the bottom and more raising up branches at the top, you will creat this by branch choice and the wires. And the branches you keep should let us play peek-a-boo with the interesting features of the trunk, and hide the boring parts. Don't be discouraged - it's a lifetime to learn and practice but the best way is just to do it. Learn by doing and say a prayer for every little tree you kill. Let me know how it goes, hey?? this is fun! Ted

No details, just groin pulls can haunt you your whole life. Get professional attention and follow it! Rest! Healing is very slow but not impossible tho it feels like it takes forever.

We've done that a few times here - but not in Oyama's tradition. We shut the heat off during a cold spell, hovering just below 0º, and the first class of the day is at 5:30 am with the windows and doors open. The training is basics repeated hundreds of times, hundreds of each block, or kick or punch. Sometimes to break the monotony, we do a kata over and over fifty or seventy times. Then home to breakfast and work or school. We end with a visit to a waterfall for "meditation" (I put it in quotes because it is a secret word in Okinawan that means torture! ) after the final workout on the beach or even knee high in the ocean. Everyone who as done it has survived!

Fast kicks: Ok, we got balance and relaxation, the best two things to start with. Now look at timeing - it is not who is faster but who gets there first. Kick late and I don't care how fast it is, he's already buying a capucino down the street!! You've got combinations down, now go for a quicker tut-tut app (like Musashi says) or even start the kick half way thru the block or strike...that is, don't wait for your muscles to tell you the block or strike is finished and it is time to kick, start it while still in mid hand move.

http://p223.ezboard.com/battlefieldforum http://www.selfdefenseforums.com/forums/index.php http://www.ejmas.com/ http://www.stormpages.com/handtohand22/page5.htm http://stickgrappler2.tripod.com/cqc/cqc.html http://www.vrazvedka.ru/main/learning/ruk-b/fairbairn-01.shtml http://www.gutterfighting.org/Main.html (http://www.gutterfighting.org doesn't work??) links to: KILL OR GET KILLED The Classic Manual of unarmed Close Combat, Combat Shooting, Edged Weapons, Impact Weapons, and more. (Complete in pdf format) By Col. Rex Applegate SILENT KILLING: WWII COMMANDO STYLE Originally Published in Soldier of Fortune Magazine. By William Cassidy THE FORWARD DRIVE An Essential Element of Close Combat By Carl Cestari METHODS TAUGHT IN THE CHARLES NELSON SCHOOL OF SELF-DEFENSE This is a description of the methods of "The Charles Nelson School of Defense" by Paul G. a longtime student of the Founder. THE CHARLIE NELSON SYSTEM Carl Cestari on "The Charlie Nelson System," techniques, training, and aggression. THE EDGE OF HAND BLOW From Get Tough! by W.E. Fairbairn, 1942 From Kill or Get Killed by Col. Rex Applegate, 1943 From Arwrology: All-Out Hand-to-Hand Fighting for Commandos, Military, and Civilians by Gordon E. Perrigard, 1943 THE CHINJAB From Get Tough! by W.E. Fairbairn, 1942 From Hands Off! Self Defense for Women by W. E. Fairbairn, 1942 From Scientific Self Defense by W. E. Fairbairn, 1931 From Cold Steel by John Styers, 1952 THE TIGER'S CLAW Proper Excution of the Tiger's Claw by Carl Cestari BOOT METHODS (Kicks) From Get Tough! by W.E. Fairbairn, 1942 among a lot of other stuff!! Simple, brutal & effective. Don't leave home without it!

Dodging takes agility, the ability to turn and change directions quickly in balance while moving. Strong legs and back are necessary. Plyometric drills done wrong can tear up your joints something awful but if you do this light, it has the potential for real gains. First stand with your feet apart and step to your right, bring your left foot in to beside the right, then swing it left to step to your left, bringing your right in to beside the left. Fine point here, don't just lean on one foot or the other but really step into it so you are moving your whole body over 18 - 24 inches. Do this till you get a good rythm going. Now the hard part. When you land on a foot, let your body weight sink down into that leg, bending the knee and before the sinking down is finished, drive back up into your weight, driving the other way. (It's like skating where to move you must conciously push into the ice.) It is not necessary to drive like a demon, it can be done lightly with good effect. Now, switch the side to side step into a forward and back step, then add diagonals. Now when you do your bob and weave drills, add this in... Not only is your leg strenght increasing but your muscles are getting used to the change of direction while moving, a total plus.

I remember back in the mid-80's we were playing a "last man standing" type sparring game...a 'no friends' mélee, when I finished the guy in front of me and looked around to see who was left and there was only Sensei and suddenly his knee was up by his chin and his foot was pointing right at me. I started to backpedal to get away from it and he hopped forward on his standing foot and thrust kicked my chest . I flew back faster and hit the wall over a place which was just sheetrock over an old elevator shaft so there were no studs in that section and I broke the wall with my shoulder and hip. Pretty funny!