isshinryu5toforever

The bo seems to be the standard as far as starting weapons. Almost everyone I know has started their weapon training with the bo.

It's always nice to say you could diffuse the situation without anyone getting hurt, but generally the first thought that crosses a person's mind if an attacker draws the weapon is that they will use it. I don't know how I'd react if someone elevated the attack to using a knife or a gun. I've been attacked with a baseball bat, but that was easy enough to get a disarm and use it on the other guy via a lock. He gave up, no cops, no big deal. It's hard to say how I'd react if someone pulled a knife or gun. It's something that comes up once it happens.

There are quite a few people here who do TKD, various forms of Kung Fu, and various grappling arts.

Each person does their kata differently, each one is beautiful in its own way. There are some people who have extremely statuesque form. The techniques look almost flawless, and they have great strength and speed. Then there are those who are a bit more flexible in the way they do their kata. They aren't as statueque, they bend at the waist in a part here or there, they show the power in the technique rather than the grace. They show the way they would really perform the technique. Think of it this way. You have a yellow belt, his kata are tight and he uses his strength too much, but there is a beauty in this. Each technique he throws looks like it hurts. Then, you have another student who is extremely fast and flexible, his kicks and punches are fast and look beautiful, but they don't look like they'd hurt a fly. The grace and softness in the kata make it beautiful. Each karateka would want to work on their problems, one getting looser, one getting stronger. Yet, each one brings a certain beauty to their martial arts practice. It is the imperfection that makes the kata beautiful. If there were truly no room for improvement, what would be the point in practicing any more?

So how many people are ready to go back to school or university? I'm sure the high schoolers will have an entirely different answer than those going off to college. I, for one, am ready to go back, I'm leaving August 28th. That might have to do with the fact that I live in the middle of nowhere and go to college in New York City. So for everyone you ready to go back? For the college kids, where you going? and if you're a freshman, you excited?

I thought it was ok. I still liked the original more. I did like the new spin on Willy Wonka being a bit more sarcastic.

In today's legal environment, it seems that your actions depend on your level of experience. If you're a high ranking martial artist, the court would probably consider you a lethally trained professional who should be held accountable for his actions, this would include stopping an attacker with a knife rather than killing them. They would feel you should be able to disarm them and control them rather than destroy them. Knives and guns are two very different situations. It would be my belief that in the situation of a gun being involved if they went to pull it out and you ended the situation quickly and effectively, and you happened to kill them, I think they'd have problems prosecuting you. In the situation of a knife however, because the weapon is not considered as completely lethal as a gun (just because that's how messed up our society is) if you kill the man, you may or may not be prosecuted depending on the judge, jury, and the strength of your defense. You would need to prove that your life was definitely in danger in the situation of a knife, whereas most would automatically consider your life in danger in the case of a gun. Messed up I know.

Wicked is the back story of The Wizard of Oz. It tells the story of Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West. All of my friends have told me it's amazing.

It's understandable that you are very enthusiastic about martial arts. Most of us are, or we wouldn't be here. Now, kickboxing can teach you how to kick and how to punch, but it can't teach you why to kick and punch. Exchanging ideas with your friend can teach you how to grapple and do joint locks, but it won't teach you the principles behind grappling and joint locks. I would suggest taking a traditional martial art for at least a little while. It will aid you in incorporating pressure points, martial theory, and philosophy into your martial arts training. The martial arts is about far more than kicking and punching. There is a large amount to understand that you can't by reading a book. You can't understand it by only practicing on your own. You need real training in a traditional style to understand some things. What you're doing has been done many times before. Your style probably isn't as unique as you think it is, I'll give you credit at the try though. There are some people on this board with as much exhuberance as you're showing when it comes to the martial arts. A few of them have far more experience than you or I. We're talking 2, 3, or 4 decades. They are still holding their tradition, because tradition is a very important part of martial arts. Before you think this is coming from a 40 year old guy, I'm going to tell you I am 19, but I do have 13 years of experience in IsshinRyu.

I like all my katas. Sunsu is probably my favorite open hand, and Shi Shi No Kun No Dai is probably my favorite weapons kata although it feels like it takes forever to get through sometimes.

please explain exactly how you became trained in martial arts. How many years/decades, how old you are, etc. You study and practice every day, what do you practice? What did you study? How did you study it? We're all a bit skeptical whenever someone says they want to teach their own style. Oh an tkdBill, nice job with the fire-water comment.

No offense, but is this a joke? What martial arts are these based off of?

My dad wrestled in high school, I started Isshin-Ryu then my mom started. I think one of my uncles boxed. One of my cousins may have as well, but they never did a lot with it.

The X-treme Martial artsis affiliated with the ATA isn't it? That is the ATA owns the rights to the XMA label. This is a bit of a subject change I know, but is that the weapons curriculum they teach, or do they have a more traditional one? If they teach the XMA weapons curriculum, then yeah, I'd look for something else definitely. If you can't find Gumdo or another Korean sword art close, then the next best thing would be to look for a traditional Okinawan Karate school. They will have a curriculum probably including the bo, sai, and tuifa (tonfa) possibly the Eku (oar), and very few have it, but some could have the short spear and shield, much different than any other Okinawan weapon. They will probably want you to go through a ranking process, or at least learn some of their kata before they put a weapon in your hands though. I know my dojo would.

Gumdo is Korea's fencing. It is similar to Kendo, there is sparring and there is drawing the sword. From my limited knowledge of Gumdo, since I haven't been able to practice it, just see it, it would seem that Gumdo is more defensive than Kendo. The weight is placed back more than forward in the stance. Whereas in Japanese Kendo they are taught to go forward at all times, in Korean Gumdo, it would seem they are more than willing to give up ground to try to seize an advantage. history: http://www.hdgumdo.com/forum-pg/history.htm

In competition katas should be done with the same enthusiasm you would do them at a belt testing. However, presentation is a big deal at tournaments. You have to make the kata look good and sound good. Loud kiyais, good snap on your punches and kicks, and good controlled breathing. You might want to aim your kicks higher, but when I judge I look at practicality a little bit too. If you throw a side kick over your head, you missed your target. The highest I would ever want to see a side kick would be head level, same with any other kick. That might just be me though. I would also rather see extremely strong technique than someone with flexibility that wouldn't be able to hurt a fly with their kick.

you could try something radically different and do Gumdo if you want to do a Korean weapon.

Tang Soo Do and the military TKD Oh Do Kwon forms are very long. The regular TKD forms though aren't quite so long. They still take some memory to be able to remember the different sets. I have respect for the Kung Fu guys that know 50 or more forms that look like they are between 100 and 200 techniques long each.

Question 1. No it would make no difference. I'm the only Korean in my county (I was adopted). Yes, I am enough of a geek to have looked at the county census. The only other Asian family is a Chinese family who just moved in a year ago. So, race has very little influence on my decision making. I would try to determine which was legitimately better at the art. Question 2. I want to know what the basis of the art is. I'm wary of any new art. And can I just set this straight. The term is Asian not Oriental. You can call a rug an Oriental rug, but a person is Asian. It's not a huge deal to me, but I figured I'd point that out since this is a discussion on racism. Some Asians are very, very irritated/offended being called Oriental.

the budoseek.net forums have a few forums regarding instructor problems, openning schools, adn the like. I'm sure a few people there will have hosted tournaments. My sensei hosted one a long time ago. I can tell you that you will need good one day insurance. Especially if you want to make it a knockdown tournament. If you have a partner or two that might help financially, but make sure they're trustworthy. As far as organization, I'm sure you've been to a few tournaments yourself. Talk to the promoters and organizers at those tournaments. Promotion of the tournament is a very important thing that can be costly. Also, you need to make sure you have sufficient help. You need there to be enough black belts that show up to judge, you need to make sure you have enough people to work consessions if you have them, you need timers and scorekeepers. You also need to schedule it at the right time. Take note of the big tournaments, the Diamond Nationals in October, Battle of Atlanta, Tornado International, etc. Then look at when the state championships are for your state and the neighboring states, since that's where most of your competitors will come from. Up here we used to have a tournament, but didn't this year, called Kickin' In the New Year. It would happen the weekend of New Year's if New Year happened early in the week, or it would happen one weekend after New Year if New Year happened late in the week or on the weekend. That could be a good time for a tournament.

I have seen a lot of the different sets of TKD forms. I have to give you credit for remembering 50 or so. It's an accomplishment. Isshin-Ryu's first kata is 76 techniques. Yeah, we expect a lot out of our white belts. I do know that some Isshin-Ryu dojos do a couple of Pinan first. Our kata for black belt is huge. It's in the 90-100 technique range and takes over a minute to do properly with extremely good speed.

non-stop full contact. The only area that's off-limits is the groin. We encourage people to stay away from full contact to the leg. It does occassionally end up on the ground. When it goes to the ground someone has to tap out. Interesting way to do things.

Not to be mean, but I've got to ask how many techniques there are per form. I thought TKD poomsae averaged about 30-35 techniques per form. Still not easy to remember 50 of them, but easier than learning 50 Kung Fu forms which seem like they are 100 techniques long when you watch them or Karate forms many of which are between 65-100 techniques.

I know all of the Isshin-Ryu open hand and weapons katas, and I picked up Koryo along the way. After learning the karate katas, Koryo was pretty easy to pick up after seeing it once or twice.

Most of the people who are very good are that way because of dedication and practice. Do you know how many kicks, punches, steps, and stances are done from the time you are a child until you are an adult? I started when I was 6. I have probably thrown millions of punches and kicks over a lifetime. However, I practiced every single day from the time I was very young until now. If you practice every day for at least an hour plus go to classes, you will see vast improvements in not such a long time. You need to be patient. If you work hard, you will notice your technique getting progressively better. You may even be able to stick with some of those 16 year olds you are envious of now. Martial arts is a journey that takes time, it isn't a 100 meter sprint for the finish.