ps1

Have you ever seen a real kung fu practitioner in combat, not tournament? We don't do jumping spin kick and stuff, most of our kicks will be to knees and groin.... Also circular is our deflections not our punches, almost all of our punches are linear, you have to realize kung fu is both hard and soft, circular and linear, internal and external , thats why there is so much focus on yin yang. It kills me on peoples perception of kung fu. Also the longer and better you get the shorter the circular deflections get, you want your opponent to barley miss you so he fully commits, they are deflections and are a heck of lot faster than a typical block, because when we deflect we barely even touch the punch its about footwork and never interrupt the natural flow of things. Well put.

It will make the fist more dense. Yes, that's true. A lighter is probably not your best bet though.

In Shotokan you have Back Stance, Square Stance, Front Stance, Sumo Stance, and Horse Stance

I've seen it (or something similar) for jr black belts. It was more a way to keep young children focused on forward progress. It was at a school I visited once. I didn't really inquire about it too much though. So I don't have alot of specifics.

The family members actually received training from a Judo stylist from Japan, if my memory serves me correctly. Maeda was his name? True. However, because he was ill, Helio was not one of those family members. He never received any formal training at all. He watched his brother teach private lessons for years. One day a private lesson showed up and Carlos was not there to teach him. Helio taught the private lesson in his stead. The student was so impressed with Helio's ability that he asked Carlos if Helio could be his teacher from then on. A great book to get is called "The Gracie Way." It is all about the history of the Gracie family.

More Devil's Advocate here: Helio Gracie never had any lessons in Jujitsu. Anyone think he or his family are fake black belts?

Anabolic steroids are not in anything sold at GNC or in any other over-the-counter places. It's illegal to sell. Being a practitioner of Gracie Jiujitsu, I must say that this turn of events is really disturbing to me. I was just with Pedro Sauer over the weekend and he let us listen to Royce's voicemail thanking him for his support. If this turns out to be true, it's really going to hurt his reputation. I just wonder what the old man is saying to him in Spain right now.

Not being a ninja myself, I wouldn't know. However, it may be an excellent question to ask this guy... https://www.askninja.com

I've never seen it. But it looks pretty good.

Ok. I finally figured out a way to get on the webpage. I would say that the fact that the entire front page is dedicated to selling his CD really is McDojoish. He has lots of info about making money attached to the site. That's odd.

As it's usually a guy who thinks he's tough that says this, my favorite response is to tell him I'm not allowed to hit girls. (No offense intended ladies out there. I've met alot of you that I would not want to mess with.) That usually gets them to lighten up and laugh or swear and walk away. It's never gone farther than that. If I get the sense that the person is genuinely interested I handle it differently. I'll usually show them a basic wrist release or something and give them a card to the school where I train.

The part that worries me the most is the 12 month commitment. It's extremely normal to have testing fees. Those are usually sent to a certifying body of some sort. It go toward certification of your rank and getting a certificate sent to you. The website link doesn't seem to be working today so I can't comment on the site. However, if you're having fun and enjoy what you're learning, don't worry too much about it.

Ok. I just wanted to makes sure I wasn't going crazy or something. Even still, thanks for the link.

Kofukan is not a style. It's an orginization that studies Shito Ryu Karate. Do a search for Shito Ryu Karate and you will find a wealth of information. Were there any specific questions you have?

While it seems to totally contradict what I said above, I think this is also good advice. I forgot about the part where he wants you to teach. This was not the case in my situation. I guess it comes down to this (please comment if you agree or disagree). If you feel you deserve the rank, then accept it. If you feel you are being given the rank because he needs a black belt to teach, then don't accept. Good luck.

If you worry about it that much, I would guess you'll freeze in a realisitc situation. There's no way to know for sure! Of course starting a fight is never a good option. Just remember that you'll fight as you train. It would seem as though you have no or little confidence in your training. So you will fight with no or little confidence. That's not a good thing. As far as 28 being too old...the average person reaches their physical peak between the ages of 25 and 29. So 28 is prime time.

I'm sure you've been told before...the books are far better than the films. Especially lately as there's many more details and events in the books than will ever fit into a two hour movie. Anyhoo...I've got mine pre-ordered. No waiting in lines here. Also, to whoever said Dumbledor would have a horcrux...there's no way that's possible!! You have to murder someone and split your soul to have one. Dumbledor wouldn't have done something so evil just to escape death. He's gone...we've got to face it. He's probably left other clues around for Harry. But that's all we're going to hear from Dumbledor. I do hope Serious comes back. JK said she gave someone a reprieve.

Cool enough site. However, the version of Unsu presented looks more like Bassai. Does anyone else agree with me?

Don't worry about it. You said yourself that you don't feel like you'll have any material learning the material necessary for the rank. With your previous studies, you've no doubt trained many of the habits that the beginner is supposed to learn before they attain black belt. When I began studying Shotokan, I already had 14 years of training in other arts. I trained for about 8 months in Shotokan before I earned black. It was mostly a matter of learning the kata, bunkai, and ippon kumite. It took about two years to earn second degree however. And three more for third. There's alot to learn about the art and the forms in those ranks. I guess what I'm saying is, "Don't sweat it!" I'm sure you deserve the rank. The way you've presented it sounds totally legit.

If you happen to be skilled at Parkour, it's a nice thing to offer. However, it's clearly not something that everyone can do. Many martial arts schools offer hand to hand that can be learned by virtually every member of the population. Parkour and acrobatics are so dynamic and physically demanding that not everyone has the capability to learn them. But, if you have some students who are atheletic enough to do it, I certainly wouldn't discourage them from learning it. P.S. If you haven't seen it, just watch the opening few minutes of the newest James Bond movie.

It is true though. The resistance that water gives really helps with your technique. I used to have an above ground 4 foot pool at my house. It was great to get in and work out. When I visit the ocean I practice stances. It's fun and refreshing. I suggest you give it a try the next time you can.

Usually competition is only used as a promotion tool. That is, if a purple belt goes in and does great at competitions and wins or fares well in the absolute (any rank and size competitor). Their instructor may choose to promote them based on the fact they are doing so well. However, it's usually not a mandatory part of the promotion process. Here are some general guidelines from the International Brazilian Jiujitsu Federation: http://www.ibjjf.org/graduation.htm The rest of the website is pretty good for general info as well.

It's hard to tell you about that without more information. Different schools tend to have different rank systems. In BJJ the rank system is White, Blue, Purple, Brown, and Black. In Aiki Jujitsu the system was White,Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green, Purple, Brown, and Black. Hope that helps

A good instructor is someone you feel comfortable talking to, teaches the things you are looking for, and is able to communicate the techniques/ concepts well. The best way to find one is to visit all the martial arts schools in your area. Don't just depend on a phone call...actually go to the schools, watch or participate in a few classes.

Here's an interesting website I found. http://www.russbo.com/seidokan/seidokan.htm