Kieran-Lilith

Hey. I'm in the same boat. Junior in high school, wants very much to have a MA related job...I'm pretty sure what I'm gonna end up going for is double majoring in Japanese and East Asian Studies (focus on Japan), and being a translator/interpreter and trying to get in on the big name companies.

Gamecube is better. Of course, since I'm still a teenager, I'm not allowed to play all the M rated games that would probably go better with the X-Box or the PS2. The Gamecube is really family friendly, but if your'e going to get a game system, you almost might want to wait for the Nintendo Wii. It looks beautiful....and it's go so many cool things! The controller is like a remote, but you can use two halves of it, and in some games (like the DBZ game) you actually go through particular motion sequences in reality to perform certain techniques (like the Kamehameha wave!).

Do guys in gi look attractive? Hm. Well, there are two teenage boys in my dojo, and that would be my age group. No, not really. I can't bring myself to think of them that way anyhow, they're like my brothers. Really, really annoying brothers. Now, taking an objective stance...yeah, they both look kinda cute, but they seem cuter wearing street clothes.

I'm sixteen, but I don't think it really matters what age you begin to practice at. It is unusual for younger people to practice it and that does make us a bit different, but I think it would be easier in some aspects for an older person to practice. If you're examining something like good and evil, I think an adult would have more life experience to draw from to be able to understand to a greater depth. Even in just something as simple as meditating, adults have a longer attention span, and they are more apt to be consistent in their practice.

Ohio Cedar Point! Paramount King's Island Young's Jersey Dairy Glen Helen Grand Lake St. Marys

To me it really is kind of like singing and acting...in a bizarre way, of course. You just do it so much that even years later you could do it. When I was a fifth grader, we sang Phantom of the Opera....when I was entering freshman year, I heard the song on some site, and I could still sing the words. My mouth knew what was supposed to come out, even if my mind was saying, "What the heck are you singing? Where do you even KNOW this from?"

I got my permit in October '05, and my license I got in June '06.

Hm. Well, at class tonight, I did ask Sensei about the yellow book, and I asked about the mysterious yonkyu kata. The yellow book is a bit outdated, which is why we have our packets, which I suppose is like the yellow book. Sensei Topp says that we don't have a yonkyu kata. And now, I'm tired from class and band, so I'm going to bed. But I absolutely had to post the conclusion to the mystery of yonkyu.

Height: 69" or 5' 9" Span: 67 1/2" or 5' 7 1/2" Reach: 26" or 2' 2"

Both my Sensei and another woman had a rib broken on the same night about a year ago. I don't know how fast Sensei's healed, but I know the woman's took 6 months before she could train like she used to, and even then, that was with everybody still being very careful.

It will be interesting to read, then. I'll probably read it tomorrow, when I'm a little more awake. I had class tonight, and then a party right after, so I'm a bit beat right now. I've had a few other things to say tonight, but they keep flying out of my head.

I can't say I really have too much of a favorite...different ones are useful for different occasions. Of course, the best thing to always do is to move out of the way.

Ah, I see. We call that circular block. I thought that might be what you were talking about, but I wanted to make sure. We work on that a lot, and it really is useful.

Could you explain to me how exactly fan block is done? I'm sure we probably know it, just by a different name. Mr. and Mrs. Blind Dragon, thank you very much. I'll view the book when I'm a little more awake and aware. Right now, sad to say, I'm just too tired. J.J., thanks.

Hi again. Not trying to sound impertinent, but if the yellow book has been copied, then can I see a copy just to satisfy my curiousity? Oh, and rereading through the thread a bit...I forget who asked, but uchi uke can be used to get to the outside of an attack. E.g, a lunge punch comes in, you step and use uchi-uke and are thus on the outside of their body, out of the way of the attacker's other fist.

I don't think there's ever been an official count in recent years...if ever.... And as for how the ranks stack up against each other, that's a whole 'nother realm, because that doesn't go by style. That goes by individual schools. I mean, in my little town in the middle of nowhere, I think we have at least five schools, if not more. Multiply that by almost every town in America....we're talking there's no way you could ever tell how many schools there are, and no way you could measure BBs against each other unless you saw them together in person. That's how big the variances could be. After all, you could have this little 7 year old BB from the McDojo down the road measured against the BB who has trained since they were 7 and are 70 now....and they could even be from the same town. Although, you have an awesome question. I wish I knew the answer.

Lol. We martial artists are definitely a unique crowd...

With the kids in our school, most of the drop it around orange belt, so about nine months in. For us, that's only 7th kyu. The other drop point seems to be from 3rd-1st kyu (brown). I think we have less than ten black belts that have been promoted from our school in the ten years our Sensei has taught publicly....not entirely sure, but pretty certain.

Hmm.... My very first test (9th kyu) just plain out scared me. Before the test I was shaking like a leaf, and I remember I had butterflies flying around in my stomach. I probably would have been better off if I had studied before the week of the test. I didn't realize how time would fly...and then...the week of...."AH! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! HELP!" and I got lucky because my friend drilled me all day while we were at school for that week. My other scary test was the one for 5th kyu (the one I just passed a few months ago). Fighting for an hour really is tiring, and it really is scary, but you know...I'd love to do that again. And now, I'm up for testing again in August, so back to studying!

Oooooh! I want one! It sounds cool! traitor_of_the_alliance@hotmail.com

Hah, McNerny beat me to the Mythbusters thing. They built up the whole machine and fired into ballistics gel-stuff (sorry, can't remember the real name). It did very, very little, going in I think about an inch at most. I'm not exactly sure of the details because I haven't seen that episode in a while. But seriously, I'm not wasting my precious cards on an attacker. If I can't beat solitaire, how am I going to beat an attacker?

Ohio Judo, I AM a green belt, and I haven't got a clue what yonkyu is. I know ichikyu, nikyu, and sankyu, but I still don't know of yonkyu. And Blink Dragon, that makes a bit more sense.

Okay, now I really want to know. What the heck is yonkyu kata? And, another question would be, what's Hachi-Wan?

Hey J.J. Which Ohio people? There's getting to be quite a lot of us these days. Personally, I don't know yonkyu, and I don't think I've ever heard of it. I'll check the kata list again, but I still don't think I know it. I know ichikyu kata, nikyu kata, sankyu kata, Pinan Shodan, Naihanchi Shodan, and I've been through Pinan Nidan, Pinana Sandan, and Pinan Yondan. Those last three I could do again if I was walked through them again several times. I don't suppose we could talk through e-mail?

Maybe I can just hope I'll grow some more...I'm a teenager, I can do that. And luckorskill007, hakama are worn inside the dojo. I think if it's a normal day where I'm going about my business as usual, I'll be wearing normal clothes, like pants or shorts. It's not about the attacker getting distracted by the nice material (and it is nice material), it's about traditional styles training in traditional clothes, often while they use things like a sword....I dunno about you, but I have yet to be attacked with a sword.