fallen_milkman

I passed my white sash grading today! It really wasn't too much. All the kicks and strikes I've learned, a little free form, four 3 minute sparring matches, and the 16 man form I've been working on for the last 6 months. Still feels good to see I've made good progress.

I use both, mostly because I like to be versatile. But nothing is as rewarding as a swift, sneaky front snap kick from your front leg to their groin in sparring.

Wow. I definitely hope to experience this one day.

Yeah, I've seen some 'flashy' things work when one of my sifus does them, even in point sparring. Jumping spinning crescent kicks, even a kick I don't know a name for, but recognize from a monkey form he does. Pretty insane, the aerial kicks he can pull off.

A hodgepodge of the many things my teachers know. Mostly Kuntao with some Northern and Southern Shaolin for flavor. Also, we learned two Long Fist forms for fun recently. Very short, but gave me some cool ideas to work into sparring.

Yeah, I was looking it up because I recently started learning some Long Fist forms from a friend of my sifu. I like them a lot, very different from my other forms.

Congrats on passing the test. Hopefully my white sash test goes as well on Wednesday. *crossing fingers*

I have my lovely 5 year old computer I have been slowly upgrading. Same case, everything inside has changed. AMD AThlon 2000+ 512MB of DDR ram Radeon 9800 graphics I forget the motherboard brand, but it's going next anyways because it causes many problems when upgrading And a 250gig hard drive I got for $75 during a sale at Best Buy!

I'm not an expert, but here is the basics behind the legend of Dim Mak. I don't know if it exists, since I have never heard of or met anyone claiming they can do it, but I guess I'd consider it possible. (Call me gullible, I don't care.) Dim mak translates as "to press the blood vessels" or "chi channels". From what I understand, it is similar to chin na cavity pressing techniques, but instead of applying pressure on vital chi cavities, you penetrate and overstimulate their chi flow using your own. As for killing them, that is not its only use. It can supposedly also be used to heal chi blockages in hurt individuals, like accupressure.

I found this article on Long Fist, and was enjoying it enough that I think it needs to be shared. Hope you enjoy. http://www.adamhsu.com/articles/long_fist_power.html

Shaolin is pretty much dead in China. Most of the better monks left it a long time ago, and spread the arts through the rest of Asia, Europe, America, and Canada. Even most of the training is controlled by the government, and moved to the nearby town (I forget the name). Basically, you're better off seeking out training elsewhere. Trust me. This was a big dream of mine, to study at the Shaolin temple. Truth is, visiting it for historical value is a much better reason to go there nowadays. Might wanna check this site out though. Still not sure what too think of it, but it seems pretty legit. http://www.usashaolintemple.com/ Basically, they are supposedly raising money to build a new temple in upstate New York. I hope it happens. I also desire Shaolin training, but not in wushu like they teach now. No offense to others, but wushu just isn't my thing.

So many to choose from... Older game has to go to Bushido Blade. Such a simple game. I got it for ten dollars at Toys 'R' Us around 5 years ago on a whim, and still play it about once a month. As far as newer fighting games go, I like Street Fighter III - Thrid Strike. Tenchu 3 - Wrath of Heaven is really fun, too.

I kid, of course. That is what the shop owner told me when I bought it, and I found it amusing. It doesn't reflect light as well, but I don't see how that is an advantage to any law-abiding civilian.

You could always find a new school in your area. Even if it's not the same style as before, it is better than nothing. Maybe you can continue your chosen art later in life.

Haha, whoa a lot of questions! I'm in northwest PA, in Erie. Kuntao is a Chinese fighting style that, as far as I know, developed separately from Shaolin arts. It is usually (ifn not always) mixed with silat, an Indonesia art. I am just now starting to learn the background, but I believe my style traces back to Willem Reeders, a Dutch-Indonesian who was quite possibly the first non-full blood Chinese person to learn the art. Could be wrong though. I know for a fact that there is a picture of Willem Reeders in my school. Anyways, my screen name is from some Alkaline Trio lyrics.

Man, my collection has been put to shame by most of you. But I still love all my weapons dearly. I have, counting practise weapons: Three extremely sharp combat knives Two rubber practise knives A bokken A machete, blackened for night ops, with a matching knife Around ten throwing knives of various shapes sizes A short staff (Actually an old boy scout-issued walking stick for hiking. It holds sentimental value, and does the job quite well.) and...The Christian Stick! A legendary weapon which was excavated from my friend's tool shed. It is an old, broken goalie stick from when he was a kid. The end is broken off, and it is shaped like a hand-and-a-half sword. Apparently, Christian is a hockey-gear company of some kind. We use it as a back-up bokken because my friends and I frequently break them when training ourselves. (Don't bother warning me how dangerous this is, we know.) Out of all my weapons, I think the Christian stick is my fav.

Nineteen, and I'll be twenty in less than a week.

Dug up this old one! Got a question for you GhostlySykanRyu... How do you get into the paranormal investigation field? I am from your state, so I was hoping you knew of a group near me. (Northwestern PA, Erie specifically) I want to do it as a hobby, not professionally, if there are people that even do that. I have been interested in ghost hunting since I was very little.

I usually don't find my mind drifting. My sifu doesn't lecture, we hold discussions. We all ask questions, he answers them, and makes his point. Fits my way of learning very well.

Short staff is my favorite to play with, but I am much better with a knife.

Yeah, kuntao is mixed with a bit of silat, and one of my teachers is an ex-marine so we do knife work in the school I am at. My friends and I practise what we learn frequently (let's just say we're all big fans of the movie 'The Hunted', and leave it at that ) so like he said, don't think there aren't people trained in knife fighting. Not that we're likely to attack anyone, but just an example.

I recently saw Kung Fu Hustle. It was rediculous, but funny. Also Hero and House of Flying Daggers were both really good. Mostly for plot, but there were decent fight scenes. Not much for the flying around, but hey.

I refuse to carry a gun. If you have a gun, they are more likely to use theirs. I will use my wits and my martial art to get by.

Ah, almost the entire distance across the state. I am in Erie.

I actually got into martial arts when I was much younger and there were free classes at a place in my neighborhood. I believe the art was mostly Lohan Fist. Eventually I got out of the arts for personal reasons. About 7 months ago, I decided to look up my old sifu and start taking the art again. He is a Master in Kuntao and was teaching at the same school as the Grand Master of our style. Besides, most of the other schools in my area are Goshin Jutsu or TKD, which aren't my thing. I prefer the flow and feel of Chinese arts, and chi development is a subject I am very interested in.