NinTai

I know this may be a little late but if they question weather or not 440 can take the abuse just show them this classic:

Actually there are several ways of pronouncing "tonfa" It all depends on where you com from. You you say "te" or "ti"? "Makiwara" or "Machiwara"? "Bo" or "Kon" (Rokushaku-Bo - Shushi-no-Kon)? "A tonfa by any other name would still hurt."

Ko = old, ancient Bu = Made up of 2 characters that together basicaly mean stop fight Do = Way Nishiuchi Sensei has and excelent breakdown here: Note: Kobudo by itself does not indicate Okinawa or any other lineage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobudo RyuKyu Kobudo indicates Okinawan lineage (RyuKyu = Chain of islands that Okinawa is a part of.) Kobudo on mainland Japan could also refer to the Koryu arts.

The artwork on your personal site is excellent.

They did not have to intentionaly miss as muskets were not that accurate. "Muskets were very inaccurate weapons and it was only the discipline of a large number of men firing them shoulder to shoulder - creating a wide wall of lead - that made it useful at anything over 100 metres. An expert said in 1814 that: "I do maintain ... that no man was ever killed at 200 yards (180 metres) by a common musket, by the person who aimed at him."" http://www.napoleonguide.com/weapacc.htm Here one of the thing Napoleon said about war: Remember , gentlemen, what a Roman emperor said: The corpse of an enemy always smells sweet.

If you look around i think its a cultural thing. Go into any "hip" cloathing store and you can buy a designer pair of ratty, stained and torn jeans. Usualy for a premium.

I have not seen this used outside of Uechi Ryu. My understanding is that it progresses like this: Shodan - Godan - Plain belt Rokudan - One Gold Stripe Nanadan - Hachidan - Two Stripes Kudan - Three Stripes Judan - ???

Is that pain on your gun side or both? It could just be your myscles compensating for the extra weight. I know my belt weighed in at around 20 lbs. Also do you wear your belt low around the hips or up around the waist?

I also look at the flip flop issue when driving or on a plane. I wouldn't want to end up in an accident and have to walk around torn metal and broken glass bare foot. Bushido_Man when you carry off duty how do you coneal your weapon. I got tired of wearing the "not a cop" vest and had to be concerend about beeing able to draw unimpaired.

Sanchin, like anything else, if done incorrectly can damage the body. People say the same thing about makiwara practice. If you look at most of Uechi Ryu they do not use the forced breathing that Goju uses. There are also other contributing factors, if it was just Sanchin then all those who practice it would shou similar signs.

Thanks for the replies. To continue the thought how have you copensated for the clothing. I.e. I try to be extra attentive when i'm wearing a tie. I haven't found any clip one or break away ties that look desent. Do you avoid certain dress options? i.e. I tend to avoid flip flops because the afford no protectin for my feet. Thanks

Storyteller, For what its worth try giving Satori-gi.com a call. There in about the same ballpark as far as price but they will make it to your body measurements.

Yes, basically the went from a newspaper format to a magazine format. They are also going to a glossy paper format for the whole magazine wivh ups the cost to 7.95 but still worth it. BTW Any one with an extra copy of issue 11 CFA? I moved and missed that issue in the process. Thanks.

I second CFA also Dragon Times (It's predacesor you can still get back issues) http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Dtimes/Pages/Dthome.htm Jounal of Asian Martial Arts is also very good. Expensive but with it.