Taikudo-ka

Yeah, just a different romanization, like Kung Fu or Gong Fu. In the original language they are identical, but hey, we can't even agree on how to spell plenty of English word, let alone translate totally foreign languages. As far as it meaning "fruit" - maybe... plenty of sounds have multiple meanings - is "ju" soft or number ten. In English, is a "bar" an iron rod, or a place to drink alcohol? Both...

A side-effect of long-term Olympianism perhaps? I imagine that to young American kids today, "ju jutsu" sounds more like an exotic and effective self defense system, while "judo", which reminds them of "amateur athletes" in the Olympics rolling around on a mat for a gold medal. Perhaps an unfair assessment, considering the depth of Kano's original system, and the effectiveness it demonstrated against jujutsu.

Not as bad as I feared by your post... I think I'll sleep easy tonite. Maybe not if I knew what they were saying.

Fulca De'Syd, Relcorola of Zheng Gu Shui. Also beware of my brother, Fulka De'Syd, Reldato of Tai Ma.

I believe that in most places the answer is "no - there are no restrictions" beyond the usual registering a business name and following the tax laws regarding income you earn. This of course makes it easy for "fakes". But the alternative, government regulation and licensing, is too horrible to contemplate. Certainly, the government can't regulate and decide what constitutes an "effective" fighting style or address your individual training needs in any way, so they can't really decide who should or shouldn't teach martial arts. All it would involve would be lots of red tape and beaurocracy. I think you'd just end up with a big register of who's "kosher", based on lineage and forking out the required fees, like in Japan, and plenty of good people working outside the "official" system. If the law say you can't call yourself a "martial artist" without official approval, you just use a differnet name for the art.

In an actual fight, "stances" are a transitory thing, selected for their relation to the desired technique and required stability or positioning according to the opponent. Kata is a good example of this. Even a basic kata generally features lots of transitions from basic upright position to back and front stance, and the footwork and positioning that goes with them. I'm pretty sure that's so you can learn these same principles for "real" fighting.

Hehe just what I was about to say. Anyway, I found a high (but still correct) front stance great for keeping balanced standing on a ricketty moving bus or train. Particularly when it jerks to a stop or starts up, and everyone else is thrown around and wildly grabbing at overhead hand rails.

Why do you want to do martial arts? For self defense I'd say unarmed techniques would probably be the most useful. Wing Chun would be great for that. Learning lots of weapons has a cool factor, but I think a lot of it is "just for the sake of it", because you enjoy it. I doubt I'd ever be involved in a real sword fight or use shuriken and nunchucks to defend myself on the street. (More likely I'd just be arrested for carrying them.)

I don't think there were any "rules"... wasn't that the point? Not that general civility and sportsmanship wouldn't prevail.

I had a big long post about this and it got lost due to the server problems...oh well... My gist is that age is not important. Indeed, it can be an advantage in many ways, eg mental maturity, depth of understanding, discipline, length of attention span. Physically, men in particular continue to develop and grow into their twenties, and do not hit full "natural" maturity until around 24 or so. Best gains in strength and endurance from weight training, etc, do not come until after this maturity is reached. When it comes to flexibility, I only have to look around the dojo when we stretch to see that it all comes down to either natural body shape or training, not age. Some of the oldest students are the most flexible because they've been doing it longer, and also do it properly. Young kids can often be observed stretching incorrectly or displaying poorer coordination and motor skill than their adult counterparts. Kids often learn more by rote and memory. Adults, should, in theory, be able to relate what they learn to other experience and get a better understanding. For example, applying simple physics to understand the forces involved in a punch - easy for most adults, impossible for an 8 year old kid who has yet to learn basic algebra. I bet I could elaborate on the nature of kata and application of moves a lot more than said 8 year old as well. Basically, you never stop learning. The older you are, the more you should know. Also the more training you have under your belt. For something like fighting, skill counts for a lot, and that's a product of experience. As far as 20, or 22 or whatever being too young, that's silly. I train with someone who started when they were 35, and has been training for 25 years now. There is a guy in UFC/NHB who started in his twenties with NO prior MA experience (can't think of his name), found he was naturally good, and went on to win a whole bunch of matches. Also I'm pretty sure that when it comes to boxing, the best boxers are generally a bit older, not fresh 20 year olds. Eg Lennox Lewis - currently 36. Mike Tyson - 35. Tyson's winning the champsionship in '86, at age twenty, was considered ununsual, not the norm. This applies to many other sports as well.

There was something that seemed to be directed straight at me, but I'm not really interested in discussing it any further online. Enough has already been said by enough people. Further words are pointless. Meanwhile, lets get this back somewhere vaguely close to on topic. Now where were we. Oh yeah..."Ninjas are totally sweet. Ninjas will flip out and wail on their guitar because they are so totally sweet". (see ninja postings under humor if this makes you go )

I believe "iron fist" typically involved punching something hard, like the proverbial bucket of stones, or steel, in the case of the infamous Grand Master Pan, resulting in calloused knuckles and deadened nerves which won't feel pain when you punch. The "iron palm" involved slapping something, generally a wok of hot sand, to strengthen the palm and develop forceful open palm blows. The hot sand and the quick slap would lightly burn the upper layer of skin without deep burning or blistering, which produces a tough, calloused palm more quickly. (I don't practise iron palm, but I've had small burns from quickly touching irons or hotplates by accident, and can attest that they can leave a hard callous rather than blistering in some places.) The ointment traditionally used is called something like Dit Ja Jow, and can be purchased from Chinese medicine shops and herbalists. Now as to the need for or effectiveness of this type of training, I'm more dubious... Just producing a scary looking set of callouses isn't automatically going to make your punch any harder or faster. The hardness of my punch is caused by the solid bone behind it, not the little bitty layer of skin on top. I think simply punching a heavy bag or like will condition your hands for striking naturally, while still developing powerful strikes and allowing you to go all out without causing too much pain or structural damage to your joints. I feel if I can lay into a heavy bag bare-fisted, full-force, without hurting my hand too much, then I could do the same to a person, without the need to punch iron or concrete or burning sand, and produce a scary looking set of callouses that won't mean jack in a real fight.

BTW If you want to target people who have been "unkind" to Ashida Kim, try: http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11672 http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11697 http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2546 They are ALL a LOT less flattering than I could have been, and all posted with real names and identities too. Should make the Black Dragon's job easier... Hehe I'm really looking forward to being set upon by the black clad ninjas lurking around every corner... what great stories I'll be able to tell. (assuming I emerge victorious of course...)

Ahem... I made no such threat... I was pointing out that if all ninja were yakuza employees who would hunt down and kill anyone claiming publically to be a ninja master (as someone posted), how could there be so many people publically claiming to be ninjas and ninja masters... You can't have both... Please reread my post before jumping to conclusions like that I'm threatening to make a personal assassination attempt myself. If you still find some insult, by all means send the black dragon society to teach me a lesson... sheesh. BTW Is this the same Black Dragon Society founded by Count Dante? Wasn't he a karateka?

Yeah, it'll hurt, and leave a nasty cut, but it probably won't be lethal. The worst you could hope to do would be to blind somebody.

Well it's a bit like touch vs. tackle rugby football isn't it... Can point fighters fight? Well, of course they can "fight". A punch is a punch. Are they as well conditioned as someone who fights full contact - probably not. I think the difference is more psychological than technique. The difference is how you apply the techniques, not the actual technique. In a point fight, you generally don't hit full force. Nor do you constantly lay into your partner with the intent of rendering them unconscious. When doing "friendly" sparring we don't take anything too far. In a "real" or full contact fight, I WOULD be striking full force, which is infinitely harder than I hit when sparring. Also I would not give the opponent a break, or let up if they take a fall or seem a bit worse for wear. My combos would be coming as fast and hard as I could make them. Also I'd be less worried about trivial, but "technically point scoring" blows from my opponent, than I would be about knees to the groin, biting, joint locks, hidden weapons being pulled, etc. However, that is all that changes. The mechanics of my punch or kick remain the same. It's all in my head. I can go easy and give you a little tap through weaknesses in your guard, while blocking or dodging your strikes, or I can go totally agro and unleash my full fury right in your face. I don't consider myself a "point figher" or a "full contact fighter" or anything, just a martal artist and karateka. I let my opponent lay down the terms of the fight. I'm willing to fight full contact if my opponent wants to. Of course I'd like at least gloves, pref a sparring helmet as well because I value my brain. Also its not something I'd want to seek out daily...I'm not training to beat Lennox Lewis or anything.

Sorry if you thought I was being rude, that wasn't my intention. Just want to make you aware that some people might interpret the black armband differently, that's all. No disrespect intended to your martial achievements. Weren't Shaolin priests traditionally branded with an animal on each forearm? A tiger and crane might make appropriate tatoos for a karateka... unfortunately your arts seem to be the ones totally devoid of any "animal forms"... oh well...

Hehe I flipped on the TV late the other night and saw a beaming black guy promising that I could get ripped for a low, low price. I soon realized that I was not seeing the results of some new, amazingly liberal changes to our state's cannabis laws, but instead the master of all things related to "musical martial arts" - Billy Blanks, and his infamous Tae Bo. "Punch, Punch, Clap, Clap, Kick, Starjump, Clap, Clap"... My question is - why do something like this when you can do a "real" martial art, get the same fitness benefits, and learn SO much more on top? Why do a silly "musical" kata full of dance moves when there are plenty of "real" kata with combat-effective moves. Both will give you a similar physical workout if performed strenuously. But a real kata is so much more interesting and meaningful.

- "If you attempted to claim you were a ninja, a real clan, usually affiliated with the Yakuza, would send a real ninja to hunt you down. Oh, did I mention kill you? " OK, so why has no-one assassinated Ashida Kim yet? Could it be that, ahem.. he's really everthing he claims to be?

White. White. More white. My gi is totally plain - not even a manufacturers label, let alone 101 badges and multicolored materials. I prefer it this way. I found this site, which offers custom made gis in your choice of materials and colors. If you want a stars and stripes gi they will make you one. If you want a full traditional Japanese outfit with gi, hakama pants, kimono, haori coat, etc, they will also custom make one in traditional materials. For who train extra hard, they offer something called the "real hard ba$tard" which is a gi made out of heavy weight bleached cotton denim! http://home.att.net/~daimyo.outfitters/ BTW, a "wild" demo team uniform would get you disqualified at AKF tournaments...

You must purchase a black ninja outfit, a supply of shuriken, and hang around in the park at night with a katana strapped to your back. It also helps if you can fly, turn invisible, walk through walls, and be able to live on after your head is severed, as long as it wasn't done by another ninja... Actually, if you're serious, may I suggest joining a place that teaches "ninjutsu". Most of these should be affiliated with the Bujinkan, run by Hatsumi Sensei, which is about as "official" and "correct" an organization as you'll find in the ninja world. There are a lot of frauds and strange guys out there calling themselves ninjas, so beware. Ashida Kim is probably the oldest and most infamous. Try http://www.ashidakim.com/ There is much worse. You might be better of sticking with your jujutsu...

- "if you was to do say karate and judo would it take you longer to get a black belt then doing them one at a time ?" Depends how much you trained. If you did double the training, it should take about the same time (assuming you can absorb all the information). If you split training half/half, well obviously it will take longer.

- "Segal is a blackbelt in judo, karate, aikido, kendo, he was also the first westerner to open a martial arts school in japan. " No problem with that, although I have heard stories about some of his ranks being "inflated"... I can't verify that one way or the other... I will accept that he's very proficient at what he does. - "he was also allegedly a bounty hunter and was thought to have involvement with the CIA." This is the stuff I have a problem with. I'm pretty sure most of it has been disproven as Hollywood hokum. Certainly, as many people have pointed out, if you're really a "CIA secret agent" you don't tell ANYBODY about it. I remember GQ magazine ran an interview with Seagal, about 10 years ago, that painted him in a rather bad light, making him look extremely vain, arrogant and self-centred. In real life he wasn't the ego-less Buddhist he'd like you to believe. More like Count Dante, except even fussier about his hair... Also he was surrounded by enormous body guards, which sort of makes a mockery of the whole "master of self-defense" thing. Or am I the only one who finds that ironic?

Chuck Norris - was once actually the US karate champion, so he was a decent fighter. There is also a court transcription where he was called as an expert witness, and was repeatedly able to kick an opponent from several metres away before the other could raise and fire an (unloaded) gun held his hand. He maybe a bit out of shape now, but still...don't judge his real martial arts skill by his acting... Jackie Chan - Well we know that at least he can take a beating! Not sure about any real fight strategy... Segal - possibly. I think he was a real martial artist before he got carried away with all the Hollywood rubbish. I'm sure he's not as good as he is in his own head though... Van Damn - now exposed as the "ballet dancer from Brussels"... probably not. David Carradine - not even close.

I think that'd be a bit odd... A black arm-band is the symbol of mourning, and a death in the family. Why would you want one permanently marked on your skin?