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Yea lol, its the movies. Look around the site, youll find many topics regarding this subject. And some would argue this, however in my opinion no there doesnt have to be the "best" martial art. It would take a long time to cover and discuss all the ground you are speaking of.

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Well i dont belevie in an "ultimate" art. Its the practitioners who defines the art, not the other way around. Also i believe the difference in spelling may have to do with languge reasons and pronunciations and possibly time periods. -As for your argument, again i suggest looking into martial art philosphy and the differences and arguments they have between each other.

Breifly mentioned above, some people are not built to be flexible, such as myself(i think). Is there an answer to that?

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So, eating, drinking and breathing karate for a short period of time is balanced and tsuru ashi dachi-mae geri, magical healing are not short cuts? I found the movies cliche and stereotype ridden. That's just me. If people derive something affirmative from them that's a good thing. I can see where you're coming from. I would say that the karate kid movie and its story where pretty original at the time, it bugs me that hundreds of other movies take away from the few good ones.

Good advice. Ill add that as you train more and more, your body will adjust to your life style. Saying that, while it is good to really focus on what you're doing, let some things come natural to you. Chances are I think people have a better understanding if they conjure up ideas on thier own, then your instructor may hopefully guide them.

Touchy subject. I dont have sound advice, however good luck with this one. I suggest looking into the philosphy which kung fu practitioners generaly have.

It really helps for brick breaking with your fists. I hardly see how injuring your hand by punching a hard object, for the sole purpose of punching other hard objects, could be of any benefit. I believe in knuckle toughening for this reason. As we are all humans and most of the times we never do anything perfectly added with the fact that your not always in control in the situation that you are in, mistakes happen. Putting that in context. Lets say your sparring or in a actual fight you might accidentally miss your intended target and hit something with your fist that you shouldn't. An example would be aiming for the face and hittng the skull instead or your opponent and striking a wall or something else. I heard of these things happening to others. Perhaps some knuckle toughening could have saved a few broken hands in some cases or better yet lost fights. Aside of that. As someone else here mentioned already the exercises for conditioning the knuckles also strengthen the the proper alignment in the wrist for a forefist punch. Also not to mention the devastating effect it would have on the intended target...

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I found out my sensai had taken akido for some years along time ago, im not sure of any other history however. He did say that it was good for his mental focus and helped his karate. So ive heard good things, id recommend giving it a chance.

yea good post. I liked the introduction. i tend to write some huge post supposed to be really profound and deep and ill just end up going to some game site, pathetic todays average attention span is.

I don't see the point of this. Understanding application is great for individual training, to get the most out of the kata practice. But for team kata all you are being judged on is how you look and application is not considered at all by the judges. You really don't have to have a clue about what the applications are. You just have to show good form and have good timing with each other. So if 2 guys and me decide to patheticly flail our arms in legs in a sycnronized fasion, we could potentialy win first prize. To use correct application is understanding one more section of martial arts, competetions are in a way showing what you know. While a focus may differ from one to another, the general idea is still acknowledged. Why would you even do kata, let alone a martial art system if you spent your training tring to learn values that make the art a martial art, are being completly ignored.

Fortunatly i have, but im frustrated with how things are running in the MA community, however i guess i just have to live with it.

I forget what my last resolution was...... But isnt it a religous thing?

Yea i agree, alot of it is about confidence. Attackers are less likely to be the agressor if they feel you are in control.

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Lol i agree, i think sub-zero should have done better. but my fav was defitnaly Liu Kang and Reptile fight. I was disappointed with the final fight between the main bad guy and the main good guy, was kinda short.

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Not sure exactly what you mean but firstly, what are youre focuses? Kata-use application or get the person to correct and test your technique. If its Kumite your working on then obviously work on either lightly practicing your distancing or practcing combinations that fit your body type. If its Kihon(basics) then i recommend working on slowly developing technique and use your partner to help. Mainly what martial art will those exercises be for? thats your biggest question because a martial art decides your training.

When that happens i like to use my muay thai training, so generally ill use a strong knee, possibly followed with an elbow to the temple if the opportunities there. If there far away i like to use shotokan which could be any general of techniques, but usually a low kick or a mid level punch followed up with something again.

lol i think about a year ago i had to learn a kata(jion) the day of the tournament, we got bronze also.

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