Enviroman

Undergrad - Princeton Grad school - University of Texas That's cool. Obviously Penn's not Princeton in a lot of departments...did you do a masters or doctoral program at UT? I don't see myself doing anything more than a masters so I'll probably end up at Penn State (for cost reasons). edit: A quick trip to your website answered my question. Do you do programming work fulltime?

Then it was probably only Penn so you'd have been better off at the instructors college Seriously though, you're talking tuition only, not room and board, right? Nah, it was my total payment after FinAid. I'll take Penn's "bad" reputation along with my Wharton internship and great job prospects any day. Where did/do you go?

I like the LS1 engine but I hate the interior of the Firebird. So shoddy...

I liked it. One of my friends (a diehard fan of the original) hated it. I thought Depp was a bit over-the-top but, overall, I enjoyed the movie. If you like Depp, see Finding Neverland...

We do kumite done on the knees and stand up kumite (done with some pads). They are non-stop full contact. The ground kumite continues until someone taps. The only rules are no biting, eye gouging, striking (when doing grappling-only), hard neck strikes, and you must stop if someone taps. Stand up kumite = no eye gouging, no hard neck strikes, no hard kicks to the knees, and try and stick to striking/blocking (instead of performing takedowns).

I recently started training Kosho Ryu Kempo and we do a lot of full contact (full resistance or whatnot) ground work. Their main defense against being in the mount is to wait for your opponent to drop his weight and for you to attempt to push on various facial and arm pressure points all the while "zig-zaggin" in a semi-crab walk in an effort to toss him off of you or at least allow you to partially escape and improve your position. Anyone else have some insights into escaping/improving position from the "mountee" position? BTW, I'm pretty psyched to be in a striking art that practices full resistance grappling work. Apparently they do exist.

shh, it's the little things like the wrist movements that mark out people who have actually trained in something and the people who just read books. Haven't you noticed that books hardly ever talk about wrist movements in basic movements? and before anyone gets narky; i'm kidding.... Kidding or not you're right.

There are losers and lesser losers...who wins in a street fight?

He's listed as being a Master under Mattera. I have no idea when he got his first dan. Why would anyone pay $15,000 for their instructor's college? I paid less than that for tuition at an Ivy League university this year...

Hah, I just realized you are like 25 minutes from me. Where do you study (if you don't mind)?

Good lord, don't shave areas other than your face or wax... If hairyness makes you uncomfortable (I'm not sure why it would but nevertheless) try using baby powder or something to ease chafing. Some girls really hate a hairy guy while others like one. Hopefully you find girls that can see past epidermis.

Well, we have a small dog (~20 lbs) but we also live in an apt. I think there are benefits to all sizes of dogs...but, then again, I'm very much a dog person. As a side note, it's funny that two poeple here have Chinook, a relatively "rare" breed. It was created here in the US around 80 (or so) years ago...just an interesting tidbit from a guy that is very into dog rescue!

Hmm. I found "Shorei Kan Ryu" but the only thing I could track down for Shorei Kai is info about Kosho Shorei Kai Kempo. Must be an "individualized" style. Shorei Kan is an offshoot of Gojo Ryu.

I've just started studying Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo. The Lineage is supposedly James M. Mitose's family to Bruce Juchnik. I am learning from 2nd gen Juchnik...

What is Shorei Kai Ryu? Are you referring to Kosho Shorei Kai Kempo? If so, that's cool. It's the style I just recently started to learn!

Martial Law got cancelled a few years ago...I don't think it made it to syndication.

You're wrong but it's ok. Most northern styles tend to use high kicks...some of the thought behind this is that the aerial kicks were developed to dismount soldiers on horseback. another is that they were simply stronger legged as they inhabited mountinous areas. could be a combo. Mantis uses mostly low to mid-level kicks. However, head-level kicks aren't unheard of.

could u tell us more about some of the differences between mantis styles? like the 8-step, or the blooming something, and 7-star? Well 8-Step uses different forms than 7-Star. I will eventually learn 2 8-Step forms in my 7-Star training. I know that 8-Step incorporates Bagua and some other styles. I think you mean Plum Blossom mantis. I know very little about the style except that people say it's not as "hard" as 7-Star or 8-Step.

Yeah, I don't knowe what you mean. At first I thought it was going to be a thread about sake. Rice wine is pretty good sometimes!

I didn't start any training until 16, stopped at 17-18, restarted at 21, stopped at 22, and I'm restarting at 23. I didn't start at 6 and I don't have the technique that many of the students that did start young have. But who cares? I knew people that felt similarly to you when I played chess. I started chess at 11 and was consistently beating people 20, 30, and even 40+ years older than I was. In fact, I know more than a few people that started playing chess in their 20s or 30s that ended up quitting because I was in my teens and I was in a completely different league than they were. The end result? They missed out on playing a fantastic game due to an ego problem. All I can really say is try and enjoy the ride. To quote an oft-used phrase: "In the end your only opponent is yourself."

I liked Martial Law but I hated Walker, Texas Ranger. The acting was SO bad in it that it made me want to cry. I just couldn't sit through it... In reference to Perfect Weapon: When is it coming on DVD? I haven't seen it in a few years and I don't feel like renting it on VHS.

I don't see a specific problem with Christians becoming martial artists. I'm sure many of my co-MAers are Christian (it is the most common religion in the US) and it has never be a point of contention. We did have a Christian in my old class that was very preachy and pushed Christianity on others but she stopped when she was told that it was not polite to thrust her beliefs on others before, during, or after class on those that did not wish to be "thrust upon."

In reference to your post about your county: hahahaha. That's the midwest for you. Yeah, Oriental is viewed as a derogatory term nowadays. It's very 1950s...it's simply outdated. When was the last time someone referred to Asia as "The Orient?"

I had to read Plato's Republic for a course...it was ok, just like most other classical literature.

I'm pretty anti-fighting and under no circumstances would I let any family member get beaten up if I could help stop it. Letting him "toughen up" is a ridiculous excuse for letting a fist fight go on - especially between 10 year olds! Frankly, I'm surprised that so many people on this thread were pro-fight. It's all about how you were brought up I guess.