Enviroman

I just looked for you...nothing. Watch Enter the Dragon. While it might not be exactly what you're looking for, it's a great movie.

Page not found, but I suspect something fishy.

I've known some very decent Shotokan practicioners...while it does seem more sports-oriented than I might enjoy, there are certainly positive aspects to the style.

Or in Tenchu.

Eh, I think it's pretty funny. I guess you need a twisted sense of humor.

Strange for them to say that when the Shaolin Monks travel doing miracles nearly everyday. I witnessed them taking razor sharp swords and pressing them against thier bare chest and the monks pushed and walked into the sword, It bent back like a hulla hoop. After I seen that they pulled out a huge chinese broadsword they then stuck it into a 5 inch pine board and it split the board completely, then they stood back and tossed it another 5inch pine board and it went through the board completely then they sliced a tomatoe by just dropping the tomato to the blade, they had tons of people in the crowd touch the sword and alot of people cut their fingers and the point was very sharp. After this I though no way will they do it again.....but they did one monk sticks the sword up to the same monks bare chest and then 4 other monks all push hard into the guy making it 5 people push the sword the guy of course was scooting back but he was leaning totaly into the sword and it was freaking nuts. Just when I seen it all the guy with the sword into his chest lowers it to his navel and he pushes hard into the 5 monks holding the sword and again it bends back into a huula hoop with the pointy part nearly touching the handle. That was just one of the many things I seen and after that I was convinced about Chi and Ki.....Noone can tell me differently because I found a teacher of Qi Gong and I have learned some really neat tricks in just under 2 years. Yes this stuff takes time and you build chi by a combination of Mediation, exercise, and Iron Body type actions.. Ki or Chi comes from the stomach then out into the throat, and you are suppose to try to visualize it stopping there and learn to push it out into your arms and legs through a hypnotism like Kata. I have done some crazy stuff with it and the guy im learning from refuses to brag or show me stuff other then what I work on but he amazes me with stuff I see him do when he doesn't realize im watching. I believe Ki is some form of universal energy that all things have both non living and living, man made and natural. For some reason Living things have this energy more and once you learn to do a meditation where you are almost in visions and day dreams when you come out you see foggy auras sometimes over trees, children and people and I swear I can almost feel stuff like im breathing with a person or feel thier heart beat. Not to rain on your parade, but you realize that they could not bend a folded steel katana in a similar fashion, right? Being able to take a flimsy, bendable sword in the chest and not have it puncture you is similar to hindu mystics that lay on a bed of nails. The skin has a certain resiliency and couple that with excellent muscle training and you can see how they'd be able to stop the sword from penetrating their skin. If they took a carbon steel sword and did this...well, then I'd be seriously amazed.

https://www.realultimatepower.net obviously ninja are still in existence...

I help friends tune, but I don't have the cash to tune anything that I own. You drive a ford escort ZX2, I presume? I drive a 96 Ford Contour SE (175 HP, V6).

i started to read the Golden Compass but i got bored with it about 100 pages in. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You need to keep reading it...the beginning is a bit slow. Once Lyra gets on her journey, the book picks up at a fantastic rate!

Yeah, I knew someone that tried to convince me that it was serious about 5 years ago...it took me a while to show him that it wasn't real.

It depends on the specific style. Eagle Claw Northern kung fu utilizes a lot of high flying, high kicking, and some weapons. From what I know, the northern styles tend to use more high kicks/attacks because they were developed to fight people on horseback coupled with the fact that the northern area of china is mountainous (which led to stronger legs naturally). At least that's what I've heard...

I think it's folly to say "well there's only two of them, I can take 'em!" If you have the chance to escape (which I think you are implying that one does) you should take it, regardless.

I think .5 inches is excessive. You can tell if the board is too stiff or just right. If you feel that it is too stiff you can take a plane and shave it down until you get a stiffness that you are comfortable with. At .5 inches thick you could break the board (at least you could cause it to crack, especially if your foam shifts or something). I think having a board that is only 1" in width where you plant it in the ground (which is what I think you're recommending) will cause it to be a very short lived board. edit: Ok, maybe for people that don't have an inordinate amount of practice with a makiwara, I'd recommend shaving the top of the board down to around an inch or so in width (the part where you place your pad).

4-6 mostly...it's much harder to put in 7+ hours a week if you're married, work a full-time job, and/or have other commitments. I noticed once I hit college my extracurricular time went way down...due to a heavier work load, internships, relationships, etc.

And there's the crux of the issue. Most people cannot study for 6-7 days a week. Heck, most are lucky if they can go three or four times a week. To most people, martial arts is a pasttime not a profession. Do I think that it's beneficial for someone to train 7 days a week? Of course! I just don't think it's practical for 99% of practicioners.

Almost nothing but I'm making a makiwara...which allows me to answer you, Menjo. Take a 4x4 board (8ft in length). Try finding cedar wood...it is flexible. I would avoid oak or pine. Oak is too inflexible and pine (also pretty inflexible) will warp and is generally pretty bad. If you want to make the board shorter (depending on your height) cut some of it now. You'll want about 3 feet of the board in the ground. I recommend waterproofing the board. You can use any of the cedar-specific treatments found at Home Depot (for decks or whatnot). Put it in the ground. Now you can put your striking surface on the board. Traditionally, you wrap hay with rope. I recommend a normal striking pad or maybe some heavy foam wrapped in cloth or leather.

Yes. We do full contact with and without pads.

I think that's a bit harsh. To say 3 times a week is an absolute minimum (implying that 4-5 is "normal" and training everyday is optimal) is sort of absurd. If you are referring to just basic exercise, then ok. But if you mean that he should train minimally (in BJJ or whichever style) 3+ times a week...well, that's just not feasible for most people. Cost-wise and opportunity-wise. Heck, most BJJ schools in my area train only 2-3 times a week! I'm not trying to come off as rude, I'm just saying that 1-2 times a week (2 is infinitely better than one) with another 1-2 times a week cardio/weights/stretching should be adequate.

I'd be surprised if anyone has heard of him (since you're not in a particularly huge part of Canada) but you'll be able to tell if he's a good teacher, I think. If you feel comfortable under him and if he works well with you, then just enjoy the ride. BTW, I love the kotegaeshi at full speed!

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I tend to be a fantasy nerd, so I like books like Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series...

It could just be me, but a lot of you guys seem awfully oung to be purchasing these sorts of weapons...

Touching someone and shocking them is the result of your excess electrons jumping to that person (thus causing the "shock"). Human hands (especially when they are dry in the winter time) tend to be very apt to give up electrons (very positive on the triboelectric "scale"). Cotton, for example, is far from human skin on the scale so when you touch someone's clothing you might shock them. It's even possible to shock their hand if you've built up a lot of static electricity. You are sending them your excess electrons...you are not performing some sort of mystical act.

Instant red flags: "There are 12 belt levels prior to obtaining the coveted black belt." "The minimum level you should try to attain is the high Purple Belt. This is when the art starts to become a reaction. This takes approximately 8 months." 19 (!) different schools. 7 animal style (including Bear and something that looks like a weasel or an ermine or something). Normally, 5 animal kung fu works off of dragon, crane, snake, tiger, and leopard. This style has added a mantis (which is a totally different style), bear (of which I know nothing), and some other weasel-like animal (which *could* be a leopard but it sure doesn't look like one). No mention of true lineage (other than other family members of the same name). This is not to say that it's not a good school, but these are points of interest...