Nick_sam

yeah you hit it on the head, sdargie. its hard to know where to start to find a system of "natural" striking. karate seems (at least what i've seen) rather rigid and regimented in its forms, so im not sure if that is for me. i have so far narrowed down my options to kuk sool won, and hapkido, although i do have my doubts about both! i do intend on sticking with aikido for a while longer before i start anything new, btw. i want to keep that my main art, tho i feel i would like to eventually have another (more offensive or striking based) style under my belt (no pun)

i just saw the video clips of a hapkido demonstration. to me it looks like a sort of violent aikido. not saying this is bad. or good, just a comment. am i wrong to make this assumption about hapkido. although, whether my presumption is right or wrong, it certainly does look very effective, and impressive too.

wow, i never realised hapkido was such a clever (and rather nasty!) art! very impressive! thanks for the clips

have you by any chance seen a film called equilibrium?? some nice gun-based martial arts in that one. dunno if they would work outside of the movies. still, a good idea!!

ted, im actually a musician and i can tell you that juliard is the right answere! however, playing in bars and stuff does have an enormous advantage over just studying. trust me. then again the juliard player will still be technically better. just wont have as much a feel for things as the bar player. unless the juliard player has done gigs aswell!

definately a very cool thing!

i hope you pass, let us know when you do! good luck!

heya, let us know how your test went!

thanks so much for that! im thinking about it myself now!!

im in a similar situation to you, bigfish, i already do aikido and am looking for something else to train in in the future. a good bet would be kempo karate as that seems to be quite well balanced, or even long-fist kung fu / keet kune do, ive also considered ninjutsu as it appears to compliment aikido quite nicely. ive been doing quite a few forum searches and have come up with some good information, but most seems to tell me where the art came from and its history rather than what it physically involves, its stylistic traits, etc. i think the best thing would be to have a little msn conversatino with someone who is very knowledgeable about the various different arts, or at least the one's you would have boiled your choices down to. come to think of it, i wouldnt mind doing that myself - dont really want to seem rude tho, so if anyone has any offers nick

aaah, what the hell, i'll give you the whole thing If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you. But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make your dreams your master If you can think - and not make your thoughts your aim If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools. Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! --Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

wow, that really was a very gripping article. thankyou so much. i also read an article about shivalry being dead on another forum, and this is one of the reasons why. as white warlock said, its very easy to fall into a catch 22 situation. if L had resorted to the only thing he could at the time, violence, he would be seen as in the wrong, and that really does (although the last thing i am is a violent man!) get mmy blood boiling - what seems like the hopeless injustice of a situation. however it is instances like this that show that if you do manage to keep your head and not "lose it", then in the long run you will be the one to benefit: people will see what the other person did and how YOU handled it, and thus you will be admired for your course of action. so my deepest congratulations to L and his mother (especially L) for handling such a delicate situation so well. i have been in similar situations before, so i know what its like (although L is almost certainly a much better fighter than me, and i would have probably lost anyway, lol!) i think this extract of "If" seems appropriate.... "If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you ... Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!" --Rudyard Kipling

i was introduced to martial arts by a girl..

hello and welcome! interested to hear about your style!

another one i havnt heard of!! lol thanks for being the first!

i have been doing a lot of research into the different martial arts, and am absolutely perplexed by kung fu in all its forms - all, what seems like, six million of them!! lol, just kidding! what im wondering is, rather than ask you all what every style involves, what style of kung fu you do, and what it involves stylistically - ie, kick orientated, flamboyant, emphasis on weapons, emphasis on body movement or sheer strength, etc. and of course what attracted you to your art. im very much interested to hear all this! look forward to a good read!

yeah ive seen that page. what i could find were the links i posted above.. anyone care to check them out and see if anything is familiar? and it must go beyone assassination, surely! lol

very much interested in training in Ninjutsu, and have found a few different places in london. would any of these be at all familiar to any of you londoners (or anyone else, at that!)? http://www.yeodojo.net/home.htm http://www.bujinkanlondon.org/ http://www.shishikudojo.co.uk/intro.html the yeo dojo seems the most promising at a first glance, not too sure about the hammersmith one (the second post), although i am likely to be wrong! any input would be greatly appreciated! also, could someone confirm my beliefs on what ninjutsu actually is, i think i know, but, again, could be wrong (damn i gotta stop saying that!!) thanks all!

well it does seem a tad fishy to me. not as an art, but how it seems to be presented - in a "if you learn this, then you can do all these flashy moves" sort of way. whats kuntao?

so, can anyone tell me what the deal is with this one? i found this site: http://www.oomyungdoe.com it definately looks showy, but it doesnt tell you anything about the style itself and what it involves. any ideas?

did a search... anyone heard of simon yeo? or has anyone had any experience with thebujinkan hammersmith dojo?

many thanks, thats really useful!

hey all, does anybody know of any where that does ninjutsu (ninpo, budo taijutsu, etc) in london? i have heard of the Bujinkan in hammersmith and the Shishiku dojo in seven sisters - does anyone have any opinions on these? any recommendations of other dojos? thanks, nick

hey everyone!

again, cant thankyou enough! i like the idea of hooking up with a class member and practicing too.. i may do that when i get to know a few of them a bit better!