searcher

I think that if you can not defend yourself or at least fight against people of the same rank and not get killed you need to take off your rank and do something about it. At my instructor's school if you cannot do what is required of the rank you possess, you are asked to either fix the problem or move to an appropriate rank. The belt you wear should be a mark of how well you can fight, defend yourself, knowledge, etc. The problem is that we have to many belt factory style schools in todays society. WE must not let it get any further than it has gone and FIX THE PROBLEM. Now I am not saying that a 70 year old should challenge an 18 year old to a fight to prove himself, but he should be able to take care of himself.

The decision will ultimately be yours but I suggest that you go to several schools and watch class. Don't go off of a first impression, go there several times. If they get annoied at you forget about them and go to a different school. Find an instructor that you can get along with and that you think you can learn from. Make sure you will be able to challange yourself and that the system is one that interests you. No two people will like the same styles, find one for YOU!!!!

To answer the first question I think it is our responsibility as martial artists to help keep the thugs out of our inside training sessions. If they want to get the very best of training they will want to change their ways and be a part of what we are and if not we need to keep pushing ourselves to be better so we will be able to defend the innocent and ourselves fromeven our own classmates. Now for the second part it is up to each of us to maintain the purity of our own arts and not let anyone waterdown our styles. This does not mean we can not learn something from somebody else it means do not forget your roots. I myself train in several different arts, but I keep them seperated from each other when I train and when I teach.

Bitseach, you are right about a lot of people talking about the military and not joining. Some people are not meant to be soldiers. If martial artists want to be a help to the world lets better equip our current soldiers with what we have to offer. I train several special operations troops at my school and I offer them the training for free as long as they are currently serving in the military. We have the responsibility ti help in any way we can, but remeber you can't stop a war by taking part in one.

The traditional Japanese archery (kyudo) uses the thumb to pull back the string. I shoot recurve bows much like the Mongolian bows. They are much easier to pull back than the Japanese bows. If your thumb is hurting you might need a new glove. The Japanese gloves are designed to use the thumb and they are re-inforced with a piece of deer horn to eliminate the pain in the thumb.

Joanne, if you are looking for some videos on useage and some more flashy techniques you might want to check out Master Lee Barden's videos that are available from Black and Blue Video. He has a 4 tape set of videos that are really inexpensive and have tons of drills and technical info on them. He even has some sparing tips on the tapes for applying the techniques. The foam Nunchaku is a great idea, that is how I started with them and if you want to talk to someone who started with the wooden ones talk to my father. He was very stubborn in his use of wood and he found out the hard way that they hurt very bad. Trust me the foam hurt bad enough, no need to do yourself in before you get started.

Jack, I went through the Navy BUD/S workout. I used it to prepare for my Shodan test. I had some great help from the Navy in getting information and re-inforcing my drive. I also tried to become a SEAL and came up a little short of the mark. The experience was worth it all. I still use the training to keep me and my students up to par physically. If you think stage 1 and 2 are hard remember they have stages up to level 4( it is really nasty). If you complete it all you will be in the best shape of your life. Don't ever give up it is all in your head whether or not you will keep going. Good Luck to anyone who is doing this workout.

Gentlemen, we seem to be having a little problem with this subject. Many have made good points for both sides, but what we all must remember is that 9 out of 10 times it depends on the individual fighter not the style of fighting that someone does. To address the point of whether or not a point fighter can take a punch or not I remember Dan Severn saying "I have never been one to want to take a punch" and Bill Wallace saying "pain hurts". The purpose of point fighting is to not get hit. I fight point and full-contact plus I box regularly, so I guess that means I can't take a punch because I point fight. The individual fighter must be able to make a distinction betwean fighting full-contact and point fighting. Now if any of the anti-point fighters want to make a deal out of nothing, remember that most of the point fighters train for a specific type of fighting and they could change the training and fight in another style of fighting if they chose to.

The only thing I know about Tiger is that he has won several knockdown karate tourneys and he has created his own hybrid style of MA. He is reputed as being one bad individual and he is in very good condition. He suposedly makes his students go through extreme physical conditioning drills and even more intense training the higher they go up in rank. Black belt magazine di an article on him and his school.

My favorite kata is kururunfa it is the perfect blend of hard and soft movements. For competition it is gojushiho.

Well if we are talking karate styles I think my favorite has to be goju ryu with chito ryu a close second. I still love shorin ryu which is the parent system of chito ryu. My third favorite system is either Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate or Isshinryu karate because of the combative type of training. If we are talking martial arts in general I find that I have a secret passion for judo, my first love.

Here it is, if you want to know how to use kama I suggest that you go to black and blue video and check out the tapes by Jimmy Pham, Jon Valera, or Mike Chat. They all use them and they all have won world championships with this weapon. In the demonstration department you will need to be able to kick VERY well and you will need to be able to do some basic gymnastic movements to make your performance a great one. The kama are used quite heavily on the NASKA and NBL karate circuits.

I try to start my students with weapons only after they have shown that they understand how to use their body as a weapon. This may vary from student to student. I see it that why would I hand a gun to a child that cannot use the bathroom by themself. If a student shows control over their own body they are then ready, but I do not force them to study a weapon. Some students have no desire to learn, but if a student shows a unique gift with a weapon I will encourage them to pursue it further and I offer personal instruction.

To address the topic of speed we must rememeber that speed and power are related. The Physics equation of f=ma is the one dealing with power. The ammount of force(f) is equal to the mass(m) times the acceleration(a). So if you have more mass you don't have to be as fast to be powerful and if you are fast you don't have to be big. Now for the technique part if you don't have technique you have nothing. Technique is what seperates us from the street fighters of the world.

Here is the deal, try telling the masters from the earlier part of this century or some of the ones from the 1800's that you will not study from them because they are not of a certain dan ranking and one of two things will happen. 1.) they would take it as an insult and kill you where you stand or 2.) they will stand and stare at you dumbfounded. The reason they will stare at you dumbfounded is that the dan system was not cerated until they 1890's and was not widely used by anyone until the 1950's and 1960's. I have studied under a few instructors that were "only" 1 dan and I think maybe they had more to offer in the learning department. Remember that someone's rank does not determine how much they know and how good they are. I agree with the comment that if you are not willing to train with someone because they are of a lower dan ranking then you are concieded and need to take a look at why you are training. Just remember some styles don't use the dan ranking system.

OK, I am going to give this a stab. I am an instructor in two different styles of Okinawan Karate at the same time. I have also studided Kenpo, Judo, and Isshinryu. I have boxed in the Golden Gloves. If you worry about what your masters think and not look at it as what you are getting out of the training you deffinately need to go somewhere else to train, but do not forget the training that you have learned. As an instructor I encourage my students to study as many other styles as they can handle. The reason for this is that by seeing what other people are doing they can open up their minds to new ways of personal development and maybe it might win them a competition or save their butt someday. I a person says they have the best way of doing something they need to be beat against a tree. Look at what Bruce Lee did, he took several styles and mixed them with his base style to form one of the most formidable styles out there. Don't do anything that YOU will regret and keep an open mind. Remember that you are the one doing the training.

I am not sure how much time you have to prepare for the tourney, but if you have very much do a lot of hip and leg strengthening exercises. At the tourney remember you are going to get thrown at some time so be calm and let your body go limp ie go with the flow. Also stick to your basics, because someone else is doing something different does not mean you have to do it to. Think quick, quick, quick and you will be all right. Don't get frustrated and have fun!!! :smile:

My fisrt system I studied was Ed Parker's American Kenpo Karate. I studiesd there for two years and then went on to a different school, the Kenpo school was shutting down. As for what styles that I study I study Chito ryu, Goju ryu currently and I have studied Judo(still practise, but not actively training for competition) and Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate. I have also dabbled in Isshinryu and I used to do American boxing.

I compete on both the NASKA and NBL circuits in open weapons, traditional weapons, traditional empty hand kata, point and continuous sparring. I also do knockdown and full-contact fighting.

I am not going to compete this year, but my wife and I are preparing for next year. We are going to try and get some new katas worked out for next year and we hope to hit the circuit next year and go for a national championship. I am hitting the NBL circiuts this year. Are you competing this year?

If you are looking for shorin ryu kata I suggest going to Copenhagen Shorin Ryu Karate School on the net or visiting black and blue video. I am wondering what type of competition you are doing and what category you are competing in, open or traditional. :smile:

The hook kick is my favorite kick and it is an extremely effective technique when used by a skilled person. The only flaw I see with it is that it is very dangerous to use if you have even one little bit of loss of control. You can easily kill someone if you are not careful. Great for full-contact and point fighting.

Jack, thanks for the welcome, this sight is awesome. I have done the BUD/S workout before and it is tough, but keep in mind that your mind is the key and you will do just fine.

Just keep working out and you will get the weight you want. When I was 14 I could only bench 130lbs and by the time I was 18 I was benching 400 with my all-time personal record of 440lbs. It gives you a goal that is why you max out TKD_Mcgee

OK, I know everyone has there opinions on whether or not to take creatine and if it does any good or not. I did a lot of research into the subject with doctors and elite trainers and the results are that unless you are a top-notch world class athlete you are not going to benefit from taking it at all. Most people will not get anything except water retention. If you do decide to take it make sure you drink a bunch of water every day.