liquidkudzu

Actually, I have a burning love for sports bras, and whenever Michelle Krasnoo comes out in her gi pants, belt, and sports bra, it makes a little part of my day that much more special. But if my little girl competed in a tournament wearing a bra, I would consider stringing her up and the judges who allowed her to wear in in the tournament area. I am all for non-traditional uniforms, but when did we become so deadened to nudity or near nudity that when underage girls come out wearing bras we don't notice or decide it is inappropriate? I was watching a commercial for the toy "Bratz" and the toy is a 10 month little girl (doll) wearing fish net stockings, a leather bra top, and a leather jacket on top of that. Add to that makeup caked on around the eyes and you have to wonder where morals have gone in this country. lk

http://www.finalfu.com/ I wonder how bad the tournament will stink. Yes, I think my glass is half empty on this one. I say it will be nothing but tricksters and flashy junk done by people wearing flashy uniforms and sports bras. lk

Right after I opened my first school (several years ago), I ran into a student and her boyfriend while shopping. We will call the guy Marcus the Troll (name changed for anonymity). She introduced us, and he asked how long I’d trained in the arts. I said 10 years. He then told me he’d trained for 11 years and therefore was better than me. I didn’t know whether to laugh at the way he was coming off or simply walk away. To call his bluff, I asked which style he practiced and who his teacher was. He stammered for a bit, then claimed he practiced tai chi and kickboxed with that style at tournaments and in his friend’s back yard. He wouldn’t produce a teacher’s name or the name of any tournament that he’d fought in. The poor girl was mortified at how ridiculous he sounded. To end the conversation, I politely invited him to visit my school before class so he could spar with me and teach the students some tai chi forms. Needless to say, Marcus never showed up lk

I like KWON, but that is becuase they gave me a wholesale account. With that, I can get gi's for about $14, belts for about $3, sparring gloves for $13, and sparring boots for $13. Also I like Proforce. You can go to https://www.martialartssupermarket.com and get Proforce stuff for about the same prices that I said I can get KWON for. lk

Trustkid, I am on the outside of Aiken (actually closer to Augusta, Georgia). When are you starting your school? I would love to come visit when you get started. The deal you have at $10 per student per month sounds like a dream. I hope it works out for you. Are you members of any associations or overbodies? How are things going so far? lk

trustkid1, What part of SC are you from? I am from the Aiken area. lk

Ouch. That story made me really mad, on your behalf. If you stepped into my school, I would consider you a 2nd dan black belt, but that is my opinion. I guess it really comes down to a matter of affiliation. Since you know the affiliation was bogus, then that means you are not a 2nd dan in ITF TKD, but are a 2nd dan in TKD (with no affiliation). The situation was no fault of your own. If you are wanting to go to 3rd degree in ITF TKD, just find a teacher that will allow you to test for 3rd dan, but let him know that your last teacher was shady and you were ignorant of his fake affiliation status. Also, you could join an association other than ITF that would cross rank you in their association as a 2nd dan. The problem with that is finding an association that you don't feel is a diploma mill. Go to google.com and type in "martial arts association" and you will see what I mean. By the way, you can go to https://www.martialartssupermarket.com and buy ITF certificates for about $3.00 I am surprised that I don't see your story more often. lk

Excellent article! lk

lol Karate25 , it just happened that i was watching "the last samurai" movie , so i guess i will go with that suggestion & storm the dojo Seriously , i think it's more appropriate that i challenge him in the next tournament ( since i never got a response from him any way ) , thx all for ur replies Actually, if you challenge him in a tournament, you would have to go to the promoter and request a special fight seperate from the standard brackets to fight him, assuming you are in different divisions. An average promoter or judge will recognize this as an unnecessary grudge match and a liability. Just let the situation drop. It is starting to look like you want a fight. This makes you the same or worse than someone who insults someone else. lk

There was a disabled martial arts association or federation I found a few months back and now cannot find or remember its name. It is not https://www.defenseability.com (or its Combat Hapkido sister style/assoc). Does anyone know of another one? I googled and yahooed it to death, but cannot find it. lk

I found this posting at one of the Yahoo Groups and need to share it: ================================== http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate2/ or http://www.redcross.org (NOTE: some stores such as Bi-Lo grocery store will match your donation if you give it through their store. This makes your donation double--please do that if you can) Those two links will help. I watched footage last night and this is something that the US has never experienced. Sep. 11th was unimaginable, but the physical wreckage was confined to a few square miles. This is covering thousands of square miles and the death count will hit the thousands (just like Sep 11th did). The US has never been offered help, even though we dish out billions of dollars to individual countries each year--countries that wouldn't dream of offering anything back to a country like the US who supports them constantly, but they have. For the first time ever, countries like Saudi Arabia, France, Japan, China, and others have offered help to us! That shows there is hope for the world. I just hope the people in Washington aren't too proud to take that help. In the Superdome, they are piling the dead bodies in the corner and have run out of food. Yes, they are looting, but I don't consider it looting to take baby food, diapers, and food for your family from an abondoned grocery store. If you just leave the food there, it will not go back into store circulation--it will be thrown away a few months from now. Take it and feed someone. Needless to say the thugs that are taking tv's, and sneakers are just exploiting the situation, but people taking cases of orange juice to those who have not eaten in days are NOT stealing. This is different. Please everyone, help. lk

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/living/health/12503125.htm That article tells about a Playstation 2 called "Kinetic (which) offers an all-in-one fitness program that includes aerobics, kick boxing, yoga, tai chi and more. Players can customize workouts based on four discipline levels, or tackle an intensive 12-week training program." It uses a camera hooked up to your game system that recognizes your movements and translated it onto the game. This will add more of the self-trained people to the mix (you know, the ones I always complain about), but has a lot of potential for people like us to train in new ways and pick up new ideas. Imagine if they gear it more toward our sport and create martial arts based training games that would correct our movements as we tried a new technique or form. What does everyone here think of the idea? pressureguy