omnifinite

I don't think I ever disliked wearing my gi (black hapkido/karate type gi). I guess my only problem is how I have to pull the material back down after raising my arms up (the belt keeps it from going back to where it should be). And my sleeves don't stay rolled up, but that's just because it's a lightweight fabric. I'll get a heavyweight gi someday.

I would think a tiger would be stronger than a mantis . Other than that I couldn't tell you.

I've heard the sai was originally a pin used to hold the cart to the oxen yoke. The person would often have more than one lying around because they were brittle enough to break semi-frequently. Used as a weapon, people often had three of them at their disposal. Sounds pretty plausible to me. Another sai explanation I've heard is for planting seeds. Bore the hole for the seed, then lay the sai down sideways to gauge the distance where the next seed should go. That doesn't really explain the forks though.

I'd like to learn to use a yawara stick. Little 6 inch piece of dowel, basically (unless you get an octagonal one, which are probably more effective due to the edges). You can carry it anywhere and no one cares. And your opponent might not even see it when you use it... they'll just feel something unnaturally hard slamming/jabbing into them when your fist contacts, which alone could have an interesting psychological effect. Good for fingerlocks and such too.

My family is military and we ended up living in Seoul for 2 years. That's where I got my belt (training 5 days a week). I was pretty young though, so I wouldn't say I'm using a Korean style now, because I've moved on to other things.

You probably shouldn't be conditioning your hands like that without using the right oils on them afterwards. I'm told that otherwise you can develop bloodclots from it later in life that can cause serious problems.

From what I've been told, back when the Okinawans sent people to Japan to teach the Japanese some of their arts, they intentionally added some defects, like making the stances too deep, in case they ever went to war again. I couldn't give you better details than that though.

Knees, throat, or nose I say. If he can't walk, he can't chase you. If he can't breathe, he can't chase you. If he can't see (eyes filled with tears, of course you could go straight for the eyes too), he can't chase you. Don't stick around to find out what he'd do next .

It's like trying to define what's art and what isn't (and what's good art and what isn't). People with more experience and knowledge than you can give you better insight to help you make your decision... but in the end we're all just stuck with opinions and not much else.

If you're stuck with multiple opponents (and you can't run away), one of the best things to do is take down the guy closest to you the first chance you get. Be quick and brutal and vicious. It'll have a powerful psychological effect on the others, and they'll lose their confidence, if not leave you alone completely. It's a bad situation to be in... no matter how much training you have you'd be lucky to come out of it on your feet. They sure won't come at you one at a time like they would in the movies. I don't know what art would be best for a situation like that. I'd say something fast and efficient (you want anyone who comes at you to be on the ground within seconds), with some footwork to keep one of them between you and the others. From my experience I'd suggest Kempo, but there could be something better out there for it.

A lot of techniques do work better when you're completely relaxed. For one thing, having your muscles straining and tense has a way of sapping their power. For instance, a lot of martial arts would have you punch with a hand that's mostly relaxed until the point of impact, because the act of clenching the fist makes the punch less powerful (due to the mechanics of the arm). Try the two and see which movement feels more "free". For another thing... sometimes being all rigid causes your body to minorly activate its own pressure points... which doesn't really work in your favor. Likewise, the more tense your opponent is the more effective your activation of their pressure points will be... they'd be better off relaxing for their own protection. And for another... when your own muscles are relaxed you can feel another person's intentions better (which I'm sure Aikido demonstrates). If you have them in a hold and you're not focused on your own muscles, you can feel the more subtle movements of theirs that would key you into what they're going to do next. Someone I know in Aikido is always told to "finesse" rather than struggle with the opponent (her background before Aikido was a hardcore aggressive kickboxing sort of art... so all her old habits work against her now). Also, if you're calm and gentle, you're probably perceived as less of a threat, and the other person might relax themselves, or at least underestimate you. Of course the above post has a lot to do with it too. The better you are the easier you make it look and the less energy you put into making it work. I'll take efficiency over brute power any day.

There's always the chance that there's a high-level black belt (in some art closer to what you want) in your area somewhere without a school who'd be willing to train you in their backyard or something. I have no idea how to go about finding such a person, but maybe if you talk to people in those TKD schools you can stumble upon something... someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone...

TKD and Hapkido can be so similar you might not even feel like you were taking two. They're from the same place with many of the same origins. From what I can tell (I could be wrong)... Hapkido puts more focus than TKD does on grappling and such (and probably less focus on the fancier kicks, some of which I could never see using if I were in a real situation, but I'm biased here). And that's referring to most modern American schools you'd find... I'm sure both arts were sufficiently deadly in the old days... but now it seems the two are often taught in the same schools by the same people. If it were me I'd pick Hapkido and Wing Chun... though I don't know if the training would conflict. If you can pull them both off without the wires crossing you'd probably end up even better for it. The differences would make you more well-rounded and give you more options in a situation. But if they were just too different to fit them both in one brain at the same time I think you'd end up picking your favorite and wouldn't really mind leaving the other behind. In the end you keep the techniques that suit you and your intentions best anyway.

My employer does Aikido. I was going to join too, but it would have been an hour drive at least. I happened upon private instruction a lot closer (not Aikido) that suited me better. I do like Aikido... I suggest it to people looking for that sort of style. From what I can tell it's a bit of an exact science that takes a long time to master, but once you do it's worth it. I think without striking techniques I might have felt like something was missing though.

The martial arts are plagued with ego problems (and traditions borne from them). I say anything that facilitates genuine learning is good. Anything that stifles it is bad. So... screw ego .

Don't forget Kempo. There's some butt-kicking happening there .

I think I agree with the above. If you want to make the students strong... challenge them every step of the way from the very beginning. The person isn't much different after the test than they were the day before. They're being awarded a symbol of the skill they already possess. So, yeah, I think the test should be somewhat tough... but only because the whole way there was tough. Mainly it should be comprehensive to make sure nothing was forgotten and nothing got sloppy. You really can't do much to improve their personal skill level on the testing day itself... they should be there already.

Sounds like you handled it really well. Hopefully his students saw who had the stronger character there. I guess I could understand him not wanting to be beaten, because the politics of having a school requires his students to have faith in him or they (and their wallets) move on. But the way to not get beaten is to learn from people who can kick his butt instead of basing his fragile ego on rule-changing and deceit. Hopefully he'll go out of business as more people show him what he's made of and the students can find a better teacher elsewhere.

When I was younger there were a bunch of bullies in my class. None of them made it to black belt... usually their belts were lower than mine... and I could mop the floor with them sparring... but that never stopped them from trying to bully me on the sidelines or outside the class. So sometimes putting them in their "place" doesn't work if it's not something you're going to do off the mat as well. Maybe it's different with the one you know because it's based on skill, or at least the skill his belt color represents, rather than just being a jerk. I guess my advice would be to just accept that there are idiots out there and not care what he has to say. Kick his butt on the mat, keep yourself safe in and out of class, stay you no matter what he does, and in the end his words will only have the meaning you let them have. His personality will get him nowhere in life, and that's all the revenge you'd ever need. And make sure the instructor knows and pays attention to what's going on. If the guy keeps it up, someday you'll be the higher black belt anyway. Good luck.

Shu-shi-no-kon. It's the only one I know.

I saw the video. I didn't surprise me only because I've resigned myself to never underestimate the wretched things people are capable of doing to each other. If anyone has seen any of the Faces of Death videos or gone to rotten.com, you know what I mean. I'd even be willing to bet there's much much worse going on out there... not just physically but psychologically (which is just as devestating if you ask me). I guess all we can do is try to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem and maybe someday the world will be ok.

Whoops... hit "submit" twice. [ This Message was edited by: omnifinite on 2002-07-04 16:07 ]

I was in Hapkido about 10 years ago. A lot of people see Hapkido as a really comprehensive art... covers a lot of bases. The real Hapkido people will do some major damage to a person. But just like a lot of arts, good luck finding the real thing in the yellow pages. If you've found something pure that's found its way to the US, you're fortunate.

From what I can tell, a "grab" is a self-sustaining capture (of a limb, for example) with one point of control, while a "trap" is a capture using counter-pressure from two or more points of control. So grabbing someone's wrist would be simply holding it in your hand. Trapping it would be catching it between your bicep and forearm, or something similar.

That worries me sometimes. I was deep into Hapkido for about two years in 7th-8th grade. Then I moved and couldn't afford anything new. Finally I've been doing some other arts (at age 22) for about 6 months, and I wonder if it's too late for my body to become all that flexible, or just how many new movements my reflexes will retain now. I'm sure I'll do fine... but it's something I think about every now and then.