Drunken Monkey

but no one is discounting the hard work that any ten year old might put in. the point is, there is a certain standard and image to uphold when you have a belt rank, not of apparent fighting ability per se but of uniform standards (all blues should be equal, all blacks should be equal etc etc, with size, weight, not being an issue that matters) the ten year old kid. let's say he attains his shodan. then a bigger, stronger blue belt comes and brute forces his way and beats the ten year old..... see the problem with young black belts? the black belt should have been able to take care of the blue. especially when there is a question of skill being part of it. he might have been technically able but he wasn't physically able to win. it isn't an age issue. it just happens to be that age affects the issue at hand. a young person is just not as developed as an older person. like warlock said. the kid will bounce of his knee (and probably then slump to the ground...) i don't see this as discrimination. it is more like protection for the kid, the school and the sanctity (probably the wrong word...) of the belt system. it has been discussed before that there are many problems with the belt system and this is one of the issues that need to be addressed.

hey, i'm a hopeless amateur AND a couch potato and i'm proud of that! you rate yourself however you like. i like to let other people tell me how good/bad i am.

....... the beauty of a line is in its imperfections. a perfect straight line has no life, no anima (thanks grosse pointers) it just goes along a predetermined path without deviation. the natural line follows every bump, every little imperfection in the paper, sometimes catching on a loose fibre, sometimes smoothing out an odd bump on the surface but in all cases doing something out of the ordinary. the perfect line isn't one that is perfectly straight. the perfect line is the one that captures and exudes the intent of the one holding the object making the line. if all you worry about is that your lines 'don't look right' you might end up missing the beauty of the thing in front of you. i saw, if you want a straight line, use a ruler. if you want a good line, forget about it being straight or not and look at what's in front of you and look at what's behind the thing you're looking at and look at the things around it. don't draw just yet. just look. take in the whole scene. look at everything. light, colour, tone, surfaces, textures, reflections.... the most important part of this is not how you put things down on paper. the important part is what you see and how you see. enjoy what you are looking at. then imagine that joy transfering from pencil, pen, brush, fingertip, whatever it is you are using, onto whatever surface you are working on. if it doesn't look right, who cares? as long as you have enjoyed the whole process i don't care if you paint an orange purple. so go on everybody. go draw! anything. everything. go watch how children draw. they believe totally in the thing that they do. there is an amazing 'honesty' in how they draw things: true free-flowing imagination/representation. it is nearly impossible to imitate. not a straight line is sight. unfortunately, as the kids grow up, the world starts to impose these 'rules' and this life in their pictures start to fade.... and the straight lines start to appear.... can't draw a straight line? i say 'good on you'. you are now ready to begin an amazing drawing.

um, thanks.... those three came from a little collection i did of the guys from my foundation course, many, many years ago... i have to say that these three are probably the best looking. the last one was a complete happy accident. i finished the underpainting in about twenty minutes, applied a wash to check for tone and realised that it was practically done. a portrait in half an hour. i have tried but never again have i done one in half an hour. i must've been possessed that day.... i've currently got one on the go seeing as i have a lot of time on my hands right now. it's um, of the girl i mentioned in the true love thread.... i need to finish it before her birthday! maybe you guys will get to see it first....

..traditionally, there were NO belts beyond white (learning the basics) and black (finished learning the basics). black belt was regarded as a begining rather than an end this is exactly my point. the problem isn't with what the black belt represents. the problem is with what the layman believes, which is the view as expressed by the article; that a black belt means you are a good fighter.

i would put my money on the better fighter, whether he comes from okinawa or california, or has a black belt or not.... which is my point. and the point of many others. to think that black belts from okinawa are going to better fighters than a black belt from a u.s school is just as dumb as thinking that a black belt automatically means a good fighter.

depends on what 'sword' type weapon you are talking about. in terms of use, the long chinese sword (as seen in crouching tiger...) is used very much like how a fencer (using foil) would, whereas the shorter 'dao' type sword is used more as a chop/draw type weapon (almost like a sabre)but still uses the same principles when it comes to blocking/parrying/receiving. i wouldn't say it isn't combat efficient. when it comes down to it, it's actually very simple in execution. depends if you know real forms or not.... um, just wondering, where did you get your 'chinese' style influence....?

...i always thought that velocity was a vector....

hey guys, i keep having this vague memory of something about the ninjas being very much seeped in religion and have some kind of hand signal/greeting to represent their stage of 'enlightenment' as it were. can anyone help? cheers. monkey.

nothing special. just some old things from my files... http://www.karateforums.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=287 http://www.karateforums.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=286 http://www.karateforums.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=285 laters. monkey. *edited a typo*

doesn't the sound of beating a dead horse depend on the state of decomposition? surely in some cases it's more like 'ssshhlllll-pok'

....and who did you go and tell? and how did you tell them? did you just go up to random strangers and say 'my sensei's a black belt?'. how did the topic come up? did you bring up the topic of martial arts? in most cases, if you present that kind of information, it is almost always going to be taken as some sort of brag, even if you don't intend it to be. how else are they going to respond? they don't want to offend so the obvious answer to 'my sensei's a black belt' is going to be along the lines of 'oh i guess must be good then'. Many of you made a generalization saying O I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THAT i don't recall anyone saying that. what i do recall, is that we all agree that the article is too general. you mention some (or is it all?) of your local tkd black belts (just wondering, how do you know they are all tkd and all black belts?) have an ego thing going on. and then you change your direction slightly and then say that guys who don't train for fighting should realise their 'limitations' as it were. my question here is that how many 'sport guys' actually think they are world class fighters? don't you think the guys who practise their 540s know that it can't really be used? but then to judge them ALL on the basis that 'they do sports, they can't fight' is in my opinion, dumb. sports is one aspect. how do you know they can't fight? (or how do you know they think they can fight?) someone else has said it but the only people who hold the view that a black belt MUST = a good fighter are people who do not participate in the martial arts. that is where the issue lies. is it a problem with what the black belt represents or is it a problem with what people think a black belt represents? which is the solution? make sure that black belts can fight? or make sure people (who don't train) understand what a black belt represents? y'know, the more you post, the more you sound like a kid on a 'my dad knows better than your dad' mission.

...why do you have to tell people your sensei is a black belt?

y'know, i never took algren to be 'the last samurai'. i was always under the impression that the title of the film refered to the samurai that he lived with and 'documents'. to me the film is portraying the last moments where samurai could/did exist in japan. at the end of the film, it is quite clear that while the emporer has 'seen the light', there is still no place for the samurai (although 'their' values might still be valid).

hey, remember... <---- says drunken monkey up there. i mean, my knuckles still drag along the ground...

IF you look around at the numerous amount of black belts in the world you will see a good portion have a ora that they think they can do what they want and that is where i have a little problem with things as they are presented. there is an underlying insinuation that this is true for black belts UNLESS they come from your school/organisation... i mean, take a look at your signature. Takemichikaikan..............real fighting it's not that i do not agree with the things in the article. yes we know that there are some black belts who are unrealistic. yes we know that some schools give their students false ideas. yes we know that there needs to be a sense of realism in training if fighting is your intent. you keep mentioning tkd in your posts (because they are easy targets?). but are you away of the many variations of tkd? not all of them play the point sparring game or the fancy moves. you are aware of this, right? be aware that even if someone happens to be good at forms DOES NOT mean they cannot fight.... and well, just cos some your local tkd school has some bad students does that mean all are like that? IF you look around at the numerous amount of black belts in the world so haw many places in the world have you been to? how many schools have you been to? how many black belts from your own town have you spoken to?[/i]

i didn't used to..... i'm still not sure if i do. there's a girl that i um, used to have a crush on. i didn't really know her and whilst i tried to find out more about her, i had a girlfriend to take care of.... a little later, the girl and i ended up in the same studio group. we chatted, we got on. y'know, she's cute and i'm not going to say that i wasn't interested but still y'know, some things don't work out as they do in your imagination. the next year, we were in the same studio group again (this time, we both arranged it). by now we were good friends. she got herself a nice guy and i was at this point single and just 'floating' around. the last year, i didn't really get to see much of her cos of work and all that. a few weeks back, we met up again. well, i've rambled on a bit but in short, whenever i see her, i still get that feeling in my chest (no, it's not gas....) and i would still do dumb things just to see her smile. this is four years after we first met. is this love? or just desire for the thing i never got to have? i don't know. i guess the question for me right now is not whether i believe in true love but whether or not i believe in love itself.

...but it's a bugger to carry around... the best thing about the three-section is that at it's basic level, you treat them as an extension of your hand/arm. learning how to use the ends as sticks is nice and intuitive and a lot of hard work (angles are very important) the weight of the damned thing also does wonders for your forearms. is it great? well, it works.... kinda.... takes too long to learn it. great for demonstations though. y'know, 'look a staff'... 'look, another staff'... 'woo a sword'..... ....'what in god's name is that?'..... hehe... we did a three-section staff vs spear (that we more or less stole from some old hk flick) for the local chinese society for chinese new year a few years back. ahhhh, happy days... oh before you ask, i didn't take part in this one. i was on the drum for the lion dance.

um, i've never worn anything on my hands when i punch a bag (of any sort). might explain the bleeding.... and dark patches on my knuckles.... i know, i'll get to fifty and have no use of my hands. but hell, if it was good enough for my ancestors, it's good enough for me!

y'know, there was never really a question of not using force in the chinese martial arts. the problem as i see it, is that a lot of people on the outside see the fancy forms and think that is all there is to it. it has always been said that the martial arts teaches you to not fight and that you should avoid if at all possible. what people never mention is that most martial arts also teach you that if you are going to hit someone, mean it.

there is a difference between an open mind and a rational mind. open mind is giving everything a fair chance that it might be correct. a rational mind tells me that the article is full of holes. what it states is valid BUT it is only valid for cases where the argument is true. as i said, not all black belts are the same. even different schools of the same style will have different black belts. one point raised in the article (in relation to the guys in this forum). I love it when I here people talking about how tough someone must be because they are a “Black Belt.” when's the last time anyone here has made that kind of comment? and that's where i kinda have a problem with the article as it is presented. none of us here have ever held any idea that a black belt means good fighter. we know what it means to learn and what it means to train and some of us here know what it means to fight someone. from my experience, the only ones who think that a black belt means good fighter are people who do not do any martial art. as for my suggestion to your 'trumpet blowing', i was also refering to the other thread you started. you question the validity of 'non-contact' classes. which then turned into a 'full-contact is best' discussion. there are a lot of good points in the article but as i said, it in no way represents all martial arts. the article has another problem in that it is too short and as such leaves a lot of room for someone (i.e me) to interpret the words as he sees fit. in this case i saw it as an attack on other schools (as you said it was from your school's site). * * * i'm reading these posts after a long day in traffic and with my slow working, tired mind i can see that i have been a little harsh (again.....). too many times have i seen some guy turn up, suggest that all styles except his is trash, then use other people's articles, often out of context and generally mis-reading the intention of the original article. i'm sure you know what i mean.

y'know, that's twice now that you've started threads that suggest that all black belts from other styles of karate (as well as all those who do not do contact) are not able to defend himself. also, your tone very much suggests that if we do not agree with what you have presented, then we are not 'real fighters'. there is a difference between opening and maintaining a debate and blowing your own trumpet. anyway. i have a problem with that article because it addresses ALL black belts, from all styles as if they are the same. is a tkd black belt the same as hwarang-do black belt? is a tkd black belt the same as a tsd black belt? are black belts from kyokushin, shotokan, isshinryu, shorin ryu, goju ryu the same? to make a blanket statement about all black belts is, for lack of a better term, 'ignorant'.

hmm, never heard anything about yip man wing chun being regarded as 'not real' in china.... anyway, you mentioned (in passing) 'yong chun'. that is just how the name is pronounced in mandarin.

did i hear my name? hmm, i can't really speak of fong sifu or lau sifu but i can speak highly of jiu wan sifu. listening to stories of jiu wan and yip man, it appears that yip man regarded jiu wan as an equal (i think they both studied together earlier in china before both parties separated and met again in hk). as such, even though jiu wan became a member of yip man's school in hk, he wasn't taught by yip man, rather they trained together. after yip man's death , it was widely accepted that jiu wan was then probably the last of the older generation of wing chun 'masters' and his death a few years later really did mark the end of an era (sorry, getting all misty eyed and sentimental here...) in the uk i haven't come across many (if any) students of jiu wan. i should point out that this is one of the things i really want to do and as such illustrates my views on the lineage. i think that's all i can offer on this subject... laters. monkey.

isn't that something from final fantasy?