Drunken Monkey

i just remember something about a pub/tavern no the A1306(7?) that used to just be A13.... in the depths of essex, where all of these things seem to take place! my back yard!

snetterton... it was amazing. my post-grad present! anyway. let me know and i'll see if i'm free. what's going on? hey, one of the boys from the KO gym is having boxing match this week i think, on the A13 somewhere. can't quite remember the details...

making better and perfecting are two very different things. 'perfect' is an absolute. 'making better' is not. you can't approximate perfecting of character. either she said perfect or she didn't. in this case, she didn't. my point still stands. ripper was arguing with himself over something he obviously has issues with and yet his tone was rather abusive towards the author of the thread WHO HAD NEVER said the things he argues against. see?

not quite luaghed at but not that far off. teased maybe a better word but still not quite.... someone must know what i mean. but you hit it bang on target by bringing up the idea of fashion or trends. that's what i see harry potter as being; a fashion. do the kids really like reading? who knows....?

of course it'd be me, i'm one of the few people here who will be up at the same times as you. anyway. it has the most potential but the potential has to be realised by the user. like i said, bjj has potential, but i would say that it is too focused on one thing. logically, something else that covers more also has potential, in fact more so because it is more comprehensive. as for the ferrari always setting faster lap times... that's questionable. have you ever tried to drive fast in a ferrari? it's not easy. my first half hour involved 4 spins from which i could not recover and 2 slides into gravel. my best lap of the session was not that much faster then my previous laps in the evo (i should add that the evo was much easier to drive) i have never driven a celica.

don't forget that thai pads and focus mitts are pretty much useless unless you have someone with you who knows how to use them and train with them well.

nope. i can't see any use of the word 'perfect' anwhere except in ripper's post. an effect exclusive to MAs no one said this was the case. this was something that again, ripper said and then which he followed on. he was the one who mentioned 'perfecting of character' and the 'exclusive to ma' points which he followed through. he was arguing about things that no one else had said apart from himself.

so, following your rational, if a guy has trained sufficiently to prevent him from being taken down or to the point taht he can get up after being taken down very easliy, then that style is then the best? cos it can 'beat' your established 'best'? there is no best. only better for certain situations. the thing with your car/tools analogy is that it assumes that the person can get the most out of the item. (not everyone is a gracie...) also, martial arts, like cars need to be regarded on a situational basis. the enzo would fail miserably on a rally track whilst a rally car would still give it a good fight on a race track. if you are looking at a style purely on the basis of what it covers then i would say that bjj is far from the best because it is too focussed on taking the fight to the ground. while it might be enough for a ring fight, it is maybe too narrow minded for the ever popular street fight involving a crowd. do you really want to take a guy to the floor, in a hold, break a limb whilst other things are going on around you? it taht kind of scenario, i would go for the kick-boxing/muay thai guys cos their exchanges are more 'instantaneous' and brief compared to the bjj guy. in the same instance, the traditional jujitsu guys would also get my preference because they cover stand up more and again, have a higher level of quick exchanges (that may or may not move onto the floor).

the local (closest but not really local...) class, they have a four week beginners course that you have to attend before you join the main class. the point of the beginners class is to familiarise you with the names, basic movements, and to get you used to how to move the capoeria way (au, negativa, ginga, role etc etc). the beginners course is also a way for you to see if capoeria is for you. there are no grades, no katas, nothing except for some drills devised by one of the old mestres (bimba i think) but this might only be in Regional. i have no idea how they teach/play Angola.

after 2 years of this place and 2337 posts i have learnt that sometimes, the less i say, the clearer it is.

sounds like arguing for the sake of it..... for a start, jade never mentioned that karate would 'perfect your character'. all that was stated was that she feels she has developed a stronger character becasue of her training. that was the point. what is yours? that you don't think karate can change your character?

it's not that the kids want to read harry potter cos they're interested in them as books. sometimes it seems like the kids only read the books because its the latest kiddie craze. if you don't read them, you are more or less laughed at by your peers. what i mean is, it is as if the kids aren't really interested in the reading, just wanting to have read the harry potter books. i have no idea what it's like in the states but that is how it is here.

fair enough and i apologise for suggesting it. but the fact that i kinda read that means that others might also. goes to show that we all have to be careful about how we present things in this format.

i should add that the gaming magazines we get here in the uk are actaully quite well written and are in fact aimed at a much older target audience; namely the 16-24 age group, as well as reaching for anyone up to 30 yrs of age. there are also kids gaming mags but the kids don't really buy them cos even they know over simplistic, trash press when they see it....

hmm, if i'm being honest i have to say that i have only really been training for about 2/3 years. if you're asking when i first started, then the answer would be maybe 12 years ago. if the question is when i first started training seriously then the answer would be eight years ago.

but then if reading anything is your concern then at least realise that kids (here in the uk at least) who play a lot of console games machines ALSO religiously read the magazines that publish games info as well as reports on new technologies. while the material isn't exactly top class literature, isn't it better that they aren't reading the same words (and remember, how many kids actually are 'appreciating' the words of harry potter books?) over and over again? within the games world, there are actually more areas of interest than a lot of people think. there's graphics, music, technology, script and even some complex issues regarding the medium (as well as similar media like film, animation etc etc) like mood, atmosphere, tone, character behaviour etc etc. admittedly, the only ones who are interested in these are the older age groups (who would most probably go into those related areas anyway in terms of study) but they are there. there's more involved with a game than a lot of adults think.

whoa, i think you misunderstand. my "only learn" is more of a "only learn" get it?

why would they be against one another? are there documented fueds/fights/battles between ninjas and samurai? how about a little background info for the reasons behind your coments?

nonono, not what i mean. i mean, the semi-contact guys play at their game using moves that work in 'perfect' scenarios. these moves the full contact guys do not practice, hence they do not expect them and maybe have nothing prepared for dealing with them. whereas the guys who do these moves (which are normally harder to execute? or not...) only have to learn the full contact game play. but i do see your point about how full contact is learnt/taught/trained. i guess the semi contact guys i mentioned would have to learn the full contact damn well before they can begin to apply their original moves. hmm... interesting....

true.... but still, you do understand my worries, right?

but then one possible argument is that when the semi-contact guys, who are used to doing their techniques in 'perfect' forms stylee, get used to getting hit, they will then have the upper hand in terms of techniques and execution. what i mean is, it's kinda like the semi-contact guys have to learn a new game plan, so to speak. but once this game plan had been absorbed, they still have their old catalogue to play with. i mean i remember my first kick-boxing class. i had no idea what i was doing and was so not used to losing a lot of the use of my hands. i was pounded into the ground. a bit further on i got used to taking hits and eventually i can actually get 'stealing hands' and 'slap hands' and cover hits using the basic blocks (tan, gan, biu). admittedly my actual kick-boxing leaves a lot to be desired but my wing chun still works in the environment, albeit in a limited (in terms of it's original intended) use. yes? no? maybe? i don't know, i was just thinking and that reasoning came to me. i can see a flaw with my hypothesis but i'll let you guys tear it apart first.

well, some more detail would've been nice.... anyway. when you punch, from open stance, do you guys punch straight from the side moving into centre or do you move to centre then punch? um, my descriptions might sound a little confusing but you should get the general idea. as for whether or not its wing chun, from the site you posted, ti doesn't look like it or if it is, it's been altered to fit into a program of (mixed) chinese styles from some major styles. (actually, it looks like theya re teaching you a lot of differnt styles more or less side by side; a hung gar form here, a little choy li fut there, throw in some shoalin) anyway. glad to hear you're enjoying it. just like to add something that i tell everyone starting ANY martial art. an open mind is important but not as important as a rational mind.

not when the circular block is a hip rotation+hand/arm/elbow position. the hand movement might only be six inches but the hip rotation carries it further and the nature of the movement (assuming that you're structure is sound and positions correct) is faster. which is why i gave the examples as i did earlier. my point is, there isn't always a clear differentiation between circular and straight. it follows that because there is no clear differentiation, any theories based on circular vs straight are only valid based on individual situations. ergo, we are all correct.

y'know, i really like portugal. i'm totally in love with cascai but i haven't been there for ages. i was last there in january/february of last year and it had changed so much since the three years i was there previously..... the train ride from lisbon (cais de sodre) down to cascai station is one of the prettiest twenty minutes i can think of. it made me enjoy going to work in the morning. its one of the countries that i really want to explore properly. i guess the easy way is to just pick up an inter-rail ticket and follow the line down from oporto down to lisbon. sigh... dreaming again...

i would like to add that there is some confusion in this matter. sometimes, you make his straight line into a circle (by using your own straight line) and sometimes you compress his circle into moving in a straight line (by using a circle). so it isn't really circle overcomes straight line or vice versa. it's not that fixed, not that simple. if we list all of the ways to avoid a common stright line attack or a common circular attack (of any sized circle), chances are there are equal ways being straight as there are circular.