marie curie

Koshi guruma! http://www.judoinfo.com/images/animations/blue/koshiguruma.htm

I agree with many of the posts. Maturity and skill are both necessary. Also I don't think that age has much to do with anything. Also, bushido man- great point! I've known some very mature and skilled martial artists who couldn't teach worth a crap.

I tend to dodge, as well as parry/block. Moreso to prevent that fist next to me from becoming a back-fist or short kenpo punch. I think it's personally reasonable as long as they aren't hard blocks, which could very well damage your arm/wrist more than it would have your chest or something.

http://www.wingchun.com/wtmain.htm Just thought I'd share

I move around a lot from side (cover) stances to front stances, depending on how I am moving and how my opponent is moving.

I love sparring, as well! In Seiei Kan Karate, we did point sparring. It was great- I was 11 years old and on day 1 you are allowed and expected to sparr (with black belts only of course). They went at an appropriate speed, and I learned to think on my feet- useful in the real world too- yay! As I got better at getting a feel for the opponent, I had to think less and was able to just respond more, even at higher speeds. I, being a particularly clumsey 11-year-old, found that through my sparring, I was getting more fluid motions in all that I did, as well as faster reflexes... which my mom appreciated since I was now able to catch things once I knocked them over Now, in Kajukenbo, we do a 3-stage sparring: 1.We do point fighting for 2-mins (so we can if we want to compete) 2.We add leg kicks and knees, allowing for a kickboxing type sparr for 2 mins 3. We do full out MMA for 2 mins (take-downs, elbows, joint locks, etc.) I actually, with the last one, feel like I'm getting some real fighting down. I practice things that I would actually do in a fight and med-high impact. If nothing else, I think that it has given me the confidence that I would need to fight back if ever attacked for real.

In Seiei Kan Karate we used it the same as you descrive using it under your old teacher.

Great Post GZK! I think that's a good point about traditional and competitive martial arts and their level of respect, etc.

Here is an online thing http://martialartsmagazine.com/default.htm and here is one that looks good http://www.fightingarts.com/ it has a newsletter

Very nice! Thanks! Oh, and the quality could be due to the camera being set on a "close up" focus- at least it looks like that to me

Karate- it was cheaper than TKD and the people demanded more of you and those were the only schools in my town when I was a kid Judo- College Class TKD- College Class Kung Fu- Study abroad program option Tai Chi- Free to all who showed up at 5:30am in the town square BJJ- a friend teaches Kajuenbo-a friend teaches

Ohh, what kinds of dogs do you guys have?

Nice! Congrats!

90 degree turn to right with fists chambered hard cross-block overhead

Does anyone have any pets? I have a ton of fish, some community, some ciclids, and two guinea pigs, Emma and Charlie.

I like to study diseases when I'm bored.

Here's me http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/2770/35474925vv1.th.jpg http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/9418/52312920rq6.th.jpg http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3184/91904372zx2.th.jpg

Well now you are getting into the defn's and quilifications of "jack of a trade" and "know". I think we have a good 10 or 12 threads somewhere around here about "can you be a 'master'?" or "should we call you professor" and all of that label-ness What I mean is that you can practice a variety of styles and spar, do forms, do techniques, etc well. I think that going out and picking fights with different types of people hoping to use each of my karate, kajukenbo, judo and bjj on some poor guy just looking for a bar fight would not be prudent at this juncture hehehe

That's a great idea! Especially for working with large groups and with kids. Our club is small and college kids, so we just kind of take note if someone hasn't been in a while.

Good thought Chuilli. Always know your audience. In general, yes, for a kata system as well known as yours going with the sure thing is better, but I once took 1st or 2nd, I can't remember, on a kata that I made up the last 3 moves to on the go It was a flourish-y form, and so I just made them match and look good No one knew the better, so if you end up learning some really complex out there forms, then they may be more enjoyable to perform down the road even if they aren't as perfect as some of the older ones.

I would agree if I thought that it was getting out of hand, but some healthy "You suck, I'm awesome" mindset for the fight I think helps the fighters. Also, there seems to be a healthy balance between hugs and praises for each other after the fights with the "I don't like this guy and he didn't bring it" type talking.

Oh, awesome, thanks for the links!

I think it's fine to be a "jack of all trades" as long as you are putting enough into each trade and you are getting enough out of each.

Yeh, I started taking hapkido seminars at 13- I thought that it was a good age too.

oh, how very neat! thanks for the links!