Du Hast

When I did it before the thing that messed me up was the whole concept of priority. I was doing a lot of point karate at the time, and of course there it is perfectly acceptable to attack as your opponent attacks, to block or evade in the middle of your attack, etc. as long as you score a point and they don't. I also had very fast reflexes around that time, and they really worked against me with the fencing. When the opponent moved forward with an attack- that was when I would attack, of course in fencing, that is a mistake because of the priority. I would end up attacking before I realized I was attacking, and I would lose every time I did this. It didn't help that fencing was the class right after karate. Enough excuses, I just need to try it again, I think. I was truely crappy at it when I did it before, so I can only get better. I did foil when I fenced before, and I understand the rules of priority are different with saber. They teach all three weapons at the school I'm talking about. I'm curious about all of them. I don't know if I have time to do fencing and an unarmed martial art - I barely have time for 1 thing now! but I'm really looking forward to checking out this school.

Hehe..yeah, no ballet around my area. The Bagua Zhang/Xing-I Chuan/Tai Chi school also teaches Olympic style fencing, which I thought was pretty interesting! I'm also interested in fencing - I did it for a semester in college and was really, really bad at it - but I'm still interested in it...

I'm moving in 5 weeks, only about 30 - 40 minutes travel from where I'm at now, but I plan to start at a new school when I move, as my contract is up at my current school in 8 weeks. Over the years, I've dabbled in a few different arts, but never really stuck with anything for more that a couple of years at a time. Mainly I have done various types of Karate, and Ju-Jitsu. Where I'm moving, there are about 20 schools within a 5 minute drive! I plan on taking a trial class at the ones that look the most promising. Some options available to me: Bagua Zhang/Xing-I Chuan/Tai Chi. I've always been interested in the Internal styles. I've had a 3 or 4 week parks and rec Tai Chi class, and some lessons from a Ju-Jitsu instructor who did it a bit. The fact this place teaches the Xing-I and Bagua makes me think they really will teach some martial applications. I'm skeptical of how practical these arts are, but I'm curious. "Non-traditional" Tang Soo Do and Ju-Jitsu. Sounds good - I have done both of these arts a bit, and honestly sometimes I feel "non-traditional" can be a very good thing! Aikido. I've never done it, but it might be interesting. There are a couple of schools in the 5 mile area. I'm pretty interested in this. Karate and TKD. Lots and lots of this. One very near my future house teaches TKD and Hapkido. I'm interested in Hapkido more than TKD. I'm pretty much ruling out Karate or TKD unless a school just seems too good to pass up. Within a 15 - 20 minute drive there are 3 or 4 schools that teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. I have to admit I feel these arts are very, very effective from a practical standpoint. I've never done either one, other than some Thai elbows and kicks mixed in with kickboxing I have studied. For some reason BJJ doesn't really appeal to me, but I guess I should check it out while I'm looking. I'm mainly looking for exercise and fun. Something being very nearby is a major plus! A couple of these schools are within walking distance, which would be great. Every now and then I feel I should really concentrate on self defense, but honestly I have to admit it isn't my first or even second or third concern when picking an art. Like I said I'm going to try out a buch of these schools. I'm going to be busy trying them out for a while! There are a lot of other arts nearby that I didn't mention - lots of Kung Fu, and some other stuff. I was hoping to find some Silat, but no luck. Also, strangly enough I didn't see any Judo - but maybe Judo doesn't really advertise?

Well, he does sound interesting - that's for sure. It took me a few days to read over everything on his site. It pretty much sounds like he would get into a fight with someone at the drop of a hat - at least from what he is saying. I think he does have some good points on things, but a lot of what he says is colored by his opinions pretty severely. Still - an interesting read.

I play guitar (for the past 20 yrs) and bass guitar (for the past 7 yrs or so). I also tried playing upright bass, but gave it up after 6 months or so - same with drums. I'll probably pick up the upright again at some point - it appeals to me even though I am a metalhead. I play bass in a band, and I'm switching to guitar as soon as we can find a replacement (bass players are very hard to find - which is one reason I started playing bass in the first place!).

I'd be pretty impressed. If I remember correctly, this is exactly what Joe Lewis (Full contact Karate champ from the '70's) did to earn his, in Japan. Lets face it, the rank is pretty arbitrary. There are lots of schools around where you can get a blackbelt in 3 years showing up 2 or 3 days a week for 60 - 90 minutes per day. Lots of schools say you must show up X number of classes to go to the next rank. Non Karate observations that may relate: It's interesting now that there are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools now advertising that you can get your blackbelt with them in 3 1/2 years. Typically it's been 10 years or more for that, and there are very few people with that rank in the USA. Heck, some of the BJJ folks I know can tell you the names of all the Blackbelts in their state off the top of their heads. It's not uncommon for someone with a Purple belt in BJJ to open their own school, because there are so few people out there with even that rank (which probably takes 5 years to get typically).

I've read it. It's a pretty good book, although the genre is a bit worn out (secret societies, hidden wars that control the fate of the world, etc.). It has an almost cyberpunk sort of feel to it to me, although it isn't a "hacker" type of story at all. It reminds me a little bit of William Gibson, and even more of Neal Stephenson. It is a FAST read though. I think I finished it in a couple of sittings. I'll read the next in the series I think. It think this is the first book from this author. If so, wow what a start! I would have liked it better if it had some judo or ju-jitsu.

He sounds like quite a guy!! http://www.morrisnoholdsbarred.co.uk/biography.htm

Until 1970 Shihan Bluming was in charge of Kyokushin Karate in Europe. At that time he resigned in order to concentrate on his business. In 1980 he started his own organisation, which he named "Kyokushin Budokai". Shihan Bluming was promoted to 10th Dan in 1994. Good advice. Keep in mind anyone can write all sorts of things about MA and get them published. Just because it is in print format vs. on the Internet doesn't make it more true. All I'm saying is that you should take everything you hear and read about MA topics with a grain of salt. Be a skeptic.

Well, if your criteria for a martial arts weapon being worthwhile to learn is that it must be something you would have handy access to at any given time - then that rules out a lot of traditional ones. You should pick on something like a sai or kama or 3 sectional staff before you pick on the poor bench... Seriously, if practical usage of the weapon is a big concern - you should put your time into one that you could carry on your person. Like a horse bench. I carry one everywhere I go. How do you think I got arms like this? Plus it's real handy if you have to wait in line somewhere.

I'm not sure what sort of sparring you are doing. Point sparring, or something with more contact? I'd suggest getting a heavy bag, or if you can't get one of those, getting something safe to punch and kick at to use as a target. It sounds like you are practicing striking plenty by doing katas and drills and such. It doen't sound like you are practicing these strikes in a way that simulates the sparring. Practice launching your techniques while you are moving around. Try using boxing style footwork. Move back and forth and side to side. Seriously, foot work is of huge importance. You can make yourself much much harder to hit, and can strike in a much more unpredictable fashion. Look into a mirror and practice doing your techniques in a way that doesn't telegraph what you are going to be doing. Try punching with very little movement prior to the launch of the punch. This may require you to change your technique a bit. Pick a few techniques to work on, and drill those particular techniques over and over usung the heavy bag or target. Pick a couple of combinations, and drill them over and over. If it's point style sparring, remember that power isn't a big concern. Focus on moves that are fast, don't leave you open, and are hard for your opponent to stop. You might want to figure out why your techniques are slow enough not to score. Maybe you could modify them slightly. Get something that generates a tone or noise in a random fashion. Stand in front of the heavy bag or target, and strike when you hear the noise. Doing this over and over will increase your reflexes and reaction time. Bruce Lee detailed a drill where he would observe people on the street, and make a slight noise when he saw them do something. The key is for you do do something to react to something you can't predict or control. It goes without saying, but observe the people that are better than you, and try to do what they do.

I'm not sure what pool cleaners make in Florida, but teaching doesn't pay so bad. I'm all for teachers making more money, but it's not like they are that badly paid. There are some benefits to teaching - 2 months off in the summers, unless you are taking a professional development class or two. Also, pretty decent health insurance. Good job security. Regular raises every year. Pay increases for increased education. I doubt the legal concerns for teachers come close to the legal concerns for opening a martial arts school! If you want to open a grappling academy, more power to you. My advice would be for you to contact one of the larger, well known chains (lloyd Irvin for example), and see if you can be an "affilliate" or something like that. Opening a business is very, very tough. Be prepared to not make money for the first 2 years. Most businesses fail (I think MA schools are more prone to it that anything else!), so you need to prepare for the eventuality that it might not work out.

Thanks White Warlock - once again you have answered my question!

Thanks White Warlock. I think you have answered my question!

Has anyone here practiced a martial art called KUPIGANA NGUMI? If so, what did you think of it?