Martial_Artist

Buy "Tao of Jeet Kune Do" and apply what you learn from that to what you already know and you'll have what Jeet Kune Do is. MA.

I love the taste of water. I don't like soda at all. Í've gone six months at a time without even tasting soda. Water and juice for me. Whether water was placed here for us to drink or weevolved to it depends on how you believe the world came to be. Agreed with ZR440, sports drinks have a high sugar content, read the labels under carbohydrates, most juices are sweetened for taste. About getting rid of that "vomitous" feeling from doing crunches try either changing the time of day you work out and what you eat before wqrking out. Sometimes doing crunches after eating a certain type of food causes that queezy feeling. Hope that helps. Be sure to drink lots of water, too. MA

My entire family.

There are a lot of facts in the intelligence community, things that have hung in the archives for a decade or so that haven't been worked on, the reasons for such are too many to count. (Washington, during the Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and even current administration focus too much on big business.) With Washington focusing more on other aspects of the world the CIA suffered a heavy blow in the late 80's to present. Field intelligence just isn't what it used to be. Just look, after 9/11 the CIA and FBI began asking for anyone who spoke Middle Eastern dialects to join up. Prior to that they had no one that knew anything of serious importance about the middle east. They relied heavily on satellites, etc. Instead of human contacts. Anyways, that are plenty of good reasons to take out Iraq in the interests of national security. Osama is still being sought, but it should be remembered these terrorist cells act under the tutelage and providence of terrorist-states. The misconception of "loose cells" being able to accomplish acts of terrorism on the scale of 9/11 and the WTC Bombing in '93 is an idea that just recently (mid-1990's) came into existence. Prior to that the intelligence community was of the opinion that any terrorist group that existed always had the backing of a terrorist-state. Saddam may be playing his cards to see if he can survive the war without using his illegal weapons so that if the tides wash his way he can remain in power after the war and claim he never had weapons of mass destruction. (Which by the way, he has had before the 1991 Gulf War and from that time to the explusion of UNSCOM inspectors in 1994/1995 had been hiding them until now.) In the news today, though, it appears that some of his weapons that don't exist have been found. It should be clearly understood that terrorist cells act with the intelligence, support, and training provided by terrorist-states. That, even by the continual hunting down of terrorist cells no clear result will be attained unless the states that provide these cells with the means to be terrorists are removed. MA

Agreed. The balisong 'looks' more ferocious and the politicians have deemed it as such. More misconception governing the legislatures.....will it ever end?....... MA

I learned martial arts at a very, very young age. I was wielding nunchaku at 8 and wakisashi at 9. I was also using firearms at 8. I was punching and kicking well before I was taught weapons. At 10 I was taught the spear. When I graduated elementary school I was pretty well rounded in the martial arts. (I was also using light-weight compound bows). All of that early training was for my benefit. As my body learned to adjust to itself and better its coordination the martial arts were there right along side that development. I learned to kick the time I learned to walk. Both are just as effortless. Do you think about walking from one point to another? It's pretty much instinctive. My point is that starting young is a good idea, but it shouldn't be done without forethought. Each child is unique and that should be taken into consideration. I have a nephew 4 yrs. old. He isn't being taught because he isn't ready. However, both of my sons 2yrs and younger are being taught. The eldest, 2 yrs, can punch hard enough to cause a nose to bleed, and can kick on his own without holding on to anything. He does it naturally. Sometimes he just walks around kicking, without even really thinking about it. As they grow older they will learn the art behind the martial. I have no fear that they will grow up to be anything other than fine martial artists. Teaching young children, however, in a school is something I would not do. It's something that must be done at home. A child that young won't learn what he must from a stranger in the same way he would learn from his father or mother. MA.

You forget about the role of M.A.P.S. MA. Edit: Added the .'s in MAPS.

WElcome Yoshimotsu

Welcome

It depends on the state in the US. California-illegal. SOME OTHER STATES: not illegal.

CIA in the DI no. In the DO not very much. The CIA isn't as heavily involved in clandestine operations like it used to be. Most case officers receive special survival skills, but those revolve around getting caught, not fighting it out with the enemy.

Welcome

One other thing. Point your knee(of your kicking leg) at your target then kick while rotating your hips downward. MA

I was living in the Philippines once, for a few years, and met an interesting man one day. We both happened to be on the same bus heading to a northern province and he seemed very, very lost. I offered to help him. I translated so he could buy a ticket and we sat next to each other for the greater duration of the 15 hour ride. My friend was a Farsi from Iraq. We spoke in what little communication we could for the whole trip. He spoke very little english and none of the native dialects. This struck me as odd. Why was he in the Philippines. He had had enough of Saddam. Living without living for fear of being killed for your mere thoughts was not what he wanted. He figured the Philippines was as good a place as any to quietly disappear and live a quiet life. I learned some interesting things from that man that day. I have since learned a great many more about Saddam. He is a man that needs to die. I don't know who you know in Iraq, fungku, but if it is known that they have communication with an outsider they will never admit hating Saddam. The Ministry of Intelligence would know and surely kill them and their families. It has happend countless times in the past. That is how life is lived in Iraq. (Read "See No Evil" by Robert Baer) Perhaps you refer to the anti-war human shields from America who have flown to Iraq? I know of no Iraqi national who loves Saddam enough to not want him removed.

One more hailing from Oz, welcome.

Welcome oh belated one. I wouldn't worry too much about starting late. Sometime is better than never. MA

Correct your form. Try dropping your hips as you make contact. That is, turning them to face the ground. MA

Get underwater. I.e. in a pool and try punching as fast as you can. MA.

Saddam is a monster. Regardless of what his country's natural resources are, he doesn't need to be leading a country. Second, he has built weapons of mass destruction in the past AND has led the UNSCOM on wild goose chases. It's nothing new. In 1994 he claimed to have no weapons of mass destruction. UNSCOM couldn't find them after four years of searching. A defector from the Ministry of Information came out and admitted Iraq's possession and testing of weapons of mass destruction. Immediately afterward Saddam admitted to having those weapons, including a nuclear warhead fitted for a soviet SCUD missle, but they had unilaterally destroyed them. The current chief of inspections of UNSCOM at that time did not believe Saddam. Every inspection was preceded by an Iraqi barricade and it would be days before they could inspect a site. The UNSCOM officials of the day admitted they couldn't find anything because Saddam was hiding and moving them before they could search a site. In 1994 Saddam had a working nuclear warhead for SCUD missle application. He only lacked, according to sources, usable fissle to power the device. He has murdered countless members of his own country for no other reason that difference of opinion. A man and regime as such should not possess weapons of mass destruction. Especially as it remains that Iraq is a terrorist state. That is it supports and continues programs of state-sponsored terrorism. The WTC bombings of 1993 had Iraq trails but because of the legal system in the US governing prosectution Iraq, as a state-sponsor of terrorism, was never pursued. Instead, a Dept. of Justice approach was taken and only those directly involved with the bombing were apprehended. In light of terrorist attacks on US soil, and the likelyhood of more brazen and inspired attacks being a possibility it is more than in the best interests for the US to target states that sponsor international terrorism. The US cannot afford to lose thousands of citizens to terrorist attacks in the future. To protect the lives of thousands and millions, the US must take action first. Especially against a state so open in its hatred for the US and its past history of sponsoring terrorist actions in the US. Ramzi Yousef is an Iraqi intelligence officer. Oil? Oil? The US isn't going to take the oil, is it? No. We may get special pricing for liberating Iraq from a monster, but that's fair. We're not going to rob the people of Iraq and take from them their rights to their oil and livelihood. So what if they give us a nice discount? Sounds like a fair trade. And, given the current circumstances, even if Iraq had no oil we would still attack Iraq. The coincidence of Iraq having oil is just that: a coincident. Afganistan had no oil. MA

My wife likes the fact that I do martial arts. In fact we've even invented MARITAL ARTS. MA

My stances vary with the ebb and flow of the fight. MA

Your original question, has anyone had an injury and how did work past it to continue in the martial arts. I've had a few. None of them, however, stopped me from training. Instead, they had the opposite effect. They further inspired my training efforts. The only thing I can think to recommend is just put it behind you and train harder. Focus on the pain and you will never be able to push past to the victory. MA

It depends. If that child has fulfilled every requirement the art has for attaining a blackbelt then to not award the rank is prejudice. However, if the child has not fulfilled every single requirement then a BB should not be awarded. This would vary from school to school. If maturity is not a requirement set apart by the school for attaining blackbelt, then if the child otherwise does everything for that blackbelt then a BB should be awarded. Now, whether or not that child should teach is a different story. A teacher must have years of experience, a custom life path that in which that person has learned lessons and how to apply them to the art or vice versa. A child simply cannot do this. They just haven't lived long enough on the earth. Also, remember, if that child receives a BB it doesn't really mean anything in particular. Being a BB doesn't automatically make you a master or a good fighter. It is more a symbol that you have put forth the effort to learn the art you are studying. Mastery and becoming a good fighter, while intertwined somewhat with getting a BB, are more personal and not fully determinate upon the Black Belt. How BB do you know who do not know how to fight or teach? MA

Hey guys, let's not try to nit-pick on little sentences. This, so far, is an interesting thread to read. A lot of good information is being brought out into the open through discussion. Let's not let our emotions tangle up an otherwise worthy thread. Keep the discussion going. Some very good points are being made. MA.

Welcome, Aikidokid.