Martial_Artist

Welcome

You didn't get it. I didn't insult you or your beautiful country. I used the same approach you took in your post. My sense of humor, however, has obviously not hit the funny bone. My point was, and is, what difference does it make why anyone would want to own such a weapon? Does it matter? Is it really all that important to question someones honest motives behind weaponry ownership? He is a martial artist, he's not some guy on the street who thinks swords are 'cool.' He, I'm assuming here, just might have some discipline in him. So what does it matter? Do his motives, which we don't know, make him a hillbilly?(ie "Can I make him squeal like a piggy?") Who are we to judge? Your post hit my sarcastic nerve and brushed my "holier than thou" tendon. Each person must examine themselves, but that is their right, not ours. We can only judge on basis of fact not possibility. If they want to own the weapon to commit mass murder, we can't judge unless there is evidence or act. I think this person doesn't want his sword for that purpose. I find your assumption and judgment on him unnecessary. This is a MARTIAL ARTS forum. The discussion of arts designed for WAR...Admittedly, war is not the primary reason behind them anymore, but in every movement you practice it is and was and always will be for war. Your personal slant on the move is what changes it to excercise, self-defense, etc. You said it yourself, each person must examine THEMSELVES. Not us. Your holier than thou mentality will hinder you martial arts progress. Are reasons are not so different behind studying the martial arts. I don't look for fights, I avoid them. Yet, believe me, I train to win every single one. Philosophy is good, choose the path you want to walk. But ask yourself this: If you don't train to the fullest, expecting everything, how can you honestly expect yourself to be ready? How can you honestly expect your training to work? Our reasons aren't that different, Bitseach, it's our approach. This is off the original topic subject. I refer the poster to the information I previously posted concerning swords. Happy Hunting.

Glad to hear it.

Us Westerners can surely say we have a long heritage of martial arts. Our martial arts, however, are more dynamic and evolutional in nature. What started out as bare knuckled boxing, fencing, archery, has changed to combat range shooting, tactical hand to hand, close quarters knife fighting and grappling. All of which have european roots. The europeans were practicing martial arts for centuries. To suggest they did not would be nonsense. A general does not command unrefined troops, with no skill in the weapon. A King does not raise a useless army in defense of his borders. Weapons and warfare developed on a totally different level in the West than they did in the east. Anciently, who's to say one was more effective than the other? History itself has shown neither hemisphere conquering the other. The western martial arts, have evolved, like the culture that created them. Warfare changed. From swords and bows, to guns and missiles. The art of old became a sport a new for spectacle purposes. The applicability being less effecitive with the advent of modern warfare. Heritage hasn't lost itself just taken a back seat to technology. The history is there, just obscure and rare. Each method of fighting in the West had their various schools(the most popular persisting even to this day is the history of fencing) Fencing had various styles, depending on the one who developed the form used. Every culture has had need and has had developed martial arts. To say only the East has is illogical not to mention inaccurate. We, the West, also have a long heritage of martial arts history. The heritage you speak of that exists in China, etc., exists because many of those countries are still developing. Many people in China still live in bamboo huts. There are Japanese living in remote underdeveloped areas. Thailand, Korea, the Philippines. The lack of technology and development creates the necessity for the prolongment of their traditional martial arts. In the West the development of the missile almost completely removed that need in defense of national borders. Also, in the '70's the flare ignited from the martial arts craze has carried to this day. Eastern martial arts are more camera worthy than western. Also, about eastern countries placing value on the martial arts as a part of their heritage, I have lived in the Far East, the SouthEast, and today only a handful of people(aside from China which would like to promote Wushu as an olympic event) don't place too high a value on traditional martial arts. In Manila, for example, there are only a few schools of the martial arts. But there are hundreds of IT schools. Also, in film, only a handful of martial artists. My point is, to the Westerner the East has a long and flourishing history and continuing hertiage of the traditional martial arts. But the average Easterner, it is something for movies, or a part of history. They don't view it(for the most part) in the light that we do. They preserve because a handful still do it, and every year a young one gets hooked on movies and takes classes. Western society has preserved and given life to eastern martial arts. It is our thirst for the new and curious that develops this. It is our Hollywood that fuels new interest and keeps it alive. Think about it. Without movies who would know or care about the eastern martial arts? Just like before the martial arts craze in the '70's, only a handful of people would. Prior to that everyone was wrestling, fencing, boxing, and shooting. Think 1950's the average fight was a boxing match, that, believe me, involved much more than what we see in modern boxing events. I have ran on about this, but I hope I haven't lost anyone in my ramblings.

Hmm...tricky predicament. You know, you didn't hit him the day he did it. Now, you're regretting that you didn't. Your time window for appropiate action has passed. To attack now make you come across as the aggressor, and makes it look like you're trying to impress someone and not really defend them. Even to wait for this guy in a dark alley would put you in "bad guy" chair. His actions merited action immediately otherwise the situation dilutes itself and although everyone wants to 'pound' this guy, the time window for action has moved from APPROPIATE to, now, UNNECESSARY and VIOLENT. Your school leaders will view it in that light. To act now, after the fact, will place you in the light of someone trying to impress someone else, or even someone who has premeditated this all and is not acting out of defensive impulse under the 'heat of the moment.' Your best option is to wait. Wait for this guy to try something again, try to harass your friend again. Even words alone, verbal harassment, after he had assailed her once before, would be justification to step in and introduce yourself. Just wait for him to make the first move, if he doesn't then he truly is a coward and there is no need to hit him. If he does then by all means lay waste to him. The image you project will greatly fortifiy your position for action. If he does cower down, then you still stood up for your lady friend and that image is always good. Sadly, though, you missed your opportunity for appropiate action the moment he punched her. Then, under the intensity of the moment, it would have been justified to bloody the guys' nose. Now, however, things are more tricky. For now, calm down. Action at this moment is foolish. Gather your thoughts and forget about vengence. Vengence, inappropiately, will get you no where. Instead of justice being dealt, justice will deal with you and the brunt end of the consquences will fall on you. For now, study and focus on your schoolwork and lady friend. If he appears again confront him and let him know how you feel in words. Let it be HIS choice to fight, not yours. Then, it will be HIS choice to suffer the penalty. That's all you can do for now. ps. If there were truly that many witnesses to the contrary of his report to the headmasters then why has no one else stepped up to challenge his account? Far better would be the result if everyone reported the incident as happened in truth and IN NUMBERS than punching his face in. So much better it is to destroy his potential future than ruin his pathetic present. Be smart. That's all. Violence is not a solution, but a cane we lean upon when at our wits end. The weak minded always resort to violence when losing the battle of the wits. It is the smart man who wins without fighting at all.

Thank you Joecooke007 and Yoda.

I enjoyed that. Nothing really new, but it's good exposure to the general populace.

Effective combat or self-defense(there really being only a fine line between the two) firearm training is a martial art. Any dedication, training, practice, application, and philosophy(believe me, there is philosophy behind gun use) towards a martial application is a martial art. I wouldn't train to use a gun if the only purpose behind my training to use was target practice. That would have no martial application and not be considered a martial art. If the training is for the purpose of defense then it becomes a martial art. True, it is a very unconventional martial art(ie no belts or ranking) but those do not necessarily define a martial art. However, gun fighting/firearm defense training is as much a martial art as is karate, chinese style fighting, or any other art. As the ancient okinawans used tools for defense so do we, guns(used primarily for hunting) now become a great defense tool. I do not believe anyone should do nothing but guns, I do believe if the purpose behind your training is self defense then guns should have an equal role within your training regime. I have lived overseas, but the countries I lived in allowed guns for its citizens. As for our UK brothers(including sisters) I am not familiar with the laws governing firearm ownership or the penalties associated therewith. I am also unfamiliar with the availability of firearms to the general criminal populace there. So I cannot fully answer that question beneath those circumstances. I don't see guns as ruining martial arts, because they are both the same at the core. Guns would only fully enhance the martial arts and the martial artist. How can you really expect yourself to be prepared for anything if firearm training(guns being so prevalent in society here) is not part of your training regime? Any fool can pull a trigger, true, but only one who knows the gun can effectively use it in combat. Guns are not that effecitive under most circumstances. They are as much an aid in fighting as a knife or stick is and are only as effective as the man holding them. Just for arguement sake: most police have marksman ratings in shooting, yet for field combat proficiency only about 40% pass. In the time it takes to draw and acquire a target the assailant can move 25feet toward the shooter. These are police issued statistics. Guns, most effectively yielded by law enforcement, appear not that effective. In fact they are used more for control(ie containment of threat, exp. "Put your hands up in the air!") than for actual gunfights. Most gun injuries on the street are from members of gangs facing another member pulling the gun and the victim freezing from FEAR, unable to respond he is shot. The use of and combat training of firearms are in and of themselves a martial art. They should not, however, be learned alone without another martial art. I hope this helps. ps. I don't remember the references/sources for my information about police and guns, but I can look them up if anyone would like even more nformation.

Bitseach, Too bad you left.. If the opportunity would have presented itself I'd have given her a bloody nose or better yet knocked her out. She believes she is invincible and superior because of her ethnic heritage. This is a hindrance to the atmosphere of the class. Sure they have the right to be a jerk, everyone does. But you have the right to let them know they're a jerk. If you ever come across someone like that, what they really need is some a$$ whooping to realign them with reality. No one is invincible. And if they cry that westerners(or anyone) are too soft then break their nose and then ask them, "Was that soft?" I know you don't approve of violence, but you can't let people like that walk all over you. You have a right to learn and some people just need a busted lip to set them straight.

Why own a sword? Because it sooooooo much funner to whack an arm off a burgler than to shoot him dead. The entertainment factor shoots through the stratosphere. Imagine the headline: "Burglar attempts to rob house, get arm lopped off instead!" You know, what difference does it make why anyone would want to own a real sword. Why would a stamp collector want a real copy of a stamp than a cheap print out? Why do car collectors only go for authentic genuine parts rather than fake imitations? Er, I guess maybe a sword collector would want a real sword over a fake one for probably the same reasons. As far as modern society, your response is more bigotted and full of prejudice(ie there are no sane, legal reason, and the allusion to hillbilly mentality behind ownership) than older more barbaric mentalities of elder years. I could be wrong, laws are quite different where you are from. Where I live the laws allow me ownership of such an item without labelling me a psycho. If the purpose of studying martial arts is self-defense of self and loved ones why on earth would you ever want to own a weapon that would never work if you needed it to? Er, yeah, I forget, sane and legal stuff stopped me frum doin' 'dat. If you wanted to learn about guns or protect yourself with one, would you buy a rubber toy? A cap gun perhaps? In that respect I can think of very few sane reasons to defend onself with a plastic gun. Better to arm yourself to the teeth expecting war at the door and have nothing happen than to live in a stupor of thought and wonder why you weren't better prepared. And finally(I could go on, but I have bored myself with your response) who are you to judge a person on their reasons for wanting a real sharp sword? The thread started was someone looking where to buy swords. Not looking for a philosophical explanation behind the ethics of owning a sword. I am certain they could care less about your views on modern civilized humanity. Don't bother replying, waste of bandwidth. To the author of th thread you should really check out BUGEI.COM. Their custom swords are the best. Excellent quality. You could cut through a hundred bigots and hypocrites in a single stroke. Drawback, $5,450 US pricetag. IMHO, well worth it. Why buy a blade if there's no functionality in it?

I agree Jack, about the free sparring done by some. It becomes so unrefined, so sloppy, you wouldn't guess the people performing the movements had had any training in anything aside from going ape berserk.

I think what you are describing, Jack, is more accurately called TIMING. Let me further explain: Speed, strength, endurance are all components to timing. Being able to place the proper hit at the proper moment, or being to perform the proper movement at the right time(ex. moving out of range at the moment of impact) is TIMING. I noticed you mentioned reaction, distance, timing, and footwork all together, but if you look closer I think you'll see how your reaction depends on how well you can time your movement. Distance depends on how well you can time your footwork. When you have timing you can seemingly effortlessly hit a faster opponent by simply timing your movements. Ever seen the older wiser martial artist seemingly hit his younger opponent without effort? Timing being the key. I like the exercise you recommend, except I feel that it limits the mind too much by focusing on the feet too much. I would reorganize the exercise to work on all parts of the body and focus looking your opponent in the EYES rather than the body. Range is only a portion of the scheme of timing. I must state however that all things need to be gained. Speed, power, accuracy, and timing. One alone will not fully suffice. Regular sparring is one of the only ways to fully cultivate these skills.

Hi Jack, I would like to keep it anonymous, but I don't mind discussing it. If you have any questions I do like answering them. It's not that I have any paranoia about other people learning the art I study. It's just obscure and using names never really helps in the description. I'd rather talk about it than give a name. Thanks for the welcome.

On rotator cuffs BTW, there is an exercise to strengthen them, I don't know the name I will try and explain it. Your elbow is tucked into your side and your forearm at 90degrees perpendicular thereto. With your arm in front rotate it to the side, again only about 90degrees laterally and then back to front. Do this with a small weight. Don't lock your knees, ie stand bent a little, don't force your back to do anything(except maintain proper posture), try to use the rotator cuff muscle for the movement. Anything more on this? Maybe KickChick can offer some more. She seems to have more in depth knowledge on the subject.

Thank you for the warm welcome. On a side note: I just got promoted to an orangish colored belt on KARATEFORUMS.COM. I've got to be honest. I never thought I'd get a colored belt in anything. The art I study doesn't use belts or ranking and I never even considered I'd ever get anything like it. So I've got to say it was quite a surprise. You've got to look at from my point of view to see the humor in it. The art I'm in doesn't view belts as any indication of skill or even practiacal knowledge.(Generally speaking. We look at it as boiling down to the individual regardless of the belt around his/her waist) So I don't care for belts. Now, I join up here and get belts, ranks, etc. It's really funny for me. This makes no sense I'm sure, but just go with me on this one.

Hello.

Thanks KickChick It really surprising how much misinformation is floating around out there. This is such a good place to ask questions. Like JACK good idea to come on and ask. Especially if your teachers are misinformed or outdated.

Scientifically speaking: It's best to not stretch from cold, but after some aerobic warm-up. In fact, to really stretch the muscle the best time to really focus on stretching is after the workout, when your muscles are really warmed. For martial arts, warm up with some jogging in place, running, even jumping jacks, etc. before stretching to 'wake' the muscle up before stretching and then do your cool down stretches 10+min. or longer, but not too long. Each stretch should be held for at least 30sec. When stretching one of the worst things you could do would be to 'bounce' your stretch. This can cause trauma to the ligament/muscle and hinder your stretching progress. Ie you stretch really good one day, but the next feel even tighter. Heat can help do wonders for warming the muscle.

That's a big misconception. Watch Muay Thai fights alot and there are always shins breaking. I've even seen plain old karateka's hitting shins by accident and one just being split. If you want to block, either avoid the kick altogether or don't use your shin. I can't recommend a specific art for self-defense. The best thing I can do is recommend learning as much as possible from as many different sources as possible. Trimming the inefficient and go from there.

A personal reason for not liking waxwood: they break too easily. Hit it up against anything solid(ie hardwood bo) and kiss it goodbye.

Nope, that would sound really 'kano' in filipino. It would be really really long and not fun to pronounce. There are other ways of saying the same things. Maybe like created through fire, or taught by trial. Nilikha sa apoy. Tinuruan ng pagsubok. Or just copy some Filipino revolutionists: Kagitingan : bravery/ valor Katapangan : courage Karangalan : honor katipunan : brotherhood/ society

Ever used the 'chucks' against another weapon? Chain, 11+ links, no ball bearing, NARA(filipino word, don't know the english for it) wood. I wouldn't use them any other way. The short chain was made that way for demonstration purposes as well as the short rope. Ever try to flail rice stalks with a short cord? Don't work too well. I've had ball bearing joint POP out. And cords would never work against a sword, machete.(this of course, leaving out all other factors[to keep the conversation short]) I don't buy mass market 'chucks' anymore except for demonstration purposes where I point out their uselessness. Of course, something is better than nothing.

I don't understand your question. You will have to rephrase it. What good will cheap blades and scabbards do when you want to make swords? Katana were not made by taking any bar o' steel and then pounding it and folding it. The ore was mined, fired, the molten steel poured into a mold. Now different sword makers had different styles but a strong concensus was a rod of iron placed in the center and the steel "folded" over several hundred to thousand times. The process was time consuming. Months necessary to complete the blade. Unless you plan on canabalizing blades and parts to customize cheap swords I don't see how they can help you make one. Also 99.9%(slight exaggeration) of swords bought through magazines or dojos are 440 or 420j stainless steel with a rockwell hardness of 50-60+ Pretty poor in quality if you are considering a blade worthy of combat. If not then anything will do even a car spring.

About MSG and ASPARTAME, the FDA also publicly lists side effects for both one of which listed is DEATH. A rare side effect of aspartame is death among other things. These are FDA listed side effects. For MSG it affects the nervous system. I copied this off the MSG web page. These are documented tests. YES there are tests out there that claim MSG is potentially harmless to most people. The truth of the issue remains MSG is a toxin to humans. In small amounts you may not notice the damage being done. MSG is found is practically everything. You have read really carefully to find it. Aspartame, artificial sweeteners, breath mints, almost anything sugar free. Diet soda pops. Dangerous things, my friends.

Hmm....obviously harnessing the full potential of the body is not on your To-DO LIST. Anyone can get hit by a truck the next and die, so what? Why not live each day that way you want it? I choose to forge my body as strong as I can. If I get hit by truck then OH WELL, at least I have lived the dedicated life I have chosen. When people cry that, "You could get hit by a truck" crap it is a clear indication of weak self-discipline. A justification to avoid the sacrifice necessary for improvement. Something will kill either way...lame excuse. You know it doesn't matter if you want to make the sacrifice and live the healthy lifestyle. That's your choice. You may get hit by a truck tomorrow and then it wouldn't matter. I however choose to forge the body I have into the machine necessary to perform the tasks I ask of it. milk--don't like Bovine growth hormone? Buy SOY. fresh fruit - buy organic fresh veggies - buy organic again chicken and turkey - buy organically fed. sure it costs more, harder to find, but what kind of sacrifice are you willing to make to improve your physique. The more TOXINS you put in your body through improper health habits the less efficient your body can perform. this translates directly into MA ability. I don't see how you can claim to be a martial artist and not choose to live a healthy lifestyle. Of course, it all boils down to why you study the martial arts. But in the end, we may all get hit by a truck tomorrow. So I'll just hole up in my house and pray trucks don't knock....