Obese_Ninja

My mistake, i thought you were implying that most of the worlds martial arts descend from Shaolin. Sorry about that, ran my mouth off before thinking it through.

Thats quite a large misconception, what about arts from India, the middle east, Europe, North or South America. I'm pretty sure the Vikings didn't learn to fight from the Shaolin monks. China had a number of indiginous arts long before the founding of the Shaolin temple. As long as there has been large scale conflict there has been the necessity for methods of training that are a cut above your enemies method and there are very few places in the world lucky enough not to experience war.

ah, glad thats cleared up, i think the same laws might apply here in the UK but martial arts schools are pretty much under the radar here, its fairly easy to raise money for whatever cause and dodge the taxman, not that we've got any intention of that

Ok, Thanks for the help. By the way, are you in the U.S? I'm not following any of this CPA, IRS stuff. If you are talking British laws i really should open a book or two before i start these events.

while i have no kendo experience, I wouldn't advise anyone to learn the basics of a martial art without professional instruction, the basics are the foundations upon which all of your techniques are built, it is unadvisable to learn the basics of any martial art without someone to point out flaws in your techniques, or give you advice on how to improve.

A what? Well as far as I know the charities we are raising money for (Islamic relief, CAFOD and the Christina Noble foundation) are non profit.

Sounds good, I'll see about getting that organised. Thanks

Sorry, poor choice of words, what I meant was that according to my understanding combat, in the traditional sense of meeting on the battlefield with weapons in full view, was not their primary focus, so, when faced with violence their focus would have been avoidance first, then, if avoidance wasn't possible fast incapacitation (lethal or non lethal) and escape so as not to be caught but i speak from very limited knowledge so again correct me if I am wrong.

Since turning 18 my instructor has given me the responsibility of organising events/outside of class activities for the students (children, adolescents and adults) at the class, and to head the charity fundraising of the class. Any ideas for either? Or a way to combine the two? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My understanding of the ninja is that they were not hardened fighters, their job was (for the most part) gathering information, infiltration etc (again this is as I understand it, if I'm wrong correct me) but surely, as the information needed guarding the focus of the ninja's combatative arts tended towards escape, incapacitating the enemy and getting out of there to pass on what information they had gathered, surely incapacition of an attacker and/or avoidance of/escape from conflict is a very worthwhile focus in any martial art/self defence program.

Hi just wondering if anyone on the forums practices or practiced Choi Kwang Do or any of the break off styles? What did/do you think of it as a self defence method? I'm well aware that CKD has caused controversy on other forums, this is an unbiased question-no intention of sparking of a flame war. Thanks in advance

I agree. All of these martial arts were designed for defence in one form or another, so can be applied to self defence today, as human physiology (sp?) has not changed since those arts were developed. However, scenarios have changed, you are no longer likely to be confronted by samurai, wandering bands of mercenaries or opposing martial arts schools. It all depends on how the individual schools have adapted to the requirements of modern self defence

Hi, names peter, 18, I study Choi Kwang Do, nearly 4 and a half years, black belt first dan. I've also began studying under a friend of my instructor who teaches techniques from several martial arts, as listed on my profile. I am also going to start Kung Fu at a local school, I think it's southern Shaolin but I'm not sure. Hoping to learn something about the arts I'm studying, learn things about new styles that I may study in the future. I'm not that good at introductions, so I really don't know what else to say, so I suppose I'll stop waffling on and end the post.

Hi all, first post so I'll try to make everything correct, good first impression : An area as vast as the middle east or the indian subcontinent is bound to have a huge and widely varied selection of martial systems, especially considering the large numbers of ethnic minorities, tribal communities, and religions. India and the Middle East are seen as cradles of civilisation so it stands to reason they may well have been the first areas to experience large scale conflict and the necessity for standardised training to overcome enemies. Kalaripayattu is seen as possibly the world's oldest standardized system of martial arts, containing progressive levels of training with esoteric knowledge for those considered gurukal-masters. It is this art which Bodhidharma, the semi mythical founder of Shaolin Kung Fu supposedly studied as a member of the warrior caste and upon that art based the 18 movements on which Shaolin Kung Fu is based. I have absolutely no idea about Middle Eastern martial arts. Hope this helps.