striking_cobra

great example very true.

in my opinion you should really learn to use a weapon before you try and get flashy with it and use it for tournament forms...that's just me though.

all's i can say is burnout bud, i have known many people who think they can go all day every day and not give their bodies a rest. you don't really wanna do that.

what an interesting question, i guess i never really cared about why the techniques worked when i was studying bjj, as long as they had my partner tapping out. nice one.

we seem to be shortchanging bjj here for a moment, there's pleanty of tech. from the top and lots of ways to get to the top...there's nothing saying you can't punch people from the mount or side mount, just because you study it dosn't mean you're going to end up on your back...

thanks for your thoughts on the matter.

if there is no age limit for the school go for it, the instructor should be qualified to tell you who he will and will not train and why. the school i train at has an age limit of 18 but there are reasons why some schools only except older students.

what i want to know is, if you're doing a research project why don't you go do some reasearch instead of getting people to do your homework for you lol. beyond that almost all martial art systems have roots in kung fu i guess that's pretty impressive, not to mention it's thousands of years old and still effective today. i also agree that skill level of a fighter is based on the dedication of the person.

break the staff? what kind of staff do you use? unless you're talking about a cheap, light, competition staff you're not going to break it by racking the tip on the floor.

most arts decend from shaolin kung fu

sorry to anyone who thinks i'm nocking on tkd because i'm not tkd is great, but here's my two cents...the answer is really biased as to what you're after are you trying to become more flexible? are you after forms and tournaments? are you looking to defend yourself? tkd is great for learning the first two, but i can say honestly that if you learn a bunch of kicks, (tkd has alot of kicks), alot of which are showy (in my opinion) and above the waist, and you need to protect yourself with them, your chances are slim...check it out of you don't believe me...high kicks are easy to block, grab, and aviod. my recomendation would be tai boxing or a southern kung fu style, something like that with low, nasty kicks. now that all you tkd students have read this and are feeling like i'm attacking you, don't...just trying to give my opinion...i respect anyone with the dedication to study any martial art. later all

i suggest you talk to your instructor about learning sword tech...or at the very least try getting a good video... from my experience learning solely from writing and photos can leave you static and if there's noone to guide you may not even know if you're even doing the techniques correctly.

seriously? i wouldn't consider ninjitsu very guided towards "self defense"...i'm not saying it isn't a good martial art...but i surely wouldn't suggest joe somebody go learn it to protect themselves. (no offense to you ninja's out there lol, but if you really study ninjitsu i'm sure you know what i'm talking about.)

they must practice alot

really i think it's just a matter of what you're trying to do with your sword. using an 8 will give you more power and you'll probably be targeting the upper triangles...but you also lose action on your backswing. the reverse 8 keeps your sword in play at all times...your targets become your lower upper triangles and the low trangle. practice both, don't limit yourself to just one or the other... or do whatever you want...who am i anyhow? lol

i guess noone can really answer that question either, that would be someone's opinion

if i were you i'd respect your instructor. if she dosn't think it's in your best interest then she's probably right. "sparing" no-holds bard/ufc style with people you don't actually know in an unsupervised setting could get you seriously injured. i've grappled quite a bit, and even between friends, with a ref, things do get out of hand. especially if you're new. then again that's just one opinion.

take a month and try each school out. then stick with the one you liked the best.

noone could actually answer this question, i'm sure anyone can give you their opinion, but a fight is chaos, plain and true, and the moment you underestimate someone because they don't have as much training as you is the day they kick your head in. i don't care how black your belt is. just my two cents

not that i don't agree with all the good advice these guys are telling you, but in my opinion definietly train with this guy whenever you can. whatever licks you take in practice will only make your body tougher when it comes to a real compitition or fight, (hopefully you never have to worry about that though). laters

also translated "dicipline over time".

all things may become a weapon in the hands of someone trained in kung fu...at least, that's what i hear.

the southern styles have lower stances and all of the kicks are waist high and lower. reason being in the south the ground is very flat. the norther styles utilize higher kicks ect...because of the rockier terrain and they were influenced by the korean arts. if you live in the usa or somewhere that has streets, sidewalks ect, as primary, you can guess that a southern style would be more appropriate...though anything you can learn or study will make you a better martial artist. i wouldn't suggest boxing yourself into one style only.

if you are going to learn sword start with knife or bo, that's my advice to you.

good call snakeeel, and i liked reading your post david, nice work