lordtariel

Sorry... Dragonball Z reference... Yes I am a geek....

Glad to see you enjoyed it. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tie+karate+belt&search=Search Found a couple of videos on YouTube that show you how to tie the belt. I think there's an old post on the forum somewhere about this.

I usually recommend getting a budget quality weapon to begin with. You can find them from $20-$40 all over the internet. If after a month or so you decide you're going to want to stick with that weapon for a while, get a better one. If not, you're not out that much money.

Ahhh... you mean I can't learn the Kahmehameha?

Sorry to hear that. I've had this happen to me before. Never went to the doctor about it cause it went away on it's own but it took a week or so.

It really depends on the organization that's putting on the tournament. They can vary widely.

I didn't mind them, but I think his Riftwar series was the best.

I drink just about anything. I had to work on breaking the habit though. Went from 3 cans a day to none for 6 months. After that I allow myself 2 cans worth in a week. Speaking of which... I think I'll go have one now.

Totally appropriate for the time of year! I've seen him in concert twice.

Welcome to the forums.

Ours goes like this: White Yellow Orange Blue Blue Stripe Purple Purple Stripe Green Green Stripe Brown Brown-White Stripe Brown-Black Stripe Black-White Stripe Black

I finished Eragon last week. I asked for the sequel for Christmas so I'm killing time by reading David Eddings' Belgariad series.

Yeah, it may not be the perfect solution, but it's better than no solution at all.

Me too... I liked the book and hope it sticks with it. I think the last movie I saw in the theater was Cars.

I do some painting... I paint the house, the garage....

It's really more the person than the art that makes the difference. That being said, if you don't train in the martial aspects of tai chi you probably won't have much of a chance. Besides, most street fights I've seen are ugly, dirty, and quick... not full of fancy techniques. If you know how to hit, you know how to hit regardless of the style. There's very little subtlety involved. That being said, tai chi can be effective enough to hold it's own if the practitioner knows what he's doing, but that level of mastery comes far later than you would see in some of the other martial arts out there.

Welcome to the forums.

It's good to stretch them, but you have to know your limits. Stretch too far and you tear muscle fibers which will scar up and decrease your flexibility. The best way to go is to stretch it untill it just hurts a little, then back off slightly. I'm sure Sohan would be able to tell you more about it though.

I know a fifth dan that's around that age, and he definitely has the skills to back it up, so I don't think it's too out there. Even if he started training at 16, that's still 14 years of training. Say 3-4 years to shodan, than two or so years between dan ranks. My suggestion is that you check out a couple of classes, then go to a couple other dojos and check out their classes. One time compare the instructors, then the other compare the students. Welcome to the forums by the way!

So does this mean grade school recess is actually secret ninja training?

That was one of there purposes. On spears they were used to hide the point so you couldn't tell where the thrust was coming from. I've also read that some of the old ones were made of wire and could be flicked into the eyes of an opponent.

Of course, using his food to silently cause heart attacks... Genius! For a limited time, purchase a shuriken with your extra value meal for only $3.99

http://www.wushudirect.co.uk/acatalog/Longquan.html A kwan dao's a bit different than a Chinese Broadsword. We're talking a polearm with a big ol' metal blade on the end of it. It could be used to take the legs out from under horses. They ranged from 10 to 40 pounds, although now days 7-10 would be considered a heavy one. I would imagine that an 80 pounder would be used more for strength training. Bagua uses oversized weapons for training as well. http://www.whitemountain-tao.com/html/bigs.html These suckers weigh 5-9 pounds... talk about overkill. I'd like to see how someone with one of these would do in an open tournament.

That's harsh, sorry you had to go through that.

I'm 28. Be going on 29 in April.