lordtariel

My first weapon was a 35 pound recurve bow which I recieved as a gift on my 10th birthday. My first martial arts weapon was a chinese broadsword.

I recently injured my side in class. I think I was just pushing myself too hard and strained something. I wound up going to the doctor cause my rib was super tender, I was afraid I might have cracked it. He said that the rib wasn't broken but the muscle may have pulled away from the rib and that I just needed to continue using ibuprofin and heat to work it out. My problem is, I keep going to class and making it sore. It's not getting any worse, but I'm practiaclly an invalid right after class. Anyone have any experience with this kind of injury? How long does it usually take to heal?

I cut the pop out of my diet and lost over 20 pounds in about 2 1/2-3 months. Started in with Karate as well, but weight's increased rather than decreased... (dang muscle weighing more than fat)

I had a similar problem not to long ago. Felt like the pain was in the chest wall. My problem turned out to be acid reflux caused by my weight, but that didn't make me any less paranoid. Still, you need to go see the doctor when you have symptoms like that, age or no. Odds are probably pretty low, but any odds at all is not a good thing.

I really like the boat oar, even though I haven't trained with it yet. Seconded by the bo.

Sure, you're a little limited as there is a lot of grabbing/redirecting and palm strike application in tai chi, but there are other strikes in there if you look for them. (Grasp Sparrows Tail, Fair Lady Works at Schuttles, Ect.)

It kinda depends on my mood. I really enjoy the quick movements of the gim, I like using the katana when fighting two handed, and the dao when fighting two weapon style.

I use the bo. I had an akido friend teach me a jo kata once. I tried it, and tried some light sparring with it, but I perfered the longer reach of the bo.

One of the senior students demonstrated the use of the boat oar in our kobudo class the other day. It was truly awsome... Anyone here have experience with using one? Thoughts on it's effectiveness as a weapon? Is it hard to learn? Anyone know where I could find some video of various katas? It's definitly something I'd like to work my way up to.

I have a question about the different types of wood out there? Is there a noticeable difference between white oak and red oak? What about Oak vs. Ash? What's your preferred material for a bo? I went searching and found a link in a couple posts that seemed like it would give me the info I needed but the link was broken. (http://www.crane-mountain.com/page6.html) Thanks

As nanfeishen says, it depends on what you want out of it. Watch the instructor go through some of his forms. Is he overextending? Is he rigid or flowing? Is his center going way up and way down? Is he ballanced? Does he focus on health, martial arts, philosophy, or is he just teaching people to wave there arms and look for that "cosmic vibe" None of these are bad, it just makes sense to find an instructor that spends most of the time on your focus. Just like choosing any dojo or instructor, some rules apply. If he says he teaches an unrecorded secret art handed down from 2000 of Chinese history to a handfull of disciples... you're probably better off finding someone else. Find out what style he teaches and find some clips of people doing those forms. They won't be the same, but it will give you an idea what it should look like. Get some information about the style and ask the instructor about it. A good instructor will know at least a little history of the art he teaches. Ask how long he's been studing. How long he's been teaching. I study Yang family tai chi and have found plenty of martial application to keep me busy between open handed forms, weapon forms, push hands and silk reeling. Tai Chi is a very effective and powerful martial art if you can find someone who can teach it properly. Enjoy it.

You might not be charged, but you would possibly fall under suspision if you didn't report it stolen... Where I live, you can carry one around as long as you're not threatening anyone with it. Do be prepaired to be stopped by every police officer that sees you walking down the street with a sword on your back or waist. Usually, they'll run a check on you, find out if you have a legitimate reason to be carring one, like going to practice, or with a class practicing in the park. Be prepared to have guns drawn though if you are sparing with weapons outside of a class with someone. It's happended to me and a friend using a set of shinai. Remember, police have to always have to be careful so give them a break. Just be calm, IMMEDIATELY drop your weapon, it's even better if you do it before they even get out and tell you to(it can be the difference between a drawn weapon or them just having ahold of it), keep your hands visible, do what they say, and explain what you're doing.(I asked the guy about it after they stopped us) A good way to find out is to look at your state's legislation: Google ____ state law self defense or ___state law weapon. http://home.netcom.com/~brlevine/sta-law.htm has compiled a great amount of information on this subject as it pertains to knives, but you can expect similar restrictions on other weapons as well because they often fall into the same category. Or, you can do what I did and contact your local state police office and ask them. Remember, it's YOUR responsibility to find out what's legal in your area, I claim no authority in this subject, these are just some things I've researched.

Hi, I've just started training in kobudo to augment my regular karate and am going to be working my way up to the sai. I had a few questions... Length: What is the proper lenght for a sai? Octagon vs Round: Which was used traditionally? Any benifits/drawbacks to one or the other? Purchasing: Does anyone know where you can buy a good pair of combat-worthy sai? The only ones I can find are either stainless steel or chrome plated... I would like to learn with a pair that are more realistic. Sorry if this has been covered. I tried searching the forum, but couldn't figure out how to narrow down the results...

Anything I can find in my envionment that could be useful... dirt, sand, rocks, tree limbs, keys, chairs, tables, my car, ect... Of the three, I would think a bo would be the most easilly disguised weapon, using a non tapered one as a walking stick or such, with the sticks being the most useful skill to know for improvised weapons.

I'm ok with the occasional social drink or two, but I really just don't understand why people smoke. I mean, drinking serves a logical purpose. You can be thirsty, although drinking dehydrates you. But what purpose does smoking serve. It's not the cigarette that calms you down or relaxes you, it's the deep breathing you're doing while you're inhaling all those poisons. I won't even get started on the second hand smoke problems. Why not just do the deep breathing. Sorry if I sound kind of harsh and I'm not trying to personally attack smokers but I almost lost my father TWICE from heart attacks related to his smoking. OK... enough of my ranting about it. From a martial standpoint, smoking will decrease your lung capacity. Think of it this way. A smoker and a non smoker of equal skill, weight, and size square off. Who do you think's going to win if the fight lasts for more than a few minutes. Also, think of your classmates. Most non smokers don't like the smell of cigaretts, and that smell permiates everything that a smoker owns. I speak from experience on this one, try grappeling with a smoker on the mat. It's not to pleasant.

My friend got a set from martialartsmart.com a little while ago. The set he got actually had a hollow head and would dent fairly easily if it encountered anything hard with any significant force. They were much faster weapons than I expected (I get the feeling they were wushu), but neither of us have been able to find absolutely anything on them in terms of instruction. They are fun weapons to play with and great strength training, but I'm partial to light, fast weapons.

I would have to say that a trained Tai Chi practitioner would do very well against other artists. This being said, you have to find a sifu who actually knows the martial aspects and you need to train diligently. Some of my friends are really into kendo. I had no sword experience other than my Tai Chi training with the Dao(broadsword) and Jian(straightsword), but I could hold my own against him using only those techniques I have learned, although I had to move much faster. I found the experience very interesting. If you are interested in learning some of the basics of combat in Tai Chi, find an instructor that teaches push hands as it is great training. A good book demonstrating some of Tai Chi's combat applications is Tai Chi Chuan Martial Applications by Jwing-Ming Yang. Tai Chi is also good as a suppliment to soft style arts such as judo and akido to train your ballance and body mechanics.