tessone

Where'd you see it? Some friends of mine saw it opening night in Peoria, but they didn't like the theater at all. We saw it Friday night (well, early Saturday morning, really) in the Quad Cities, then I saw it again last night with my girlfriend here in Galesburg.

I like the two images on the right, especially the top right one.

Streeeeeeeeeeeeetch. Seriously. Do a lot of light stretching--don't overdo it, but don't let your muscles get really really tight. You'll be sorry when they do heal.

In my opinion, it's the instructor's responsibility to never pass a student who doesn't deserve the rank they're testing for. If you create the expectation that achieving the next rank is easy, when you suddenly say you've been putting them on and "giving them" ranks, they have a right to get angry. Perhaps she went to a dojo where she'll be respected enough to be told the truth. If you create the expectation that getting to the next rank is tough, but worth it, you might end up with fewer total students at the start, but the ones you get are more likely to stick around.

Hrm... I really don't think I'd go that far. If you have a camcorder, video equipment for your computer, and some dowel rods, you can make a "lightsaber". There are a number of how-tos on the net.

You don't advance your cause in the slightest through your arrogance. Try learning a little humility first. It's the mark of a true martial artist...

Good luck, krozor! And welcome to the forums, by the way.

Yup. We were doing a little no-contact sparring last week and even I got a few hits in against one of the black belts. Everyone has their weaknesses, and sometimes even luck will get you through to them.

It's sad that people are willing to exploit others even in martial arts. If it were just the art, then they'd be greedy capitalists. But with self defense thrown in, they're playing with the lives of others.

SO COOL!!! The writing for the love scenes sucked, but that's par for the course with Star Wars. Lucas just can't write love scenes. This isn't a spoiler (so don't be afraid if you haven't seen it yet!), but I loved the "death sticks" scene with Obi-Wan. Guy: Would you like to buy some death sticks? OBK: You don't want to sell me death sticks. Guy: I...don't want to sell you death sticks. OBK: You want to go home and rethink your life. Guy: I want to go home and rethink my life.

Whoa there. It's possible (in fact, necessary) to love your country and still criticize things the government does. I find it unfortunate that anyone would accept without question the actions of their government. That's how tyranny develops.

I'd say no higher than 5:1. Even when we have three instructors to fifteen students people fall through the cracks.

Without question the coach. There is such a thing as working too hard, and getting yelled at with no encouragement is hard on anyone. Being too laid back often means you don't learn anything, though. And the master type doesn't teach because he's too busy looking somber.

Best of luck! Try to relax and have fun.

Obviously an individual needs to earn respect for themselves--a rank can't bring them that. However, there is a lot to be said for respecting the rank, even if you don't respect the person. That is, you might not think the person deserves respect, but when you're within a MA context, you show them outward respect because the system demands it.

Obviously banning guns isn't going to stop all crime. No one suggested that it would. You're continually contradicting yourself. You say that Europe is extremely liberal, yet you claim "Europe dosen't [sic] have much [sic] rights anyways". Do you even know what the traditional definitions of liberal and conservative are? Until you're ready to do more than wave your hands, I'm through discussing this with you.

Free private lessons? Wow. I must say that small class size is sooooo important. Even though our master isn't there, I enjoy Tuesday and Thursday classes so much more than Monday/Wednesday, because there are usually only four or five of us there, and I can get a lot more done. I'm looking forward to summer, when most of the other students from our college will be gone on break and I'll be here training.

You're going to have much more luck breaking the knee if you follow through.

Huh? Europe has a staggeringly lower crime rate than the United States. When the shooting happened in Switzerland following 9/11, people in the area who were interviewed expressed extreme shock, as no one had been murdered in the area in something like five years, much less a shooting spree. If you don't believe my assertions, visit the UK Home Office website (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/) and the US Bureau of Justice stats page (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/).

By the way, according to the figures listed on the US Government's budget website for 2003 (http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2003/pdf/bud34.pdf), the expenditures budgeted for FY 2003 total $2.052 trillion. So your "trillions of dollars" figure isn't sound. According to this same document, the actual outlay listed under "International Assistance Programs" is $12.6 billion for 2001. Projected figures for FY 2002 and 2003 are $13.1 and $13.9 billion respectively. The international affairs budget was $16.6 in 2001, with projections of $23.5 and $22.5 billion in FY 2002 and 2003. For a little comparison, national defense rated $329 billion in 2001, with projections of $350.7 and $396.8 billion in FY 2002 and 2003. So the US isn't exactly the world's biggest philanthropist, it seems.

You're citing a conference paper which contained no information about overall US spending on anything as justification for your claim? You're dancing around the need to justify your claims by spitting out a bunch of mumbo-jumbo about charts on TV and aid organizations. You were talking previously about aid paid for by US taxes. Now you've moved on to aid organizations, which is an entirely different topic. If you want to debate this seriously, come up with some facts. If not, please stop making wild claims supported by hasty web searches.

It's important to note that there is a mental (and for some people, spiritual) component to training as well. It's not just lifting weights and running through drills.

I can't see wanting to use my MA knowledge to hurt anyone. One of the central tenets of Kuk Sool (and a lot of other arts) is to use only as much force is necessary to stop an aggressor.

I'd argue that KSW isn't the "next best thing" to anything! Anyhow, you can find the whole curriculum at: http://www.kuksoolwon.com/testreq.htm This is white belt through brown-black.

Hmm... Funny how a little physics can save your life in a sinking car.