bushido_man96

I feel you there. High school is hard for an introvert. When a high priority is placed on winning, as it often is in school sports, the abundance of testosterone can run you right out of the room. My school didn't have wrestling, but I felt that way about a lot of people. BJJ tends to discourage the overblown ego thing by the very nature of the practice. This is of course a blatant generalization, so your mileage may vary. Well, if the Martial Arts are about overcoming challenges....then why not try it? It will be cost effective, you'll learn great skills and get great conditioning, and you might make some new friends in the process. Even if you only make a junior varsity team, you'll still get to some meets and tournaments, and you'll be getting some good training. Worth a thought.

Your welcome.

Are there any other kinds of drills? Unfortunately, our one-steps are this way, and even our DT stuff and Combat Hapkido tends to not run much resistance for the most part. But, I can fix that CH problem...

Foot Throws: Karate, Judo and Self-Defense, by Hayward Nishioka. Another Ohara publications book, it gives a brief history on Nishioka, and then gets right into foot throws. The first section is the Judo section, dividing the techniques up into sweeps, reaps, and wheels, and then what he calls some unclassified techniques and combinations. Nishioka then gets into some foot throws for Karate, and you can really see the difference in the set ups, where as the Karate throws have striking involved more than the Judo throw descriptions, which don't use the strikes. Finally, the self-defense section gives another set of foot throws, many related to others already mentioned, but with more striking involved as well, along with explanations in differences between competition based throws, and for self-defense. Not a bad read, but it can get a bit confusing in trying to decipher the differences in the "his right, your left" descriptions of the pictures, but then again, if you have experience with Judo, I'm sure it comes a bit easier. Its still given me some ideas to use in incorporating more sweeping motions into my training.

Congrats and well done!

That's pretty cool. Thanks for sharing that, Justice. Cool to see the behind the scenes stuff, especially with the way games are made now.

Laughed a little to hard in a public place at that one. That comment is awesome. Hehehe....thanks. Unfortunately, its too true. That really, really sucked. The worse part of it was cleaning it off afterwards. Its like lighting your face on fire, and then standing into the wind to try to put it out. Never again.LOL!! Man, I've been caught in a cloud of pepper spray years back and it was nasty stuff. I'd rather not catch a face full of it on purpose. I take it was part of training certification? Yeah, that's what it was. I still refuse to take the TASER rid, too. :lol: Now that's funny stuff, too!

Glad you had a good time! You'll be a career judge in no time!

I think they were once their own kingdom, but was taken by Japan later.

I'm inclined to go with Wastelander on this. I've never heard of any "meanings" being assigned to the dan ranks, but sensei8 does shed some different light on the subject.

Great post, tallgeese. Ever since I started Combat Hapkido, I've been sold on strike before joint manipulation. If you grab hold of someone's wrist, you've really got a tiger by the tail. That's why that striking aspect is so important.

Keep digging, Bob. I'm sure you'll find it.

Have fun and good luck!

Thanks for sharing this. You're right, clear as mud! In Cook's book, there is a section where Shotokai is discussed, as well as the things Egami started to do later on in making changes to it.

Everyone's given great advise so far. If 2 days is what you can do, do that. Sometimes things change, and you can fit more in, which will be a great bonus. Most of all, enjoy your time training!

Mine, too, Bob. But, the holidays do cause that. Next week, I should be back into it. My training, especially as of late, is like having a quiet conversation because Dai-Soke is no longer with us, especially on the floor. I feel his unexpected death has left me as an uncompleted puzzle; one that'll never be finished by his hands. I miss him so very much!! I understand how you feel, Bob. Just remember that when its really quiet, you just have to listen more closely.

I think Zaine has a good point. Modern espionage is different than when the Ninja were in demand. Training has changed, and the tools have changed mainly because they technology has gotten better. Nowadays you would be looking at circumventing electronic security systems including sensors and cameras, and things like that. So, the game has changed, and the old Ninja schools, although I'm sure they still have some valuable skills to teach, aren't as necessary as they once were. And, like JZ mentioned, the lineage thing. It basically makes it "official" that there will be no more of the traditional Ninja. You might be able to refer to some spys as "modern day Ninja," but they won't be what many would call the "real thing."

You could look at hiring an independent photographer for a day, have them come to the Hombu and other dojos, and do some picture taking while in classes, or seminars, or what not. You could also do a photo album of your school. Whenever someone signs up for classes, take a photo, put it a book. Then take a photo after every grading. Kind of a recording of their journey. Kind of like a photo record of your students.

How old are you? If you are a high school student, Wrestling would be a good option, and more affordable for the time being, and it will give you a good base to work from, as well.

I agree with your sentiments, MasterPain. In Combat Hapkido, there is almost always a strike of some kind performed before a lock or manipulation goes into play. Its called a "distraction" technique, but I prefer to refer to it as a destruction technique, as to me, it doesn't make sense to just barely tap someone in order to facilitate another technique. Hit them hard, then facilitate the technique. In CH, we also work a trapping system that does that "feeding" you mentioned. We don't trap for the sake of trapping, and they system is not complex; its another tool to get the job done. With Bob's Shindokan Tuite, I found myself attempting to defend strikes, at which point I would find myself getting wrapped up and tossed aside.

I know it would be that way for me, because I have so little experience with it as it is. I think it has to do mainly with comfort zones and past reps in that help retain most information. Since I've been punching and kicking for so long, knocking the rust off will be no big deal. I can't wait to see how rusty I'll be when I start Combat Hapkido back up.

All are good traits. Being a good representative of your style, an ambassador to it, in a sense, goes a long way. Knowledge, wisdom, experience, and the ability to apply these things along with the physical aspects of the style all lead to a great Martial Artist.

This is a great analogy. Thanks for sharing it. Dead on, in my opinion. Wise words, to be sure. Don't discount yourself because you are a 4th kyu. You have a great attitude and outlook here, much broader than mine was at that time in my training. Its true that high ranks can learn from lower ranks.

Ah, man. But I can understand. Maybe next time we get together, I can give you some help there, if you like.

Yeah, its so frustrating, Bob. I was watching a lot of K-State Wildcats football this year, too, and I was frustrated with that Baylor game. But either way, I think they can still make just as good an argument as any other one-loss team to get to the BCS Championship game. I'll say this, though. I don't think the Chiefs are as bad as the Jets played on Thanksgiving. That was so many kinds of ugly...I felt bad for them.