bushido_man96

When you make this statement, you make it sound like you plan on your daughter quitting after getting her black belt. I have seen this happen many times; students get to black belt, and then quit. This if very frustrating from an instructor point of view. There is so much to do after black belt. Earning a black belt should not be an end in and of itself. This is something I believe in: if you quit practicing the Martial Arts, then you are not a Martial Artist anymore. If you quit once you get a black belt, you are not a black belt anymore. You have to keep it up, or you lose it. Why throw away all of that hard-earned training? The point of the arts is to improve yourself. You should focus on your weaknesses as well as your strengths, so that you can get better overall. Performing flawlessly is not what its about. Performing to the best of your ability, and feeling good about yourself for what you have accomplished, regardless of what others think, is the key for driving yourself to betterment. We will experience successes and failures everywhere in life. Trying to shield our loved ones from experiencing them is doing them a disservice. Now, I am not saying that failures should be engineered just to be learned from; far from it. However, when we fail, we have to pick ourselves up off the floor, dust ourselves off, and get right back in the mix. It makes us stronger.

Those are very good, simple points. Thanks for sharing.

Hey now.... Something about integrity, and yada yada...makes that seem shifty...

I think that the techniques demonstrated in the article have merit. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. In a purley defensive nature, I think that the double bone block looks good, especially for covers and what not. However, bearich makes a good point here: In my school, we are taught that "blocks are strikes, and strikes are blocks." One technicality I would correct, if I may: In actuality, you wouldn't block with the thin side of the blade of a sword; the flat is used, but possibly at a 45 degree angle. However, the sword is different than the arms, to an extent. You don't have to worry about knicking the blade up on your arm.

You're right, ps1. There are some that won't tranfer well at all. But that is the nature of the beast here. However, working the ones that do transfer well will definitely give you some more options. What do you think about Greco-Roman types of takedowns? I think that many of those come from a form of the clinch, and throwing from there would make little use of the clothing, and more of the legs and upper body.

Good point as well. Another book I have is titled Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere... Another circular analogy. I think the cirlcle is a big part of how the human body moves.

It sounds like you've got it good. Anytime you get to train with someone with that much experience, it is always a wonderful learning experience, even if you only take away 10% of it! It isn't bragging, either. It sounds like a great experience for you.

If your current instructor's reaction is what concerns you, then take some time to speak with him about it. If the two know each other, then perhaps he won't mind you working with him. Especially if he has something unique or different to teach you. If your current instructor doesn't want you to do it, then you can choose not to. People mention things like "betrayal" or "disloyal" all the time in the Martial Arts circles. I say, in the end, it is your journey, and no one elses. Only you can decide which path you will take.

I have not heard of such a blade. What can you tell us about it?

It may be something like the French style of La Canne...I think.

Welcome back! Good to see you again!

Mine involved forms and black belt basics, one-steps, sparring, and board breaking. We usually spar with someone our rank, and someone the rank that we are testing for. It is kind of an "earn your rank" incentive. Best of luck to you! Keep us posted!

Sounds great! Looking forward to another fine review. Nice vid, Adonis. Thanks for sharing.

10-28-07 Between 12:25 am and 1:30 am this morning, I worked on various hand technique combinations while at work, back in the kitchen, and outside the bay area. I did various hand combinations from basics, forms, and the like. In between sets and reps, I did some reading.

I think that you could make some of them work. You just have to modify them by using limbs instead of garment grabs. You could also look into some Greco-Roman Wrestling style of throws, as they are based mostly on grabbing the body above the waist. Try a Google search, and see what you get.

I think that much of it probably is. I have a book by Wally Jay titled Small-Circle Jujitsu...

Has you mention, everyone will do what they see to be best. If survival is your primary concern, which is should be in a self defense situation, then doing whatever it takes to get home is the best thing to do. Weather its running or fighting. You only have to take a look at the news to see the countless stories of a fight were one person gets hit, cracks their head on the fall and ends up dead. It only takes that one shot and its all over. Where is the honour and chivalry in sticking around to fight and ending up in a coffin, when you had the chance to run and go home safe to your family? You both have portrayed your points well. Montana, I can see what you are saying, but the scenario I think of in your post is two guys bellying up, chest to chest, understanding that they will fight each other one on one. On the other hand, is Cross and NightOwl's scenario, where one is attacked more unexpectedly, and must react to get away from a situation they know little about. There is a difference between the goals of fighting and surviving. You can fight to survive, but you can also run to survive.

10-26-07 Hooray!!!! My friends called, and said that we could do our SCA Combat for the first time in many months! So, we had a fight session, from 4:30 - 5:30. It was a great time, and it was nice to knock the rust off. Next week will most likely be an off week, but the week after, we should be at it again.

Ed is right. Check them out, and see what you think. In the end, worry more about your own training and advancement than that of others you work out with. This will serve you better in the end. Welcome to the Forums, and to the Martial Arts!

Absolutley right. This is what is important. Besides that, a good knee-level kick will serve you better than any head-level kick.

If I had a vid, I would, but no such luck! Sorry! Thanks, Kez!

Yeah, no doubt there's merit to it. Afterall, he is among the best in the world. I have the same problem as you. When I try to use a grapevine, I'm on my back. Since that's not where I want to be, I would prefer to let the grapevine go and get to my side. This allows me to get my underhooks and gives me much more mobility. I'm just not that good at the way Eddie uses it. But then again, that's the nature of Jiujitsu. I think that this is one of the isntances where someone makes some adjustments to an art becuase things work differently for different people. Some will be able to run with it, and others won't. After all, that is actually the reason that the BJJ brand of JJ is around, isn't it? Helio's adjustments.

I think that this is really a difficult thing to research. You can research the battles and wars of various cultures without too much difficulty, but finding out the styles of fighting that the cultures used is very difficult. I am not sure where you would start, other than looking up the history of various current styles, and then going further back from their into armed warfare, and when the cultures that were battling came from. It would be a tough road. Fighting has been around since the dawn of man. Have fun, and good luck searching!

The doc should know about it, and may recommend it. You don't have to look on-line for it, either; you can get it at just about any retail supercenter, like Wal Mart, or even at a pharmacy.

WOW!!! That is a lot to spend on pets!!!