bushido_man96

Very nice, indeed!

Nice signature, by the way!

Yes, I recall his flashback when he is in the prison tower, with the fever from his broken leg. We hear so much of Howland Reed, the little Cranogman, and I am so interested in him. His children are very interesting characters, as well. I do hope we see him in the later books, and hope that he sticks around for a while. Perhaps in the aid of Bran. Thinking of the books to follow, I can't help but to think that one of the titles might have something to do with the arrival of Winter. Just a question for ya, A-Train. I was hoping to keep these little posts short and sweet, but I seem unable to do so. Do you think they are too long-winded for summaries? If they bore you, let me know! I love the story so much, I may include too much un-important information.

This is a very common strategy. When your partner spars with you more and more, he will learn what you like to do, as you will learn what he likes to do. As you continue, you will both be trying to do things to confuse each other. Later on, you will get into drawing attacks, leading to counter, etc. Then, it really gets fun.

Man, Menjo, you sure do a lot of running! I admire that, and wish I could run like that. But man, I despise running! 7-18-07 Back/shoulders/biceps Assisted pull-ups: plate 12x10x3 sets Back hyperextension: 3x15 Dumbbell shoulder press: 40x10, 45x8, 50x6 Dumbbell raise: 25x10, 30x8, 35x6 45 deg arm curl machine: 35x10, 35x10 Abs Physio ball crunches: 3x15 Side raises: 2x20x30 lbs. Physio ball roll-outs: 2x10, 5 second hold on each rep. Forearms Gripper machine: 3x15x20 lbs. Solo Workout 4:50 - 5:30 Back leg round kick: 3x10 each leg on heavy bag Gae Baek Hyung: 3 times, between the above sets Front leg round kick: 3x10 each leg on heavy bag Po Eun Hyung: 3 times, between the above sets Back leg 45 deg angle round kick: 2x20, alternating legs on heavy bag Kwang Gae Hyung: 2 times, between above sets Stretch: Front/side splits: 2x20 sec each; Seated front/side splits: 2x20 sec each; Butterfly: 2x20 sec; Reverse hurdler: 2x20 sec each side. Taught Orientation from 5:30 - 6:00. The student I have for Orientation right now is 15 years old, and he is doing pretty good. He has a little bit of a flexibility issue, but he seems intent on wanting to work out at home, which is great. I think he will make the transition into Traditional Class very well.

I had heard someone in the gym the other day actually stating the above fact. I wondered about it, but I guess it makes sense.

Very nice. That all sounds great, Laurie. Do you plan to continue with TKD as well, or just going with TSD?

Well done. Keep working on your combinations. The more, the better. How exactly does the scoring system work? I was a little confused as to what scores and what doesn't.

The term mastery, I have mentioned in the past, is fairly ambiguous. As far as Chinese arts having more to offer in the long term than other styles, I don't think is necessarily true. I think many other styles offer just as much, for just as long. I don't think there is any hard evidence to prove that there are more old Chinese-stylists than there are old Japanese-stylists, Korean-stylists, Okinawan-stylists, etc. Helio Gracie still rolls.

I never did claim that you would be "taught" by the Gracies, just because you study from their book. But yes, you would be learning BJJ.

I have not argued that at all. However, I do think you can learn without instruction. It may be the longer road, but you can learn without it; the school of hard knocks, I guess.

A Game of Thrones; Catelyn In this chapter, we learn a bit about Jon's mother. It may have been Ashara Dayne, the sister of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, of King Aerys' kingsguard (his best, it is said), who Eddard defeated in single combat, and returned to Ashara to lay the sword at her feet. When Cat learned of this through rumor, she asked about it. Ned silenced all rumors, and stated that it should never be brought up again. Apparently, while married and off to war, Eddard fathered this child, while Cat sat at Winterfell, nursing Robb. Ned and Cat discuss how ruling was not meant for Ned; it was meant for Brandon, the firstborn. Brandon would have known what to do. Brandon's shadow lie over him with Cat, as does the unknown mother of Jon. Key Events/Notes: Eddard has decided that he will turn down the offer of Hand of the King from Robert. This bothers Cat, as she remembers the direwolf, killed by the dear antler, and thinks that this decision would offend Robert. Maester Luwin, a small, grey, old man, delivers a message that he recieved, he believes from someone within the King's party. It is in a hidden form, and is from Cat's sister, Lysa. It states that Jon Arryn was murdered by the Lannisters. Now, Ned must go south with Robert, to show his loyalty, and not stir up suspicions. It would also allow him to investigate the murder of Jon Arryn. Ned decides that Cat would stay in Winterfell, along with Rickon and Robb, who would soon rule. Sansa (betrothed to Jofferey), Arya, and Bran would go south with Ned. Cat will not have anything to do with Jon staying, and Luwin states his interest to go to serve in the Night's Watch. This disturbs Ned, but it is the only alternative.

I don't differentiate these two to the extent that others would. As I said, I am not arguing the quality that self-taught vs. teacher taught would produce. I am just stating that it can be done a bit more efficiently now.

That is an interesting post, Menjo. Although there is some I would disagree with, it is well stated.

You make a valid point, mantis.style. I would say that today, with access to tools such as books and things like YouTube, you can get much better quality feedback using these tools than was available in the past. It isn't the best idea, but it is feesable, to an extent. I am not going to argue that someone training in such a way is going to have the high quality and results that training at an accredited Martial Arts facility, with a credible instructor, would render. Far from that, I believe, would be the case. As for forms training, that is its own monster. Many could argue that one could learn an art/style without learning the forms. In that case, one is just learning technique, which there is nothing wrong with. All I am saying is that if there is no other option available, it is easier to do today, with better results.

The way that he covers with the flinch also looks very similar to the way that Iain Abernethy uses the crossed-arms covering in his Applied Bunkai.

I really don't think that it is anything to dread. I will be 30 next year, and I don't even realize it.

I'm glad to hear that things are looking up!

Congrats, there, too!!!

But little children are bound by the timetable of their parents. We have several that turn up just as the lesson is about to start and so do not get the time to go before they start. You can ask the parent to try and get there a little earlier, or make sure that the child goes before they leave their house, but if the parent does not listen then will you punish the child?I still think you are approaching it from the point of view of an adult, with an adult's bladder control. If they are going to be late, then tell them to go before they come in. However, it should be made known that when they start their first class, that they need to take care of bathroom breaks before class starts. If you give an inch, kids will take a ruler. They know it, too. You have to stay on them.

7-16-07 Chest/triceps Bench press: 205x8, 225x6, 235x4 I think I had assistance on the last two sets. Incline dumbbell press: 40x10, 50x10, 65x6 Triceps push-down: 105x10, 105x8, 105x6 Abs Roman chair crunches: 3x20 Side raises: 2x25x25 lbs. Taught Orientation from 5:30 - 6:00. Had Traditional Class from 6:00 - 7:00. Class was a good workout, and sparring went very well. As part of our basics workout, we do a punch/back leg round kick combination. Well, I do a lot of punching in sparring, so, I thought that I would try to add in that round kick to finish the punches off. It worked fairly well, and I could go front or back leg with it. I was tired after sparring, but the last thing I noticed when the instructor told us to stop was that my hands were still up to guard. So, I must be getting a little better. After class, I did 2 sets of 20 push-ups.

I don't train kyokushin, but I know that this is a great kick. It could be said to be half mae geri, half mawashi geri. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. A very short direct kick with tremendous hip rotation behind it that goes in and out really quick. Very Mauy Thai Is this like a half-front/half-round kick? If so, it is very similar to a kick done by many Olympic TKD stylists. It is much quicker than the traditional round kick, but I think it lacks some of the penetration. However, the Muay Thai version of the kick penetrates a lot. It comes from the difference in the use/strategy of the kick, I believe.

You guys make very valid points. However, if there is no other option, reading a book is better than nothing. Aside from that, what is the alternative? Going out and starting fights? Not a good alternative.

Unfortunately, I think that this is all too often the case.

Ps1 has a great post. There are benefits and detractors of each. I think a steady dose of each is a good idea. As far as realism goes, coming in with street close on and training will give you the most realism. However, training in something different from time to time, just for fun, or to shake things up, is always good for training.