bushido_man96

I had never seen the curved ones. That is different. As for the others, it really is preference. If you don't like vacuuming up wood splinters after a testing, then go with the rebreakables. However, I have found that the rebreakables require you to be more accurate when targeting your techniques. The other question is how long will they last before they start to give from being put back together so much? Personally, I like the good old wood boards. More inconsistency, and better challenge, and much more rewarding when you hear that wood snap (in my opinion).

Hello. This has been a long and interesting discussion. At this time, though, I do believe that the thread itself has run it's course. Much of the same discussion continues to recycle, so therefore, with nothing new being added, I feel it is time to close this thread. Thanks.

We don't have any required Ho Sin Sul, but we do have required one-steps. Lately, I have been analyzing them, and thinking of ways to "evolve" them into self-defense techniques.

That is a great attitude to have. The Martial Arts journey is our own, and we should enjoy the view along the way, instead of worring about how fast we get there. I finally found that Bruce Lee quote I was looking for: "In every passionate pursuit, the pursuit counts more than the object pursued."

When I first started training, these were the reasons behind the kihap explained to me as well.

You bring up a good point. I, too, was a former student in the ATA, and I never had any really bad experiences there, and I felt like I had good instructors. However, as ninjer pointed out, the desparity between the groundfight and the stand-up is there. You have to know how to ground fight to defend it. Training methodology is a very important part of what you get out of your training. You will fight the way you train. In battle, you don't rise to the occassion, you sink to the level of your training.

Nice article. Thank you for sharing!

5-16-07 At 5:00, I did some more bag work, for about 15 minutes, continuously. I really focused on a jab/cross/hook combination, making sure to get my hips into each of the strikes that I did. It really started to wear on my arms, too, which felt really good. Taught Orientation from 5:30 - 6:00. One of the kids was having a little trouble with the idea of actually going into the regular class. So, I talked it over with him, and convinced him that it will all be ok. I think that once he gets in there, he will be ok with it. We had Kicking Class from 6:00 - 7:00, although it really wasn't kicking class today. I warmed up by reviewing some high rank forms, including 2 brown belt forms and 2 black belt forms. Then, we worked on our one-step based flow drills. It was a lot of fun, and it really made everyone think.

Lordtariel has some good advise. Always keep your low rank material fresh. Practice it often. The more you do, the easier you will be able to recall it. Before you know it, you will be recalling all of your forms with no problems.

Not if you can out write the bad guys in your statement to the police if you are outnum,bered 5 to 2 and are surrounded I think you can clearly articulate that you were in fear for your life : What will most likely happen depends on what is going on when the cops would happen to show up. If they see 3 guys beating on you, most likely those 3 will be arrested. They may ask you for a statement, after seeing if you need medical help. If, however, they show up, and 2 guys are laid out, and you are sitting on top of the 3rd, beating the snot out of the guy, then you will likely be arrested.

The problem that I have with kicking the knee is that, although it is a good target, is the possibility of a lawsuit being thrown your way. but if it is truly self defense My goal is making it out in 1 piece Ill worry about the law suit afterward. That is one way to look at it. However, from the viewpoint of my job, I have to be able to justify the actions. It is difficult to justify, sometimes.

Yes, in fact, I thought that they may have used the art of Kwon Bup as their empty hand style, but I don't remember for sure. They really were trained as all-around warriors/scholars.

Try visiting schools of other styles, as well. You may learn a lot!

My dad told me once that he successfully pulled a technique like this off in a fight. He said it was effective, too. No fight left in that guy.

When armor got heavier, then the swords became more of a two-handed style, but they still weren't super heavy blades. Also, the sheild fell out of use, because of the affectiveness of the armor. There were also many half-swording techniques that could be used in close, that were done by putting the off hand on the blade of the sword, making it much like a quarter-staff like usage, but much shorter. It could then be leveraged or used to thrust more accurately.

Well, it is only a scam if it becomes a habit. I think making them pay or not is up to the instructor. I imagine most would not force it, though.

I think that it is a good thing to apply the principle when practicing something, in order to stay focused and undistracted. However, before beginning the practice, I think it is important to analyze everything to see if it will work, what it is for, etc. That way, when you do practice, you have the rational behind it.

I don't think that they really put this show together as well as they could have. They needed to use a control group to compare the different techniques, and they did not do that. They also failed to take a lot of practicality into the show as well. All in all, I was disappointed with the show.

More great information. I like the approach that you are taking here. I especially agree with the idea of increasing the dynamic interactions of training as studetns increase in skill level. Thank you for sharing.

5-15-07 Today was a really fun day! I got to go meet with my dad at nearby gun range, where he does training. We worked on scenarios, where we would approach a car, checking to make sure it was secure, and then moving into a building afterwards. We addressed negotiating hard corners, and we worked on "slicing the pie." I learned a lot, including the fact that I still have a lot to learn. Overall, I feel like it was a very productive activity, and I plan to do more of it.

5-14-07 Chest/triceps: Bench press: I went up in weight here today, woohoo!! 205x7, 215x5, 225x3. I would have pushed for at least one more rep on each set, but I didn't have a spotter, so I erred on the side of caution. Triceps push-down: 90x10, 105x6, 105x8 Overhead triceps extension: 80x10, 90x8, 105x6 Bench dips: 3x10 Abs: Roman chair sit-ups: 2x15 with 22 lb. medicine ball. Side raises: 3x25x25 lbs. Trunk twists: 3x20 with 45 lb. weight. Worked on Combat Hapkido from 3:30 - 4:30. It was more along the lines of CCQ stuff, doing gun-draw and knife defenses. I learned a lot, and it was fun. We worked with rubber band guns, which was very interesting and revealing. I also did 10 minutes of heavy bag work, fairly continuously. I focused on punching, and getting close and doing elbows and hooks. Taught Orientation from 5:30 - 6:00. Traditional Class from 6:00 - 7:00. We did some extra basics today, which wore me out, but was fun in the process. We also got to change up our one-steps a little bit, making them more like a flow drill, by adding attacks to the begining of the steps.

Welcome to KF!

This is an excellent point. The word Samurai simply denotes the warrior class of Japan. It does not denote skill level in war. There were many levels of warrior in Japanese society, just like in any other culture. Not every Samurai was a sword master. Soldier would be a more appropriate English equivalent of the term, I think.

Sadly, there hasn't really been many fantasy movies lately with really good, realistic fight scenes.(If there have been, let me know. I'd love to watch them) And the movies that do have good combat tend to lean towards the eastern arts for style. Think of the number of martial arts movies out there and compare them to the number of fantasy movies out there. Kind of lopsided. If we had as many movies with knights and fencers getting crazy with the fighting, we might see a different view emerge. You make a good point, but the same holds true for weapons combat portrayed in Eastern style movies, with Eastern style weapons. Those combat scenes are just as unrealistic, in my opinion. Wire-work and fancy moves.

That was a perfect response. I agree. I know how hard it is to start over again after getting a black belt, I have done it several times. I think that going back down in rank is one of the best parts of learning a new system. I am going to start in Akido next year and look forward to being a beginner, and learning this wonderful martial art. You can look at it from the Machado standpoint: "Leave your ego at the door."