bushido_man96

That sounds pretty cool, cross. Just off the top of my head, you can make each suit a certain exercise. For example, Diamonds could be side kicks, Hearts could be round kicks, etc. You could even make face card, like the King of Diamonds, count as jumping side kicks, Jack of Hearts could be jumping round kicks, etc. This is a great idea; I may have to take a deck of cards to class, and shuffle and deal!!

Ouch, sorry to hear that, man. I have been fortunate enough to never pull a back muscle. I realize how debilitating it can be for quite some time. I hope you heal up soon.

Those are interesting. Have you worked with them at all? Do they support the wrist very well? I am more concerned about the support of the wrist as opposed to the protection that they would offer my knuckles, but that is just me.

Is anyone currently tracing/recording their geneology? My wife is very interested in it, and her grandmother has already done quite a bit of work on it, and has been a wealth of information on it. She is such an intelligent lady, and she is fun to sit and talk with. Years ago my dad tried to do a geneology of the Walker side of the family, but got to stump, and hasn't been able to find much since. I am going to give it a go. The only grandparent I have left is my grandmother on my mother's side, so I will be calling and talking with her shortly. I hope to be able to trace something back to our European origins eventually. I think it would be great. My wife's grandmother has traced hers back at least as far as to the family that homesteaded the land that their farm is now on. It's so cool to learn all that stuff.

Well, the Chiefs will line up with the Colts in Indianapolis this Saturday at 3:30. I am optimistic, as the Colts run defense is ranked towards the bottom of the league, and Larry Johnson finished as the second leading rusher in the NFL this season. The bad news is that the Chiefs have been vulnerable to the big play, and Peyton Manning is a master of managing defenses, and making big plays. If the Chiefs can run the ball and play defense, and force the Colts to play from behind, I think the game goes in their favor. As a side note, reading an article on Chiefs Warpath, Herm Edwards did state that if the offense should struggle with Green at QB, he would not hesitate to make a change. Huard made some great plays for the brief period that he entered the game on Sunday, and he could be called on again. Statistically, the Chiefs are 0-2 against the Colts in the playoffs, losing to them in both 1995 and 2003.

I am not familiar with it. Sorry!

Regardless of rank, I try to give equal amounts of respect to everyone I meet inside and outside of the martial arts. The funny thing about respect is that it is reciprocal; you get what you give. I also believe that you get respect in two ways; by earning it, and by demanding it. I can understand that your friend was angry, and in the end, she probably did the right thing in getting into the black belt ranks. What kind of chance would the lower ranks have had against her? Would that have been fair to them? On the other hand, though, she could have just gone ahead and competed with the lower ranks, and then the tournament organizers would have to have dealt with a bunch of angry parents. Either way, it sounds like she comes out right, after all.

Neither did European knights. Here are some articles that I found online that clear up how Medieval European Knights used their weapons defensively: 1. http://www.thearma.org/essays/edgemyth.htm 2. http://www.thearma.org/essays/parry.htm 3. http://www.thearma.org/essays/parrying.htm 4. http://www.thearma.org/essays/parrying2.htm 5. http://www.thearma.org/essays/parrying3.htm These articles are written by practitioners who also research how the Medieval European fighters trained and used their weapons. Their research is based off of information from Medieval fighting manuals combined with hands-on applications of sparring with the intent of hitting the opponent--not the sword.

What do you think will happen with Brienne, and poor Podrick? I like her character as well, and I couldn't believe it when Biter ripped into her face. I have also enjoyed watching as Jaime learns to fight with his off-hand, working to get back to where he was. The sword fight between Brienne and Jaime was great as well.

I'm so happy now....my wife got me a subscription to Taekowndo Times and Black Belt Magazine for my birthday! Hooray!

Wow Brian i would love to see meatloaf live, i absolutley love meatloaf, his music is great to train to. I have never been to a concert, and unfortunatly it's nothing i can ever experience because i have a perforated ear drum. The concert was a good time. While we were there, he said he had a new CD out, but I have yet to find it. Not a lot of hardcore Meatloaf fans around here!

I hear you there! My wife is the guilty party here...she keeps everything!

I do like coffee as well. I like it black--nothing to 'improve' the taste. When my wife and I went to Jamaica, they had a local brew, called Blue Mountain Coffee. I loved it, and we even brought a bag of beans home with us. Otherwise, I don't drink anything too fancy; just Folgers. I got my wife a percolator one year for Christmas, and we usually make it in that.

At home I have a Dell. We also have an Acer laptop, that tends to be slow, but I think it is more due to the wireless internet than anything else.

This is more of how we refer to it as well. Staying light, on the balls of your feet, so that you are ready to react and move.

Thanks, Sengra. Although I get to do a little SCA style of fighting, I know that it is not completely representative of true Medieval Combat, and so I do a lot of reading and studying. There are some things that transfer, though. I agree. This is one of my pet peeves in the MA world as well.

I don't really understand how the Karate Kid movies could be partially responsible for the McDojo movement. Machio's character was a teenager in the movie. I feel that if any fingers are to be pointed about the rash of McDojos, it is towards the instructors who let their standards go down in order to make it easier for the kids. Kid's wrestling isn't easy, and they still do it. MA for kids can be the same. I think that it is possible to still make it fun for kids, but it doesn't have to be easy.

Wow, that is cool! What was it like?

I don't think the problem really lies in being overcharged. Most consumers are thrifty enough that they can spot a deal or rip-off when they see one. If there are other schools around, a simple comparison can lead one to some conclusions on price preference. I think the major problem lies with the instructors who will allow students to test at every coming testing, even if they are not prepared. They are told that they are ready, and that they are improving, and all they have to go on is the word of the instructor. Then, before they know it, they are a black belt with an improper side kick, or don't do their back stance right. The best thing that these students can do is get themselves exposed to other schools via competitions, testings, etc., so that they can see what other people do, and how they do it. Then they kind of do a school by school comparison, to see what they are really getting out of it.

This kind of makes a paradox of the martial arts, doesn't it? On one hand, you have 'styles,' and on the other hand, you have training methods. You can adapt any style to different training methods, however, many feel that you end up altering the style completely in the end. I don't think this is the case, but there are some that would argue that it does.

He certainly did not improve on Wing Chun. I don't think that this is what he sat out to do, though. I think he just wanted to take the things that worked well, and then add things from other people he trained with, and went from there. He was the epitome of self-improvement.

That clears some things up for me. Thank you for the information.

I had my first post-holiday class today, combined with some arm work in the gym. We did forms and one-steps, and my arms and legs are a bit tight right now. Stretching felt good, though.

Fight that urge!!!