capn_midnight

yeah, they always act like they have something to prove... that's how people get hurt most often, when one of the sparrers has an agenda other than learning.

Potato cannons are always fun. For those of you who have never heard of a potato cannon, allow me to describe one. With two length of PVC pipe, of two different diameters, you connect them with a PVC connector. You cover the large end with a removable cap, and shave the small end so that it is sharp around the rim (to cut potatoes). From there, you drill a hole in the middle of the large end, and insert a spark plug, connected to a grill starter switch. Find a potato larger than the small end, shove it over the opening to shave off the side, and push it down the thin barrel, giving a nice, tight fit. Open the back end, spray hairspray, close the end, and click the starter. The resulting spark from the plug will ignite the hairspray and launch the potato. Depending on how much hairspray you use, and how tight of a fit you had for your potato, you could launch the potato at least 200 yards.

I think, if you spend the time training, seriously training, it doesn't matter if you study one art or many. If you take the timespan one devotes to studying many arts, and you apply that to only one art, you will achieve much higher mastery, and I think, still be just as effective. Most of fighting is not about skill, or technique. It's about experience, and reaction time. Experience will tell you when it is a good idea to attack with a certain technique. And you get that experience whether you study one art or many.

have you ever setup a science experiment at home, only to have it blow up in your face, sometimes literally? I did once. I was reading a chemistry book that detailed how to split hydrogen and oxygen from water. So I set it up, let it go for a few hours, came back and had a mayonnaise jar full of hydrogen gas. I decided "okay, I'm done" and went to turn the jar over to let the gases escape. The wires from the experiment crossed, sparking the hydrogen, and causing a very loud, though fortunately harmless explosion. After about an hour, when I could finally hear again, I turned the page in the chemistry book to see a large warning box stating: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

if i had to choose one, I would go with "just attack" as the great bill "superfoot" wallace likes to say, sparring is no fun when it's my partners turn, it's only fun when it's my turn. thinking about what you turn will be is not taking your turn, it's giving it up to your partner. besides, you should be able to think and attack at the same time. I mean, I do.

my point is, it seems like there is always someone who feels the need to "educate" us on the "right" way to be training. I think Kirves hit the nail on the head with the idea that not everyone trains to be a badassi street fighter.

realized i never put up an intro. I study TKD, though I don't have a school anymore. I'm a 1st Dan, for about 9 months. Before I left, I was an instructor as well. I'm currently working for the US government at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the summer, until I go back to school at Shippensburg University to continue studying Computer Science. I am also a web designer, and an ametuer game developer. On the side, I am a sketch artist. You can check out one of my websites at http://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth With any free time I have left, I like to tinker with science experiments. I can actually claim that I blew up my room once. So, I'm a computer nerd, an artist, a jock, a scientist, a public servant, and a teacher all in one.

one of my soldiers from my army. want to see my army? http://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gif http://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gif http://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gif http://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gif http://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gifhttp://cutter.ship.edu/~smcbeth/img/knight.gif

mokeygirl, our dog was a rare occurence in the breed line we bought from. It was amazing that he lived in the first place, he was the runt of the litter and almost died on birth.

letting my instructor cheat me on pay. that was pretty embarressing, made me feel like a chump

The most likely origin of the Martial Arts seems to be the Greek Pankration. It migrated to the east when Alexander the Great went on his most amazing conquest. From there, the art evolved and spread.

the pieces still take the same area. The point is, the configuration is irrelevant. This is similar to the Riddle of the Missing Dollar. Three guests decide to stay the night at a lodge whose rate they are initially told is $30 per night. However, after the guests have each paid $10 and gone to their room, the proprietor discovers that the correct rate should actually be $25. As a result, he gives the bellboy the $5 that was overpaid, together with instructions to return it to the guests. Upon consideration of the fact that $5 will be problematic to split three ways, the bellboy decides to pocket $2 and return $1 each, or a total of $3, to the guests. Upon doing so, the guests have now each paid a total of $9 for the room, for a total of $27, and the bellboy has retained $2. So where has the remaining $1 from the initial $30 paid by the guests gone?!

personally, I've taken a "Walls of defense" approach to my training. I've started out with Tae Kwon Do, because the kicks keep my oppenent at maximum distance and utilize the most powerful part of my body, the legs. This creates my first "Wall of Defense". Next, I began training my hands. Luckily, my TKD school doesn't do pure TKD, but mixes in aspects of different arts, with more focus on hand technique than most TKD schools care to bother with. So, while I was training in kicks I was also training in punches. Now, I have the a second inner wall of defense. From here, my focus will be on close in grappling, throwing, and ground fighting. I would like to study Aikido or Judo, but there are no schools in my area. The throwing and redirection of Judo and Aikido will create the 3rd wall of defense, and the grappling and ground fighting of whatever I do after that (probably Combat Sambo, since I know some guys that teach that and schools that study anything other than TKD are hard to come by in my area) will create the final foundation. So, what do 3 walls and foundation make? well, erh, a triangular room. But, they also make a well rounded fighter. To clarify my previous post, what I meant was, though some people may be training in more established techniques with instructors, they may not be as adept at it (superior instruction, inferior training), because they fail to understand the teachings. I do agree though, you need to have some kind of training instructor. Not even boxers go at it alone.

"Where there is a will, there is a way" The body follows the mind. If a student is not WILLING to put up with the physical abuse of training for black belt, they will never get there. If they are willing, the will put the training in, and they will achieve black belt. that would have been too easy I've known couple of students that got pissed at my instructor because he wouldn't test them for black belt, so they left and went to another school where the owner gave them black belts when they signed up. Of course, this is also partly my former instructors fault, for promoting them so far without holding them back and giving them false expectations. They really weren't ready for black belt, but they were also not ready for the belts he did give them.

it all depends on your mental will power. If you are weak mentally, you will never make it to black belt (or, atleast, shouldn't). However, once your prove your mental strength and recieve black belt, and continue training, I think the mental tests should stop. I don't think it's necessary for an instructor to constantly mentally test his proven students (or sub-instructors, either). I just don't see how that breeds loyalty.

Studying at the school I started at has taught me to be a little more cynical when dealing with people. Just because someone is your instructor, doesn't mean you should trust them completely, especially when all they have done for you that you are loyal to them for is really just the normal course of their job. Certainly, I have the health benefits, the confidence boost, and the peace of mind that comes with skill. But I have also learned that you can become blinded by "loyalty", and "respect" will hold you back from standing up for yourself. The martial arts teach us to stand up for ourselves. Don't forget, this is in ALL situations, not just for physicall attacks from strangers. Mental and financial attacks should be defended against as well.

yeah, uhm, it's called open sparring. You try different things out, and see how people react. If you have trouble, you ask someone for help. You get tactical training all the time (strategy is a different concept). Strategy is the overall idea of what you want to do. You chose your strategy when you chose your art to study. When you enter a fight, if you are a grappler, your strategy will be "Get in close, take them to the ground, choke them out." This says nothing of actual technique, just general ideas. Tactics are how you execute a strategy. In the example of the grappler "Front kick oppenents knee to facilitate closing distance. Follow through with jab+reverse punch to close more distance. Extend reverse punch and grab opponent to finally *Get in close*. Front kick to opponents stomach, leave foot in stomach, drop backwards to *take them to the ground*. Roll out, flip opponent onto back using XXX technique, grab opponent in rear-naked choke and *choke them out*." The items in asterisks, you will notice, are from the strategy outline. Notice how much more detail is in the tactical outline? The point is, you already know your strategy and you are already working on your tactics.

you will never be able to beat someone with better training. that is the point of training. however, someone may recieve superior instruction, but not recieve superior training, generally due to the denseness of the students skull (ie. training does not pentrate it to get to the brain).

in regards to the original post: before beginning an argument, please use a form of grammar close to the standard system. starting an argument with bad grammar is like starting a fight with bad self defense skills. you're going to get destroyed. I could write a two pages on your grammatical errors alone.

yeah, just from the ankles. Also, mowing the lawn has helped me a lot. I have half an acre, and try to get it all done with my push mower in about 45 minutes (a little hard with the shed, garden, fence, and trees). Pushing the mower really works on your calfs and quads.

go ahead and email the Aikido website, asking who their distributor is. What you will probably find is that you have to setup an account with the distributor to buy a certain minimum number of belts at any one time. This may or may not be a problem for you. Personally, I don't think the manufacturer of the belt is important. Most of the belts you won't wear for very long, and Black Belts look better worn out. Pick up a Century catologue. Their shipping sucks, but there isn't anything better.

For pure self defense, I would choose Krav Maga. It is designed to teach a man how to effectively defend against and dispatch an armed opponent, in a relatively short period of time (Israeli soldiers gotta train quick) For competition, it depends on what you want to compete in. Kick Boxing, go with Muay Tai. Point sparring, Tae Kwon Do. Mixed Martial Arts, Shootfighting and Brazilian Jujitsu.

the problem with the flash kick is that it is counter-intuitive, and thereby not very powerful. The power of the kick is souly in how fast you can perform the back flip, but extending your leg to actually perform the kick slows you down tremendously. Also, when in the middle of the back flip, if you connect with anything substantial, you will most likely bounce off. The physics just won't allow it. Flash kick is a very appropriate name.

careful of what you find. People like to hide viruses in screen savers.

a good translation of "A Book of Five Rings" is hard to find. I just recently picked up "Dyanmic Stretching and Kicking" by Bill "Superfoot" Wallace (who I have recently had the privilege of meeting and learning) It is a very good book. He goes into great detail of how the different muscle groups work together in various techniques, and why stretching (a misnomer) helps with such technique.