alsey

we always do it when stepping into zenkutsu in kata. not sure what a tiger stance is.

i think a lot of the old styles cover all ranges, jujitsu for example. the problem with a lot of styles, such as karate, is that the system contains methods for all ranges but they're rarely practiced, if ever.

other than taking up a grappling art, just keep practicing. a lot of it is just getting a feel for rolling around with someone and trying to get position. position is everything. if you did some wrestling, you should have a good base. submissions are neat and fun to learn, but unless your opponent is pretty skilled, getting good position and laying the smack down is usually good enough.

from my understanding of christianity, god created everything that is natural in the world. the bible mentions demons and witchcraft and stuff but implies that these are supernatural phenomena. i don't see any reason why anyone should believe that ki is supernatural, hence it is part of the natural world that god created. the bible doesn't specifically mention ki (and personally, i don't believe it references it in any way at all), but neither does it condemn it. now my parents, who are die hard believers, would say the opposite; that ki is supernatural and from the devil, like witchcraft (whatever that is). but the crux of their argument is that it is supernatural, but there isn't really anything to suggest that it is.

with regards quality vs. quanitity, i think any fighter should know how to fight at all ranges of combat; from the floor to long range striking. no matter how good your takedown defence is, you can always get taken down. no matter how good your grappling is, you can always get knocked out. if you practice a style which covers all ranges, then you don't need any more quantity. if your style doesn't cover all ranges, then you want something to add to it, IMO.

submissions depend on pain (and fear of injury), but you can always just break with an armbar, or kill with a choke. some pressure points have nothing to do with pain, and will simply induce an unconcious reflex which might make it easier to lock up a limb or make a strike. but these points have the same problems as any other.

yeah, that applies to everything.

i always think that if you change to another school in your style, you should at least be given the opportunity to show what you know at a grading or something. then you can start again if you don't know how that school does things, or you can keep going from the appropriate point.

i think everyone gets like that at times (if not, its just you and me!). try to forget about where you think you should be, and even how good or bad you think you are, and focus on each technique at a time. soon enough you'll start to feel you're making progress again, even though you've been making progress all along, you're just not noticing it. you have to keep walking without trying to get anywhere. you know, classic zen stuff

not sure if you've already checked it out, but this site was a great help to me when i quit: http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/

well done, and hang in there! i know how difficult it is, i quit a few years ago after several attempts. this is one of the best things you can possibly do for yourself. just take each day at a time and it'll be over before you know it. keep us updated, and good luck!!

as i know it pinan means tranquillity, though the interpretations vary slightly. peace, or peaceful mind are common ones. heian is the japanese for it. pinan nidan is less complicated than pinan shodan and is often taught first. in shotokan pinan nidan was renamed heian shodan, and pinan shodan became heian nidan, so the simpler one comes first. there's a discussion about this in the 'kata' thread.

it can have different interpretations, but i see at as bringing the foot to the side of the opponent and then stepping past him. for example, an application for oi-tsuki: you're in a left foot forward stance, your attacker reaches to grab you with his right hand. you grab it and draw it to your waist with your left hand (the hikite) and step forward with your right foot. the step moves inward towards your left foot, going past the opponent's legs, and then out again so it lands behind his legs. at the same time you throw your right arm across the top of his body, and drop him over your right leg.

i've had to start again twice in jujitsu due to changing dojos, and i can understand the frustration of anyone who has to go back to the beginning. you get really solid with the basics though, which certainly isn't a bad thing.

martial arts is a part of it, but its the whole way of life. honor, duty, and all that. i actually think a line by katsumoto in the last samurai puts it quite nicely: "to savor life in every breath, in every cup of tea; that is bushido."

i'm currently reading cloud of sparrows by takeshi matsuoka. i havn't read much of it yet, but its good so far. its set towards the end of the tokugawa shogunate, its following a sort of unconventional daimyo and his friends, and a couple of american missionaries, one of whom is a bit of gunslinger type guy.

LOL!!

congrats!

bushido is the way of the warrior in japanese, its the way of life the samurai used to follow.

heh, i might have to try that. i definately think sandan is harder, its got the kiba dachi in it which i found really annoying as a beginner, and it took me ages to get that 360 turn right. then those sweepy kicks/stamps/things. nidan is just standard basics really, except for the beginning.

For us, it isn't. Hein Shodan is first for us. (of the colour belt katas. We have "Kihon Kata" before that) yeah, same for us. i was just wondering why heian nidan was originally the first one, before funakoshi changed it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryu_te http://www.kushu.com/ not sure if you've already looked at these. from a brief look sounds like a good style though.

never heard of it, but from the name i'd guess its an okinawan style.

india and the phillipines are far east as far as i know.

something i've noticed recently watching UFC, they'll often introduce a guy as a striker, and he'll go and submit someone. then they'll introduce someone as a submissions specialist and he'll go and knock someone out. i love it when the BJJ black belts just mount some guy and whack him the face instead of bothering with submissions. it might just be me, but i'm sure most of the time the fighters win doing the opposite of what they're best at.