A_Train

Great news Kez! Edit: Edit: After re-reading my own post, I had to edit. I wasn't saying "Great News!" in response to being unable to fix the heart, but just that he was living and breathing on his own, everything else sounded positive. But at a glance, saying 'Great News' seemed like it could be taken the wrong way. Good to see some positive news though.

I just turned 28 at the end of June, but I don't dread 30 at all. I do NOT consider 30 old, but maybe thats just because I'm still pretty immature, heh heh. Some of my friends, and my wife however, seem to be dreading the approaching 30. EDIT: I just tried that real age thing. I didn't know a few of the answers, so I answered 'average' . Last I checked it said I was around 22.1 years old Heh. And thats about how I feel, but I guess it will send me a more accurate rating in the next hour or two.

Very well done, congrats.

Sounds good, hope you enjoy it as much as your original TSD class.

I remember after reading Dany's first chapter, that I viewed both her and her brother as villains, and continued to view most if not all mention of Targaryeons past and present as villains. While even now I am not a huge fan of Danys, I have softened on her a bit since my first read. Who was the man from Tyrosh? I don't remember him. In Eddards chapter, I think it is interesting to note that Edd lacks the hatred for Rhaegar that Robert has. Or perhaps he is just more calm about it, though it is clearly displayed at another point in the book when the two discuss him again. Hmmmmm... Was it in this chapter that Ned recalls her saying: Promise me, Ned... I enjoyed Jons chapter as it gives a first glimpse into the wit and inteligence of Tyrion Lannister. He quotes with Jon at the end are perfect. I never viewed him as a hunchback, just a dwarfed person with a large head, and stunted legs that make his walking awkward. I find the somersault her performs in the air whilst jumping down from the ledge to be completley out of character from anything else was have seen of him.[/i]

Is lordtariel reading this thread before reading the books? Thats probably not the best idea, but we could try to keep it spoiler free if thats the case, and just keep the discussion up to the points he has reached. Incidently, everytime I see lordtariels name, I always think of Lord Tyrell. Odd. As for why the story starts with Bran, I don't know. I don't think there is any significance to it. The chapter is not overly exciting, it just introduces us to a few characters and their differences. EDIT: I just went back and noticed lordtariels thread in here. I had missed that post the first time through, whoops.

Very sorry to hear that, I hope everything turns out ok.

On Kettlebacks, there are four and I can hardly keep them separate in my mind; Osmund, Osney and Osfrey are the siblings, and they have a father, but I forget his name right now. On Bran's chapter, I think the most significant foreshadowing is the fact that there is a dead direwolf (the banner of the Starks) with the broken antler of a stag (banner of the Baratheons) in its throat that had killed it. Had I been more attentive on my first read through, I may not have been so shocked at the passing of the heads of both those houses. The books are full of hints like that. Not much to mention about the Catelyn Chapter except that in the early goings of the series, I figured Ned to be the stereotypical hero good guy who overcame all odds with his campy, honorable style. My how things changed before the end of this book.

I think this may be a good idea for helping you keep track, even after reading the books multiple times I still get some characters mixed up, like those damn Kettlebacks! The funny thing is, the first tiem I read thhese books, I pretty much forgot about this prolgue until my second read. The books start with a big fantasy feel, an then quickly drop into a more realistic medevil/political setting. It does make for a good opener though.

I'm not positive Jaime will have a face to face reunion with his brother. I do imagine they will be on opposing sides of an army soon enough. The Mountain That Rides will likely be Cersei's defender in the trial by combat, providing they don't force her to use one of the kings guard. It'll be interesting to see what's going on beyond the wall as well, as I'm pretty sure that may make the rest of the wars in the 7 kingdoms look insignificant soon.

The author has not yet finished it. He is having problems wrapping up storylines I think. It is getting frustrating, ad I think he intended to be done this book within a year of the previous installment (due to the fact that they were originally intended to be one book).

Hmmm you brought this up. I am currently reading the books for my 5th time I believe, although it may be sixth. I am in the final chapters of A Clash of Kings. It's amazing in the re-reads how many characters that become more significant in the later novels were mentioned in the first two. I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment, but it's probably a good distance off, hopefully in the spring at the latest.

Very awesome. How long before he starts Taekwon-do?

Sure it's showing off, but if you're able to do it, why not show off? I don't think it is cocky or arrogant, but a display of some of the skills you've acquired through your art. Plus it tends to be a crowd pleaser. I don't think anyone leaves saying "Man, what a bunch of arrogant show offs"

It doesn't look a lot like sparring at our club, but we are ITF. I'm starting to think my school focuses a lot mor eon punching than the average TKD club. We often spend entire drill son just punching, and have sparring session with no kicking permitting (or only kicking permitted, or only kicking vs only punching, which is very tricky). I guess I'm lucky in that my intructor has a boxing background as well.

I might start watching baseball if instead of having to tag the runner with the ball, you instead had to make them tap out.

It sounded like a joke...

Well done, have fun moving up

Yes, but seeing as how one can teach TKD without a degree, it seems rather wasteful to spend money getting a degree that has no real value, when you can teach it after acquiring the same achievements outside of the program.

Yeah, I was thinking I doesn't sound overly unrealistic to get to 4th Dan in 4 years if you were in the dojang for 8 hours a day not counting outside practice/assignments. What does one do with a degree in TKD?

Sean Gannon wasn't really a pro, but was a Police Officer. He was offered a pro contract AFTER fighting Kimbo (and actually, due to fighting Kimbo). There is a lot of dispute into Gannon's win as well, as he was not fighting by the rules as Kimbo's Team intended. Unfortunately, Kimbo's team was not very good at writing up the contract. What they wanted was a striking match with no knees or elbows. They were caught off guard though, when Gannon attempt chokes/ect from the standing position (due to the contract stating no ground submissions, they weren't expecting them from the standup.) Anyways, Kimbo is a raw goon. But on no days of the week do I think he is as fast as me. I would outrun him without a second thought to my pride/ego/dignity.

By the time he started doing his army crawl towards the pitchers mound I started thinking that he was not really upset, but rather puttin gon a big show(perhaps in hopes of appearing on the highlight reels as he has). I didn't see the point of it, although I did laugh as he was doing it.

Congrats, well done!

Boxing definitely is still making more money, but MMA is rising in popular opinion. I couldn't name more than a few boxers that are currently competing, but I could name more than a handful of MMA guys, and thats without following either that much.

I can understand why someone who is more into grappling would not enjoy the WCL as much. But the same thing can be said in reverse about other MMA leagues that focus on grappling. Sometimes I find UFC matches so boring because due to the high level of skill of some of the athletes, it just amounts to rolling around for 15 minutes without a real result. I preferred some of the older events where joint locks would be thrown on out of no where to exciting results. I'm not overly famiiar with WCL but what I've seen I liked. I was nt familiar with all the rules posted above, and agree some seem counter intuitive. Perhaps they ARE purposefully against Muah Thai because that is not the niche they are looking for. Watching the Fightnetwork I see countless stand up striking leagues that are called MMA, but really are just Thai boxing as it appears to be the dominant choice among the competitors. I would suggest WCL is trying to cover the opposite end of the spectrum in striking arts.