John G

Gee I don’t know? I guess ill have to fall back on using my: Knees, forefist, back fist, side fist, under fist, long fist, middle knuckle fist, fore-knuckle fist, thumb knuckle fist, knife hand, reverse knife hand, upset fingertip, angle fingertip, flat fingertip, straight fingertip, thumb, forefinger, inner forearm, outer forearm, back forearm, under forearm, press finger, finger belly, elbows, finger pincers, bear hand, open fist, forehead, occiput, back hand, arc-hand, palm, thumb ridge, bow wrist, base of knife hand or press finger to attack you, then again I could always step to your blind side or just step back and kick ya. ...

Firstly, welcome to the forums AUSSIE, I agree with most of what iolair said except for What is the best martial arts movie? The all time classic that every true martial artist should be forced to watch would have to be : Kung Pow enter the fist. ….

I believe sine wave motion was introduced in the 1980s and borrowed/swiped/stolen from (of all places) Tai Chi (sp?) BTW ITF and WTF use totally different forms/tuls ...

Could someone please tell me what Kofukan Shito-Ryu is? Respectfully, ...

Welcome to the forums Kevin, great to see another TKDer.

Welcome to the forums axechick, good to see another TKDer from downunder.

Sure was, I didn’t want to give away our martial art trade secrets, now everyone will want to watch that movie.

12/20 first time around 20/20 second time. Now I’m in for the draw to get my brain scanned (I wish them luck). Hey fireka, I was half way through watching a video the other day and I heard the bad guy say "I could dance like that!.......if I felt like it...." p****d myself laughing during the paddock scene. ...

After seeing my instructor speed break a board with a straight fingertip strike I thought I would give it a go (after all I was an experienced 4th gup). The only thing I broke was my middle finger and sent my fingernails through the quick (sp) of my fore, middle and ring fingers. Next time (yeh right) I ill try flat fingertip instead of straight. BTW: thanks for the tips from PeteT. ...

“Floated my boat” haven’t heard that expression in years… Prior to taking up martial arts I use to bow hunt (compound with sights, not that it made any bloody difference). All we have is the odd kangaroo, emu, wild pig, rabbit and seasonal ducks to hunt for around these parts. Bagged a kangaroo once, there's something about watching a creature bleed to death then throttling is joey (baby kangaroo in mother pouch) and throwing their useless carcases into the bush that didn’t quite jell with me. If that’s your kind of thing go for it, whatever floats your boat. ...

JohnnyS, :D Being a bouncer with hands on experience (pardon the pun) certainly helps, just one question with regard to elements from BJJ and Goju-ryu; at what level of rank or how long does it takes before you are taught the skills required to be competent dealing with this kind of situation? Respectfully, ...

Firstly he is drunk, six foot six and bullet proof. Diffuse the situation by massaging his ego. If he is violent towards some other person try to talk him out of it, if you have to intervene because A) The guy he is picking on is you or B) The poor sole he is picking on is much weaker and doesn’t really deserve this kind of abuse or C) As much as you like the 7 foot hells angel biker to fill you friends abusive mouth in, you promised the bride that you’d have him at church tomorrow in one piece. In these cases, I feel martial arts that deal with joint locks, holds and take downs would be better suited, after all he is your mate and you did take him down the pub. I would be obliged if someone could kindly tell me what arts predominantly use these techniques. …

Shotokan_Fighter, Same scenario, but unfortunately you didn’t react quick enough so he lunges forward and sticks you in the side once then twice, as you grab the knife with you blood soaked hands, the knife slips from your grip slicing off most of your fingers on you left hand. What do you do and which martial arts you think would help you deal with this situation?

Warp Spider is correct in saying that it "depends highly on the situation and the environment" aznkarateboi has given us a broad environment and situation of a guy just attacks you in an alley or in a parking lot. Let’s make it a blind ally only one way in and one way out. It is indeed unfortunate that we live in such a place as most martial artists would avoid walking down alleys, but alas. As we walk down the ally on this sunny afternoon wearing runners, jeans, tank top/t-shirt we hear foot steps behind us, as we turn we a confronted by a of a man five feet ten inches tall slim build some 5 – 6 feet away from us brandishing a knife. When you ask the gentleman what he wants he replies “I just bought this hunting knife and thought I would have some fun and stick someone” Your back is up against the wall and you have less than 3 seconds to react, what do you do and which martial arts you think would help you deal with this situation. ….

The original question from aznkarateboi was "Which 10 arts do you think are the best for self defense?" Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines self-defense as "the act of defending oneself, one's property, or a close relative" Would you pick the same top ten for instance if you had to defend yourself on a crowded bus or train, or in a car park, or pub/bar. What if there were two or more attackers or if you were attacked going up a flight of stares or in an elevator. If your opponent/s had a hand gun or a machete would you pick the same top ten? I think if aznkarateboi was to give us some circumstances and conditions we could rethink our lists and maybe state what elements of each art we think would be better. Just a thought. ….

Difficult to say as I have only trained in ITF Taekwon-Do and WWCKFA Wing Chun, both these systems have their strengths and weaknesses. I tend to agree with G95champ’s list and Bruce Lees theory of understanding and utilising all ways but bound too none. ...

Martial_Artist, Hand guns in Australia are illegal unless you are in a sporting pistol club (strictly controlled) or in the police department. Carrying knives of a certain size and type are also illegal. Laws won’t stop criminal’s intent on committing a crime from obtaining illegal weapons. My only fear with hand gun ownership is that if a criminal knew that every one had the opportunity to own a hand gun he would be more inclined to shoot first ask questions latter or buy a bigger/better gun. This may seem an over simplistic or paranoid view but I’m starting to see this trend happening now with police vs. criminals. Don’t get me wrong, if there is a need for you to carry a firearm to create a level playing field or to put it another way, have a tool at your disposal much the same way as I would carry a mobile phone just in case I need it, all good and well. The chances of me having to deal with someone holding a gun at me are slim, having said that one should not become complacent. If there is any advice you can give me or direct me too for such a situation I would be most appreciative. And for those who have to carry firearms for personal protection, maybe Patrick could open up a new forum so people can discuss and share information on such topics like guns for the purpose of self defence etc... Respectfully, …

I wanna make a comment on this, and I would think that TKD today is not the traditional, rather a very bad modernization of TKD. I'm pretty sure that TKD was originally ((and still is in theory)) a street fighting style, of course that was way back yesteryear. I doubt that the ancient TKD practioners "never hit below the belt" or "avoided hitting the face". However the mechanics can and does make the art a very flashy and very sporty. The new gen of TKD must have added these restrictions, rules, and other ridiculous standards, modifying it to what it is now. The modernization I feel this time hurt the art rather than improve it. Because, like all martial art styles, TKD was orginally made for combat. To exterminate the threat, at the least amount of time possible. The generic term TKD has two extremes at one end of the spectrum are those schools that teach the Korean martial arts and at the other end are those who teach an Olympic sport. If you had have done some research you would have also discovered that TKD wasn’t originally a street fighting style as it borrowed (or should I say stolen) 95% of its techniques from Chinese and predominantly Japanese traditional martial arts. “The ancient TKD practitioners” (remembering that TKD was developed during the 1950s -1960s) were the ones who “added these restrictions, rules, and other ridiculous standards, modifying it to what it is now” for TKD tournament point sparing. What you may have experienced or seen was a school that was training more towards Olympic sporting endeavour rather than martial arts preparation. To me your generalisation that “TKD today is not the traditional, rather a very bad modernization of TKD” is naive at best. …

I tend to agree with the statement “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. I’m not sure if you are aware but, the gun confiscation and destruction campaign (buy back) related to semi-automatic, fully-automatic and unregistered weapons. Ironically its easier to get a gun licence now than it was before the buy back. People who owned guns in the area I live (rural Australia) typically had 5 -7 guns each nowadays they have 2 – 3 each. Very few if any handed all their guns back and never purchased any new ones. I can only speak about gun culture from the Western Australian perspective, as each state had its own gun laws. Western Australia was one of the hardest states (before the buy back) to obtain a gun licence, you had to prove that you had a valid reason for purchasing one and written permission from 2 – 3 farm owners to use them on their properties. This culture brought about the fact that the majority of gun owners originated from the country and not the highly populated city or suburban areas, guns over here are primarily used on farms/cattle stations or sporting clubs and not for self defence purposes. Criminals involved with major crime have always had access to guns, the police nowadays have guns. I agree the buy back scheme was a stupid knee jerk reaction by our government and didn’t really solve any problems. However I don’t feel giving every man woman and child a hand gun will solve the problem either. We have to go back to the source and find out why people need to kill people and try to resolve those sociological problems first. ...

StoneSkin You will be taught during class stretching techniques or you can ask one of the Black Belts what works for them best. Thomas Kurz’s “Stretching scientifically, a guide to flexibility training” is a good reference source. It is true that Taekwon-do emphasises on high kicks but that’s generally for sporting/tournament point sparing purposes only. Understanding the correct attacking tool, angle, power and distance too the correct vital point, and having the strength , flexibility, confidence and skill to put it all together when you need it is what ITF Taekwon-Do is about. If you choose to go down the Sporting/Tournament path you can have the flexibility and strength to perform those flashy kicks within about six months. Don’t confuse the techniques required for the Sporting/Tournament side of ITF with martial arts side. Both are important to learn, but there's a big difference between being able to Perform a technique to that of being able to Use a technique when it counts. Respectfully,

I couldn’t agree with you more.. I'ts some of Mr Ackermann’s statistical fact's I find disturbing and alarmist. Thought provoking post Martial_Artist

I don’t want to get into any political debate about the rights and wrongs about gun ownership. However after reading Mr Ackermann’s comments on Australian's murder statistics I was somewhat alarmed. On further investigation this is what I found: All stats taken from: Australian Institute of Criminology http://www.aic.gov.au/ --------------- Nationally, the highest proportion of homicide victims in 2001-2002 were killed with a knife or other sharp instrument (37.4%). Assaultive force (hands/feet) was the second most common method/weapon used (25.7%), followed by firearm (14.2%). A further 11.5% of homicide victims were killed with a weapon classified as "other weapon". ---------- In 2001-2002, almost one-half (46.4%) of all Australian homicides (where an offender has been identified) occurred between family members (intimates and other family combined). More than one-third (36.4%) occurred between friends and acquaintances. Only 15.6% of homicides in 2001-2002 were committed by strangers. ------------ Violent crimes recorded in Australia, 1995-2001 Year _ Homicide _ Assault _ Sexual assault _ Robbery __ Population 1995__ 356 _____ 101,710 ___ 13,099 ____ 14,564 1996__ 350 _____ 114,156 ___ 14,542 ____ 16,372 1997__ 360 _____ 124,500 ___ 14,353 ____ 21,305 1998__ 332 _____ 130,903 ___ 14,336 ____ 23,801 1999__ 386 _____ 134,271 ___ 14,104 ____ 22,606 2000__ 346 _____ 141,124 ___ 15,630 ____ 23,314 2001__ 340 _____ 151,753 ___ 16,744 ____ 26,565 ______19481746 Australias population growth is around 206,000 / Year ----------- Homicide involving firearms as a percentage of total homicide, 1915 to 2000 http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/facts/2002/fig09.gif ------------ Mr Ackermann’s link between the "confiscation and destruction of some 665,000 legally owned firearms" and Australia’s increase murder rate is selective statistics at best. I agree with G95champ's comment "The only problem with guns and death is its so quick." And for any of you who have had too scrape the brains of a 10 yo boy off the living room wall just because his mommy wouldn’t let him go to his friends place would attest to the fact that there are/were far too many unnecessary guns in Australia.

Just think, this time next week you wont have to worry about it, smile, and enjoy the grading.. Or do as I do; panic and worry your self sick the day before. Best of luck on your grading Guitar_lover . ...

I have sevenTEEN years before I turn 60, am I a teenager? Although some of us prefer the term "fossil" .... ....

Now I didn't say they were eaiser just more forgiving. You can break a wooden board in any number of places (preferably in the middle), the same can’t be said for re-breakable boards. If your targeting is slightly out (and im lucky to see the damn things let alone hit them) you end up doing some damage to your attacking tool. G95champ I know what you mean, some instructors do things on the cheap and you end up trying to break through semi dressed green boards. We leave those ones for the big guys or the smart as*es. ...