John G

I'm sure proof of weapons of mass destruction will be found eventually, Its a shame we have to use our own weapons of mass destruction to find them. ...

That sky show over Bagdad saw 320 Tomahawk cruise missiles been used, at a million bucks a pop, 22 million is only a drop in the ocean. Oh yeah… Australia dropped is first bomb in anger since the Vietnam War on a “target of opportunity”. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, makes you proud to be Australian. Our (Australia) involvement in the war gets us one step closer to a free trade agreement for wheat exports to the USA. You guys don’t need wheat farmers anyway. The only downside to this is that we’re now number 4 on the extremist hit list. What with the worlds largest Muslim nation (Indonesia) to our north I guess we could be in for a few surprises. If things get too bad, Prime Minister John Howard could always phone up President G. W. Bush to go nuke Jakarta, I’m sure we could find a terrorist link there somewhere. Never mind the blood smell the money. ...

Go for it, the social interaction, self-discipline, moral culture, self-esteem, exercise, goal setting and just the shear fun of it are all positives a good MA can provide your son. Don’t be surprised or disappointed if he get bored with it after 4 or 5 years and wants to do something else, and don’t assume that he will be able to defend himself just because he has obtained a black belt by the age of ten. It really depends on why you want your son to join a MA in the first place. I wish, I could have joined a MA when I was younger, all we had back then was the boy scouts. (still cant tie knots) Respectfully,

Welcome to the forums AGKK Karateka, excellent post. Respectfully,

Karate is too many a way of life; it encompasses more than just fighting skills. It is as offensive as it is defensive, don’t be fooled into thinking that a person skilled in this art is going to wait for you to throw the first punch so they can use self defence to defend themselves. Kata is only a training tool used to perfect the art of Karate.

I agree with you kchenault, if rules of engagement are attached, it’s a sport. I’m not too sure but I think traditional MT has a martial arts side to it; however not unlike TKD most people only see the sporting (the stuff in the ring) side of it.

TJS, If your definition of what makes a good martial artist or art is based upon the achievements of SPORTING EVENTS like the K-1, MMA, Olympics etc… then so be it, we are all entitled to our own beliefs and opinions.

Welcome to the forums hikari Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!

Sorry I cant help I'm in Australia. Anyway welcome to the forums

The only concern I have about sparing in the dojo/dojung/tournament, is that to a certain extent it’s still controlled. If it wasn’t we would have a lot of maimed, crippled or dead student on our hands. The danger (depending on the situation), I feel, is when it comes down to the real deal, we may think for a few precious moments that we are sparing an opponent instead of someone who is really trying to hurt us. IMO sparing (non, semi or full-contact) has its place, however it shouldn’t be taught or promoted to the extent where our auto reflex responses are thinking sparing partner instead of aggressive assailant. Has anyone experienced this in a real fight?

MuayThai Fighter, I’m only use to semi-contact point sparing (had a few broken ribs though), what are the sparing rules in your art, and how is the winner determined. Is it by K.O. or is it until your opponent submits / Ref steps in and stops the fight. Respectfully,

ITF TAEKWON-DO PHILOSOPHY 1. Be willing to go where the going may be tough and do the things that are worth doing even though they are difficult. 2. Be gentle to the weak and tough to the strong. 3. Be content with what you have in money and position but never in skills. 4. Always finish what you begin, be it large or small. 5. Be a willing teacher to anyone regardless of religion, race or ideology. 6. Never yield to repression or threat in the pursuit of a noble cause. 7. Teach attitude and skill with action rather than words. 8. Always be yourself even though your circumstances may change. 9. Be the eternal teacher who teaches with the body when young, with words when old, and by moral precept even after death. THE WING CHUN (WWCKFA) PHILOSOPHY 1. One who excels as a warrior does not appear formidable. 2. One who excels in fighting is never aroused in anger. 3. One who excels in defeating his enemies does not join issues. 4. One who excels in employing others humbles himself before them. This is the virtue of non contention matching the sublimity of heaven. The aim of Wing Chun Kung Fu is to develop physical, mental and spiritual awareness. These elements transcend you to a higher level of life. Self awareness, self respect and a duty to serve should be the goal of life in every martial artist. Meditate on these principles and make peace on your study of Kung Fu, a way of life. When fear is removed, the arrogance of uncertainty is dispelled. Therere, it is no longer necessary to prove yourself in any form of combat. By learning how to fight, you learn how not to fight. THE WING CHUN PLEDGE I believe constant practising of the art of Wing Chun will enable me to transcend to a higher mental and physical level. I shall show respect for the Art, my Sifu, Sihings and Sidis. I shall exercise my utmost tolerance and consideration in dealing with people and general matters in and outside the Academy.

ROTFLMAO Rolling On The Floor Laughing My A$$ Off

FinalHope, I agree with Kensai something like Wing Chun MuayThai Fighter, You have a lot to learn, haven’t you ever thought about what you would do if someone attacks you when your sitting down in a car, bus, train or plane.

All the Americans I have ever met are down to earth polite, friendly people. Politicians on the other hand no matter what part of the world they come from need to be slapped.

ITF Taekwon-do: 1) 0.5 Groundwork 2) 0.5 Trapping, Throws and Takedowns 3) 2.5 Infighting - Elbows, Knees and Head 4) 4 Punching 5) 4.5 Kicking 6) 0 Weapons

The ITF 2nd degree pattern Ko-Dang was replaced with Juche, a more worthy 2nd degree pattern so were told. Some clubs/governing bodies retained Ko-Dang as a choice for the 35+ year old students, as its less physically demanding than that of Juche. There are other reasons (mainly political) why Juche was never adopted/retained by some clubs, but that’s another story. Therefore there are 25 patterns in some clubs. There are only 24 patterns at our academy and were stuck with Juche, I’m thinking about teaching myself Ko-Dang just so I’m not missing out on anything. (Can’t have KickChick knowing one more pattern than me ). Respectfully,

Sorry KickChick the old grey matter isn’t working for me today, are you saying that the coloured belt series in video format http://www.comdo.com/video.htm is no longer available, or the cdrom only contains the coloured belt patterns? If it’s the latter, I can assure you that all 24 patterns and the 2 fundamental exercises are contained on the cdrom. Respectfully, P.S. Congratulations on the 3000 posts, you have contributed a lot of valuable material to KF and helped make KF one of the most informative and friendly online resources in the martial arts community. Keep it up

Ohh just got it. (tut..tut..) WTF stands for World Taekwondo Federation. The reason I ask is because some federations are more sports related than others. Some split from ITF (International Taekwon-do Federation) twenty years ago and therefore are a snapshot in time of how Taekwon-do uses to be. Others federations and associations go back further when Taekwon-do was more like Shotokan. Taekwon-do (ITF) is constantly evolving, the minimum standard is maintained by visiting masters (7th and 8th Dan) and grand masters (9th Dan) conducting international instructor courses. This maintains the minimum standard and introduces any new concepts or changes to the standard. ITF has itself split into 3 factions, ITF-V, ITF-C and ITF-NK. This means each of the new federation in time will have their own standards. I believe that ITF-V will remain much same as it is today, ITF-NK is pursuing the merger of WTF and ITF into one organisation that takes the best from both, and ITF-C will be somewhere in between. As you can begin to appreciate there is more than one type of Taekwon-do (TKD), this has been one of the reasons a lot of us “TKD loyalists” sometimes get annoyed When someone says “XYZ art is better than TKD because you guys always do high kicks and never do any punching” If you go to the post http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3191&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=50 which is called Karate vs Tai Kwon Do, you can see some of the minimum techniques and tools I have listed that we currently use in ITF Taekwon-do. My brothers and sisters from the WTF branch of Taekwon-do also have as many twists and turns as ITF, their style varies from full blown martial arts to sports martial arts. If you would like to further information for comparisons we will only be to glad to assist. Respectfully,

Depends on what type of Taekwon-do Federation and governing body i.e. ITF/USTF, ITF/RITA, ITF/ITFNZ, UTF, ATA, WTF and to what level, coloured belt / first degree etc.

KickChick, I have the videos and the cdrom http://www.comdo.com/cdrom.htm and would recommend the cdrom, as the patterns on the cd are viewable in full motion, one move at a time and frame by frame. Check with comdo to see if your computer operating system is compatible with the cd.

Welcome to the forums.

Smarter Child, Your political cartoon should be about something you feel strong about, for me I would do one about current affairs in Iraq. The first time I have heard the words pre-emptive strike was to describe the Japanese attack on Pear Harbour. So you could have a cartoon with Mr Bush and Mr Blair flying Japanese Zeros over Bagdad yelling "Banzai!". Or you could have one with Mr Hussein riding on top of an A-bomb/anthrax bomb over a peace rally dropping propaganda leaflets stating “We have no weapons of mass destruction” The though of two guys waiting at a space/bus station wondering when the next shuttle service might arrive, and a boss stating to his maintenance man (working on a shuttle) “Never mind that bit we have a dead line to meet” could be considered. Respectfully, P.S. I use http://news.google.com/ to gather news information. Condolences to those who may have lost love ones at the Rhode Island nightclub fire.

Welcome to the forums.

Before we can help answer you questions, please tell us why you want to become a martial artist, and what you expect to get out of it in 1,5,10 and 20 years time. Respectfully,