username8517

Back when I was taking Shito-Ryu, which was taught out of a local elementary school, during the summer months when the school was closed the whole dojo would basically pack up and move to a nearby park. But we would always take up the basketball and tennis courts as they were rarely used during the times we were there. Today, at my current dojo, we often do training sessions on the weekend in the back yard of my sensei's house (not as outdoors as a park, but his house is on a corner of a busy street and he doesn't have any kind of fencing to obscure the view). I also know of a couple of dojos along the coastline of Florida that often hold sessions on the beach.

You can't do that, yet? Well, I can do it with my right pinkey, but not my left one. You know there was a movie where Sean Connery beat a man with his thumb. I mean if it's in a movie it has to be true, right??

Hello and welcome

Hello and Welcome

Hello

Yes, that first link is it. Thank you MisterRadley.

So a couple weeks ago when I was training with some friends at a nearby college, I stumbled upon this piece of equipment that I had never seen before. Basically it's a weighted metal bar about 3 ft. long with black foam padding on and if I remember correctly the diameter was approximately 1 to 1.5 inches thick. They came in various weights from 6lbs up to 18 lbs. Naturally being the curious person I am I picked one up and started playing with it. It's long enough for me to maintain my proper bo grip lengths and compact enough where I can whip it around a narrow space without hitting things. On top of that, it's weighted to help workout the muscles. In other words, it's my perfect indoor bo workout. The problem--I have no idea what they're called or where to find them. I've tried scouring the internet, but not knowing what they're called I've been having a heck of a time finding them. The closest thing I can find are Water Wates, but those are not it. Now I realize my description isn't the most accurate, but I was wondering if anyone has an idea of what I'm talking about and what they're called.

One of the 8th Dans in our system back in Okinawa holds a fairly high rank in Yamanni-Ryu (what rank that is I'm not entirely positive) so we get to work on some of it when there are seminars. Over the course of the past six months I've been shown the first bo kata and basically been working on it at home. I think there might be a few small details on it that I need to iron out, but at least I can get through it well enough to hold me off until the next seminar. Also, I've heard that there are some legitimacy issues with people trying to claim senior rank. How true it is I don't know as I haven't seen any documentation supporting either side of the arguement.

Perhaps this is why your ying/yang avatar is spinning out of control

Streets of Rage, Tekken, Street Fighter 2, Marvel vs. Capcom

GSP, Rich Franklin, Jorge Gurgel (trained BJJ under him for a while and on a personal level--one of the nicest MA I've ever met) I also have a love/hate thing for Matt Hughes

Just remember I'm not your maid

Also, if you use the mirror or partner idea, make sure you face is not giving away an tells. We have a student hear that I'm currently trying to break of this habit--before he goes to throw any kind of attack, his face tightens & he gets an angry looks before his body even moves. It gives a solid half-second to full second warning that somethings coming.

A belated Hello then. Sometimes in light sparring, when I'm feeling fiesty, I do throw two punches at the same time just for fun and try to catch my uke off guard. There's obviously less power behind them, but one generally gets through because they don't know how to react.

I simply call it timing, but yeah, same thing. One of the pieces of logic I use to explain rechambering a kick is that a kick is a strike, just like a punch. You wouldn't throw a punch and leave the arm out and let it drop for multiple reasons including: 1) it gives you opponent something to attack or grab, 2) it creates a weaker guard position, and 3) it doesn't set you up for any kind of follow up. These same three principles can be applied to a kick, however, with a kick you would also have to worry about that if you don't chamber and just let you foot fall, but you also have to worry about your balance on the way down. By rechambering your kick you get to bring it back down in a controlled manner rather than just letting it fall where it may and hope it doesn't slip on something--potentially putting you on the ground.

There's already a thread about this in the Karate forum. Click Here

Hello and Welcome

I'm having a little difficulty understanding this logic. If a black belt means you mastered the style, how can you take it to the next level? Many schools and systems view earning your black belt as only mastering the basics and the beginning of your real learning. Regardless of how your view a black belt, or any belt for that matter, it's important to remember that no matter who you are--they're will always be someone better.

Didn't even think of that. Good point.

Foreword: Before I get into the post I would like to comment that this thread is not to talk about beating women, domenstic violence, etc etc. Also this will touch upon such topics as gender equality and such, which is why it is here in the MA & Politics section. What this thread is about is to see how many people would treat women the same in a street fight as they would their male counterpart. Taking myself for example, if I were to be confronted by a woman throwing haymakers, kicks, etc.; I would ultimately aim to end the situation in the most humane situation possible--probably some kind of joint lock. And if I find myself confronted in a life or death situation with a woman brandishing a weapon, I would like to ultimately think I would treat the situation no different than if I was being attacked by a man. However, I cannot gaurantee I wouldn't hesitate to drop a woman with a hard strike like I would a man. And as we all know, if a life or death situation, we cannot afford to hesitate. Speaking from a male perspective, I have often heard growing up that you shouldn't hit women as it's not the chivelrous thing to do, women are weaker, so on and so on. Yes women are genearlly weaker and smaller than me, but that's just a generalization. I know a few women who can whoop some male butt in a fight. But those women are ones who have trained to fight and are generally the minority of the female population that I see enter our dojo doors (as most drop out--just like men ). And in reality size and strength does present a distinct advantage in a fight, especially if it's against an unskilled defender. However, I find myself somewhat perplexed by the ideas of guys wanting to uphold the idea of chiverly if they're being attacked by a female. After all chivelry comes from a time when women were suppossed to be prim, proper, and "domesticated". However, as society has progressed and women have stepped up into roles that have been denied to them in the past, their actions have too. Today it's much more common to see women fight with their fists than you would have seen 50+ years ago. So should the idea of chivelry be upheld if you're attacked by a woman? And if so, why? I guess that is my question at heart. Would you show the same restraint to a guy attacking you who stands 5'3" and weighs 120 lbs? I am inclined to say no as it shouldn't matter who attacks you, as you have a right to defend yourself. The key thing to remember, regardless of the gender attacking you is that you should only respond according the level of violence presented to you. However, from the way I was brought up I honesty don't know if I would be able to mentally seperate the fact that my attacker was a female if confronted by a woman waving a knife at me. Let's hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter.

Me, personally, I'm on the fence about contracts. I think they have their pros and cons. One of the instructors in my system once told me that for a dojo to be successful (in the terms of self-sustaining) that contracts were a neccessary evil both in the terms of avoiding keeping track of who has paid etc. etc., but also for student retention. Someone is less likely to drop out of a martial arts class after six months if their locked into it financially for another six months.

nice find!

Been a while since I've played Half-Life 1, but from what I remember it was/is a great game. One of the first person shooters to incorporate a rich and complex storyline into the action. You play the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist at a top secret scientific Mesa Facility experimenting with "alien" substances when something go fatally wrong and you're forced to fight your way out from invading aliens and soldiers who were sent in to make sure there are no survivors. You should enjoy this greatly. Half-Life: Opposing Forces is a pseudo-sequel to Half-Life. Not bad, but not as good as the original. This time you play as a soldier trying to hunt down Gordan Freeman. Story-line interweaves with the original, but is different enough to keep you interested. Half-Life: Blue Shift Never played, but it puts you in the role of a security guard as the Mesa facility trying to help Freeman (and yourself) out. Overall reviews I've read is that this is a good addition, but extremely short (can be beat in one sitting if you have the time). Half-Life: Deathmatch & Team Fortress Classic Both are online games. Don't know how many games are around online, but the are fun if you can get some going.

I am jumping on the band wagon in regards to being able to tell who is trained and not. I know I don't walk around in my gi when I'm not in class (unless I'm running an errand afterwards, then I'll sport my pants portion). But back to the subject at hand. I generally carry a pocket knife on me, to which I would utilize if needed. Regardless of if I had my blade on me, I would wait until the first one came in and obviously my reaction would depend on how they came at me. Weaponless, my aim would be to break that person in a key place (knee, elbow, jaw, etc) as soon as possible and toss them aside--hoping that the intimidation factor might cause a hesitation in the other two, thus giving me an opening. With a knife. . .well let's just say I like puncturing lungs and slicing open femural arties

The instructor is "Tommy Nitro". Doing a quick Google search appears to show that Tommy Nitro is just a stage name and the real actor is Lucas Lynette-Krech. IMDB As far as the storyline, here is what was put down on Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB): Always great to have a villain named Crimson Sausage Did the writer name him after his/her lunch that day? I tried doing a search for Lucas Lynette-Krech and the only things I could come up with (aside from him being bashed in other forums about this playset) is on IMDB itself. So it appears that this is instructional VHS/DVD is not even being taught by someone with actually MA experience (at least any I could find)