Shorinryu Sensei

Agreed. With the block, the fingers need to be together to support and strengthen one another. alone, it can get broken. same wit hthe strike actually, but a different application of course. But then again...maybe in certain circles, having the pinky extended might be proper...such as striking the neck while sipping tea.

Most (All?) Okinawan systems I think do, plus some Japanese systems. There are a whole lot of other systems or individual instructors that teach it (and other kobudo weapons), and do it so poorly that they shouldn't be allowed to IMHO. These people are my biggest pet peeve's in the arts.

I hate to break it to you, but that doesn't have the same effect on animals as it does humans. All you'd do is make them madder and more aggressive.

I have no problems whatsoever in having a kid that's misbehaving sit out for a few minutes...an hour...or the whole class. Frequent problems with the kid and I will talk to the parents about it. If the problem persists, after several warnings...I will kick the kid out of my class. Same goes with adults, but I don't make them sit out. I just talk to them, warn them..then boot them. I don't have the time or patience to waste with people that aren't there to learn. I'd rather have 3 good, serious students that want to be there, than 50 that are wasting my time. Maybe that's why I'm so broke all of the time!

I'll agree with this. Is there any chance your friend can just ask the sensei what exact system it is, and who is he under?

In general, a mountain lion/cougar, bear, wolf of other predator won't attack an adult human unless it is: 1. Starving 2. Injured 3. Cornered 4. Sick 5. Provoked 6. Protecting its young. In general, predators give humans a wide berth if they hear them coming. Very rarely will a predator intentionally stalk a human with the aim of attacking and killing him/her. Animals hunt for food, not for pleasure and sport like humans do. As for the JJ guy that wrestled the cougar...well, all I can say is that that cougar must have been sick or injured...possibly starving for the guy to have any sort of chance of subduing it. Those animals are incredibly fast, strong and agile..far more so than ANY human on the planet.

Ahhhhh..the age old question ..."How long does it take to get your black belt?" My answer? When you're ready! Typically, it takes at least 3 years in my dojo, but I have one student, 52 years old, that has been at it for 7+ years now...always comes to class, hard worker..but just doesn't quite "get it" and retain it. he understands it and doesn't care. He's there to train and belts mean nothing to him...which is a GREAT attitude! I'd take a dozen of his kind of student any day over one that only wants belts.

You want to BREAK (or BREAKING) a BRICK? A 16# sledge hammer works pretty nicely. How about trying to hit or kick it? Odd how you can spell a semi-difficult word like "techniques", but can't spell easy words like break/breaking or brick?

I hear what you're saying about dogs. About 15 years ago a large stray mutt chased my declawed cat up a tree (she wasn't doing to good of a job hanging on though) and I hear the ruckus inside my house. I ran out the door and saw the situation and ran at the dog. I got a clean, full force kick will all of my 240lbs of weight behind it to the dogs ribs which sent if flying about 8'. It just took off down the alley. I don't believe I did anything to it other than make it leave my cat alone and maybe cause it some pain. Pitbulls are a totally different catagory of dog. Like you said, once they get ahold you you, you almost have to cut their heads off to make them let go. I'd imagine that you pretty much have to kill them to end the onslaught...and good luck doing that empty handed.

I see the spear shaped bone you're referring to, but the brain sits about 3-4" behind that and is protected completely by bone itself. If this was a "common way to take out dogs", don't you think it would be common knowledge? Just like a human nose...or similar anyway, you can break the bone/cartilage of course, but sending splinters to the brain...which is totally encased in a protective shell of bone...nope, not gonna happen cowboy (my retort to being called homie).

Well, with minimal adapting...yes, this is correct. If I understand you correctly, you are saying that the law isn't as concerned about tonfa's as they are of nunchaku. Yes, this is also correct. And I doubt if you'd be able to kill someone with "one rotation". The tonfa doesn't generate that kind of power.

I'm shaking my head here in disbelief and amazement here at the replies. BAD IDEAS: 1. Odds are you CAN'T out manuever a dog. They are faster than you are...period. 2. Kicking it may be a good idea, but a dog is FAST and might very well grab yoru foot or leg. At that point, he will have you on the ground and then you are in deep doo-doo. 3. Running from a dog, or ANY other attacking animal, triggers a natural instinct in it to give chase. You can NOT out run a dog unless you're a world class sprinter, and the dog is a tiny little one. 4. Putting your jaw down to protect your throat won't work either, as the dog will grab your neck and rip it apart. Your throat is not your only vulerable part of your neck. 5. Using a jumping kick at a dog has a poor chance of making contact. A dog is fast remember, and can move out of the way faster than you can jump at it. 6. Climbing a tree is good if you can do it while he's gnawing on your leg. 7. Biting a dog? Oh come on...Grannie was just pulling your leg I think. Do you think you can bite harder than another dog can? Do you think that a dog would stop biting you just because you bit him back? 8. Like a human, there is no direct path between the nose/cartilage and the brain. Striking it on the nose thinking you will drive bone fragments into its brain is pure fiction...unless of course you are using a jack hammer. OK, with that said, there are a few main points to consider when fighting a dog. And I'm talking a BIG dog here, like a German Sheppard or Doberman for instance. First of all...and this is important...try as hard as you can to stay on your feet! If you have to grab a tree, pole, car..whatever to hold yourself up..stay on your feet if you can! If the dog means to kill you, then he wants your throat, or your groin. Staying on your feet makes your head higher and harder for them to get at. As for the groin...well, keep your legs together if you can. During the attack...YELL! yell "NO>>>DOWN>>>STOP>>>BAD DOG because possibly the dog will respond to those words because most dogs are trained to back off to those words since they were a pup. Plus, it draws attention to you from other people that might be able to help you. If you see a dog coming at you with the attitude of attack, place your forearm out in front of you parallel to the ground. What you're doing is offering it something to grab...your arm. This is better than your throat or groin...right? I think so. If you have time, wrap a coat or anything you can around that arm to help protect it. When the dog grabs your arm, smash your knucks or palm as hard as you can against its nose. No, not trying to ram bone into its brain but rather it is a dogs most sensative part of its body. They won't hold on for long if they are getting hurt. Don't forget to YELL while doing this. If the dog is grabbing your forearm and shaking its head and you're using your free hand to help support yourself, use your knees to knee it it the ribs/torso as hard as you can. You can also swing the dog arounbd against something...like a pole, fence, car, your best friend, whatever to help break its grip on you and possibly injure it to the point it stops attacking you. Now, worst case scenerio...if you fall down and are on the dogs level, again, offer your forearm to the dog instead of your neck/face or groin. Try as hard as you can to regain your feet if possible, but if you can't..kick with both feet, YELL, and if the dog has a collar, try to grab that if you can and pull it back from your throat. Smash your fist, kuckles, whatever against the dogs nose....while YELLING! Some people say they can wrestle a dog into submission...I doubt it. Sure, maybe you can with your family pet...but an enraged dog bent on ripping your throat out? I doubt it and I'd really like to see somebody try that against a doberman.

I've been a tournament weapons judge for about 25 years and have seen some "interesting" demonstrations of skill with various weapons, including the katana...aka samurai sword. One instance was this black belt that swung the weapon a bit to much and the aluminum blade bent to close to 90 degrees where it met the hilt, making it look really strange! So, I wouldn't recommend aluminum blades. Also, I frown on razor sharp blades during competitions for one reason. They are VERY dangerous not only to the competitor, but to the judges and spectators also. If one got lose, it could potentially kill someone. At the tournaments we participat at, bladed weapons must be either dull, or the sharp edge must be covered with a strong tape..such as duct tape. As for length of the blade...I'd go with the full length katana.

Uhhhh...I'll withhold comment on this one. And what is "sweet" fighting? Attacking and defending with candy canes or something?

I didn't know there was a contest? Are there going to be any posters showing various style of tonfa's..possibly held by bikini-clad cuties? Well...yes, they are legal...until you hit somebody with it that is. Then it's assualt with a deadly weapon. This is true pretty much. I think your training and MY training are different. The tonfa, like other martial arts weapons, can be devastating if used properly. Low risk? In what way? As Sauzin accurately pointed out, the tonfa aren't really something you'd walk down the street with, but the cane could be, and IMHO..the cane is a much more versatile and practical weapon for a beginner, or advanced practioneer.

We changed it in Passai (Okinawan pronunciation) to a one arm movement instead of two. A normal low block just didn't look right. As fpr the other changes, I really don't recall for sure as it was back in 1980 or so.

OK...I agree that judo, boxing and muay thai are still viable martial arts, and even in a sporting aspect they would be good for street self-defense (which is how I view the martial arts)...but I don't share that opinion with Olympic TKD. The past couple of Olympics that I have seen where TKD competed was, for me anyway, a great disappointment...and quite honestly, a farce in the sense that it was depected as a viable martial arts. My non-martial artist friends that also watched it openly laughed at two grown adults standing nearly nose to nose with each other, and trying to kick each other on the head. They kept screaming "Why doesn't he PUNCH HIM???" I hope this post will not be deleted as it will appear that I am bad mouthing TKD...which I'm not. I am giving my opinion of Olympic Style TKD...not TKD in general.

The local place I had our patches done was quite reasonable...but I don't remember now exactly how reasonable that was. I think it was a $25 setup and art fee. It's just a local shop here that has a computer controlled embroidery machine. This is a relatively small town of about 25,000 people so I would think any decent sized city should have something similar. Check out your yellow pages under sewing and see what's there. One of the patches is round with a diameter of about 14", and the other is rectangular and arout 4"x 10".

One of my first students..back in 1978, was stricken with polio and had those crutches that clipped to his forearm. It was quite a challenge as he had great upperbody strength, but from the waist down, was basically just thin sticks for legs. I had to modify literally everything..which was interesting since this was my first class that I was teaching on my own without support from my sensei....who was against the idea of teaching the handicapped. since then, not mentioning bad backs, knees, necks and such, I've had 2 blind students, 1 in a wheelchair, 1 with no right arm, one with a mechanical hook for a right hand, several with cancer and severe limitations because of it, etc. I have no problems teaching the handicapped, as I'm classified as 44% disabled myself due to a hand injury years ago. I think it's fun to figure out ways of modifying the techniques and kata's to allow these people to reach their goals of becoming viable martial artists.

Good advice! This is exactly what I did and it worked out well. I can go in and order any number of patches now as I need them.

I'll add my $.02 worth here also. I started when I was 22 years old and this month I am celebrating my 30th year in this art. I also tested and passed for my yondan (4th degree black belt) last month. So you see...there is hope for us old farts!

I hadn't thought of that....or when they are rolling around on the floor in hysterical laughter at you might be another opportunity to get them.

Oh man...lookling back at my post it is SOOOOOO full of typos!!! That should have read 90lb woman. I usually go back and edit out the typos, but I guess I was in a hurry that time...sorry.

Agreed...but, he should go with what he likes best. Most instructors will let him try a few classes for free. I let people try it for 2 weeks to get a good feel for it.

I agree with Angela. Look at what the Olympics have done to judo and TKD...made them a sport, not a "martial art". Personally, if they put Shorinryu in the Olympics, I would in no way be interested in participating in it, or promoting it.