Shorinryu Sensei

I don't think getting into an ENCLOSED phone booth is a good idea anyway. Limits your means of movement and escape to much and if your attackers start swinging baseball bats at the glass or such you could easily get cut or glass in your eyes. Also, phone cords in public phones are designed to be difficult, if not impossible to tear away because punks have a tendancy to do that anyway, so even if you could rip one out, it would probably take more time than you have.

Actually, I knew about the British and the enigma coding machine, but I wasn't aware that radar was a British invention...BRILLIANT! As I recall, it came very late in the war, but boy, was it nice! That's an argument for more learned people than myself, but I think the end result would have been the same in the long run, but with much more loss of life on all sides, especially the allies. As with everything pertaining to Saddam, he didn't care about the UN or even his own people. The majority of the world plays by "the rules", and honors treaties and agreements that they make (but don't get me started on the native American Indians! ). Saddam did what he wanted, when he wanted, and to whom he wanted. He wanted to gas and kill the Kurds..he did that. He tortured, killed and made people disappear at his leisure. Why would he care about a governing body like the UN, that has very little actual power, other than to rattle some swords and endless debates? My opinion is that I'm glad to see the USA and the British actually DO SOMETHING about the world situation. To try to make this world a little better and safer for you and I, sitting cozy in our homes. I feel that the entire world needs to get off it's respective "arses" and deal with this terrorist situation quickly, decisively, and for good! It's not just an American problem..it's a WORLD problem. Negotiations don't work with these people, and playing by "the rules" doesn't either. Personally, I think we (the world) needs to play by THEIR rules for a change and see how they like it! No courts, no "rights" (what rights did the World Trade center people have?), no deals..just go in and take the "buggers" out of this world and send them to whatever God they believe in! I'm surprised a mod hasn't dived in here yet and moved this discussion. Perhaps we should take it elsewhere if you'd like to continue. My email is tallpaul@centurytel.net if you'd prefer.

I'd be interesting in knowing which branch of Shorinryu he is practicing and who he trained under. Shorinryu is a small system compared to say, TKD, and from my experiences in it, the general way of thought is "quality over quanity". Sure, there's has to be exceptions to this, but the majority I believe are smaller schools with smaller enrollments, giving you more one-on-one with the sensei...which is a good thing.

Well, I'm not going to argue about Vietnam..that wasn't a pretty picture, and the reason we failed was because we didn't approach it correctly and use all of the resourses that were available to us. No, not "the bomb", but we piddle farted around to much and didn't take it as seriously as we should have. A large part of that was the fear that if we really, and seriously went in to Vietnam to clean house, the Chinese, who were supporting the N. Vietnamese, would do the same, and the whole thing would have escalated well beyond Vietnam, and possible escalate into WWIII. Why we initionally went into Vietnam, by the way, was because the FRENCH were getting their rear ends kicked (what, again?) and we went in to support our allies (what, again?). Something apparently they won't do in return. Granted, the victory in Europe was a JOINT EFFORT of the allies, not an exclusive victory by the United States alone, nor did I mean to imply that. But without Amercia's men, our industrial machine and yes, dollars..I believe that you would be speaking in German right now instead of English. *sigh*..prior to America entering the European theater, I wouldn't say that Europe, specifically England since that's where you're from, was doing very well on their own once France had fallen (again) to the German war machine. Or can you dispute that? Can you deny that once France had fallen and the Germans were looking through their field glasses at England some 20-odd miles away (not sure exactly, but not VERY far), that Winston and your family weren't just a wee bit concerned? Am I wrong? Can you support otherwise? I have no beef with the UK..they stepped up like men and supported their friends and allies in the US. Whether or not we were justified in attacking Iraq, that's for our governments to worry about. Personally, I feel that we will eventually find some weapons of mass destruction, or find proof that they were trying to develop them..possibly even that they were smuggled out of the country. If not, it wouldn't be the first time that information was misinterprated, but I do agree that we were right in getting Saddam out of power by whatever means was necessary. I wish we were able to do that the first time we went in there, but following the UN mandate, we were not allowed to. Then this 2nd war over there would not have been necessary.

There's a movement afoot in this country to quit sending American dollars, which I, and every other hard working American pays in taxes every year, to other countries to feed them, build them schools and hospitals, roads and to bolster their economy. Also, to withdraw our troops from Europe, the Middle East and every place else except within our own borders, and use out own money to fix our own problems. I fully support this movement and would like to see the USA become neutral like Switzerland and worry about ourselves, and not the rest of the world. When/if we do something like this, which I'm sure we won't, then you'd be seeing in a short time, pompous dictators like Saddam attacking smaller neighbors, like Kuwait..and then another...and another, and before you know it, you'd have little Hitler's running all over the world killing millions and MILLIONS of your little starving Africans (or whereever) with toxic gasses, possibly nuclear weapons and God knows what else! Nobody else in the world (including you apparently) seem to care if these little dictators kill their own people as a stepping stone to killing their neighbors. If Saddam was allowed to take Kuwait without little opposition (as Hitler did with Poland) back in the first Gulf War and nobody jumped in and said stop, by now he would also have Saudi Arabia and how many more of his neighbors? Where would he stop? Could the Saudis stop him? Nope, their Army isn't much as I understand it. Hitler did the same, exact thing. Warp Spider, your profile doesn't say what country you are in, but I'd suspect that the good 'ol US of A is tossing tons of American dollars (some of which is mine) into your country for whatever reason. What would happen if we quit doing that? I don't see one single country in this world sending any money our way to help out my country, do you? Are you in France, Germany or England..anywhere in Europe? What if we decided to pull our troups out of there back in the 1960-70's? You'd be speaking RUSSIAN right now and eating borst. (actually, borst is pretty good!) Personally, I'm very tired of Americans being trashed for what we do in other countries. I'd really like to see how the rest of the world could SUPPORT ITSELF for a change, bring all of our boys back home and place a really high wall around our borders with a big sign...KEEP THE F**K OUT!!!, and unless you had PROOF of US citizenship, or PROOF of legitimate business in this country, then you would be denied admission. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free"? That's waht it says on the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. Fine, not any more! We have plenty of cab drivers and MidiMart employees to last us until eternity already..we don't need anymore, so STAY HOME!!! We have the technology, the brains, the manpower AND the resourses to be self-sufficient for many, many years to come if we want to. We have strong neighbors (Thanks Canada and Mexico) that we trust, and that support us, and as I see it...we just don't need a whole lot more tennis shoes made cheaply in Taiwan, or oil, or food, or cars..or much else that we can't do ourselves. Geeze...I've got to apoligise to anybody reading this, but I'm a damn proud Vietnam Era Veteren and American that is extremely proud of this country (Yes, there is a large flag flying off my front porch), and it just drives me nuts to watch the news and see these countries protesting our involvment in their countries when they can't help themselves, burning our flags, attacking our embassys, etc after all that we have done to support them! ENOUGH!

I've never heard of the Yamanni Ryu style, but that's OK. What exactly is your question regarding weapons? Maybe I can help?

Uhhhh..pardon me for interjecting this, but I think the point of this thread isn't to "throw them" here or there. At any location, tossing them on the ground or into something is always an option. I think what the author wants here is what OBJECTS might be available in these locations, and how would you use them to defend yourself. Is this correct? OK, alley. I just took a walk down mine in fact. 1. Garbage can lid can be used as a shield, especially the metal ones. 2. Use garbage cans, dumpsters, telephone poles, cars..whatever, as obsticles to keep your opponent at bay. 3. If you fall on the ground, are there bricks, rocks, sand/dirt handly? 4. Boards, sticks, conduit, pipes, car parts (everybody around here as an extra car in the back yard..usually in pieces! lol An English friend of mine called them "car gardens". 5. Wood fence that you can pull a lat off of and use. 6. Neighbors pitbull/doberman. Sic 'em!! 7. Do you see anything in the garbage can/dumpster you can use? 8. A pen/pencil works GREAT as a close quarters weapon anywhere. Not necessarily the sharp end either (can we say lawyers and puncture wounds?), as the blunt end works great to the ribs, under the jaw, base of the throat and any nerve center...and doesn't penetrate/break the skin! But then againj..life or death...stick the bugger! In the case of a pencil..stick them, then break it off. And what the heck are you doing walking down an alley anyway? Awareness is the FIRST thing you need to use as a weapons for self defense!

Jussi Häkkinen is correct. Frauds abound in any martial art.

More bar stuff. 1. Plastic drinking straws. Grab a handfull in your fist and jab the ends at your opponents eyes. 2. Use the tables and chairs to your advantage as obstacles to keep your opponent at bay or off balance. 3. The bottom of a glass (the thick base) makes a pretty good striking edge to the back of a hand, mouth, forehead, etc. Be careful though, as you'll be holding the weakest part and don't want it to break in your hand and cut yourself. 4. In the mens restroom there are usually condom machines. Get one and quickly place it over your opponents head (they really do stretch a lot) and cut off his air. (OK, just kidding on this one, but it popped into my weird brain!) 5. Handfull of napkins tossed into your opponents face as a distraction, followed up immediatly with a good, solid punch or kick as he ducks. 6. If they use those cheap, tin ashtrays..they make a fine cutting edge if you use them correctly. Fold one edge halfway over to hold in your hand. 7. Ice at the bottom of your glass---pull the back of your oppionents pants out and dump it in his shorts. (OK---it's early and I haven't had enough coffee yet) That's all that pops into my strange, little brain right now, but I'm sure if I was sitting in a bar aI could come up with twice as many ideas. Personally, I carry a wooden kobutan on my keychain. I've used it once mildly to get a drunk biker to leave me alone, but it's just like anything else, if you don't know how to use it, leave it at home.

It's called "supporting your allies and friends." God knows, when the French needed help, the USA was there for them with our industrys, money..and blood.

Go back to the cigarette lighter for a moment. A cheap, plastic Bic will do. Forget lighting it, but instead grasp it in your hand hard with the edge/end of the lighter squished hard between your thumb and forefinger. Try thrusting that into somebodys ribcage, or under the jawbone. Throat, nerve centers, etc. Same usage as a kobutan. I do this sort of stuff with my class on a regular basis. I also challenge them to bring stuff to class about once/month so we can figure out how to use it as a weapon. Almost everything you can think of can, in some way or other, be used.

I'm not now, but I ran a fulltime, 6 days per week dojo for about 5 years.

Well...let's see here. This coming January I will hve 29 years into just one art..and that's Shorinryu. So yep...go for it...it's GREAT!

Actually, I've been to France on three seperate occasions. Twice, while I was stationed in Germany while in the US Army (helping to defend France, among others, from Soviet aggression), and again in '99 while I was engaged to an English woman. More what I was referring to was France's lack of support for the USA in our current conflict with Iraq. How many American young men died to keep that piss ant country free, as it is today...in not one, but TWO world wars! You'd think a little gratitude would be in order. *climbing off my soapbox now* Sorry folks.

No...I try to avoid anything French...French fries, French perfume, French wine, French poodles, and especially French people. Rude, obnoxious..and cowardly! Sorry...just had to say that.

Well..I COULD have said I smelled Preperation H as soon as you walked in the room...but I restrained myself with a secret Okinawan technique that I know )

There's also a leg grab/arm grab then toss them on their head combo in the bunkai. The fist double block for instance..opponent right kicks first (you block with left arm) and right punches (you block with right arm), you lift the leg and take his right arm across his body at the same time...dumps them on their noggin.

Tiger Balm actually..but hey, it could be worse! It could be Preperation H!

Wow..and I thought I was the old duffer in the room! lol I'm 50 (51 next month) and have 2 students that are the same age. The oldest student I've personally had was 63 and he did just fine for the couple of months that he was in class. I don't expect everybody to be able to do the same as everybody else in class. instruction is very individualized and progression is at their own rate.

I disagree with that. What works once against one guy, may not work with the next. The martial arts teaches you strategy and how to look for and utilize your opponents weaknesses to your advantage. The problem with full contact sparring is that you are wearing enough padding so that you know you're not really going to get hurt very bad if you do get hit. with that knowledge, I've seen technique get tossed out the window and it becomes a slugfest of crappy technique. And full contact fails to do that how? We are trying to learn to fight, yes? If we can't do it against someone charging in, then we can't do it at all. In full contact, you can pretty much forget finesse, and a lot of accuracy. speed is still there, but as I said above, because youy are well protected, defense goes by the wayside and it's pretty much pure aggression and sloppy techniques just to get in first and rattle your opponent.

I found that comment interesting. A "traditional" 5 Dan system? I've never heard of that. Anybody else? As far as I know, the traditional ranking for any art that uses belts is a 10 dan system. I also understand that judo "technically" uses a 12 dan ranking system, but nobody, including the founder, ever got higher than 10th...correct? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Oh yeah...about the subject of this thread. I have between 8-10 students that come on a regular basis. I've had as many as around 75 in the past when I was trying to make a living teaching the MA's, but I am teaching out of a single car garage now behind my house, and space is limited. Quality over quantity is the rule here.

I've had a few run-ins with wrestlers before also, and I find they tend to be rather egotistical individuals. One quick story I'd like to relate is when I had my shodan, a ex-state wrestling champ (20 years old) came into my sensei's dojo. This guy wasn't real tall, maybe 5'8-9 or so, but quite muscular. He had a real annoying attitude that gave everybody the impression he was going to wipe the floor with all of the other students. I couldn't hardly wait until this jerk was ready for his first sparring experience! On that day, my sensei asked me if I would spar with "Steve". I smiled and said .."Oh yeah!" Steve got into his wrestling stance first thing, I stopped the contest for a moment and advised him that with his feet the way that they were, and his head leaning forward, he was wide upon for an attack. His replay was "I know what I'm doing", so I just said OK and started again. The first thing I did was backfist him to the side of his head..easy! Then groin kicks, stomach kicks, jabs..pretty much anything and everything I tried on the guy consistently scored a hit. He got pretty frustrated and lunged at my lead leg. Boy, he was QUICK! I didn't have time to move away, so I just locked my leg, lowered and lengthed my stance a bit, and proceeded to briskly beat him about the head, neck and back as he tried to muscle me down to the floor, which he never did..but would have eventually if we continued. He stayed in and got his black belt, but this guy and I never say eye to eye, and bickered constantly. He was purely aggressuive in his approach to the art, and this is not an aggressive art form. We are both still in the art, but I have no contact withg this guy. One of those that I just can't get along with, and would never agree with.

I disagree. With full contact sparring, I've seen many people forget defense entirely and just dive in and start windmilling punches and tossing crappy kicks to try to just beat through their opponents defense. With point sparring, finesse, speed and accuracy are very important. It also teaches students how to block, parry, move, counter, look for openings, is great exercise..and I think, just plain FUN! It's also a great way for a student to practice their techniques in a relatively safe and semi-realistic exercise. Yes, I agree that if ALL you do is point spar, that's not good and will teach bad habits. But I feel that it has its place in training, especially for the lower belts, but after nearly 29 years in the art myself, I find point sparring quite invigorating and keeps my body loose, relaxed and fast.

When I have a woman in class..or any new student for that matter..the first person they spar is always me! As any instructor will probably tell you, the most dangerous person in that dojo during sparring iasn't necessarily the sensei or senior student, but rather is the person that doesn't know what they are doing..aka---the newbie! No control, bad/no technique, trying to "nail the sensei" to impress him (can hurt sometimes), etc. I am very gentle and talkative to new people sparring for the 1st time. Coaching and telling them to toss a kick or punch. I usually don't try to block real hard unless they are coming at me hard and fast, then I defend myself! lol I also toss in some kicks/punches of my own..slow at first, and faster if they can handle it. A lot of the time with women their first time out, they are afraid of throwing any technique at me, but I've found one thing that is GUARANTEED to get a woman to start fighting back. And that is...give her little slaps to the top of her head..yep, right on top! Not hard slaps, just fast taps. Just keep doing that every now and then..talking to them as you do ("You're head is exposed..block!")..and when they continually raise their hands to keep from getting slapped on the top of the head..then fake to the head and slap their stomach. Trust me..for some reason..women do NOT like to be slapped on the head, and they will come after you pretty darn quick when you do!

There is such a thing as over traing, and that can result in burnout, plus actual physical injury from tired muscles/joints. Quality over quanity is a good rule to go by I think. 3-4 times/week of good, quality training should keep you in GREAT shape, and your skills well tuned. Unless of course you're going for national ranking or full contact perhaps? Yopu'd have to talk to some of these others on the board about that then.