NightOwl

Here you go Kajukenbopr...Meihuaquan. I found it goofing around looking at MA stuff one day. Since it literally means 'Plum Blossom Fist' or something of the like, I was curious just how a plum blossom would fight so I looked a bit into it . At first I saw a lot of what you mostly see with CMA these days- spectator oriented wushu forms but not too much martial oriented. Then I came across a video of some guys in China practicing it using full force on concrete and I got a bit more interested. What sealed the deal though, was them using an awesome scissor sweep which reminded me of something you might find in BJJ, and so since then I've been wondering more about it.

heh heh, in actuality I only started to hear music during training once I started hanging around an MMA gym. Maybe the best music is the sounds of kiaing and bones breaking...THOSE were the old old days.

So what do you recommend? I am fairly certain a similar topic has been brought up before in the past but I want to do my part for the planet and promote recycling with a new round. So what do you listen to as far as genres, specific bands, etc? I usually go for punk/ rock. If I had to pick some certain songs out: Defy you- The offspring As you're falling down - Escape the fate Swagger- Flogging Molly Welcome to the Jungle- Guns 'n roses Bleed American- Jimmy Eat World I'm Shipping up to Boston- Dropkick Murphy's (you pretty much have to do something when it comes on) ---- The list that secretly plays because you need the background music: Cherry Blossoms in Winter- Yoshida Brothers Keasbey Nights- Catch 22 Eye of the Tiger- Survivor....don't lie, you know it is on yours too

Movie: The Karate Kid Directed by: John G. Avildsen Released: 1984, USA Starring: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, Elisabeth Shue, William Zabka, Martin Kove Style(s) Showcased: Karate (fictional, some random styles including Shito Ryu) Trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=FOUGf_s4hy4 Clip: http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/1530/karatekidch1.jpg Story: After moving from the the scenic New Jersey to the slightly less scenic Southern California with his single mom (you can't have everything ), Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) finds adjusting to life hard. That is, until he meets the pretty girl Ali at school. Problem is, her jealous ex boyfriend Johnny (Zabka) and his friends are a bunch of bullies who happen to all train at the local karate dojo 'Kobra Kai' under a ruthless sensei (Kove). After Daniel pulls of a prank to get back at the bullying from Johnny's gang, he finds himself cornered and gets badly beaten before he can make it back to his apartment. However out of nowhere, the apartment's handyman, an elderly Japanese immigrant named Mr. Miyagi intervenes and handily defeats the gang with his own karate. At first reluctant, Mr. Miyagi eventually agrees to train Daniel when he realizes that the Kobra Kai gym won't leave Johnny alone, and thus begins a journey and friendship leading up to the finale- a showdown at the All Valley Karate Tournament http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/9218/karatekidll5.jpg Review: What to say about The Karate Kid? I have mentioned it before on the forums, but usually not the best of terms- usually blaming it for things like black belt mills, watering of training for kids, and the endangering of the White Rhino. After seeing the movie, I still do to an extent hold the views, but at the same time I found myself agreeing that it deserves its place as a classic...perhaps one of the best sports movies of all time. Initially, the karate kid was never planned to be a big hit at all, but became a sensation and cultural phenomenon via great audience reception turning it into the very model of a sleeper hit. To this day, the stereotypical 'martial arts' move is the crane kick (one that I am sure many of you have seen demonstrated for your amusement countless times when you mention that you do martial arts), and although the actor has now passed away, I know that we all kind of wish we had own own Mr. Miyagi living next door. As for the martial aspects of the movie- there isn't too much. Pat Morita had a lot of his work done for him by a stunt double, the Shito ryu trained and highly accomplished Fumio Demura (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumio_Demura) and Martin Kove (The Kobra Kai sensei) has a backround in Okinawan style Karate. Yes, it has a martial arts theme to the story, but it is actually more about character interaction- going through high school, facing challenges, and the finding of a surrogate father (and son). I found the relationship between Daniel and Miyagi to be quite touching (he was nominated for a supporting actor academy award), and this is where the movie shines as you see both of them grow together. And although you KNOW how the movie will end, you can't help but hope for the best and be excited as Daniel competes against the best in the region to ultimately come face to face with his high school rival. As with all movies, there are some faults with this one. In particular, the school scenes and scenes with the girl. It reeks of more 80's then the entire cast of Dallas stuffed in your sock drawer for 3 weeks, and doesn't hold up particularly well. Also, I find it a bit unfair that only the bad guys in the film do hard training, while the 'soft' methods are reserved for the hero of the story. I mean, it does send a bit of a message. Anyways, besides the 80's and some other minor problems, this really is a great movie- and if you haven't seen it you really do owe it to yourself to capture not just a great sport/martial arts movie, but a influential part of American media history. Pros: Although predictable, a nevertheless engaging story as the movie unfolds Very likable central character with a strong development An AWESOME montage song Inspiring this music video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=uFlQNtL8F9s Cons: Most of the school/ girl scenes are not up to par Negative view on hard training and being the SOLE reason for martial arts commercialization...maybe. I just need a reason and a hug ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; SEE THESE MOVIE OR BRING DISHONOR TO YOUR FAMILY: Ong Bak Drunken Master Kung fu Hustle Samurai Fiction Once Upon a Time in China II Project A Iron Monkey Fearless The Karate Kid RENT 'THE NOTEBOOK' FOR A BETTER ACTION FLICK: The Big Boss 3 Ninjas Romeo Must Die Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Hm hm, I would agree to an extent except for such a high production movie, the martial arts were just...bad. You can practically see the digitally erased wires. When they say they are super human but in implementation just spin around a lot then I don't buy it. On the other hand in movies like Iron Monkey and fearless, wires are used but there is actual skill going on. As for the story elements including the hero dying- even the shaw classic 5 deadly venoms had a major protagonist die. Regardless it is ok to disagree...as long as I still think I am right in the end

No taxes you say...

I'd prefer to see a kyokushin style competition but I think the shotokan tournament style lends itself better to a sporting event such as the Olympics.

To throw something in, Cung Le who has an undefeated MMA record of 5-0 is a sanda stylist who did well at the recent Strikeforce event (http://sports.ign.com/articles/837/837048p1.html). It seems like he might go toe to toe with frank shamrock in the future.

I was recently thinking on this topic and wondered what you guys thought. There are certain styles that just seem to have a constant...grudge match of sorts going on. Here's a list that I can think of: Judo vs BJJ Muay Thai vs Kyokushin Karate Wing Chun vs all other spellings of the same art Shaolin Monks vs Ninjas can you think of any others? What do the 'rival' styles have to offer each other and how did the rivalries start? How has times favored these?

'Tis certainly not a pretty spot to be in, grappler or not. I have been getting into grappling as of late, so I am going to give a stab at it as if grappling was for the most part out of the equation (although even boxing has its own version of the clinch- there isn't really a completely grappling free style). The first thing I would do is get my hands up- I don't want to take a big hammer punch directly to the face. The second would be to probably take some strikes to the ribs of my opponent as I wouldn't want to reach all the way up to his head and thereby open myself up even further. I might also make a 'nail' fist and strike rapidly and hard at the back of their hand grabbing my throat (try this roughly around the middle of the back of your hand...it hurts). Finally, I might even try and drudge up some rough trapping, which has bought me time before in the past in situations like that during sparring (I have had a very limited amount of wing chun training which has unexpectedly been useful at times). If you are really good at trapping, you might be able to out box your attacker. However if you use primarily kicks, then you are kind of in trouble.

Perhaps, but a job sort of implies you getting paid to do it...maybe parenting is more like a really, really, demanding hobby?

Finally got it! The trick was that I wasn't getting the footing down right. I'll try to explain it: Beforehand I was stepping forward with my right/turning and stepping in/ and then trying to get the throw. However when I turned into the guy my left foot was always either in front of my right or parallel (which was supposed to be ok but it wasn't working for me). Yesterday I was shown it again, except this time he mentioned that it was alright if your left foot was slightly behind your right. Anyhow, instead of focusing on getting my feet lined up perfectly, I just let my left foot slide back (which also helped get my hips in better). For some reason or another, this made a world of difference and I could pull it off- granted, on a fully compliant partner but I am accepting any victories that come.

It isn't that they aren't allowed to punch, its just that punches don't ever score, so they don't waste the energy to do them. Just musing but what if you managed to get a TKO off one? I'm assuming that would win you the match.

I've yet to see it work on anyone who was not 'willing' to let it work on them, and as such I have to dismiss it as a psychological phenomena. The concept of Dim Mak itself seems a bit shifty to me- as far as I can tell it seems that such techniques have never really been a traditional part of CMA, which would make them a more or less something drawn from bits and pieces of traditional Chinese medicine and taoism sprinkled with the vague concept of chi.

Although the saying goes that 'Any publicity is good publicity', I think it certainly helps to have a mainstream sporting media outlet give a positive and professional look at MMA as opposed to a investigative report into 'human cockfighting'. I would like to read the article, but unfortunately I was not subscribed for the month of October. Maybe they have it on their site- regardless, it would be interesting to see if ESPN would actually start picking up on a regular basis MMA events.

I'd imagine that a fixed would be better simply because you don't loose the (granted, very short) amount of time it takes to flick the knife open. However a folding knife is easier to carry, and thus it is better in that regard. Then again if you didn't care at all about concealment and just wanted a big blade at the ready, then you might as well go all out and get a sword (never bring a knife to a sword fight or something like that). I don't think that I really answered the question.

I use a mizuno double weave- it is durable but not as abrasive as the howard 'Combat Kimono' that I used for Bjj...I actually prefer it that way as I feel its less restricted and more aired out.

When the tournament is done, try taking a rest for a bit to see if that helps clear it up. Draining it can help but you also have to factor in the risk of infection. The best way to drain it is to make a very small puncture using a sterilized needle by boiling it for 5 min or so (like one for sewing). I actually just did that today with a rather nasty one I've had for about a week, however I've heard you need to be careful with blood blisters.... ...yucky

There's a K-1 tourney coming up soon...should I go and find out?

I know of a somewhat popular kyokushin dojo around here- again though, you are going to run into language problems. It's kind of hard to avoid as most people don't really speak English enough to really communicate well. If you are looking for a gaijin oriented place, you could try looking at roppongi, but I am assuming that if you are coming to japan you are looking for the 'authentic' experience, and in that case you are going to have to deal with communication issues for the time being. More importantly, do you have a steady income and a place to stay/ visa? If you don't have a visa, the police have the ability to ask you for it with no pretext, and they will deport you if you don't have the right papers on you. Add on top of that the new fingerprinting laws, and you really have to be careful. I don't mean to come off as harsh, but I try to be realistic when people say that they want to train in japan. You need to plan ahead of time and have to realize that it is a foreign country- you can't have people adapt to you (they won't), but you have to adapt to them. If you know any higher ups in the shotokan community, I am sure that they can get you in contact with some people.

Thanks and congrats to everyone! *toast*

Happy Birthday Patrick! ! And happy anniversary to KF!

he was a bit smaller- either way I will start up again tomorrow! Right after my leg problem I got tonsillitis so I've been really sick and on antibiotics, however it has mostly cleared up. I'll try your suggestions tomorrow

that is truly amazing! Probably one of the greatest grapplers of our time

what about the crane kick? That isn't real is it?