NightOwl

Cross, I think that with your background you will add a lot to the environment there.

Usually open and encouraging people close to the one testing to come over and give their support.

Um, don't do it. Not only did he act unprofessionally, but someone who is willing to jeopardize their own family and the family of another by starting of an affair is just 'dishonorable' to put it in karate terms, and is being a creep and bad human being. There's no need to hang around or be affiliated with him anymore, and again (although I don't want to be Dr. Phil), it is important to tell your husband since he will eventually find out anyways.

Soul caliber 3 not 2? Interesting.... Street fighter 2 and street fighter alpha 3: Ken and Ryu (of course), Chung li (again, of course), Karin (because of the butler), Vega Virtua fighter 5: Shun Di (style), Kage(ninja), Aoi(strategy) Samurai Showdown 2: Galford (because dogs rock)

I am trying not to repeat too much of what I already said on the previous topic on kata or this thread, but I often hear the argument made for kata being useful for muscle memory. Now the problem with that in my opinion is this: muscle memory is best built using simplicity and repetition. However in a kata, you are not neither A: Performing a simple movement necessary for rapid muscle memory development- especially in the higher ranked forms B: replicating the moves in a way as to how you would actually use it in real life (ie with a partner), and furthermore many of the actual uses have been forgotten because of the emphasis on kata rather than application work C: focusing on a particular move or short set which would help you remember it best - you instead are learning more or less a huge mass of moves and prearranged stepping that would be hard to put to use as you practice it in the forms since it is so stiff and choreographed. Thus even if you did get it down to muscle memory, it wouldn't help you much with the moves in the set. However if you did want to work on muscle memory, you would be better served by- A: taking one move and working on it (such as kick drills) B: Working on an application drill so that you can build muscle memory for how it is actually used, not as in the steps to a kata. I think the biggest difference between high kata training and little to no kata training can be highlighted in karate. Mind, this isn't to say that all practitioners in one style are better than the other, but in general karateka of the shotokan school (with a traditionally high emphasis on kata as it was made for an educational environment) and a karateka of the kyokushin school (with little to no emphasis on forms and a high emphasis on employing techniques) will turn out very differently- usually with kyokushin having a much higher rate of success in terms of being able to demonstrate applicability. That isn't to say that forms are evil incarnate- they aren't. If you have an interest in them then by all means pursue it. However don't take something that has been shown not to help in combat (perhaps even hinder it since you are taking time away from 'hard training') and try to make it into something it is not. It is however, a good way to relax and meditate- and some people find it enjoyable to do. I am not one of those people, but I don't see any reason why you shouldn't do it if you have a strong interest in it. But I have seen classes where 25-50% of the class is kata work, and to me that doesn't seem like an efficient use of time.

I am going to echo a lot of the advice said above...firstly, DON'T delete the e-mails. If things turn out ugly later and he tries to gang up on you, you will need them for your defense. Secondly, i let him know right away that you have no interest whatsoever and that you wish to be left alone. Finally, let your husband know ASAP. I am hoping that you did this last step already, as the willingness to tell your spouse that you were approached AND are willing to tell them about it shows that you are fully trustworthy by letting them know, and thus canceling out any chance of a possible affair (no matter how unlikely it may be). Covering it up will make it bad when things come out, and if you don't tell him and he finds out on his own it will relationally do a lot of damage. Also just in case--- if he further harasses you or tries to intimidate you for not accepting his offer, I would suggest looking at legal advice.

Yeah, I don't really know how to fall yet (although in actuality I've been practicing since 9 months old but...). I still actually haven't started yet either due to schedule difficulties on the part of my connection to the club. I am thinking of joining my college club too, which would make my schedual : Monday: 2 hours training Tuesday: 2.5 hours training at friend's club Wednesday: 2 hours training Thursday: 2 hours training Friday: 2 hours training Saturday: 2.5 hours training at friend's club Sunday: Tylenol

yeah, but in that case it helps to have MA junkie friends...almost all 'civilians' in my circle of who's who

I think another interesting look at this is to compare 'olde tyme boxing' stances with those of today. Fighting with bare knuckles meant that you had to be more careful not to break your hand somehow.

Alas- single as of late! No Mrs. Nightowl yet.

It's not a book but....it's free! http://martialtaichi.co.uk/index.html

Haha sounds great! I actually wouldn't have minded seeing it meself Ah yes- blocking...when I first started sparring in my TKD class I caught the leg when someone threw a kick at me (which was a no go but I could understand), however I was using the blocks that I learned as well and was told not to use those either! maybe you need to start a movement once you get your 3rd dan eh?

Bah- I need a bigger tool set : (. Where do you train by the way cross? I'd like to experience it sometime if I could. I suppose that things like the psycological effects on an attacker as well as yourself are explored as well? I think that a scenario like having some large drunk guy follow you from the bar (maybe we should all pick better bars? ) and manage to tackle you with the intent to ground and pound/rape/mug etc. would call for some fancy groundwork. A gang would be different but- I really wish I had statistics on muggings and assaults and how many people are involved/what weapons. Anyhow, you could always imagine the scenario where he has two friends, they both have guns, and there is a rampaging dinosaur coming at you (Mick Jagger on some sort of a binge)- but when shown a technique in class, you always have that one guy (many times me ) who will ask, ' But what if he does THIS'. Many times it is a legitimate question, however sometimes it just boils down to, ' What if he is better than me and there is nothing that I can do that will work?'

oh and as for guys with weapons- pretty much disarming is grappling isn't it? Mind, the moment you have to disarm it means that you should have left earlier/ looked for his hands going for the weapon but....if you can control the hand perhaps you could do an americana? That's a big if though.

1v1 or odds against you? Of course, you unfortunately can never tell usually (why can;t troublemakers tell you beforehand eh?)- however I definitely do agree that there are some moves better set for the ring and others better for real life. For real life grappling- wrestling and judo take downs, plus certainly judo throws are really, really nice (I love throws). Standing grappling while difficult to pull off, might be good too, like from JJJ (again, only if the window of opportunity is there, many times something else might be easier). Of course you wouldn't to keep them in the hold- you'd want to go through with it quick and fast so you can get the break and move off. Bjj is great if you have some lone guy jump you or get into a small scuffle, however the longer you are on the ground, the more you run the risk of getting a boot to the head...pulling guard is usually best saved for the mat. On the other hand, bouncers and security have used ground grappling VERY effectively but usually they have the advantage of numbers. All in all the best thing to take away from BJJ for SD is knowing how to handle the ground but most importantly get in a position of dominance so you can get OFF the ground. As for chokes...if you are applying it then keep out a sharp eye! Here's some demonstrations but they are applied under ideal conditions: http://submissions101.com/chokes20.htm

The Buddy system. You stay here, I'll go get help.

Most BJJ places aren't, and they tend to be very casual (however don't let that fool you- they train hard!). I would agree with your two choices as the primary grappling styles to go with, however wrestling has some great clinch work and if anything will probably get you into the most shape. Judo and BJJ are derived from the same art- and as such some techniques overlap. The difference as I'm sure you've found is the focus: Judo has a high emphasis on throws and standup grappling with some groundwork called 'newaza', while BJJ on the other hand, is all about the ground and thus due to specialization really has the most efficiency at that range. As far as multiple opponents, as said no matter what style you are in, multiple guys are going to give you a hard time. I'd have to give a slight edge to judo due to the throws and standup work in that situation (you wouldn't want to be pulling somebody into your guard), but that really shouldn't count against BJJ. Really, the best option if possible is to train in both, as they will compliment each other very well.

You owe your sensei your monthly dues, and that's it...too often sensei's get power trips and think of their students as indentured servants, when you are a CUSTOMER. Perhaps they would like to live in a more or less feudal society (and before you think that is a good idea, remember that was in a time before toilet paper), and many times students play along with it. I am not saying that he is necessarily this way, but the only thing keeping you there is how much you like the guy and if you are feeling that you are getting the training that you want. The title 'sensei' means teacher- it is not a mystical bond. I call my professor sensei, doctors are referred to as sensei, and I even call my tennis coach sensei. You wouldn't worry about switiching math classes because another teacher would become your sensei would you? Likewise if things are not working out, go ahead and switch.

30!? You are hardly over the hill my dear sir! By all means give it a try and see how you like it!

I found that sparring on a regular basis helps, along with every now and then reminding yourself to breath...oxygen is your friend! : ) I used to have soooo much trouble with this- along with just being too tense in general.

Hm, can't say much for the state of Bijiquan. From everything I've seen, the trend in MAs in china has been more and more towards contemporary wushu and away from regular training. I do wish you luck though!

During my TKD years....went to the school at a huge rec center, then it merged with another school and the ranking system was changed, then they left and we reverted to the old system and training style, then the exercise center closed down and I followed one of the instructors to a new place, then THAT place shut down and I found my old instructor, then the location changed AGAIN, and after training there for awhile I can to my own personal realization and quit martial arts for a long time....I recently stopped by to see if it was there, but I couldn't find it. There are TKD gyms EVERYWHERE though around here, so it might have merged again... EDIT: Man! I really had a scarred martial childhood

the trailer's up on the website- unfortunately it won't come to itunes until next week...

Well, due to popular request (by me), another thread in the vein of my prior startup with BJJ has been posted (http://www.karateforums.com/starting-first-bjj-class-vt29807.html was the BJJ one in case you wanted to savor the nostalgia). While I only got to train in BJJ briefly during the winter and end of summer, I am hoping that I will finally be able to stick with a martial art for the long haul- something that I haven't done in almost 5 years. Currently I am living in Japan, so I figured that it would be nice to take up a japanese style because it sounds nice on paper- but really there is pretty much any martial art availible to you here (right down the street there is a boxing gym). I really loved the grappling in BJJ, so at first I thought that I would continue it because I know of some places around here. However I became more and more interested in the concept of standing grappling and throws, and so today with a Nidan friend of mine (a scrappy Japanese girl almost a foot shorter than me), I went and bought a Mizuno Judo gi. The first thing I noticed was A: this is expensive, and B: it's a lot more comfortable than my BJJ gi. I will hopefully start training Saturday and go twice weekly from that point on, however if I can manage it I might try to get into my College judo group as well for extra practice. I'm really excited to learn, and I was wondering if anyone else had trained judo and what the first month was like for them?

The bjj and MMA gym that I was fortunate enough to train at (if even for a very short amount of time), was VERY casual. It didn't really matter what rank you were in Bjj- everyone used first names and the mood was very light. They had a kids program which did use the title 'sir' for the instructor though I believe, but other than that everyone was in a general light mood if not a bit tough looking on the outside at times .