NightOwl

2nd tip of the hat Mr. Flanagan - Kata (unless the character for the karate term is different) roughly translates to 'way of doing'. Ex: tsukaukata means 'the way/ process of using something' or tabekata 'the way to eat (something)'. So looking at the meaning of the term 'kata', it is supposed to represent how to do something. However since oftentimes the way to apply the techniques wasn't written down, we are left to discover them on our own. But just because what was meant to be learned isn't know for sure, doesn't mean that you can't make an educated guess no? Personally I am very happy to see this trend in the karate community, as I think that it really shows the depth of karate beyond just strikes. Yes, you will get people who interpret it wrong, and sometimes the technique may not even be that great even if it is correct, but it gives you a taste of the original purpose of kata, and in the process helps expand your knowledge of martial arts on a deeper level as a whole.

I got scuffed up plenty of times in the brief period that I got to try out Bjj- gi burns, bruises, cuts- but I learned a lot. There were also plenty of older guys (40+) in there that could wipe the mat with me too, so I wouldn't count yourself out for the sake of age. Personally- I think that to do both would pretty much cover everything you need to know about grappling (with maybe a few greco take downs thrown in for good measure). Judo and Bjj are wonderful arts that I would recommend to anyone, and I find the animosity between them a bit puzzling with Judoka's claiming that BJJers 'stole' everything, and likewise Bjjer's saying that judo is obsolete and worthless because a youtube video shows Gracie beating a judo black belt (side note: Gracie is one of the modern martial legends and could pretty much beat anybody regardless of style). However a rivalry I can understand, as they both are part of the grappling trinity. Try out both, see what you like. There will always be Judoka who can beat Bjjers and vice versa, so pick the one that you enjoy and learn from the most.

Gotcha- usually that cuts down on the number of band-aids and advil no?

The samurai were not much more 'noble' than the European knight really. Just like the samurai, knights also spent years training in armed and unarmed combat, and had their own moral code that, to me at least, is more compassionate that the Bushido (which was really emphasized after the samurai found themselves out of work in a post warring states Japan and had to justify their class). However just like there are countless instances of thuggish knights, you have the exact same thing with samurai. They could rape, plunder, and pillage with the best of them and while there is no documented historical case of a Ninja assassination, there are plenty of instances of samurai stabbing others in the back. Also you have to keep in mind that not all samurai (or knights) were sword masters- you usually inherited the samurai title instead of earning it, and plenty of low level samurai probably weren't too much better than the average foot soldier. That being said, there were great sword masters and true men of noble character among the samurai ranks, just as there were noble knights who could wield a sword with great ease. The samurai class has its relevance simply because it was around for much longer than the knight was, and once you put a gun into the hand of a conscripted soldier and demolish class stratification of society based on birth rank, the samurai all but dissapeared within less than 100 years.

yep, I was wondering if shuto was an older word for knife (seeing as how lot's of japanese say 'naifu' now anyhow rather than kogatana) but I guess not. Also with the numbers thing, many times you hear 'nana' instead of 'Shichi' for 7.

Can you explain this further? I've been thinking about this term lately and wondering about the origin of it. I think it's due to the abstract use of the term. If you asked an English speaking person (who didn't do Karate) "what does knife hand mean", they would probably look at you blankly! Where as in karate circles we know what the term refers to. Its probably more of a colloquialism than a direct translation. So does "shuto" literally translate as "knife hand"? My instructor uses the term "shoto uke", which I think means "knife block" or "short-sword block". I've also heard the term "te gatana uke" ("hand sword block") for that maneouvre. I don't think that it translates to 'knife hand' directly, but even so it is different then the term 'osu'. Osu IS used outside of the Dojo in Japan, and as such doesn't qualify as a word that a select group of people 'in the know' use. It's a very gruff greeting used between guys (girls never use it, and unless you knew her well and meant it as a joke, it's be really rude to greet a girl with it), and the word 'hai' is used as a confirmation of instruction or understanding by students responding to a teacher normally.

Yes! Definitely a job well done! Do you spar with tonfa too?

Lift: pull ups Weight: Myself Reps: 15 I'm thinking of bumping up to 16 for my iron man marathon this summer

20.5

I like formal dojos and the casual 'MMA' style gym. Some may say that they are opposite environments but they both represent an important aspect of martial arts in my opinion.

The movie revolves around Jason Statham going back in time to learn kung fu from the legendary monkey king according to Rotten Tomatoes

Thanks PS1 ! I usually weigh myself in the morning with minimal clothing and after erm, 'purging.' I know that to get to 180 in 2 1/2 months would be ridiculous, but I am hoping to get to at least 140 if possible. A friend of mine used to compete in power lifting so I'll see if I can pick up anything from him as well.

By the same guy- Aikido VS MMA...and this time it's personal! http://youtube.com/watch?v=5lcw1C3iAx4 Here's at least a nicely done fight: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5lcw1C3iAx4

Gentleman (and ladies), I have a goal- to rebuild myself as much as possible from now until September. Here are the current stats: Height: 6'0 Weight: 127 Build: Somewhat of a wide chest but otherwise quite skinny Favorite Color: Blue (wanted to include it just in case) I actually used to be over 180 pounds and under 5'8 back in the day, but something must be in the water around these parts...anyways I want to gain weight in build, not fat, and how to go about it I am not quite sure. My metabolism is not what you would call normal: I can gain 2 pounds one day and loose it the next, and my appetite isn't exactly huge. This isn't bad in of itself, but since I am hoping to join a Judo or BJJ team, I really could use the extra weight. So how am I going to bulk up? Eat lots and do high weight low reps? Really I need a trainer but that can't be done for at least another month...thoughts?

Just be careful if you use it in a Japanese dojo I dunno, it kind of seems to me like a if Japanese baseball players started shouting, 'PLAY BALL' as a greeting to each other to try and seem American. It's fine if you want to use it, but just keep in mind that it is out of context.

Nope, but I read about it. I like Goldenboy out of both of them though-he seems like a decent guy. Mayweather though... regardless, it seemed like a pretty even match that really could have gone either way.

This reminds me somewhat of Bob Sapp. Now mind, he didn't have near the fighting experience of this guy, but he is HUGE (I'd almost rather fight Shaq). UFC is great and all, but some of the world's top notch fighters are in other events too like PRIDE and K-1. When Sapp first came in, he dominated almost everyone, just out of sheer streangth and brutality. Eventually though, people discovered that his legs where a better target than his head (plus he has bad endurance), and even though he is a better fighter now then when he started, he doesn't clean up like he used to. For these kind of guys, you need to be an elite fighter- someone who, even though you are small, can take on the best. Someone like... http://youtube.com/watch?v=Aczk-cp7Lu4 Looking at some Kimbo fights, he is kind of sloppy, but he can take and deal out so much punishment that to try and out punch him would be a VERY, VERY, bad idea...even for a good striker IMO. You'd want powerful kicks to the legs and good old fashioned grappling to finish off this beast.

hmmm- but belts are still relatively new so how far back these traditions go may be suspect, especially when it comes to kung fu schools. Besides, there is nothing wrong with it just looking cool

a lot of people are claiming that the video actually shows systema...which is kind of like crossing dim-mak with aikido and taking it out to its extreame

Boxers tend to diss on MMA, but I've found that the reverse is not as common. But really, it is their biggest threat (outside of themselves) to their beloved sport of boxing, so I can understand why they do it. Boxing has declined for the following reasons in my opinion: 1. Corruption- the boxing world is rife with it. 2. Lack of charisma. Where are the Jack Dempsey s, Muhammad Alis, and George Foremans? The best you got now is a recently bowed out (and bordering on psychotic) Mike tyson and a bunch of no namers. 3. The NFL, the NBA, and MLB. You don't have boxing clubs at schools anymore (back in the day my grandfather used to box for his school)...It's now considered a very low brow sport, and all the potential athletes who would go into boxing are opting out for other sports like football or even soccer (which is the REAL football for the record ). 4. MMA. Let's face it, martial art fights tend to be more dynamic than boxing matches, especially MMA NHB bouts which not only use punches but kicks, elbows, take downs, throws, and grappling (many of which used to be in bare knuckle boxing ironically). Since fight sporting events get a fringe audience anyways, the once sole owner of the market (boxing) now has to share with 'Pro' Wrestling and organizations like K-1, the UFC, and PRIDE. With all this going on, it is of little wonder that revenues are down. Let's face it, TV rating for boxing matches get such low ratings, that the only way to make money is to charge per person to watch it. Even MMA is breaking out on networks like spike (which helped its popularity...hint hint network executives) and ESPN2 sometimes, and FOX Sport Network has been broadcasting old PRIDE fights. Also there is certainly no gaurentee whatsoever that boxing will regain it's popularity- sports such as hockey and horse racing are also shadows of what they once were. All the MMA events need to do is clean up their image a little bit to really replace what boxing was. Instead of shirtless fighters with dyed buzz cuts and tattoos, how about putting in some sort of uniform(and before you object that uniforms would make it easier for techniques, 'on the street' you tend to have a shirt on) and make everything sleeker instead of black with WWE style logos. PRIDE does a much better job on this in my opinion, but they both could use some work. Secondly how about getting K-1 or PRIDE on a major network to try and get people hooked on the product just like SPIKE did with the UFC? Thirdly, they need to have a slight attitude change to make it well, more classy and professional instead of constantly having the 'fight club' feel. Finally, they need to get some goodwill ambassadors out there campaigning for MMA.

No, I doubt it is because of Yakuza- they aren't really all that bad as far as violence goes (and their significance has gone down by a lot since the Japanese government finally started to at least pretend that they won't tolerate them anymore), and if they wanted to use a weapon in the states a gun would make a lot more sense. Regardless, it is a silly law especially seeing how even in places where 'chucks are legal you'd be hard pressed to find cases where they were used in a crime.

The grandmaster (and I would suppose, headquarters ) is in Japan, however he is not thought of very highly from what I can tell over there. I know I mentioned earlier on a update on my findings, but I haven't mustered up the energy quite yet to type it out...I'll get to it eventually

24 fighting chickens has a good podcast and article on this issue. I don't usually hear 'Osu' being used between Japanese, but most often I see it used as a casual and slightly crude way of saying 'hey' between guys. It really isn't a respectful term at all- a much more proper word to use would be 'hai' if you were going to have students address the instructor in Japanese.

Late as usual, but as always fashionably so...right? Movie: Fearless Directed by: Ronny Yu Released: HONG KONG, 2006 Starring: Jet Li, Nakamura Shido, Collin Chou, Betty Sun Style(s) Showcased: wushu Trailer:http://youtube.com/watch?v=42NWMluhlfk Clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=nLwJSvRYowQ http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/855/fearless1bi2.jpg Plot: When we were kids, we had all sorts of dreams of what we wanted to be when we grew up- a fireman, a doctor, an artist... Huo Yuanjia however, had a dream to pursue a job where he made a daily living on laying the smack down on everyone. Of course this only left him with two viable career choices: Kung fu master or gym teacher, and since the movie isn't called Fearless: Give me a Lap , it is only logical to assume that he choose to become the former (As I dearly wish coach Jenson did). After constantly taking on and defeating challengers, Huo Yuanjia becomes the best fighter for miles around without equal. However this comes at the cost of Huo becoming increasingly arrogant and obsessed with proving that no one is better than him, leading to a series of deaths, including that of his own family. Huo becomes despondent and runs off to find the true meaning of life or some other Hallmark-esque 30 min. of film, and when foreign powers take over China he returns to in an attempt to defend his homeland's honor in a series of tournaments against the world's best fighters...and perhaps finds redemption in the process. http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/1861/feahrlesshw0.gif http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/4844/fearlessqb4.jpg Review: First things first...this movies two main claims to fame are: THIS IS JET LI'S LAST MARTIAL ARTS FILM and BASED ON A TRUE STORY. Yes, it is 'based' on a true story (ok, it is waaaaay off http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huo_Yuanjia) and no, this is not Jet Li's last martial art film. Actually, he is slated to star in a film that involves Jackie Chan, Jason Statham, and a monkey. I kid you not. Whew, now that I have that off my chest, maybe it'd be good to actually review the movie. Well as far as action goes, most of the tournament and duel scenes offer it in spades with hulking boxers, cannon fodder kung fu extras, a Japanese swordsman, and more. Particularly nice to see is the inclusion of the rather rare three sectioned staff, along with a sword battle that leaves the swords actually chipped and damaged when they collide as they would in real life. However as with many Jet li flicks, there are plenty of wires (and even CGI-!!!) to be found in impossible flips and jumps...come on Li, you are not as young as you used to be, but theres no reason to haul out the walker and dentures just yet. As far as acting goes, it is actually pretty good, with most of the supporting actors doing well. Nevertheless, I did find Li's character before his 'enlightenment' to be annoying and and obnoxious. Now I realize that he is supposed to be rash and haughty initially, but I found that I found Li's attempts at this to be almost over the top, especially in his smirking grin and voice which doesn't really fit him at all. Also, the long village scene did eventually start to drag...if you really do learn so much from planting rice, then I've really misplaced my tuition (there is a Wushu vs Muay Tai fight scene which can be viewed on the director's cut which helps the pace of this scene however). Regardless, overall despite some dragging, fearless is a very well put together film that brings together great production with good fights and a decent narrative to create a movie that would have been a fine finish to Li's career...but really I'd be more than happy if he continued to make movies. Pros: -Good fights with a nice variety of weapons, including a cameo by the three sectioned staff that makes you wish it showed up more often. -A nice set-up of a different time- kung fu fighters really did fight in open tournaments before MMA was cool -Great production value that makes it feel epic without ditching actual martial arts (I'm looking at you Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) -A fitting send-off to a film legend (which may not really be a send-off) Cons: -Li character is initially annoying -Wires AND the even fouler usage of CGI -Some scenes tend to drag -Not mentioned in the review but...didn't like the ending -Jet Li throws up over 6 times in this film (yeah, I actually started counting. They really need to feed this guy some whole grains or something) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 RENT 'THE NOTEBOOK' FOR A BETTER ACTION FLICK: The Big Boss 3 Ninjas Romeo Must Die Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Well according to the all knowing wikipedia, the school was shut down during the cultural revolution and didn't reopen until 1976.