The BB of C

Let yourself get into more aspects of the martial arts. You'll find it even more fun.

Just out of curiosity - please explain a Morote uke.

That was flawless. I don't know how high in the ranking red belt is in her system. But whatever school she goes to - they really made sure she was good at it.

I've seen it being used at least once at every competition I've been to so far. I've thought about adapting it to an XMA similar format as well.

When there is a lack of training, yes. I agree. However, take me and one of my Isshinryu instructors for example. I am working on my first degree (finally I'll be able to live up to my screen name). This particular instructor - named Balthazar, is a fourth degree and significantly bigger than I am. He is one of the fastest in the whole studio on all his techniques and when he shuffles foreword, it's like a train in a sense that it's a massive object coming at you very fast and meanwhile the ground is shaking.

Here is something to think about: Though I am always the last person ever to say that one style is superior to another - I have yet to use any kind of Kuk Sool Won throw on anyone above yellow belt in my Judo class. My Judo teacher told me once "wrist throws are good for a lot of self defense situations but if you try them against an experienced grappler, it won't work." Maybe there is some validity to this statement after all?

Tie?! This is unacceptable. I declare a comedy contest between DWx and myself! THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!!!

A few months ago (August) I developed swelling in my right arm. We are certain it was caused when an injury to a blood vessel deep in my upper arm caused a clot to form and cut off the circulation. I believe it was caused by repetition of the Ippon Seionage in Judo - which I had started practicing about one to two months prior to the swelling. Now I am ready to start fighting again and I would like to go back to Judo. My question for the experienced Judokas here is that if you were in my shoes, would you go back to Judo?

I know what that's like. I have yet to be in a competition where I didn't place last. I keep making stupid mistakes. And my stupid mistakes are like snowflakes. None are alike.

That would be where I draw the line

You misunderstood me, RichardZ. Though I see where and how it happened. Powerbreaking abilities is one of my ultimate goals as a martial artist. The others being to acquire an ability to defend myself among other things. The point is - I like intense training and I think intense training is the essence of martial arts (as well as most other physical activities) but sometimes the people that are just in it for fun or just want to exercise for an hour bring the rest of the class down.

I wish you luck but in all honesty - I doubt you'll find it. I've never seen a Korean martial art have heavyweight uniforms.

If I remember correctly, Theodore Roosevelt held rank in Judo. Not a black belt. Maybe brown. But not black. The difference is that he earned it while in the white house. Obama...who couldn't even manage to bowl past 40 and took the style only for three years and got green belt in a style that typically takes two-to-four...does not deserve a black belt.

I think he'll recover fine. I'd even bet he could fight again. I've seen people come back from far greater odds. I think he could do it.

I disagree... I disagree a lot...That is all.

http://www.thekumite.com/pd-proforce-hapkido-uniform---black.cfm Try this

I like to mix it up. Depending on the situation, I'll either go inside, parry/counter or use a circular defense. But once I create an opening on my target I roll from defense to offense and the offense doesn't start rolling. I like to try to switch randomly from linear to circular to angular and vice-versa. It keeps me fluid and unpredictable...of course I need to practice it more though. The more I practice Isshinryu, the more linear and one-hit oriented I've been getting.

I use the spring-loaded finger grips from Century. I'm not sure if they have a real name or not. Look them up. They're pretty good for forearms.

There are a lot of students at my school that do martial arts just for fun. Them and I don't typically get along because I'm really trying hard to make myself stronger and faster with a decent ability to defend myself with an ultimate goal of being able to break bricks with my hands and feet. I am all about the full contact fighting with low protection and hard body conditioning and they're just trying to find a cheap way to run a mile.

I think it's a good idea. It's a good way to make sure that you're really strong enough for whatever rank you are supposed to represent. Or if the training changes in a certain way after you gain the rank - it's making sure you're strong enough to keep up with the exercise. If nothing else you're just making sure you get stronger. Of course there are limits. I don't know about curry powder. But if I wasn't allowed to get my black belt unless I could do 50 push ups while my instructor kicked at my ribs like they do at some Kyokushin schools; I would be a happier man.

That's an interesting way to test and hopefully it will work. I believe that testing other than testing the individual when the individual shows that they are ready to test has to be done very carefully (depending on the style) and that the way the training is between scheduled testing makes a big difference in whether scheduled testing works or not. Best of luck to you.

I'm not sure I believe in an origin of martial arts except for the origins of specific styles. Most people I talk to believe that the oldest martial art is Shaolin. But when you look at it, Bhodi Dharma (I know I misspelled that name) brought those fighting techniques from India. Where did India get it? Some people believe they came from Alexander the Great's army when they campaigned through India. But that only covers some parts of Europe and Asia. What about the lower parts of Africa, Australia, and the American continents? There's still controversy on where Capoeira came from Africa or Brazil and that style is only a couple hundred years old. I always put it as simple as thus - any civilization in history that ever needed to defend themselves and practice medicine; had a martial art style.

I still think it can be good for your students to play whack-a-mole (using a shinai) with them once in a while when they don't act right or if it's for conditioning purposes.

When I take off my belt...I gain a weapon.

I find this very interesting because as far as I could tell, Isshin Ryu is one of the more popular forms of karate in America.