trunksreznor

Keep training! I am a green belt in Isshin-Ryu and I'd love to have an online training partner! -L

I love your quote!

I've participated in two competitions in the span of my training, since I've only been training less than two years. It's the view of my dojo that competitions can breed a desire to succeed and can serve as a learning experience. We don't stress them much, though, and the only tournaments we ever hold are within our association of dojos. It's very friendly that way. One on one sparring is my weakest skill, so I lost my first and only sparring tournament. I much prefer a kata tournament. I'm very focused on myself and what's inside of me, so that's why I like kata. Some dojos make a big effort to compete, but I have enough of my own feelings of competition. So in a way, I'm glad we don't formally compete much.

I study Isshin-Ryu, which is a fairly new style (combination of Goju-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu, and Okinawan Kobudo.) I'd be interested in learning some more history of MA... but then again, perhaps I shouldn't overwhelm myself. I'm still not all that proficient yet, despite what people tell me. I can't stop thinking about what I need to do to improve, to better myself, craft myself into the martial artist I want to be. I'm told green/blue belt is the "figure-it-all-out rank." Well, I'm sick of figuring, but it's part of it, right?

The US isn't all it's cracked up to be! I'm torn between Japan and Australia. I'd go to Denmark (to try out my high school studies of German.) Want to trade?

I'm torn between good Italian food and my addiction to Chinese/Japanese cuisine.

A godan. Wow. Welcome, shihan. Teach us.

Very well spoken. I couldn't agree more. I'm dealing with that sort of inadequacy in my life right now. I'm a very diverse person, and I am never going to be the best at anything (I suppose, never a Master.) I am fairly good at many things, but there is nothing to call my own. I'm also not the best fighter on the planet, but I've only been training a year and a half. Maybe I'm a slow learner when it comes to physical things. But... maybe the battle is more important than the victory. I'll never be a Master, but... perhaps not everyone is meant to be. If everyone was a Master, there'd be no such thing as a Master, because there'd be no one to teach. I am a Student... will always be.

I miss it the old way... it's a shame they had to filter it. I even have a Napster T-shirt, that I don't really wear much anymore. If I liked an artist enough to download their songs, I'd buy their album in the future anyway. Besides, it's still quite easy to get around the filters. Bands that are popular acronyms (NIN, RATM, etc) aren't filtered. Another popular trick is flipping the title and artist of a song (ex. Black Sabbath - Iron Man becomes Iron Man - Black Sabbath.) Unless the title of your song is a band, it works.

Hi Tobias... nidan? Congratulations on coming so far, and good luck with that testing in September. I've got a long way to go with my training before I'm even a shodan, but I'll get there someday.

I posted that article on one of my other boards. Go Dulcia! I always remember my groin strikes... they'll serve me well someday.

The franchise should have been killed years ago. Granted, the first one was an f/x marvel, so I can deal with how loosely it followed the original book. But The Lost World (it's been out on video for a while) was unbearable. God help us when the 3rd one comes out.

There are many different types of Karate. I study Isshin-Ryu, which is one of the newest style (I think, second newest only after Kenpo.) It's a combination of Goju-Ryu and Shorin-Ryu, plus Okinawan weapons training. So there's many, many kinds of Karate. Other martial arts have many identifying characteristics. Tae Kwon Do is characterized by high kicks, certain arts have lots of joint-locking, Judo is all about throwing and falling... I guess for Karate, they are a focus on speed and quick techniques, designed for efficiency and practicality. I've studied it for a year and a half and I love it! -L

Here's the unabridged list: Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots, The Verve, VAST, The Cure, Beck, Moby, Chemical Brothers, MDFMK, Smashing Pumpkins, The Prodigy, Cibo Matto, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Queen, Jethro Tull, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Autechre, European trance and industrial, anime music (Shiroh Sagisu from Evangelion, yeah!) and just about everything except manufactured pop, country, and rap. Keep your rap outta my metal!

Hello everyone. My name is Lorraine and I'm new to this board, though I'm on several other martial arts boards scattered across the web. I am 15 years old and I've studied Isshin-Ryu Karate for the past year and a half. I hold the rank of green belt. (Yon-Kyu, sixth kyu rank) I train alternately with two incredible Sensei who come from opposite sides of the teaching spectrum... the gentle way and the punishing way. I only feel like I'm accomplishing something when I'm pushing myself to the limit, and I'm like that in a lot of my life. I do graphics work for myself and my dad when I have free time, and I also work during the summer as a sailing instructor with my brother. I race sailboats every Sunday. When I'm not training or sailing I'm usually on my computer, reading, and listening to music. I am a NINphile and I love anime, which explains my screen name. I look forward to some good discussions. -L