
aes
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Everything posted by aes
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Well reunion happened and nothing bad happened. Like it was stated, people grow up and forget.
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Thanks again for the advice everyone. I have been thinking. I am more likely to get in a conflict on this visit because I: - have two pierced ears - shave my body - dye my hair and wear it in a kind of trendy fashion these days My hometown is very much a Northern mining town. When I was there last it was not very accepting to "new" trends for men. This prejudice is nothing new for me. There will always be people that don't understand a person that likes to try new things. I recall a nice University student working in my hometown for a co-op work term being jumped by a couple guys because they did not like University students and nothing more. Sad really.
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Thanks for the replies. Some good points. I guess to sum it up, if I go looking for trouble it might happen, but on the other hand if I act like a mouse it might find me. We have all grown up and doubt if anything bad will happen.
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As a child around the public school age range I was picked on a lot. I was a pacifist and never fought back but this did not stop the bullies and I was beat up very frequently. I know I am partly at fault due to being quick with the come backs and this often got me into trouble. I recall the approximate 5 block walk home being terrifying and often got cornered and pounded. This all stopped when I got into High School. Partly because I had a big growth spurt and became bigger than my foes for a short while, partly because kids grow up but mostly because I stopped showing fear and stood up to my bullies. I know what you are all thinking, what does this have to do with MA? Well now I have been studying MA for about a year. I am no Jackie Chan but I do know a lot more about effective fighting and how to really mess up someone in a few punches/kicks. Some would say I know enough to be a danger to myself. LOL Well this weekend I am going to a public school and area reunion. I am sure I am going to come across some of my childhood tormentors. I am concerned about an underlying wish to get even with them. Has anyone here ever been in this situation? Anger towards people in the past and you are now armed with some tools to deal with in on “their” level and unleashing them in pure pent up anger? I am a pretty calm cool person. I am not a bully and will never be one, but I do carry a lot of hate for some people in my past. My Karate training has taught me to not use my skills unless I have no other choice but subconsciously I might provoke the situation and get myself and others in a bad situation. Funny how one of the principles taught to me in MA is that from Karate you will learn to be confident in a bad situation and because of this often avoid the conflict due to the aggressor recognizing that you are not an easy target. This is what I think ended what I refer to as the bad years of my childhood and who knows, this might be what helps me go back and get through any bad stuff that may happen again. In all likelihood nothing will happen but I do worry about, what will happen if it does.
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I caught my Grand Master Smoking
aes replied to koreantiger81's topic in Instructors and School Owners
It is funny that this topic has just come up on this message board. I recently noticed that most of the 3rd Dan and up instructors are pretty heavy smokers. I made a joke to some of my fellow students asking at what belt level do you have to take up heavy smoking? We had a bit of a laugh about it and wondered if there was any katas that includes smoking. I think one of the 3rd Dans overheard my comments. I feel bad about this as she is an excellent Sensei even if she smokes a lot. I feel bad about making this joke. I was a heavy smoker many years ago. It now has been about 10 years since I have quit. I know how hard it can be and how it gets a hold of you. It is very addictive. That being said, it is their business if they smoke. As long as I am not breathing in their second hand smoke. -
Started at 39 and now I am 40.
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Not at all.
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On the dancefloor, how would you handle this situation?
aes replied to Bruce__L's topic in General Martial Arts Discussion
I think you handled this perfectly Bruce___L. I understand the wondering if you should have shown him how stupid he was to pick a fight with you, but your reaction sounds like your training worked. You knew you could mess him up if it came to it so you acted confident. You gave him an opportunity to just back off. You did not strike first. Well done IMO. -
do guys like chicks that a martial artists?
aes replied to IAMA_chick's topic in General Martial Arts Discussion
I think a woman that is powerful is sexy. Accomplished female MAs fall into this category so it is a big YES from me! -
How long does a student have to stay in each belt
aes replied to koreantiger81's topic in Instructors and School Owners
In the dojo I go to the typical amount of time for the lower to intermediate belts is 3 months but at higher ones it can take 6 months or longer. We use a belt colour system that uses the colour with a black stripe in between belt colours. IE Gold goes to Gold/Black then to Orange then to Orange/Black etc. Each belt level has a certain number of dojo training hours required. Plus obviously knowing your katas for the grading. -
Most of the younger women I know like the look and feel. The older ones seem to not like it as much. My wife and I like it, although the shaving is a lot of work to keep up with.
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I don't need hair on my body to prove my masculinity.
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Bulletproof Monk?
aes replied to dark_adjudication's topic in Martial Arts Gaming, Movies, TV, and Entertainment
I thought the good points were covered by the previous post. The story line was a classic save the world from unspeakable evil plot. This has been done 100s of times so nothing original there. The MAs were not so much realistic in my opinion, lots of cable stunts but they did look cool. I love MA movies so I had a bit of a prejudice in favour of this movie but as far as these go it is not a "must see" but it was entertaining. -
Bulletproof Monk?
aes replied to dark_adjudication's topic in Martial Arts Gaming, Movies, TV, and Entertainment
Yes I would give it a 3.5 or 4 out of 5. I was entertained, but glad I paid matinee prices. -
Bulletproof Monk?
aes replied to dark_adjudication's topic in Martial Arts Gaming, Movies, TV, and Entertainment
I saw it on the weekend. I enjoyed it. Nothing super about this movie but the effects/stunts were cool. -
I roll mine. I neatly fold the pants and top then put them side by side and roll it neatly. This was the suggested way to care for our Gis suggested in a handout. Then depending on how sweaty I was, it gets washed when I get home.
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I was looking for examples of this kata online in video form but did not find it. I found text descriptions though.
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The argument I heard is often when Bunkai is taught with the move the student can fixate on the application and not on doing it correctly. The basic Bunkai helps in the understanding of what you are doing and helps with the learning IMO, but the hidden Bunkai is said to be best taught after the moves are learned in traditional Karate (at least this is what I was told). For example. It is best to know a punch is a punch, or a block is a certain type of block, but lets say the block has a hidden arm break in it. If the student fixated on the arm break the block might be less effective.
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Thank you fellow Canadian!
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I had to wash my daughter's white belt once due to getting an ugly water stain on it, but in general I don't. So far my belts have been upgraded within about 3 months each so they don't get that dirty in that amount of time.
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Hi everyone. I never formally introduced myself so here it goes: I have been studying MA now for about 8 months and am enjoying immensely. I just wish I had more free time to train more but being a daddy takes lots of my time. Speaking of that my daughter signed up for lessons at the same time as me and we have both acheived Gold/Black belts now. It is great to be able to bond and share the fun of learning MA with her. I am now working on my wife joining. I went to a gym for years and years but became bored with pumping weights and cardio machines. I felt that MA would give me so much more for my energy put out. Besides it was fullfilling a life long interest. I never took MA when I was younger as I feared the public kata belt tests. Now sure I am nervous but training hard and having faith in myself has gotten me by this hurdle. This if funny as the public belt testing is what scares my wife these days. I started off wanting to learn with no interest in MA as a sport. I have since taken up tournements and love it. BTW It is great to have this forum to ask questions and offer opinions on.
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As some of you know from my other posts I have been competing in tournements doing Katas. The first one I was taught was Fukyugata Ichi. Full of turns and fast blocks. Now I am being taught Shihohai, which is full of Kiba Dashi stances and punches combined with kicks. I have been told that we are moving on to me learning this Shihohai Kata because it is impressive if done correctly and therefore wins tournements. Is anyone here familiar with the two katas. Comments?
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I thought I would let everyone know, I tried using some vinegar on my Gi the other day. It did seem to help get the stains out but not completely.
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What is weird about shaving your legs and body? Most women I know these days would rather a man be smooth than super hairy. I would not have shaved my body except I fall in the later catagory and I am always hot and less body hair seems to help me stay cool especially in summer.
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I agree with the general reponse here. A dojo charging for belt tests etc does not make it a McDojo. It has more to do with quick stamping out of poorly trained MAs IMO. MA seems to be at an all time popularity level these days. Some people will try to take advantage of this and overcharge without providing the true value of MA. Just my 2 cents.