At 4/26/06 12:15 AM, ThebanLegion wrote:

What is a black belt to you? The actual 'black belt' is only a symbol of an acomplishment, so what gives any given person the justification to wear a black belt?

My teacher and I both would probably agree that a black belt is a symbol of accomplishment and long training (it takes a minimum of 10 years to achieve black belt at our school, no matter how often you train). We would also agree that a black belt means nothing when in combat, what matters is one's skill and ability to defend oneself as well as their confidence. You can perfect the forms of your techniques and the patterns you learn, but when fighting, none of it may matter. As for confidence, one should feel no different as a black belt than if they were a white belt. You are the same person either way. If white belts are capable of beating black belts, as I've heard on this forum lately, then a belt color means nothing when considering skill. As for just buying a black belt, people probably do it to gain a false sense of security and honor. Their conscience is also damaged from the fact that they didn't earn the right to wear the symbol of achievement. There is no justification for wearing a black belt except to show whatever amount of work you went through to gain it. A black belt is simply a symbol of hard work and experiences in training; not necesarily of power and skill.

At 4/23/06 11:51 PM, Monocrom wrote: To: S7 -
Don't get too upset over that random post, quoting the 1st page. It's obvious from the front page of the clubs & crews forum, how many pages a club happens to be. Chances are, that was just a random spammer; trying to increase his post count. We sometimes get those in here. Don't worry about it. If a random spammer becomes a constant pest, we just contact one of the Mods to deal with him.

It wasn't as much upset as confused by that weird post. I even included two lines of "?"'s to show how confused I was. Still, a spammer? Why would a spammer want to increase his/her post count? I don't think you get exp. for that. Whatever.

We got some good talk of Kenpo here! I won't comment, but rest assured, I'm reading...

EErr.. sorry.

I meant to say in my last post:
resulting, not resluting (re"slut"ing! darn, that was wrong, i'm sorry)
there were other little errors but I don't need satanic making comments so I'm admitting thos now, before it's too late.
Sorry if that may have offended anyone. I apologize for the spelling screwups.

Lundi: Good luck with that sparring thing, I hope you get that dinner.

Fremen13: Hello, and welcome, please see my last post for details about this forum. We hope you enjoy this club and feel comfortable with everybody else here.

At 4/22/06 11:43 PM, cereal_killer11 wrote:

At 8/4/04 08:14 AM, carmelhadinosaur wrote: Hey people, what do you think??

Could be a bit faster..inside to outside axe kick 360 roundhouse should be faster...still pretty nice.

??????????????????????????????????????????
????????????????????????????????????????
Huh? Are you new here? Did you bother to check how old that post was and discover that carmelhadinosuar IS NOT POSTING ANYMORE !!!??? That post is two years old! Did you bother to check the latest pages or are you just new with forums? And if you did take the time to read the FIRST post, why didn't you say anything about your background in martial arts or your interests in martials arts and joining this club? (Sigh)

If you're new, welcome, our latest posts are on page 144. We hope you can learn from and contribute to our forum of martial arts. We would like to know any background you have of your martial arts experiences and what you study. If you don't have such experiences, tell us about your interests of martial arts. If you have any questions or comments concerning martial arts, we'd be glad to give you our advice on the matter and debate little details on the matter until: 1) we evolve the topic into something else and the debate process restarts, 2) someone randomly brings up a seperate point other than yours and we start discussing the new topic, 3) Someone becomes an idiot and attemts to start a flame war with a mature member over some trivial comment or mistake in vain due to their calmness and wisdom of experience, resluting in many assumtuous comments by the involved parties and pacifying comments by other members not invovled (myself included), thus causing the entire topic to cease until another one is brought up. (Gasping of air even though I'm only tying this)
Hopefully, you will have gotten the information you needed long before any of these processes start, but if not, be the person who brings about outcome "2)" in such a case. This is my advice to you and all future newcomers to this forum. Thank you, and welcome again.

At 4/20/06 10:04 PM, dsmking wrote: To satanic:

I hope you know i was being sarcastic about apologizing. I refuse to apologize over something that stupid. Its not like i misspelled it on purpose i misspelled it because i misspelled it. Fucking grammar nazi.

Oh my God... some of you people are such morons! Why in hell do you want a flame war? Are you a warhawk or something 'cause you seem to like conflict. First you start a stupid conflict with Mono, who has now entirely dismissed the fact, and then you start on satanic over the most trivial occurence, a typo/ misspelled word!!!!!!! Sure, satanic may have had some fault in pointing out something so little, but she at least Satanic was serious when apologizing to you, and you had to be a dick and tell her that you were being sarcastic. I don't understand what is wrong with some of you prideful folks. I see no purpose in this stupid concept of flame wars. Why are you calling her a grammar nazi and a bitch? It's a waste of your time even taking the time to manage to scrounge such a lame insult and posting it on a forum. You have issues, and I am tired of scrolling through them...

Mono: By the way, I like the post w/ sims and difs between ninjitsu and R.B.S.D. I always love those informative posts, it relaxes me so much when compared with some of the other things that happen here...

At 4/18/06 05:14 PM, Tsuchiya wrote: so for like the hundredth time im gonna try and start a new topic, ok so alot of the things some of train in are impractical and aren't needed for self-defense, like training with nun-chukus for some of you, or in my case 90% of the weapons im going to end up training with. if your one of the people who do this, i wanna know why you do it. do you do it for fun, or just to keep tradtion alive?

The patterns I learn in TKD are to advance in belt rank (we must always do a new pattern as we progress in rank) and simply because I enjoy some of the moves I do, whether they are functional or not. For example, I now use a new technique in sparring because it gets me to a weak spot on an opponent quickly, the jumping back-fist strike. Another move that I use in a pattern is , in contrast, the most useless technique I have seen to date. It isa block that defends from a staffblow swung while the staff is VERTICAL , I mean, what kind of idiot is going to hit me like that?!?! Anyway, I also do several combination techniques that aren't functional idealy (e.g. front kick - side kick - back kick - round kick - reverse round kick) because the spinning involved helps develope my center of balance. This is crucial when dealing with people who will grab you trying to bring you on the floor. Other parts of training I do for fun; there was this one time when our master actually had us play crab soccer! There was little training in self defense involved, we just kicked at each other's goals, that was fun!!! As for tradition, I will probably train in TKD for as long as I can, and when I have kids, I'll teach them TKD and its life-appliable principles and tenets...

Now I see how the subjects move along. Etiquette-Flaming-Knives... wow! So, mono and dsm seem to have been at this for a while, who has authority? Hmmm... I see no reason to be fighting over who is the "Leader" here, I never even recognized one. I see members who post often and those who post long replies, but as for authority, there should be none but people who runs these forums and those who decide if your reply is banned. I see a subtle, yet undying flame of conflict burning between these two veterans. Both are trying to establish something that isn't even there... becuase it was already taken. Why fight? Belittling others and declaring their intentions and traits for them sets a bad example for newcomers and observers. You only hurt the forum attacking eachother like this. Have respect for what other people say or think, they have a right to it. You can hate each other's guts out, but don't waste the forum's page space on you hatred. Argue facts and opinions, not the character of others. Challenge, but don't outright attack, you show as much as much respect to another doing this as bowing to your opponent before a sparring match. Deal with conflict on the internet the same way as you would on the streets. I don't want to have to post a reply about this again... please make amends. This reminds me of the relationship between my dad and my uncle.......

If I may give my opinion, that was a lovely reply about what this club is about, TBulgius. I can understand and agree to each part of what you said. Myself, I don't get involved in the knife sale replies because 1) I don't care about that stuff anymore and 2) I probably am only an amature(sp?) when it comes to the knowledge of blades. We don't use weapons at my TKD club. I can deduce where the "cool, dangerous knives for sale" thing started from, but simply the sale of them shouldn't be considered an important topic on martial arts. The handeling and fighting with a knife is different because it is focused on self-defense as well as safety when defending oneself with a knife in hand. Updates on what new knives are out there should be kept in a different club forum. Surely mono can afford to post on one more forum to talk about knives for sale. Also, thank you for specifying what dsmk probably meant by "When the post have nothing to do with martial arts thats a problem." I think I should really stress this: Be specific when talking about something somone has said or commented on; I'm sick and tired of playing the "GUESSING GAME", trying to figure out what you meant to say and why you feel a certain way! This situation has occured twice since I joined the club, and I feel like a failiure in English because of my inability to understand what you refer to and why you think what you do. Make your message clear. TBulgius made his clear, so follow his example.

To Faces: Let me show what I got out of the reply monocrom gave that you replied w/ the quote and be sure to tell me how you came up with something else.

At 4/13/06 02:45 AM, Monocrom wrote: I can see the point that you guys are making about etiquette. But sometimes, it really is about preventing embarrassment or showing that a Teacher has done a poor job of teaching.

Okay, I can see how that may be wrong, but I ain't fuming off about it. I simply argue about it. First, it is the students decision to embarrass himself. Once he learns what not to do, he'll act differently when sparring, sparing himself from further embarrassment. If the teacher did not tell him to do it, then it is not his/her fault. If the teacher taught the student to charge at the foe and the student fails, then it would be his fault. If it is the teachers fault, then there is room for improvement, so there is something constructive coming out of an embarrassing moment. Still, I stress the point being made by "sometimes". Monocrom did not say that is why there is that rule in etiquette.

Case in point, there was a knife combatives class that was taught by an R.B.S.D. Instructor. One of the students was a veteran officer who bragged how he had taken several martial arts, he had taken numerous firearms courses, etc. (Basically he was being a know-it-all jerk). Not even paying attention to the Instructor....... The Instructor decided to have some fun with him. It was time to spar. The jerk was teamed up with the smallest woman in the class! Before they began, the Instructor pulled her aside and said, "I want you to pretend that your opponent is a child-rapist, and he's coming for your son. What are you going to do to stop him?" Or something similar to that. (Please keep in mind that she had no prior martial arts or self defense training. Also, all participants were using rubber training knives and lots of safety gear; including padding).

Well, when the match started, she let out a high-pitched scream, charged at the jerk, then slid on her knees, until her head was right at his crotch, and she just started stabbing upwards....... into his padded crotch!

Here was this veteran officer, many years of mixed martial arts training, passed numerous combat fireams courses............. and he got taken down by a determined & aggressive (and tiny) "attacker." Now if she had followed etiquette and not been briefed by the Instructor, chances are the outcome would have been different. Yeah that higher-ranked cop felt embarrassed, he also felt a bit angry that none of his particular martial arts instructors had prepared him for a determined & aggressive attacker. When he heard, "Let's spar," he just assumed that he would have time to take her down. Why? That was the etiquette that he was used to, when sparring. He just naturally assumed that since he was more experienced, she would hesitate and let him make the first move.

This is an example of what I meant by leaving etiquette out of sparring. This officer's previous martial arts training created bad habits. Bad habits that, had this been an actual attack, would have led to a very painful death! ......... Luckily, for the officer, after the match he was less of a jerk and more willing to listen to the Instructor; and the Instructor was still willing to teach him.

From that, I could find nothing else but an interesting story about how a jerk got his just desserts. However, it seems like you misinterpreted something about this reply. You said that Monocrom was trying to prove that "the elder martial artist is superior". Either I can't see two feet in front of my head, or I have seen no mention by Monocrom even suggesting that this statement was true. Mono actually seemed like he was reversing his opinion on the etiquette of sparring when he wrote this reply. Also, in your rant about Monocrom, you mentioned that "YOU DON'T TRY AND KILL SOMEBODY IN A SPARRING MATCH, BUT YOU... OR ATLEAST I TRY AND KILL SOMEBODY IN A REAL F*****G FIGHT". I think you didn't make your point about how mono was saying that an elder is superior. I didn't realize you had that in mind. Also, may be you knew this, maybe you don't:
1)R.B.S.D. probably spars in a realistic stlye, meaning it may look like a fight to the death.
2)The woman was not actually trying to kill the cop, she was attacking him as if she were protecting her child.
So, what did you mean by that quoted statment? I am having trouble understanding why you said these things and how mono was trying to prove whatever you thought he was trying to prove. If you could elaborate, that would be helpful. I am clueless and a crappy interpreter of "deeper meanings" and implications, so forgive me.

Faces- Calm Down.
It is no use trying to scream through a keyboard... the debate on sparring was not so important that you needed to fume off so much on this forum; I know, I read the whole thing and have even considered posting a reply on the subject here. I understand that in a real life situation, you don't need to go through the niceties you would when sparring in a MA club, but you should still observe them in the dojo/ dojang/ etc. Yes, you can expect anything in a real situation of combat; your opponent may charge you or wait for you to move first, depending on the situation of the fight and your opponent's strategy. In a club, as I have heard from the forum on the subject, you start, as a lower rank, by waiting for the attack; but when you are of senior rank, you are the one attacking first. So you are essentially preparing for both situations of being attacked or being lead. This is my interpratation of the etiquette (yeah, that is hard to spell without thinking enough about it...) of sparring. If someone cares to correct or add to what I say, please go right ahead (just be sure to tell me if you're agreeing or disagreeing with what I'm saying, I have heard that it can get confused from time to time...).

At 4/9/06 08:47 AM, Dumbass_Dude wrote: can i join, i like watching people do martial arts and fight, i dont do it though, am i still welcome to the club?

I second dsmking's opinion, come and join! If you have an interest for martial arts, you should probably learn one or more. If you have any questions on Martial Arts, ask here, the club will do its best to answer, and most answers are quite professional. Welcome to the Martial Arts Club!!!

At 4/9/06 12:54 AM, dsmking wrote: So hows everyones training going. i've been training like hell lately and my body is completely maxed out. I seriously dont know how much more of this shit i cant take it. Maybe 40 hours a week of training plus 40 hours of school, plus 20 more hours of work is gonna kill me. :p. So how much does everyone else train.

On a side note, i actually invented a couple of new techniques that are still in the development process. They are pretty sick but i need to balance out my body a bit more in order for them to be effective. I've made names for them andthey are possible cause i've done them(crappily since i just started them).

One is called 720 trick kick, which is just like a regualar 540 but with a sudden burst of speed aimed at the head. You start the spin and as soon as you get to 360 you act as if you will land, then as soon as you start to go down whip your body so you kick even faster than in the beggining and take out the head. This is a big sparring technique that if i get right it will be fucking insane.

The other is a bit more simple but requires both upperbody and lower body strength. This kick is more for show than anything else. Its a combination of a scorpion kick and a tornado. Once you do the scorpion kick(jumping front snap kick but you turn your body upside down in mid air and land on your hands), as soon as your hands hit the ground use your hands to spin your body and swing your legs out creating somewhat of a helicopter motion then land on your feet. This one is insanely hard.

I train about 1 hour at my school course of TKD, and at home I work for variable moments of time perfecting techniques/ practicing patterns/ trying to find ways of functionally using my techniques (I have a punching bag in the basement which I kick and punch and chop sometimes). I wish I had a similarlly aged brother to spar against (or perhaps a clone of myself, I'm a dreamer), that way I could tell if I could really defend myself well enough. For now, though, I have no brother or any friend in the area with whom I could spar with in a friendly/ full contact manner... (sigh)

At 4/7/06 11:27 PM, dsmking wrote: Eh im not to interested in making my own style. Dont get me wrong i think its a good idea but i dont see to much of a point. I know a few styles and all but my heart is really in TKD and nothing can change that.

I also, being a Tae Kwon Do practitionor, trust its functionality to a great extent. If you read any previous post of mine on this forum, you'll see that I aspire to obtain a plethora of knowledge of self-defense, a primary reason of mine to join this club forum. I wish to learn any principles of fighting and mix them into my own fusion style, which uses techniques of Karate, TKD, JKD, ninjitsu, judo, kung fu, R.B.S.D., etc. I would learn all principles of these styles (most of them probably being universal among fighting styles) and apply them to all of their techniques and moves (a few also being universal among each other) to find a perfect balance of functionality, power, speed, and finesse. It'd be kinda like my own JKD, but it is still based within the principles and ideas of other martial arts. I'd only create my own style as a defensive one and an art, as Tombulgius said; I don't plan on officializing it as a separate style due to the fact that it's based off of other styles and therefore not origional. It'd be fun though... fine, nothing can change the fact that your heart is in TKD, nor may it change others devotions to their own styles. I just thought I'd express my own opinion and idea on the subject...

To Mono:
Thanks for the advice on knives and "sigs", I appreciated that. I took a quick peek at the that site with the R.B.S.D. founders. There several topics they go over that are helpful for self-defense knowledge, I've learned quite a bit. About the sig pics, I think I may wait a while before considering whether I'd like to do it or not, though it seems fashionable with a few of you...
I'll remember the advice that
all of you gave me. Hopefully, I'll never have to put your advice to use; I live in a quiet suburb of Chicago and nothing crazy usually goes on, though my school was given a threat by someone and my parents had me stay home all day, throwing my school situation on the fritz. I think it'll be dealt with though. Again, thanks for the info.

To: Monocrom
Crud, your right. They took off Foamy's first two fan mail shorts. Oh well, at least his rants are still there (and updated with a new one, I'll check it out). I took a look at your past post on R.B.S.D. and I found it quite interesting, I may have to find someplace to try it at some point, thanks for the info. I have never really had any weapons training and this style of practical self-Defense may be a major possibility (our Tae Kwon Do class doesn't use any weapons). I appreciate your welcoming reply and probably check up on this forum as often as I can.

On Knives:
Just a random question to whoever can answer it, is it better to hold a knife upside-down or right side up? I do have a knife, and even though I probably will never get into a situation where I'll need one, I'd be nice to know which method of holding it would be more effective in a real-life situation. I'll know I can trust your opinions as it seems a few of you have seen combat yourselves or have had experiences of it.

Another thing:
How do you get those dimmed qoutes at the bottom of your replies? I've seen it and I'd like to share my own...

At 4/5/06 10:29 PM, dsmking wrote: Welcome yosh and sapphire to the club. So what are your guys experiences in martial arts. i mean you talked about your master and all and thats great. Thats very good to talk about but what about yourself some more.

Myself im a 2nd dan going for my 3rd dan soon. So training needs to become harder(even though i dont know how i can do that at this point without dropping out of school). this is just too hard.

Experiences, hmm... Well, I have taken 6 tests (2 to go up one whole belt level). 4 of those involved breaking a single board with a kick. The first two involved side kicks, which I eventually succeeded in breaking the board both times, even though it took a few tries. The last two involved my styles devestating technique of the back kick, which I broke the board on the first try, both times. Besides that, I must say I'm either fortunate or lacking for not having gotten involved in a single fight with someone. I have, however, mentally prepared myself for such a time and have been anticipating for a while. My school life is stable, mostly. I persevere and show courtesy in school by working hard and letting the women off the bus and through the door first. At home, I get on this computer and visit newgrounds and/or wikipedia looking at new submissions, my favorites, games, and stuff on "King of Fighters" and "Street Fighter", both of which are fighting games (yeah, I'm sort of a martial arts nerd!). I'm especially fond of the music in Street Fighter, so I often search this site for it when I'm at the Audio Portal. My room stays in decent shape, I can mve around and not step on some piece of junk laying around. The basement, which is the realm from which I am now typing, is a bit of a mess. There are school documents all over the floor and on the computer desk. When I get on summer break, I plan to clean up. My favorite sport is raquetball, my favorite food is pizza, chinese beef with brocolli, and spagetti. My favorite day of the year is Christmas, my favorite NG series is Nuerotically Yours (just the Foamy parts :-). If you'd like to know more, just let me know and I'll make a website for ya! LOL!
One who sees the glass half-full will drink till he decides to refill it, but one who sees it half-empty will refill it immediately...

OOOO!! You know what... I might be able to start something here! Besides Tae Kwon Do, I have tried to learn a bit about other martial arts before trying another one (I plan to train in several to develope "my own style"). Could somone tell me perhaps the basic beliefs of their style (e.g. Tae Kwon Do has the tenets of: Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverence, Self-Control, Indomitable Spirit, Community Service, and Love/Compassion) or perhaps the basic principles of their fighting style (e.g. balance, thrust, counterforce, power, etc.)? (How's that for a topic? )

Hello, I've decided to join this forum so I have something else to do while visiting, Newgrounds is perhaps my favorite site, and I visit almost everyday. I'll probably post at least once each day, so expect to hear from me often. I'll also be sure to reply to anything sent in my direction. I am a Tae Kwon Do practitioner. My club is part of the Universal Taew Kwon Do Federation. I have Tae Kwon Do as a High school class (ain't that cool?). Our class is taught by a 7th degree Black Belt (a very good-natured man) who was taught by Grandmaster Han Cha Kyo, who was made a Master by General Choi himself (yeah, you probably don't care anyway). I have trained for 3 years and have a Blue Belt rank as of right now.