At 1/22/06 01:26 PM, dsmking wrote: I've been hit in the balls and i didnt go down in a fight. Hell even in sparring matches i've been known to get kicked in the balls several times without fallin over once.

Tae Kwon Do wasn't created to be a competition thing but it turned into it which is why the WTF/ITF was formed. Honestly i could care less about the competition part. I really dont see to much wrong with that, in fact i compete. I do get angry though when i see people just worried about getting their trophies and stuff. When i did a tournament a couple of months ago there was nobody in a couple of peoples classes. One guy who didnt compete didnt care as long as he got a trophy. I really wanted to teach that guy a lesson in the championship rounds but the fucking Grandmasters got lazy and felt they didnt need to do it. Of course when i got my trophy for it i threw it in my back seat and left it there for a couple of months. The medal i got for it i lost it somewhere cause i didnt really care.

I agree that just wanting rewards is wrong, but lack of appreciation is also wrong. When you are awarded for working hard, for fighting and winning, you should treasure what you have. Regualarly you don't get things for winning matches, except respect of course. When you GET something, as in material, i believe not caring for it shows lack of respect for the people who give it to you, and even less respect for the person you beat for the award.

People who are like "Japanese arts are the only styles that are real" suck. They really dont understand how their arts where formed if thats what they believe. All martial arts styes effected the only in one way or another. Just look how alot of styles have similar or same kicks, or even stances. Its a shame realy how people think that.

This is true, Tae Kwon Do, Praying Mantis style, i've seen many, many martial arts, what some people refer to as "rip-offs" of these martial arts, and to tell the truth, only half of all really useful techniques coime from the east. You must learn to master all techniques if you want to be, how everyone says, "Good at martial arts".

Lundi you gotta understand these people cared only about getting money for this tournament. They charged like an 85 dollar entrance fee and i did not get the chance to compete. Then when they said that they would lemme spar in the finals i was like okay but then they changed their minds and ended the tournament. Lundi could you honestly say you would hold a trophy that you did nothing to earn with pride. To me i bought a trophy not earned it.

At 1/23/06 01:13 PM, dsmking wrote: Lundi you gotta understand these people cared only about getting money for this tournament. They charged like an 85 dollar entrance fee and i did not get the chance to compete. Then when they said that they would lemme spar in the finals i was like okay but then they changed their minds and ended the tournament. Lundi could you honestly say you would hold a trophy that you did nothing to earn with pride. To me i bought a trophy not earned it.

Ahh, well you see i didn't understand the complete situation, my apologies on that dsm. But still, had you actually won it, you would appreciate it much more correct?

i got in an argument with one of my firnds who takes TKD over competetions. he told me that they are a great way to improve ones fighting ability. i said he needed to shut up and that improving ones fighting ability is done through training, not competetion. thinking back i should of told him that to train to be good at a competetion isnt a respectable goal, but being in a competetion because you are good is a respectable thing. i also should have told him that in real fights there arnt points or time outs (not that i know anything about competetions, just from a video i saw where a refere would make the two fighters back away after every landed kick). this argument actually spruted from another argument, when another of my friends only started taking a martial art because we were dong it and he wanted to fit in, that and he is one of those kinds of guys that would join "the Ninja Clan" and actually think it was real. from there it moved on to people who only join to be in competetions and show off to argueing about competetion itself.
but this leads me to what i really wanted to ask you guys. do you guys think that scoring high in a competetion makes you a good fighter? and do you think of people who join a martial art because "its the cool thing" to do? i think i already gave you guys my opinion on these things, and if not ill tell you guys if you ask.

Hey, you hey
hey
how are hey
you?
Hey how
you hey..

Tsuyukia

When you train for a competition you get alot better. But when you actually compete you learn stuff. Such as other peoples styles, different ways of handling situations, as well as spar someone who is better than you. It is difficult to understand unless you really compete.

O and lundi its alright. I knew you misunderstood. Of course i would have treated the trophy better if i won it through competing.

Man i felt like shit today. The day itself was fine but i pulled a couple of muscles so it hurt to train. Im the most flexible out of all the instructors in my school(i've been told this and i know for a fact i am, not something you can disprove) and i was like 2 feet off the ground on splits cause it hurt to much to go lower. It sucked. But i took it easy so tommorow should be better.

well i fi were you i would go with Aikido. im not too big, and Aikido uses joint locks and such which doesnt require any muscle or specific size, and they are extremely useful in taking someone down. Jujitsu is grappling, and lke i said im not the biggest guy (im actually the perfect average hight for someone my age) so Jujitsu wouldnt really work for me, i dont have the muscle to keep up with it. my only problem with Karate is that, from what ive heard, really focused on forms, and katas, and i cant remeber the long katas. and i heard somewhere that karate still utilizese techniques used agaisnt armoured opponents, and since no one goes around these days in a full suit of armour it cant be the useful, and that is only if what i heard was true.
so of all the arts you could take, i would go with Aikido, i havent heard anything bad about it except that aikido guys have to obey special rules in competetions. . I hoped this helps!

At 1/24/06 05:25 PM, GHOSTPRODUCTIONS wrote: Thanx dude!Could I join the club when i start aikido?Well I have one ather question you ever see the matrix reloaded?Remember the schene when neo faught the upgraded agents?could you tell me what fighting style were the agents using?Just out of curiosity well thx for the info dude PEACE!

im not a elder or leader or whatevr, so i dont think i can really allow people to join so youll have to wait for one of them to say. all i know about the style used in the matrix movies is that in the first one Neo said "i know Kung Fu", so that might have been an influence on whoever choreographed the fights in the movies, i personally havent seen many chinese martial arts in action, only Wing Chun and a little bit of Praying Mantis, so you shouldnt really take my advice on it, but i think it is, the movies seem to emphasize striking alot, and more acrobatic movements so it looks to be some kind of chinese boxing, and thats a really broad statment too so.... you dont need to thank us this is what we do ^^

Yo go ahead and join. You really dont have to ask. So tsyuckia or w/e feel free to let people join. You should probably try all the styles out and see which one you like the most.

So i hurt myself the other day and its been a bit hard to train. Just a pulled muscle but its one of those where it hurts to much to do any kick and stretch. I was able to do more today but it still hurt.

So what do you guys think about training when you get hurt. I personally think if you hurt yourself avoid that area. You hurt your leg work on upper body if you hurt your upperbody kick alot. Or do you think you should sill keep training the whole body.

At 1/24/06 09:20 PM, dsmking wrote: Yo go ahead and join. You really dont have to ask. So tsyuckia or w/e feel free to let people join. :

yay! thanks. go ahead and call me whatever you want, its only a internet name.

So what do you guys think about training when you get hurt. I personally think if you hurt yourself avoid that area. You hurt your leg work on upper body if you hurt your upperbody kick alot. Or do you think you should sill keep training the whole body.

i would put my self as good as i could in that area, and try to act like nothing was wrong, i wnat to be ready for circumstances, whether im hurt or not. though im probably gonna end up breaking my neck or somthing doing that.

Hey guys, sorry for not posting sooner. I ended up going upstate to visit my best friend for a few days. I was supposed to have access to a computer, but that turned out not to be the case. He's not into martial arts but, ironically, I spent most of the 3 days learning more about martial arts / self-defense. I also learned of a book written by someone who did extensive research into one of the main Western Arts. If you guys are interested it's called, "The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe" by: Sydney Anglo. (My copy should be arriving in a few days. Almost 400 pages + $50)......... Speaking of Western Arts; Tsuchiya is somewhat right about how they are less involved than eastern arts. But to me, that just means you don't have to devote almost a lifetime before mastering them. That's not to say they're easier to master; they just emphasize a range of techniques that aren't as broad as most eastern arts. Boxing does have the advantage of full-contact sparring. While Escrima is great for stick-fighting; fencing is no slouch either! Replace a fencing foil with a stick, and you soon realize that amazing number of practical stick-fighting moves you can pick up from fencing.......... Joining ANYTHING to be "cool" is just sad. (I do what I do, so that I don't end up in a finely crafted oak box; before I become a Grand-father)! The only thing that competitions prepare you for is to win more competitions! Nothing to do with reality. In reality, your attacker isn't going to square-off with you! A ref isn't going to step-in and stop the fight if you mess up and your attacker ends up breaking your leg! In competitions you don't have to worry about your opponent pulling out a weapon, when it looks like he's about to lose the fight. You don't have to worry about his friends coming out of the stands to attack you! (Those are 2 things you definitely have to worry about in reality)!

At 1/22/06 01:08 PM, Tsuchiya wrote:

At 1/22/06 11:37 AM, dsmking wrote: And when those white people try to make their own self defense styles its the worse. They think that all you have to do to win a fight is either kick a guy in the balls or the knee. No practice or dedication required to do that.

actually i know a white guy who made his own art combining concepts of jeet Kun Do and Aikido. this guy is a beast too, he can fight with things ranging from a Bo staff to pins and needles. and i dont know if this is true or not but he says he has been in a fight with saws before, and that he is wanted by the FBI for somthing. and the art actualy works too, give him a sword and he can be nearly unbeatable. he used to teach but quit because of insurance things, the only way i got lessons from is that my friends brother knew him from work, and since my friend needed a sparring partner i got to come along too.

but alot of the western arts do tend to be less involved then eastern ones. the white guy from before told me once that the only REALmartial arts are japanese ones, but i think he said that because japanese arts seem more focused on beating someone without messing around. ive heard somewhere the TKD was made as a competetion sport, and alot of the kung fus and stuff have more or less turned into physical/spiritual refinment. also, when i hear western arts i almost immediately think of either Mike Tyson or some fruity fencing frenchmen, but that doesnt mean anyone should just scoff at them for that, thats being arrogrant. kicking somone in the balls might not be the best way to take someone down but ill be damned if it doesnt take someone down.

this reminds me of a time when my class was doing full contact sparring. i was sitting out and watching after a breif sparr when a friend of mine named charlie was called up to fight a girl named fei. charlie gets into a offencive fighting stance (always does) and the they fight for about 20 seconds now fei cant really kick high and she and her brother (roy) usualy round house kick or just use front kicks, but she cought charlie in a good time and kicked him 3 times in a row (in the crotch). and he started rithing on the floor about how much pain he was in . but all i could think about how glad i was that i wasnt in his positon right now.

At 1/24/06 09:20 PM, dsmking wrote:
So i hurt myself the other day and its been a bit hard to train. Just a pulled muscle but its one of those where it hurts to much to do any kick and stretch. I was able to do more today but it still hurt.

Ah, you too? Hahahaha. During sparring class, last Thursday, I got my shin rammed by Tetsu Jin's (Big boy in class) knee. Had a welt the size of a grapefruit where it it hit. I sparred him on Monday, same thing happened, cept this time it was my knee and his shin all on the same legs... lol. Anyone know any good remedies for fluid build up and bruising? I so, I'd appreciate the info.

So what do you guys think about training when you get hurt. I personally think if you hurt yourself avoid that area. You hurt your leg work on upper body if you hurt your upper body kick a lot. Or do you think you should sill keep training the whole body.

Oh, I'm stubborn when it comes to sparring and training with injuries. I like to keep my body strength balanced, so I fight and train like there's nothing wrong with me. Perhaps not the best thing to do, but it's what I do. For some reason, I forget about the pain I feel when I'm sparring... Go figure.

At 1/25/06 12:43 PM, Semi-Shinro wrote:

Ah, you too? Hahahaha. During sparring class, last Thursday, I got my shin rammed by Tetsu Jin's (Big boy in class) knee. Had a welt the size of a grapefruit where it it hit. I sparred him on Monday, same thing happened, cept this time it was my knee and his shin all on the same legs... lol. Anyone know any good remedies for fluid build up and bruising? I so, I'd appreciate the info.

If there's not too much fluid build up, your best bet would be to let it heal on its own. A huge amount of build up = seriously consider seeing a doctor. But, if it's somewhere in between, take a sewing needle; put a flame to the tip; put the tip in a glass of purified or mountain spring water; very carefully poke 2 holes next to each other, where the fluid is; gently press down and drain as much fluid as you can. Don't forget to put a Band-aid on, afterwards. Also works great if you have a huge blister. But, if it's not to bad, best to let it heal on its own........... As for practicing when hurt, yeah I've done that. It helps you learn to work through the pain.

i myself was hit in the shin a couple of times in my dojo by an instructor. i think once it was on purpose. it didn't cause a welt, though.

At 1/25/06 03:41 PM, kalanaph wrote: i myself was hit in the shin a couple of times in my dojo by an instructor. i think once it was on purpose. it didn't cause a welt, though.

Honestly, that sort of thing just doesn't happen in the traditional or modern Western Arts. The instructors expect you to put in the effort, show up on time for class, and show them the respect that they deserve. If you don't, or if you start screwing around, they just kick you out! ........ And, they don't let you back in! The instructors place your name on a "persona non-grata" list. Basically, you can forget about EVER learning from that particular instructor again! (Very bad! Considering that there's a much smaller number of Western Masters; compared to Eastern ones)! And, the instructors make you sign contracts that basically say, you don't get your $$$ back if you get kicked out......... It's surprising how many students get kicked out! Thankfully, it's never happened to me :)

Well see shin i will train the area but you know pain like that, is your body telling you take it fucking easy. It's good to be balanced but usually the area you are hurt in is your strongest point. me being my legs, so what did i do. I did alot of work on my arms. Now i got guns :p.

Tysuckia your new name is Green. I have no idea but i think it fits you.

At 1/25/06 04:28 PM, dsmking wrote: Well see shin i will train the area but you know pain like that, is your body telling you take it fucking easy. It's good to be balanced but usually the area you are hurt in is your strongest point. me being my legs, so what did i do. I did alot of work on my arms. Now i got guns :p.

i can see both sides of training while injured, though i personally try to train whether im hurt or not, though if my foot was hurting i would try and find a diffrent means of doing the technique if it involved using that foot. ninjutsu is very open ended on how to do the techniques, so its not like my teacher will try to kill me or anything, he actually encourages us to change the technique to fit us. so in short is would be working around the pain, not just ignoring it, and not completely stopping because of it either.

Tysuckia your new name is Green. I have no idea but i think it fits you.

lol, whatever you wanna call me. i tried switching my name to Green but its already taken so i cant.

At 1/25/06 03:00 PM, Monocrom wrote: If there's not too much fluid build up, your best bet would be to let it heal on its own. A huge amount of build up = seriously consider seeing a doctor. But, if it's somewhere in between, take a sewing needle; put a flame to the tip; put the tip in a glass of purified or mountain spring water; very carefully poke 2 holes next to each other, where the fluid is; gently press down and drain as much fluid as you can. Don't forget to put a Band-aid on, afterwards. Also works great if you have a huge blister. But, if it's not to bad, best to let it heal on its own........... As for practicing when hurt, yeah I've done that. It helps you learn to work through the pain.

Well, Ice and elevation of the leg seems to have done pretty good, but I'll try your way next time it happens. (Probably tommorow... lol) Thanks for the info man. Does anyone else know any good remedies for severe brusing?

At 1/25/06 04:28 PM, dsmking wrote: Well see shin i will train the area but you know pain like that, is your body telling you take it fucking easy. It's good to be balanced but usually the area you are hurt in is your strongest point. me being my legs, so what did i do. I did alot of work on my arms. Now i got guns :p.

Guns... Bwahahahaha... Anyways man, of course I know what pain means, I just don't always heed its warning.

I have gotten to a point in my training where pain seems to faze me less and less. Sanchin (full lung) breathing along with doing my katas slowly at full strength with deeper stances is changing the way my body perceives pain. Blows which used to knock the wind out of me are feeling like love taps now.

For some reason, though, a lot of my sparring partners seem to think I use too much strength while sparring now, although I'm holding back. A few of them won't even spar me anymore...

They say they can't tell the difference between the power of my kicks and punches, so I'm guessing that my upper body strength is balanced pretty well with my lower body strength. I'm not going to let a little pain screw up that balance, even if it means more pain in the long run. It took me a long time to get here, and I’m not going back without a fight. That's just the way I see it atleast.

Martial Arts, guys what is it really think about the question i just posed? Clean it through your mind again... and again. Military Training from around the world. Judo-Romans-Ju-jit-su- Japs-Kaos-sr-irs-China-and more i on the other hand want to no more about your thoughts

To: Shin - You're Welcome! Always happy to help another member of the club, whenever I can. BTW, hope you find someone who's also reached your level of skill. Contact sparring is too useful to have to keep pulling your punches........... To: Tsuchiya - If Green is not available, try variations of it. Such as; _Green_, -Green-, GREEN, green, or use this website to make free translations of the word "Green" into other languages. Then just use the foreign language definition of the word "Green" as your new user name. Here's the site; www.freetranslation.com Another idea is to put a cool-sounding animal name next to the word "Green." For example: Green Viper or Green Tiger. (If you really want "Green" as your alias, there's always a way). Hope I gave you some good ideas.

At 1/25/06 05:35 PM, WildCatzTy wrote: Martial Arts, guys what is it really think about the question i just posed? Clean it through your mind again... and again. Military Training from around the world. Judo-Romans-Ju-jit-su- Japs-Kaos-sr-irs-China-and more i on the other hand want to no more about your thoughts

Sorry for double-posting........ No offense, but you didn't really ask a specific question. I re-read your post. Do you want to know our general thoughts regarding Martial Arts? Or are you interested in a more in-depth study of the arts, and you want us to recommend a good one for you? I'll give you my thoughts on both........ Martial Arts are self-defense systems from around the world, that were originaly designed for self-defense. Unfortunately, many of the early Martial Arts no longer emphasize self-defense. It's more about exercise, spiritualism, a blind devotion to a teacher, and for winning trophies. The ones that haven't been turned into a sport have, over time, become obsolete. Such as Renaissance Swordsmanship. (But, it's still fun to do)......... As to which one would be good for you, I can't really answer that. I'm not you! While I can definitely recommend R.B.S.D., your best bet is to take a cursory look at as many of the martial arts as you can, before making your decision. Hit the library and the bookstores; read up as much as you can about various arts, then decide which you believe would work best for you. (That's what I did. It worked for me)! After that, go to schools that teach the art you're interested in. Ask to sit-in on a couple of classes. Like what you see? Sign up! Hope this helped you out.

i didnt really care for changing my name, i was just gonna do it cause the king said he would call me that from now on.

and the guy with (without) the question. i think that martial arts should be used for preserving and protecting life, whether yours, someone elses, or even the person you are fighting. but mono is right when he says that most arts have turned into some else, though some do hold true to their original begininngs. thats one of the reasons i chose to take ninjutsu, because the art is just about some weird form of meditation, the art is about learning what life really is about, and gaining a respect and love for life that most people dont know exists, the fighting is in the art so that the practioners can also protect life, not just have reverence for it.

At 1/22/06 01:26 PM, dsmking wrote: I've been hit in the balls and i didnt go down in a fight. Hell even in sparring matches i've been known to get kicked in the balls several times without fallin over once.

Man you should get an award for that!

At 1/25/06 05:56 PM, Monocrom wrote: To: Shin - You're Welcome! Always happy to help another member of the club, whenever I can. BTW, hope you find someone who's also reached your level of skill. Contact sparring is too useful to have to keep pulling your punches...

You're too kind my friend, but I think it's more to do with weight class than skill... Perhaps I've just grown a lot stronger than I thought, or perhaps I just don't control my techniques well enough to keep them from causing too much pain.

Well, the Sensais are proving to be big challenges. Their techniques are both fast and powerful, and they don't seem to be as jarred from my attacks as the others were. Their attacks, upon contact, are quite painful aswell. Although, most of the time they just stop it an inch away from my face or wherever the intended target was. I guess this proves that I need better control. Oh well, more practice for me. : )

One of my Sensai's messed up (or did this to pick with me) and did a spinning hook kick and knocked my jaw out of alignment for a sec. It was a big wakeup call for me to say the least, but it didn't knock me off my feet. What bothers me about that isn't that I got hit, it's that I didn't see it coming... I blinked and missed it... I hope I'm able to throw techniques like that in a blink of an eye someday. Have any of you been caught off guard like that? If so, what happend?

At 1/25/06 11:24 PM, Semi-Shinro wrote:

One of my Sensai's messed up (or did this to pick with me) and did a spinning hook kick and knocked my jaw out of alignment for a sec. It was a big wakeup call for me to say the least, but it didn't knock me off my feet. What bothers me about that isn't that I got hit, it's that I didn't see it coming... I blinked and missed it... I hope I'm able to throw techniques like that in a blink of an eye someday. Have any of you been caught off guard like that? If so, what happend?

I'm thinking your teacher made a mistake. (Even Masters are human). But, it's true what they say about the hand being quicker than the eye. (Or in your case, the foot). I remember the last time I got caught off-guard. I believe I already posted this tale in this club. Basically, I was in high school. A punk threw a chair at me; when I walked over to ask what his problem was, he sucker-punched me with a set of real brass knuckles. (This was before I learned to focus on a person's hands, rather than looking at them square in the eyes. If you can't see a person's palm or all 5 outstreched finger-tips; watch out)! He kept punching away; but my face is built like a brickwall. He knocked me down, but failed to knock me out. (Anyone who tells you that you can knock someone out with one punch, using brass knucks, is a liar)........ I later learned that he attacked me because one of his friends told him that I referred to him by that special N-word; behind his back. The people who knew me in high school, they could have told that little punk that I'm not a racist. (He ended up getting expelled for that BS that he pulled).

*Holds back really mean comment*

I hope for the love of god you guys new i was joking about my guns:p. Guns are bad. All they do is kill people. To shin about using to much power. I would so love to spar you. Put you in your place you know. Look pain doesnt phase me if its a hit or something. Getting hurt is different from pain. pain is very temporary. Me the longest is ten seconds but when it comes to being hurt im cautious. I dont get hurt to often and i dont plan on letting it last long.

Anyways wheres lundi. He just disapeared. I miss him

O and an extremely good note. MY old instructor just got out of Iraq so ill probably see him soon. YAY!!!!!

At 1/26/06 01:36 PM, dsmking wrote: *Holds back really mean comment*

I hope for the love of god you guys new i was joking about my guns:p. Guns are bad. All they do is kill people. To shin about using to much power. I would so love to spar you. Put you in your place you know. Look pain doesnt phase me if its a hit or something. Getting hurt is different from pain. pain is very temporary. Me the longest is ten seconds but when it comes to being hurt im cautious. I dont get hurt to often and i dont plan on letting it last long.

Bwahahahahah... Man, either you completely missed my last post or you were too mad to read it. Dude, I was only picking on you about the "Guns" thing because I thought, just for a second, that you were Nole... You got to admit, that seems like a remark you'd expect from him, no?

Oh, about the"strength" thing. I've found beyond a good match between me and one of my Sensais. I wasn't trying to boast myself up, just trying to get some ideas on how to fix the problem. I think my technique control is the problem, what exercises do you reccomend to help improve the control of kicks?

I understand that your cautious when your hurt, but I view all types of pain the same way.
When you're hurt, the pain lasts alot longer (somtimes permanent) and can intensify under stress. I just don't heed that warning usually. I see it as another challenge of life and try to keep pushing through. As I said, it's the smartest way to deal with it, but it's what I usually do. Ok?

PS: if you ever want to spar me, tell me when you're going to a tournament in or near North Carolina. We probably won't be in the same division, but atleast we'll be able to meet and make further plans. I think this could be quite fun, win or lose.

Anyways wheres lundi. He just disapeared. I miss him

Dunno...

O and an extremely good note. MY old instructor just got out of Iraq so ill probably see him soon. YAY!!!!!

Glad to hear it man. One of my instructors is over there right now. I believe he'll be coming back somtime in July.

i got caught off gaurd once, back when i did the kenjutsu thing. my teacher and i were just starting to spar, and he immediately started a attack, and kept it up, i managed to block but i remember just looking at his stomach and hardly seeing his shoulders and judging off of them where to block next, until i finally just brought my shinai down onto his helmet. and i caught my friend off guard once, we were sparring and he was trying to move around me and i couldnt see him (the helmet was in the way) so i just lifted up my right leg, and knee'd him right in the groin. my teacher started laughing and i heard my friend moan so i turned to see what happened, because i hadn't fully realized what i had done. theres probably some more stories about how i got caught off guard but i cant remember them right now, those two just seemed to stick out in my head.

Hey guys, now normaly I don't care too much about my post count. But seeing as how this post is 1337, I decided to do something special; and share it with you guys! If you click on this link, http://www.alliancem..larts.com/links.html
it'll take you to the Alliance Martial Arts links page. That page is HUGE! It covers a whole spectrum of Martial Arts from around the world! (Some of the things at the Alliance site seem less than useful! But, still worth checking out). Hope you guys enjoy it! :)