To: Tsuchiya - I'm glad I was able to help again! Yup, there's definitely a lot more to using a knife. And you're right, it's best not to incorporate any tool or weapon into your fighting style until you know exactly how to use it. Unfortunately, a lot of folks never realize that there is a difference between how to use a sword vs. how to use a knife....... The last article is one of my favorites too. It tells it like it is; pulls no punches. Your Grandmaster is wise indeed! He understands the importance of taking the modern world into account. I can understand the techniques being fairly brutal. Sometimes you have to be brutal; otherwise, you don't make it home at night! ......... I can understand not wanting to overload your brain. But, in case you run out of good, reading material; check out this site - www.donrearic.com Two articles in particular. 1) "Street Reality and Martial Arts" (Under the topic, "Gear and Training.") and 2) "Modern Metsubushi Concepts" ("Exotic Weapons" topic). The 2nd article relates directly to the Art that you are studying! .......... Oh and don't worry, I don't want you to get overwhelmed with all these articles. I promise I won't post anymore links for a couple of days! ;)

Mono: ive seen the "street reality Vs. Martial Arts" somewhere before, and i do agree with it, it makes me feel lucky that i managed to be able to take ninjutsu because it still has its traditional concepts but also changes enough to fit with the times. ive know about metsubushi for a while, but ive never seen anything so descriptive of it, i never really thought of it too much either, but the article did convince that i should probably carry a flashlight with me if i ever go walking around in the night, but im still young so im not out at night too much. you must have a good eye for these sights, ive already added three to my favorites since you started sending them. i really hope im not the only one looking at them though...

At 1/28/06 11:15 PM, Tsuchiya wrote: you must have a good eye for these sights, ive already added three to my favorites since you started sending them. i really hope im not the only one looking at them though...

Thank you for the kind words. My good-eye is largely due to my years of experience with martial arts / self-defense. I can usually tell the difference between a useful site vs. one run by a con-artist or arm-chair warrior. (It sickens me when I think of all the people out there who honestly need good instruction, but lack the experience to tell if they are getting it)! I also hope the other members of this club are looking through my posts as well! ........... As for the article on Don Rearic's site, he has mentioned that he takes useful articles and posts them on his site. Usually with the author's permission. If an author objects; he removes the article. Ninjutsu, especially as it's taught by your teacher, seems that it would be a good fit for someone like me. Sadly, there are no practical martial arts schools near me. (All the ones around here teach traditional methods, and ONLY the traditional way! Quite frustrating). I honestly do hope to move to Nevada one day; possibly just outside of Vegas. (There's no way I'm spending the rest of my life in NYC)! Could you tell me the name of the Ninjutsu school you go to and the name of your teacher?.......... Carrying a pocket flashlight is definitely a good idea. I was able to pick up a new mini-maglite (along with a optional carry-clip for it), an Inova X5 (alittle smaller than a mini-maglite but much brighter), and a powerful Inova key-chain light; while I was upstate visiting my best friend a few days ago. The prices upstate are cheaper than in the city. I picked them up for a song! I even found a place that sells the extremely powerful Surefire flashlights; for $160 each! (That's an arm & a leg, instead of a song)! .......... If you want more info about finding a good flashlight, go to the Martialist website, click on "Reviews," and the very 1st topic you'll see is "Tactical Light reviews." The Nightcutters are, sadly, no longer available. But all the other lights are! ........ I promised I wouldn't post links, but I never said I'd stop posting useful info. ;)

Im glad i can help again.....Wait no, im sorry i didnt mean to praise myself.

Anyways the work on the demo video is going slower than planned. It may be ready in a couple of months but it will be done dammit. So far what we got for it isnt too good but hopefully it'll get better.

mono: ninjutsu is a odd art, they teach mostly through of one technique, then we practice that on each other a couple times, and then the teacher starts to show variations on it and he encourages us to come up with our own. and to actually find a place to take ninjutsu is kind of a trial, my teacher says he only teaches in 2 places in the whole city, both of which are in henderson (just south of Vegas, where i live). one of the places is theHenderson Self Defense Center the other is where i take it, some Kung Fu place what they have under styles offered is history and such on the art, and the pictures are from the dojo in japan i think. my teachers name is Jeramis McFadden, and he doesnt own either of the schools, i think he just teaches at them. i bet you can find the owners on the sites and how to contact Jeramis and the owners on the site too, if you like, it would be great to meet you by the way if you do move down here! and im ognna look for one of those flashlights as soon as i can find a place to buy them,

At 1/29/06 03:26 AM, Tsuchiya wrote: mono: ninjutsu is a odd art, they teach mostly through of one technique, then we practice that on each other a couple times, and then the teacher starts to show variations on it and he encourages us to come up with our own.

Hey, thanks for posting the links! I'm off to bed once I make this post, but I'll take a closer look at the sites after breakfast. (Sorry, I'm really tired)......... As for your Art being odd; actually it's not! A lot of street fighters / brawlers have only 1 or 2 techniques that they use, sometimes with variations. (Something I learned over the years). As long as it's effective, you don't need a small army of techniques to fall back on! But it is disappointing to learn that finding a needle in a haystack is easier than finding a good Ninjutsu school. (The more you go into detail about your Art & your teacher, the more interested I become. I've borrowed various techniques from several of the Eastern Arts. But I must admit, if your teacher was in NYC, I'd seriously consider signing-up to learn the entire Art). Your teacher's last name sounds incredibly familiar. I just can't remember where I've heard it before! Has he written any books on self-defense or his Art?.......... I'd like to meet you in person too. I'd love to be living near Vegas! Best week of my life was when I went on vacation with my best friend. March 8, 2002 is when the fun began. I had an awesome time in Vegas! Last day of vacation, we both got severe food-poisoning! (Maybe it was a sign that we shouldn't have gone back to NY). Unfortunately, because of family issues, I won't be moving anytime soon. But it is a realistic goal of mine. I WILL be there! Hell, I got another reason to move; I know there's a good Ninjutsu school in the area! ........... As for the flashlights, I got my new Inova X5 and mini maglite at Target. Weird thing is, they had them right next to the electronics dept. and a different set of flashlights over by the camping gear; all the way at the other end of the store!

No beef with you Mono, except for...

Learn 2 Paragraph, will ye?
It makes your posts alittle more friendly for the eye.

Oh, i've lost myself btw.
I keep considering suicide. If it wasn't totally out of my style, i'd go emo.
That is all, dismissed!

At 1/29/06 01:59 PM, Letahlity wrote: No beef with you Mono, except for...

Learn 2 Paragraph, will ye?
It makes your posts alittle more friendly for the eye.

Oh, i've lost myself btw.
I keep considering suicide. If it wasn't totally out of my style, i'd go emo.
That is all, dismissed!

No offense taken........ I guess I must be doing something right if that's the only thing you dislike about my posts. I just type that way as part of my writing style on the NG BBS. It's also why I don't use html, but post the direct links......... As for the whole suicide thing, I hope your joking. The people you know will miss you for a couple of days. Then they'll move on with their lives. At the end of a year, most of them won't even remember the exact day you offed yourself! Besides, didn't you mention you had a hot girlfriend? Hell, that's a good enough reason right there, to go on living! ;)

Yo leth im sorry i didnt know you where a lil pussy. So fucking what. If you really wanted to kill yourself you would have done it by now. Dammit. Dont consider that bullshit all it does is nothing cept make hell for everyone around you. Dont be a stupid shit. I always thought you where less of a lil bitch than that. You where to stubbourn to consider killing yourself. Thought wrong.

At 1/29/06 01:59 PM, Letahlity wrote: No beef with you Mono, except for...

Learn 2 Paragraph, will ye?
It makes your posts alittle more friendly for the eye.

Oh, i've lost myself btw.
I keep considering suicide. If it wasn't totally out of my style, i'd go emo.
That is all, dismissed!

lost yourself? well theres a little trick to dealing with that, its called finding yourself. whatever worked for oyu before isnt working for you now so try and find meaning in other things, and dont ever give up. winston churchill once said, "if your going through hell, keep going" and you can look in my profile for what musashi said, and those two sayings really helped me when times were bad. so just give yourself time to sort things out, and it might be a while (took me a few months) and it'll be hard but its not impossible, and when your things things will be alot better, believe me. ive really gotten into martial arts more and things are just really good for me now. i can go on and on, but you will really benefit from this more if you figure alot of it out on your own. so to sum this all up, just dont give up.

At 1/29/06 04:38 PM, Tsuchiya wrote: so to sum this all up, just dont give up.

I have to agree! Tsuchiya is 100% correct! I'm hoping that Leth was just kidding about that whole suicide thing.......... But in case he wasn't; here's a website that contains true stories of people who's lives are really fucked up! No matter how bad you think things are, Leth; a lot of people have it worse and they go on with life! Click here - www.mymiserablelife.com It was one of the first sites I discovered after I bought my new computer. (Yeah, I know I promised I wouldn't post any more links for a couple of days; but in case Leth wasn't kidding, screw my promise)!

At 1/29/06 03:31 PM, GHOSTPRODUCTIONS wrote:

At 1/29/06 03:22 PM, GHOSTPRODUCTIONS wrote: Hey Semi-Shinro do you still do Okiniwan Karate? If so how is it? Cause Okiniwan Karate is all I can afford where I live..

Sry for double post i meant Okinawan Karate

Well, it all depends what you want. What type of Okinawan Karate does this school/dojo teach?

If it’s Goju-Ryu, be prepared for deep, strong, and slow techniques. Most people who do this style seem to be very resistant to blows around the chest, and are very hard to move when they don't want to be.

If it’s Shorin-Ryu/Shori-Ryu/Shuri-Ryu, be prepared for fast, smooth, fluid like techniques and motions. Practitioners of this style tend to be very fast and mobile. Their techniques tend to be slightly weak, but their mobility is not to be overlooked.

If its Isshin-Ryu, a mix between the 2 styles above, be ready for a mixture of all the above. There are many versions of Isshin-Ryu due to opinions and beliefs of of different master's. There are many non-traditional versions of this style, mostly changed to fit tournament standards, but the traditional version is by far better for self defense purposes.

These three are probably the most renowned of the of the Okinawan styles, but there are many different styles of karate. Look for yourself. Go and watch what they do in that dojo and decide whether it suits the purposes you need it to fulfill.

I've found that most Traditional Okinawan Styles are very effective, but that's my personal opinion. If it seems like a good style and a good dojo, try it. Then, if you like it, stay with it.

Here is a website that may prove useful if wish to Research different styles,
Martial Arts Info, hope it helps.

Semi-Shinro out

At 1/29/06 08:28 PM, Semi-Shinro wrote:

At 1/29/06 03:31 PM, GHOSTPRODUCTIONS wrote:

At 1/29/06 03:22 PM, GHOSTPRODUCTIONS wrote: Hey Semi-Shinro do you still do Okiniwan Karate? If so how is it? Cause Okiniwan Karate is all I can afford where I live..

A while back i use to do goju ryu. it was ok, but the purpose of the spear hand was very interesting, of course i didnt go very deep with it though so i cant really give you a full report.

You know what i've realized about what we are doing with this club lately. No one talks about their current experiences, or hell even their past experiences with martial arts. I mean if you are going to post anything post your experiences, not others. you can only live your martial arts experiences, not others.0

Hey guys! While I was looking through the links page of one of my favorite martial arts / self defense sites, I ran across this article that was buried in the page. It's called, "Lies to Bleed For." Hosted on another site, it's an article that deals with some of the more common myths & misconceptions that we've all been told. It's definitely worth checking out. (Some of it might be stuff you already know. That's how it was for me, when I took a look at it. Then I remembered I'm the oldest member of this club! So, you guys might want to take a look for yourselves).......... The article is a bit longer than the previous ones that I gave links to. It also contains a short Contents section with 2 more articles titled, "Street Lies" & "Dojo Lies." (Both of those are also worth reading). Here's the link - http://pacificcoast...~ttruscott/lies.html
Just ignore the fact that the main article is addressing Canadians. (Obviously, it's info. is useful no matter where you're located)............. To be honest, I have no prior experience with the site that is hosting the article itself. But I'll look more closely into it.

Hey DSM, you sure know how to cheer a guy up!

Sorry 'bout that post though, I was drunk, tired and lonely yesterday @_@ I seriously don't consider suicide.
I was suprised not to see more "Go along the road, not across" or some other BS like that.
Almost brings a tear to me ol' eye.

I take all bridges when they come, one at a time.
I'll post more later if I can, school is starting soon.

At 1/30/06 03:36 AM, Letahlity wrote:

Sorry 'bout that post though, I was drunk, tired and lonely yesterday @_@ I seriously don't consider suicide.

That's good to know! Honestly, if someone with a recent account, whom I never talked to, had made that type of post on the General forum; I'd think it was just someone trying to get attention. I'd either ignore the post or just flame them a bit. But you had me alittle worried. Thanks for posting, and letting us know that your previous post was a result of liquor and just having a bad day. :)

there was a fight at school today, i didnt step in, mostly because it was between two big jock asshole types and i thought getting in the way of raging hormones was only gonna make things worse (had it just been one big kid beating up on a little one i definitly would've done something), and it got me thinking. as you guys are right now, in terms of skil and fighting ability and all that, if you saw to big guys fighting, would you try and make them stop? the fight is like evenly matched between the two of them, and they have already started, and you dont know either of them and they dont know you. would you try and talk them out of it, would you get a authority figure (a teacher or cop, maybe) or what? like i said before i would let them duke it out, unless they were beating it each like they werent gonna quit, then i owuld probably get a cop or someone, and if it was just someone being bullied then i step in and put an end to it, hopefully through talking but im not afraid to put my neck out if it means helping someone else? what about you guys?

At 1/30/06 05:17 PM, Tsuchiya wrote: im not afraid to put my neck out if it means helping someone else? what about you guys?

I agree with you. I'm not afraid to put my neck on the line inorder to help someone. But the example you gave, 2 evenly-matched guys fighting just for the sake of fighting, I wouldn't bother getting involved. (You did the right thing by not stepping into that fight you witnessed). The truth is that it's best not to get involved if you don't know the guys, or why they are fighting. I've learned that some guys, friends or brothers, sometimes duke it out! They're really not trying to hurt each other. It's just that, well; that's how they settle disputes among themselves! Now if you jump in, and try to break things up, you might have to fight both of them! ........ If a fight breaks out in a store, I head for the exit. My skills are like a car's spare-tire; only to be used if there's really no other way of safely getting home! The consequences of getting involved in a fight are injuries, possibly a trip to the Emergency Room, getting arrested & locked up, getting sued by the guy who attacked you, or getting a Felony Criminal record for aggravated assault because your attacker turns out to be a world-class liar! Then comes all that $$$ you'll have to spend on a good attorney......... Not one fun consequence in the bunch! Don't get me wrong; if it's something else besides 2 evenly-matched guys slugging it out, I would consider getting involved.

hey guys i thougt you might be interested in this increase your kicking speed 4X in less than 17 days. the website is www.fightingshape.com

Come on leth who knows you in this club better than me. I know for a fact you can't stand me calling you a pussy. And sides i know your not that fucking retarded as to kill yourself:p. No but seriously you say something like that again i'll stab you. But we will spar one day dammit so no killing yourself till then aight. Don't be a stanger man. Your like one of the only people i really respect here. No offense to some of the people here but some of you are two faced lil kids.

As to the fight thing. I aint the biggest guy ever. If i wanted to spliet to guys apart i would have to literakky have to split them apart. But if one of them pulled out a knife or something that mofo is goin down.

As to my TKD shit. DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!! Im like dead. Can't even think straight. I am to fucking tired phsyically to keep my head up. But dammit thats my life in training. Wear myself out to a pile of mush.

At 1/30/06 10:30 PM, dsmking wrote: Come on leth who knows you in this club better than me.

... you know how to push my buttons at least?

I know for a fact you can't stand me calling you a pussy.

Yarr!

And sides i know your not that fucking retarded as to kill yourself:p. No but seriously you say something like that again i'll stab you.

Watch out, Mr. Honorable Warrior is gonna stab me in the back!

But we will spar one day dammit so no killing yourself till then aight. Don't be a stanger man. Your like one of the only people i really respect here. No offense to some of the people here but some of you are two faced lil kids.

I'm gonna take you up on that challenge if I ever go to America someday. Which is a pretty big chance.

As to the fight thing. I aint the biggest guy ever. If i wanted to spliet to guys apart i would have to literakky have to split them apart. But if one of them pulled out a knife or something that mofo is goin down.

Learn2spell!
I hardly ever get in fights, so I have very little to talk about.
I even have problem fighting a diffrent person at tournaments...
But I think i'm over this, cause my last tournament felt OK...
But there's so much time between the tournaments that I keep getting nervous inbetween them, y'know. It's one thing when you make a habit out of competing, and a whole other when you go for it every 3-6 months or something.

As for fighting, I think it has to do alot of with experience.
I don't know about you guys, but I haven't been in a fight for years, and I wasn't even doing martial arts at the time.
People react worse under stress and the adrenaline rush takes us out of ourselfs.
All technical fighting goes out the window.
Things like your situation, what you're wearing, if there's snow and shit around and your footgrip is gonna change etc.
Simply, there's alot to take account for except skill.

As to my TKD shit. DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!! Im like dead. Can't even think straight. I am to fucking tired phsyically to keep my head up. But dammit thats my life in training. Wear myself out to a pile of mush.

I hear you, i'm there as well as i'm writing this. My trainer worked us dead today - as usual, but harder. This damn girl at my class who goes to my same school was talking to some other girl and laughed when my trainer was instructing us so he went batshit insane and made us do pushups OF DOOM!

actually i meant if you guys would or should, not if you can. i wasnt asking who had the biggest muscles but if you guys felt oyu should stop people from fighting. and dam you guys must really work hard, sure, ill come back from ninjutsu with a sore shoulder and for the next few days itll stay sore, but i dont think ive ever worked myself to the put of not being able to keep going. and from the looks of it i dont think i want to.

At 1/31/06 06:58 PM, Tsuchiya wrote: actually i meant if you guys would or should, not if you can. i wasnt asking who had the biggest muscles but if you guys felt oyu should stop people from fighting. and dam you guys must really work hard, sure, ill come back from ninjutsu with a sore shoulder and for the next few days itll stay sore, but i dont think ive ever worked myself to the put of not being able to keep going. and from the looks of it i dont think i want to.

If it's some guy beating up on a girl, yes I'd get involved. (But you still have to be careful. There are couples who like beating up on each other; then they always make up! Step in between that, the chick is likely to try to gouge your eyes out for beating on her man).......... But if it's 2 grown-ass jocks; no I wouldn't do anything. Should I get involved and stop them from fighting? No! They're not little kids who don't know any better, and I'm not their parent or guardian. If they want to beat on each other for a stupid reason, let them! ............. To: Leth - With proper training and consistant practice, you can get to a point where your training takes over when you're under stress and your adrenaline starts to flow. But I do agree with you about needing to take other things into account, besides your skills, regarding any type of situation you find yourself in.

How long does it take for the whole adrenaline/ takeover thing to happen? I'm hoping to earn a sash next week, but, most likely, I won't.

Bring it sweed. BRING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And mr. honorable warrior will stab you. No joke. But it will most likely be iwth something not sharp. I don't like murder.

So ya if you do come to America we would have to record it and put it in the club so everyone can see how much better i am than you :p. As for fights i never get in them. Im the guy everyone likes who isn't a dick. Very rare breed.

as for you teacher working you to death dude we are too alike. it's scary. Didnt Nole say that a while back, or was it Dante(pie). I dont know who but it scared me.

At 1/31/06 08:32 PM, Uru_Baen wrote: How long does it take for the whole adrenaline/ takeover thing to happen? I'm hoping to earn a sash next week, but, most likely, I won't.

Hello........ The adrenaline dump happens VERY quickly, after you realize that you're in a really F-ed up situation. Your body goes through what is known as the " Fight or Flight" response. A number of different things happen to your body; such as developing tunnel vision to focus on the threat better, the almost-instant dump of adrenaline, muscles tightening up (to help you fight or run away better), etc........ You have to take into account this natural response to danger, when you train for self-defense. For example, forget about any techniques that require Fine-motor-skills. Those skills are the 1st to vanish when you go through the Fight or Flight response! Gross-motor-skills are all that you'll have to rely on. That's why most of the effective self-defense techniques are kept simple, and require very little intricate movements. Keep in mind that no amount of training can overcome this natural response to immediate danger.......... good luck to you with earning your sash next week, but you forgot to tell us which Martial Art you practice!

At 1/30/06 10:30 PM, dsmking wrote: Come on leth who knows you in this club better than me.

My Leth could beat up your leth.

I know for a fact you can't stand me calling you a pussy.

What? some people can?

And sides i know your not that fucking retarded as to kill yourself:p. No but seriously you say something like that again i'll stab you.

What happened to all of that honor crap?

But we will spar one day dammit so no killing yourself till then aight. Don't be a stanger man. Your like one of the only people i really respect here. No offense to some of the people here but some of you are two faced lil kids.

dsm, I will assume that you were not including me in that generalization.

As to the fight thing. I aint the biggest guy ever. If i wanted to spliet to guys apart i would have to literakky have to split them apart. But if one of them pulled out a knife or something that mofo is goin down.

Well, i'm a pretty big guy myself so I probablly wouldn't have much problem moving anybody around.

As to my TKD shit. DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!! Im like dead. Can't even think straight. I am to fucking tired phsyically to keep my head up. But dammit thats my life in training. Wear myself out to a pile of mush.

Try running about ten miles and doing 100 pushups with every mile you finish... then we'll talk.

NO I do not recall saying that maybe it was maybe it wasn't it was more of Nole than me...

(this does not mean I'm back I'm still mad I was just passing by the neighbourhood)

At 1/31/06 09:21 PM, PiePie wrote: NO I do not recall saying that maybe it was maybe it wasn't it was more of Nole than me...

(this does not mean I'm back I'm still mad I was just passing by the neighbourhood)

Pie, it helps if you quote people when you are adressing them.

Just a though.