Unhappy Ninja

[Wolferz]

Karate chop to the throat!

You're not eating anything that doesn't come with a straw.

[Platapus]

And they say

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Frau Kaluen about the "place of women"

[WernherVonTrapp]

I've met some pretty tough women during the course of my career as a LEO. Some colleagues, some citizens and some arrestees.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by WernherVonTrapp

I've met some pretty tough women during the course of my career as a LEO. Some colleagues, some citizens and some arrestees.

The problem is that this is more a performance, and while it does take a whole lot of skill, it does not necessarily represent a person who can defend themselves. Katas are great practice, but rarely does a kata survive first contact in a real fight. Our instructor used to take great pleasure in demonstrating that (ouch)

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by Platapus

The problem is that this is more a performance, and while it does take a whole lot of skill, it does not necessarily represent a person who can defend themselves. Katas are great practice, but rarely does a kata survive first contact in a real fight. Our instructor used to take great pleasure in demonstrating that (ouch)

Have you ever had an altercation with one? I have, and have responded to calls where women have bloodied their male counterparts to the point where I initially thought the guy was beaten by another male. I didn't say every woman was alike, but I have met some tough ones who knew nothing about any Kata and still cleaned a man's clock. One guy needed stitches above his brow, had a closed eye and a broken nose after he showed up late for a wedding reception. It was his gown clad fiance who handed him his head as soon as he stepped out of the limo.
Another 18 year old girl wrestled with me and my 6'2" (210 pound) partner for over 5 minutes before we were finally able to cuff her.

I've had to wrestle cuffs on some pretty tough cookies. Some were drunk, some high on drugs and some psych-patients. That's not to say that some weren't easy.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by WernherVonTrapp

but I have met some tough ones who knew nothing about any Kata and still cleaned a man's clock.

That was the point I was trying to make. Being able to do pretty katas does not necessarily make one a good fighter, and a good fighter does not necessarily need to know pretty katas.

While I only "fought' in competition, I too have had my "timepiece serviced" by students who could not do a kata to pass a test.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by Platapus

That was the point I was trying to make. Being able to do pretty katas does not necessarily make one a good fighter, and a good fighter does not necessarily need to know pretty katas.

While I only "fought' in competition, I too have had my "timepiece serviced" by students who could not do a kata to pass a test.

Ahhh, and I was beginning to think you haven't met Mrs. Right yet.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Platapus

That was the point I was trying to make. Being able to do pretty katas does not necessarily make one a good fighter

One of my own instructors worked for many years as a bartender, and one of his regular customers on that job was a guy who ran a different local martial arts studio. They became friends with MA as a shared interest and this guy would demonstrate all the various kata and techniques from his particular discipline to my friend. And he was AWESOME. Perfect technique, could do unbelievable things with such precision and grace and power... and yet every weekend he'd come into the bar where my friend worked and get in a fight and proceed to get his butt kicked HARD.

He was great on display, but not so much in a real fight.

Kata are designed to help the body remember certain movements and series of movements and how to do them with a maximum of precision and power without thinking about it. That's it. "Techniques" are the same thing. It's all muscle memory - you repeat a particular movement over and over and over again until your body remembers it and can perform it without interference or conscious direction from the mind. In the split second needed to respond to a physical attack, the mind - thinking about what is happening and how you are going to counter it - only gets in the way. "Too much mind" is a problem. "No mind" is the goal.

It's just like playing a musical instrument... if you have to think about where each finger is going at each particular moment to produce each particular note, you are going to have problems. It should be like walking or breathing... once your body learns to do it, it should do it when it needs to be done without any conscious thought on your part.

So kata are important - to a degree, for the purposes noted above. But you can't win a real fight with one, because the person you are fighting is not going to style his attack so that your kata or favorite technique is the perfect counter to it. No battle plan ever survives first contact with the enemy, lol. If you can't improvise to meet whatever comes, you will lose.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Kata are designed to help the body remember certain movements and series of movements and how to do them with a maximum of precision and power without thinking about it. That's it. "Techniques" are the same thing. It's all muscle memory - you repeat a particular movement over and over and over again until your body remembers it and can perform it without interference or conscious direction from the mind. In the split second needed to respond to a physical attack, the mind - thinking about what is happening and how you are going to counter it - only gets in the way. "Too much mind" is a problem. "No mind" is the goal.

That was one of Bruce Lee's major complaints about the various disciplines and techniques. Too many fixed positions and not enough fluidity. This caused the mind and body to be out of sync during a fight. Alcohol will only exacerbate this.

Originally Posted by WernherVonTrapp

That was one of Bruce Lee's major complaints about the various disciplines and techniques. Too many fixed positions and not enough fluidity. This caused the mind and body to be out of sync during a fight. Alcohol will only exacerbate this.

"Be water, my friend!"

(Love this guy, too sad he died so early...)

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by Nippelspanner

"Be water, my friend!"

(Love this guy, too sad he died so early...)

I have every movie he ever made in a special edition DVD boxed set.

Originally Posted by WernherVonTrapp

I have every movie he ever made in a special edition DVD boxed set.

Wow... where to get it?

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by Nippelspanner

Wow... where to get it?

I actually found it inadvertently at a local shopping center in NE NJ about a year or two ago. I'm still not completely unpacked from a recent change of residence, so I don't even have the set handy. I think it contains 6 DVD, one of which includes commentaries from the likes of Chuck Norris and others who knew Bruce personally (wife, daughter, producers, opponents, etc.).
I sat a whole day after purchasing it to watch the entire set, even though I had seen them before in theatres or on TV.

[Mr Quatro]

Don't forget to back-up your new computer ...

I heard that Windows 8 is coming out with a sp1 next month too

plus a rumor that if your car won't start just poor some coke cola
on it and it will start

[ninja turtle]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Kata are designed to help the body remember certain movements and series of movements and how to do them with a maximum of precision and power without thinking about it. That's it. "Techniques" are the same thing. It's all muscle memory - you repeat a particular movement over and over and over again until your body remembers it and can perform it without interference or conscious direction from the mind. In the split second needed to respond to a physical attack, the mind - thinking about what is happening and how you are going to counter it - only gets in the way. "Too much mind" is a problem. "No mind" is the goal

I remember learning TaeKwondo. When we practiced counter moves it was like: so you're hitting me this way with this fist, so I need to stop it with this arm/leg. It most certainly was not spontaneous. Of course it does become more natural and yes "Too many minds" ('The Last Samurai') does get in the way.

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

It's just like playing a musical instrument... if you have to think about where each finger is going at each particular moment to produce each particular note, you are going to have problems. It should be like walking or breathing... once your body learns to do it, it should do it when it needs to be done without any conscious thought on your part

It's always amusing watching recruits learning how to march. It's only walking in step together, but how many find it difficult and end up 'tick-tocking'