Martial arts

[DeadKennedys]

Originally Posted by Mockery

Why would you quit when you're that close?

And the things you mentioned that you get bored of have much more practical applications than you might think...

The rank isn't important to me. I'll keep with me what I learned, friends I made, agility and skill I gained, but the belt never mattered to me. If I forced myself to get the last belt I'd just say "meh, wasn't worth it" and I'd be done, much like my friend got his Eagle Scout just so his mom would let him quit.

Over time tae kwon do has seemed less and less practical to me. It doesn't focus enough on speed for me. The only tae kwon do techniques I still use in sparring are roundhouse, side kick, and crescent. Most everything else feels unwieldy and too slow. No one ever expects the uppercut to the solar plexus when we spar, or the knee to the lower abdomen. There are too many rules for sparring even, so I feel too limited with tae kwon do.

[Tropical]

hap ki do is korean martial arts
look it up in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapkido

it is a lot more practical than taekwando
taekwando is more appropriate as a sport
hapkido plays dirty.

[Mockery]

Originally Posted by DeadKennedys

No one ever expects the uppercut to the solar plexus when we spar, or the knee to the lower abdomen. There are too many rules for sparring even, so I feel too limited with tae kwon do.

Wait your school doesn't allow/encourage these things? That seems pretty odd to me. o.O Well in the end, it all comes down to a martial art only being as good as the one who teaches it.

[ziggytrix]

Tell me to calm down, you little shit? My kung fu is more powerful than yours. I will destroy you. Prepare youself!


Seriously though, Equilibrium was horrible. If I let you know just how mind-numbingly transparent the plot is, you will not go into it with high expectations. High expectations will ruin this movie for you, as it is sure to disappoint. You will need the brain crippling effects of at least four very stout beers in you and very low expactations to make this film enjoyable. Then perhaps, it will seem more like an homage than a ripoff of Fahrenheit 451, Logan's Run, and 1984.

Originally Posted by The sanest person at imdb.com

Ultimately the problem with "Equilibrium" is that it is a victim of it's own plot. Basing the story in a world where emotion and feeling no longer exists, it puts itself into a position where no actor can fulfil his role. Christian Bale puts in an admirably attempt as the emotion virgin who begins to experience for the first time in his life, but he suffers from the fact that it is physically impossible to play any sort of role where no emotion is shown at all. For a dystopian idea, the story is potentially up there with Huxley and Orwell, but it suffers from this lack of practicality and one or two flaws in the plot elements. Adding a sense of "Matrix" style action to the story was a clever idea and it does add a sense of decency to the film, but ultimately the film is just too implaucible and impractical to really make any headway. This film is perhaps worth full marks for effort, but the final result is far from satisfying.

[adept_ninja]

Thats the nice thing about ninjutsu no rules are taught to us are main goal is always to come out on top so there is no such thing as sportsmanship or crap like that.

[St8ic]

I have a special style called

[Dr. Boogie]

I didn't know ebaums had its own martial art.

[adept_ninja]

yeah myspace has its own to its called "thanks for the add do"
it uses annoying deeper meaning captions like " we are just links on a website" then it over powers them with gay pictures taken by gay people

[The One and Only...]

I used to do Tai Chi. I got up through the 3rd set out of the 6th, and began the 4th, but my teacher left town.

A new one came in though. I might try taking up again...

[Skulhedface]

I got to third degree black belt in taekwondo before I'd quit (the particular style of taekwondo I took wouldn't allow advancement beyond 3rd degree without opening your own school, in theory)...

Recently downtown they opened up an actual ninjutsu academy and if I'd had the money, I'd have been their first student, but I'm still looking into it.

[adept_ninja]

make sure its with one of the major places like bujinkan which is soke hatsumi's place and then the other big one is genbuken not sure who their soke is

[sundragyn]

I was totally into fighting tai chi in high school. Some kung fu, too. So much fun. I would really like to hook up with my old teacher and get back into it, but I need a better job for that. One with, y'know, money.

And I have a sword with which to do it. It is useless, but it looks really nice on display. And every now and then I take it out and harass my family members. Harharhar. It's not like it's sharp or anything...

[HickMan]

I've been thinking about going into some martial arts classes. But there's so many different styles I don't know where to start :O

[Mockery]

Just start with what interests you most. Some martial arts are more about acrobatics, some are more about grapling, etc.

[HickMan]

Good point. I'll do some research on a few and see what I find out about them! :D

[Dr. V]

If you want powerful strikes, go with kickboxing. If you want grapling, go with BJJ. If you want acrobatics go with kung fu or something like that. If you want a nice ballance of all that, go with karate or tai chi.

[ziggytrix]

acrobatics, kung fu??? you're thinking of shaolin monk performances, which, while being a demo of the flashiest of the flashy kung fu, isn't really typical of kung fu training or fighting.

white crane punches would DESTROY some bullshit kickboxer.

[Dr. V]

Ok then.

[adept_ninja]

im reading about dim mak right now thats some crazy stuff im trying to find a teacher