martial arts / eastern stuff

[cefx-]

Hey,

Does anyone here train martial arts?
Anyone interested in Eastern literature? (IE: Go Rin No Sho, Hagakure, Tao Te Ching, The Art of War, etc.)

I've been reading a lot of it lately and want to start a discussion in the philosophy forum about some stuff.

But I'm making sure there's some people of like minds around here.

[hismajesty]

I took Karate when I was 4ish.

[cefx-]

You suck, but I forgive you since you're in IB.

[Hazard]

I have a 2nd Degree Black Belt and 12 years of TaeKwon Do training and for 3 years I have been doing some extra work in Jiu Jitsu. I've also read Sun Tzu: The Art of War a few times.

[cefx-]

Awesome, Hazard.

Although, I must ask of you: In the higher belts of Tae kwon do, were you trained in much hand strikes, grappling or take down?
I find that to be tae kwon do's weakness.
I did a bit of sparring with some yellow belts from tae kwon do when I was a white belt in Chito Ryu.   They were easily defeated - all I had to do was rush at them screaming, take them down through a pressure point or bung kai counters, and get them in a decent submission...
Then again..I have had a bit of colored training...

Perhaps when I finish The Art of War we could discuss various topics, Hazard.  If you liked that, you'd -love- Hagakure.  It's truly an excellent book.  The Bushido Code is truly amazing.

Cheers.

[quasi-modo]

<.<
>.>

I read the good earth one time. 

[Hazard]

Although, I must ask of you: In the higher belts of Tae kwon do, were you trained in much hand strikes, grappling or take down?

No. TaeKwon Do as a martial art was developed by the Koreans. The situation was, the Korean Armies were vastly outnumbered by their agressors. Their challange was to develop a martial art that would allow one Korean to defeat several of their enemies. TaeKwon Do as an art is meant to be a 3 on 1 fighting situation. It is an extremely fast series of crushing blows to critical areas to end a fight in a very short amount of time. This is why many of the TaeKwon Do Championship matches do not last long, as it is a quick strike method. Grappling and take downs only deal with one person, the idea is to defeat as many people as possible.

I find that to be tae kwon do's weakness.

It's not a weakness, its a design flaw. Any martial art has these flaws. TaeKwon Do is meant to exclude all of those grapples.

I did a bit of sparring with some yellow belts from tae kwon do when I was a white belt in Chito Ryu.
They were easily defeated

Thats the problem. A yellow belt is only the second rank in your standard TaeKwon Do federation and almost all federations require you be a green belt, our 4th rank, before you truly start to spar and get fighting experience. We find this to be a way to build fundamentals and self control, so its not just like a bar brawl.

all I had to do was rush at them screaming, take them down through a pressure point or bung kai counters, and get them in a decent submission...

Obviously very poorly trained and young martial artists. An experienced artist would never have let you get close enough to apply a pressure point. Well before you were in range you would have been hit with a barrage of center mass and head strikes that would have put you well out of the game.


My early personal experiences in martial arts was based almost entirely on TaeKwon Do and therefore in my sparring I rely heavily on a barrage of thundering strikes to the critical areas to begin or when my opponent is at range. In the past 5 years or so I've been exposed to much Jiu Jitsu and have found that this incorporates holds, grapples, throws, and weapons experience that makes it possible for me to deal with an enemy that might make it past my initial blows and wants to attempt pressure or grapples. However, it is my TaeKwon Do training that I will always turn to after I manage to counter my opponents grapples, as it is a much more brutal way to defend yourself.

[Falcon[anti-yL]]

I started taking karate when I was in 6th grade, but dropped that and started football in 7th grade.

[hismajesty]

You suck, but I forgive you since you're in IB.

Sweet IB rox. Not only does it allow me to get to school late, to class late, out of class, and take away from a social life it also makes me not suck!

[quasi-modo]

IB nerds. IB kids do not work at our school, I mean you would normally assume that IB kids are work aholics. Not so. At our school they are just very good at cheating. They had one kid host tons of homework last year on a yahoo group etc, he charged for accounts, people would pay him 5 bucks for him to activate their accounts. He made good money.

[hismajesty]

IB nerds. IB kids do not work at our school, I mean you would normally assume that IB kids are work aholics. Not so. At our school they are just very good at cheating. They had one kid host tons of homework last year on a yahoo group etc, he charged for accounts, people would pay him 5 bucks for him to activate their accounts. He made good money.

To quote an IB senior from last year: "Being an IB senior doesn't mean anything except that you've gotten really good at cheating."

It's true, the teachers recognize it more than the kids though, but with IB and naturally competitive kids in the program they'll do anything to pass/be #1. I don't really care about having the best grades, as long as I'm passing. I'm doing fine in all my classees except French and Chemistry. Some IB kids are work aholics, but I think the majority aren't. *shrug*

[cefx-]

Haha.
Oh, how times change.

When I took IB..it was honest and true...

bloody americans fuck everything up for the rest of us.
j/k

[Intangir]

my brother is taking some kind of 'ninja' classes

i forget what he actually calls it but its basicly supposed to be ninja stuff

he always tries to use his moves on me which isnt cool 

[cefx-]

Poor Intangir.  Put your finger right under his jaw back near the bottom of the ear.  Where the little bump is.  A good pressure point.
Or make a flat hand and come from behind, place your knuckle underneath the bridge of their nose and pull up/back

hurts like a fucking bitch.

[R.a.B.B.i.T]

My sister had 3 years of Krav Maga, which was hazardous to my health.
I took karate when I was younger, but nowadays the closest thing to practicing martial arts I can do is go downstairs and pop "The Matrix" into the DVD player.