I get your points, and they make sense.
If you don't really get what kick i'm talking about, play Sonya, TKD, and press 3 (X on ps2) That's what i meant. Reptile's back+4 is what I would call a slash kick, but that's just me.

Just a quick question to you all.
Throughout your life, how important have Martial arts been for you?
I can directly say that i would not be the one i am now if i had never studied martial arts, and that to me they are very important. When i'll get to start again, i'll be truly happy. MA have been, and always will be, a big part of my life.
How about you?

Well, as my only official martial arts experience has been a year or two of Karate (at Tiger Schulmann's, which, as far as I can tell, doesn't teach any specific style like Shotokan or Goju-ryu), which was about 7 or 8 years ago, I can't really say martial arts have been very important to me. However, the fact that they are of interest to me is in itself significant, since my interests are fairly limited. Also "pseudo-katas" are a considerable part of my physical exercise; I know that doesn't count as "real" martial arts, but it's obviously inspired by martial arts.

MA's have been a pretty huge part of my life. Of cuorse, like most little kids, I started MA because of cartoons/movies that I saw. And here I am now about 17 years later and still training virtually every day, so it has stuck in a pretty big way needless to say.

Unfortunately I live in a pretty violent area, and I've been in my fair share of fights over the years. Even though they're very rarely 1 on 1 (people around here are too pussy to fight fairly), I've walked away from more fights relatively unharmed than I've been bashed. I hate fighting, but living in a tryhard gangster neighbourhood when you're in a melodic death metal band and very much look the part causes more than a problem or 2 (due to how closed minded people are these days).

Anyways, martial arts have been a huge part of my life. I wouldn't be half the person I am today without them, I'm sure they're a large part of the reason why I ended up being the way I am. And ontop of that, they have come in handy considering where I live. I should probably have had every tooth knocked out of my face by now, but I seem to do better than alright in a fight

You are Australian, right? So in wich town do you live, to have been involved in so many fights? Just curious, since like you, i've been in fights before, and have had people trying to kill me out of stupid reasons. Damn, people really are narrowminded nowadays! It is a good thing there are Martial Arts, so people like you and me, from anywhere around the globe, can study one of the purest form of arts there is.

Sorry for the verydouble post, but i wanted to ask you guys if you had ever heard of the Legendary Ronin, Shimnen Miyamoto Musashi. If not, the allow me to tell you a little bit.

He is very well known for having developed the technique of swordfighting with both the katana and wakisashi at the same time, and several duels with other master sworsmen of the time. His life is depicted in a book by Eiji Yoshikawa, and a trilogy of films, where he is portrayed by, i believe, Toshiro Mifune, also seen in Akira Kurosawas film, the Seven samurais. Musashi fought many battles during his life, wich attracted to him many enemies of great "caliber" such as Yagyu Sekishusai, the chief of the yagyu clan.(Sekishusai was refered to in his youth as Jubei Yagyu, sound familiar? Ever played Onimusha 2, samurai's destiny? That's him.) Musashi defeated Sekishusai in a sword fight, using a wooden sword. However the injuries of that battle were so great that Sekishusai was later forced to amputate his right arm, and he eventually became a monk. These events later lead to battles were Musashi was forced to fight the remnants of the Yagyu clan, who were blinded by revenge. Musashi also fought against a great staff fighter, who's name was Muso, i believe. However neither of the two defeated eachother, and they eventually became friends.(Muso is mentioned in MKDA in Bo Rai Cho's konquest.) But, Musashi's greatest enemy and rival was a man named Kojiroh Sasaki, who himself was known for using an extremely long and heavy sword.(Kojiroh Sasaki is himself mentioned in Soul Calibur 2, his name appearing in one of Yoshimitsu's weapon profiles.) The long rivalry between Kojiroh and Musashi ended with a sword duel on Ganryu island, when Kojiroh was defeated by Musashi, who killed him using a wooden sword he had carved himself out of an oar in the small boat he took to get to this island.(This is also mentioned in Soul Calibur 2, as Nightmare's joke weapon is a galley oar, and the profile states that "someone may have heard of the swordsman who won a duel by using an oar and tried to do so aswell." or something very similar.) When Musashi became older, he went into "retirement" and wrote himself a book, about the way of the samurai. Many other events occured during his life, and if you want to know more, i suggest that you read Eiji Yoshikawa's book about him, entitled "Musashi" i believe. As you can see, to this day he is mentioned in modern mediums, such as video games and movies, and the story of his life is a very interesting and epic one.

There, that's what i had to say for now, i hope i have atleast managed to interest you a little bit regarding the life of Shimnen Miyamoto Musashi.

Au revoir!

Sorry if i've bothered anyone, but does anyone know what kind of martial arts Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Ann Moss studied for the Matrix trilogy? I have'nt been able to find it on the web in my searches. It seems to me that Hugo Weaving studied Karate, am i wrong or right?

Cyborg_wolf Wrote: Sorry if i've bothered anyone, but does anyone know what kind of martial arts Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Ann Moss studied for the Matrix trilogy? I have'nt been able to find it on the web in my searches. It seems to me that Hugo Weaving studied Karate, am i wrong or right?

I don't think they learned any specific styles; I'm pretty sure it was more a mixture of techniques from various styles of kung fu, wushu, karate, jujitsu, etc. Now that I think about it, Hugo Weaving's fighting did seem to take a lot from karate.

I also noticed that Hugo Weaving does'nt seem to be a very agile person. Count the number of kicks he uses throughout the entire trilogy...

Question to all of you, do you think martial arts could evolve even more than they have as of today? I mean, could new techniques, philosophies, etc, grow out of what is know today? Is it even possible for the human body to perform more than it does in modern life?
What do you think?

Cyborg_wolf Wrote: Question to all of you, do you think martial arts could evolve even more than they have as of today? I mean, could new techniques, philosophies, etc, grow out of what is know today? Is it even possible for the human body to perform more than it does in modern life? What do you think?

I definitely think martial arts can be pushed to new heights in techniques and philosophies. Look at Bruce Lee; he created JKD less than forty years ago. Consider how long martial arts have existed: thousands of years! compared to that, forty is just a blip on the screen.

As far as the human body performing more, I think that's very possible too. For example, I've often heard that if Babe Ruth were around today, he probably wouldn't make it in professional baseball. People are always developing new exercises, diet programs, etc. so that could contribute to greater physical ability.

*****PROGRAM NOTE*****

For those who have AMC, tune in @ 12noon(6/6/04) to watch Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey to learn about Lee's true intentions of how Game Of Death was supposed to be before his death. It was shown 2 or 3 years ago, but for those who have never seen it, it shows scenes and Bruce's notes from GOD that were at one time lost and never seen the light of day until recently.

I've seen it a number of times, but I highly suggest that those who haven't, start programming the vcr or be ready to take a lot of notes. It's two hours long so if anyone plans on taping it, a 4 hour tape would be advisable.

Also, there will be some information that will give you more insight into his methods and ideas that will make all of your preconcieved notions of him fade away and be replaced by new ones.

Well, back to my vacation... and my screenplay.

I'm Ghost!

Ghost Dragon

Martial arts are cool. White Tiger kung fu which I am studing right now is a good martial arts.


What so you think about home study course for the martial arts?

I do think a person needs to be a black belt because home study course for the martial arts are good but dojo training is very important to learn to horn your training.

Cyborg_wolf Wrote: You are Australian, right? So in wich town do you live, to have been involved in so many fights? Just curious, since like you, i've been in fights before, and have had people trying to kill me out of stupid reasons. Damn, people really are narrowminded nowadays! It is a good thing there are Martial Arts, so people like you and me, from anywhere around the globe, can study one of the purest form of arts there is.

I live in a place called Epping, it's in the Nothern suburbs of Melbourne. This place has been going downhill ever since I moved here when I was about 9-10.

It was most evident when I dropped out of school. I dropped out at the age of 14, by that point I had been in a few fights here and there in and out of school, nothing serious though. I went back to try school again when I was 17, that time I got into a fight with some guy who was hassling my girlfriend at the time. I knocked him around a little, nothing major, and then I had to drop out of school for my own safety. I was on my way the next day and one of my mates caught me before I got there, he told me not to go there since the guy had about 30 guys waiting for me at the front gate, some of which were armed.

In just a matter of years it changed for the worse, getting into a fight never used to mean getting killed afterwards, but it usually does around here these days. It's to the point now where people are being killed in busy shopping centres in the middle of the day, the mother of my child was working once when it happened and saw the whole thing, it's unnerving. For the sake of proving it the centre is called Epping Plaza, this happened roughly 8 months ago and there are more than a few newspaper reports on it.

It sucks, I've had people threaten me with blood filled needles and all sorts of fucked up shit like that since it started getting really bad. The sad part is it's usually over nothing, some guy gets smart to me, I get smart back, next thing I know it I'm looking at the possibility of getting AID's in the face. This area is horrid, if not for MA I'd most likely be dead by now.

DeathScepter Wrote: Martial arts are cool. White Tiger kung fu which I am studing right now is a good martial arts. What so you think about home study course for the martial arts? I do think a person needs to be a black belt because home study course for the martial arts are good but dojo training is very important to learn to horn your training.

A belt is just a piece of cloth these days. I've known of instructors with horrible technique flaws that I've picked out, who have never been in a real fight and have no idea whether or not their precious training even works.

In that sense, I don't think dojo training and a belt is worth much. There are alot of what I like to call "McDojo's" around these days, under-qualified people are rushed through the grading system and get their black belt in a tiny 3-4 years, start teaching some time after that and repeat the cycle. Resulting in alot of poorly trained martial artist's who wouldn't do any good in a fight.

I do however think it's imortant to be under the guidance of somebody who actually knows that their teachings work. I recently took up teaching a few of the guys in my band martial arts, one of which is already a black belt with 7-8 years of training. In the last few months my black belt friend said he has learnt more from me in this short amount of time than he did from years and years in a dojo. I had to teach a black belt these things (and trust me, I'm nowhere near covering everything) -

- Not to lock his joints while striking as it causes joint problems later in life (one of his knees is touchy because he was never taught that)

- To keep his gaurd up while throwing certain strikes.

- To not randomly throw a move, but to find an opening and strike with what strike will get in the quickest and hardest in relation to your/there body position and your centre of balance.

- Where his centre of balance should be for alot of strikes as he was quite often falling off balance.

- To kick off the front and back foot evenly, he was only ever taught how to roundhouse/front kick/sidekick/whatever off the back foot, not off the front foot too (meaning if his left leg was back, it would always be a left kick, right leg back of course was always a right kick).

- While sparring to not back into corners and to sidestep instead.

- To actually spot his target while throwing spinning type kicks. Example: While throwing a spinning side kick you should be looking over your shoulder with your body side on to the opponent just before you strike (after the spin). He was taught to spot the target, spin, then strike without a 2nd glance.

The list goes on and on. My point after a stupid amount of typing (I do that with martial arts) - Having a black belt and training in a dojo doesn't mean alot, you can be taught by somebody who knows what they're doing in your own garage and get much better results, as the dude in question has learnt. If you're taught by somebody who knows what they teach, you'll be right, regardless of whether you have a belt to show off for it. My mate has a black belt, and I'm still ironing out major technique flaws that no black belt should have, but alot do.

Aikido and Judo.
I enjoy MA movies..of any matter.I like Jackie Chan.

Question for you guys, not sure if this has already been asked or not... But what is the flashiest move any of you guys have seen pulled off in real life, not counting movies/games of course?

I downloaded a clip off the net a fair while back of a guy competing in Trick Sport MA (I think it's called), he pulled off a 720 degree jumping hook kick. 2 back spins with kicks that didn't seem to lack any power, ALOT of height and a perfect landing. I was impressed as hell. I can throw a jumping hook kick with alot of power, but there's not a hope in hell I can currently pull off 2 in the 1 jump. I can barely do a 540 tornado spin kick, that's about as fancy as I get

Even though I severely doubt the usefullness of huge kicks like that in a real fight (never once have I used any sort of jump kick in a fight), I really enjoy pushing myself to the limit and trying to make gravity look like a dickhead

after 4 years total within the martial arts with many different martial arts, I do know alot about the martial arts. I dont think I am worthy of the use of the black belt. When I was in Choong Sil Kwon Tae kwon do, I was taught that the belt was a Honor not an expense.

Althought he was just a 2nd degree black belt, he didnt make anyone test unless they think they are ready for it. Yes he did work us hard. He was a fair but hard teacher. 3 years under him I have learn alot about Tae kwon do and the martial arts in general.

Taking your time in the martial arts is a good thing.

ForeverGrey you are right in what you said about the martial arts.

What I mean is that it is alright to learn from video tapes and books but the real training comes from learning from a teacher in a dojo. From my personal experince that my teachers were quite good and knowledge about the martial arts also they didnt rush their student to become a black belt.

Yes there are too many fucking Mcdojos today. There are too many greedy martial arts teachers that rush their students to be a black belt.


As for me, I am only half way there to be a true black belt. I do deserve it for hard work but I dont deserve for my patience.

A martial art home study course is good ADDON for the black belt but it is not a replacement for a good martial arts teacher.

Learning from a good martial arts teacher a martial artist can go very far in the martial arts world.

Http://www.ninjutsu.com is the home study course I really want to take but I make a promise until to myself to be a honest black belt level martial artist.

White Tiger Kung fu is a good martial art to learn in my opinion because It has the aggressive I need and the intenseive workout I love. The Self Defense part of the training is quite good.

Choong Sil Kwon Tae Kwon do is just as good as White Tiger Kung fu and I do still pratice the system at home while Praticing White Tiger Kung fu at the dojo.

DeathScepter Wrote: ForeverGrey you are right in what you said about the martial arts. What I mean is that it is alright to learn from video tapes and books but the real training comes from learning from a teacher in a dojo. From my personal experince that my teachers were quite good and knowledge about the martial arts also they didnt rush their student to become a black belt. Yes there are too many fucking Mcdojos today. There are too many greedy martial arts teachers that rush their students to be a black belt.

Ah... Yes, I agree there. The same applies for anything really. Who would you rather take advice about playing bass from; Some dude who read a book one time, or somebody such as myself who knows the instrument back to front? Of course, you learn off the person who knows what they're doing to a greater extent. Reading a book can definately benefit your training, although that by itself isn't enough to make you a brilliant MA-ist or fighter.

I've read many books about MA over the years and have learnt alot of interesting things and techniques, although without my actual MA training the books would've been mostly gibberish and wouldn't have helped me much in the end.

It's good to know you have one of those rare instructors who knows what they're doing, it's extremely hard to find a good teacher these days who actually knows what they're teaching. After my Sensei retired from teaching I spent months trying to find another Dojo, I eventually gave up once I realised I was trained better than a majority of "fully qualified" instructors around these days. Shortly after that I got into TKD under the guidance of a damned good teacher, I always used to find it somewhat inpractical untill he showed me what could be done with it. After a matter of months my kicks were a hell of alot quicker and more powerful, since then I've noticed people who rely on punches alone have a hell of a time even getting within arm distance to hit me without being booted senseless

TKD is a great style if used properly, you made a good choice there

Argh, crap, Mcdojos!!! KILL!!!!!
Seriously, i agree, to many damn "teachers" these days that really only are full of bullshit. As a proof, having to teach a black belt to keep his gard up. That's just wack.

Today there are people teaching MA's that get punched out in real fights after 10 seconds flat, and i, a 15 year old guy with 2 years of karate training, have won kumite matches against blue belts, 40 years old. Actually, belts really don't mean squat these days. A black belt could suck in real fights, while a bum out of nowhere could take anyone in a fight. Never under or over estimate an opponent.

I suppose i got lucky, seing as my sensei was a great guy, good martial artist, and decent bussiness man too. meaning it was not overexpensive.

As for flashy moves, i agree they are not too usefull in real fights, but it's still funny to do them from time to time to "make gravity look like a dickhead." Does MA demonstrations i've seen on the web count? I've seen some pretty crazy shit there.
If you are interested here is a page to search for MA amateur vids, but i'm not sure it will work, but that is only my inability with computers.

http://www.planetjubei.com/mavideos/index.phtml?category=1&sort;=date_add&method;=desc&page;=directory&submit.x;=24&submit.y;=5

Feel free to contribute with whatever you guys can find too, like Ghostdragon did. Links, URL's, Questions, whatever!

Quick before i leave now, i agree that TKD is a good art, with powerful and quick kicks, but relying to much on one's fists is not much better than relying too much on kicks. Balance is important. Agree/disagree?

See you guys!!

Cyborg_wolf Wrote: Argh, crap, Mcdojos!!! KILL!!!!! Seriously, i agree, to many damn "teachers" these days that really only are full of bullshit. As a proof, having to teach a black belt to keep his gard up. That's just wack. Today there are people teaching MA's that get punched out in real fights after 10 seconds flat, and i, a 15 year old guy with 2 years of karate training, have won kumite matches against blue belts, 40 years old. Actually, belts really don't mean squat these days. A black belt could suck in real fights, while a bum out of nowhere could take anyone in a fight. Never under or over estimate an opponent. I suppose i got lucky, seing as my sensei was a great guy, good martial artist, and decent bussiness man too. meaning it was not overexpensive. As for flashy moves, i agree they are not too usefull in real fights, but it's still funny to do them from time to time to "make gravity look like a dickhead." Does MA demonstrations i've seen on the web count? I've seen some pretty crazy shit there. If you are interested here is a page to search for MA amateur vids, but i'm not sure it will work, but that is only my inability with computers. http://www.planetjubei.com/mavideos/index.phtml?category=1&sort;=date_add&method;=desc&page;=directory&submit.x;=24&submit.y;=5 Feel free to contribute with whatever you guys can find too, like Ghostdragon did. Links, URL's, Questions, whatever! Quick before i leave now, i agree that TKD is a good art, with powerful and quick kicks, but relying to much on one's fists is not much better than relying too much on kicks. Balance is important. Agree/disagree? See you guys!!

Yep, I thought that was pretty bad myself. He didn't always drop his gaurd, but he forgot about it a hell of alot, and that isn't going to help you when somebody throws a punch and your jaw is wide open.

You made a good point about the belts there. Even when I was only 14 or so I couldn't out spar my Sensei (doubt I could now, for that matter), but I made him have to really think about what he was doing. He loved it though, the fact that I'm pretty good is mainly due to him, so he was always proud when I caught him off gaurd and snuck a decent hit in. Belts aren't everything, it comes down to how well you are taught.

MA demo's on the net do count, aslong as it's real. I don't mind at all where you saw it, aslong as it's a real person using no camera tricks or wires

I've been to that site before, not in a long while though. I used to have a really good site for MA tricks bookmarked, but I recently reformated my comp so all my old links are gone.

As for relying too heavily on any of your bodies natural weapons, I agree. What you use in a fight should depend entirely on a few little things I've probably mentioned - Where your centre of balance is at the time, how close you are in relation to your opponent, the angle you are on in relation to your opponent and finally use what attack will get in the quickest and hardest. If somebody is at kicking distance, I kick. If they get too close to kick I use punches and what not, grappling distance Muay Thai comes in handy and I tend to switch to elbows and knees. I wont try to kick somebody in the face who is in really close to me, nor will I change my body position and throw a front kick if I'm side on to them at the time, I throw a sidekick (as I'm already in that position it's quicker and more powerful). Just an example, I don't go around kicking people in the face

Neither did i think that you would kick people in the face all day long.
Yeah, so true, relyng too much on any kind of weapon, natural or artificial, is not good. Look at Jax in MKA, he nearly got trampled to shit by motaro cause he was relying too much on his strengh and metal arms. Or if you've seen Drunken Master 2, a Jackie Chan movie, the character portrayed by Low Houi Kang, Chan's personal bodygard, he got his ass kicked cause he really did almost only that, kicking. Good points about what kind of attacks you use depending on your position, center of gravity, distance, etc... But i would like to add two more, the environement( if one is in a 3 foot((i think)) wide hall way filled with obstacles, i doubt one would kick a lot, for example) and the opponent.( If one is fighting someone twice as big and twice as strong, grappling would probably not be a good idea.)

Heh, i never could outspar my sensei either, but i did pretty good otherwise, since i was too small too catch up with for adults, and too strong too mess around with for kids( damn, i gess being a teenager has advantages! )

With that, i leave you guys for now.

BTW congrats Forevergrey!
*EDIT* Oops, forgot to mention i saw a guy doing a 720 double spin hook kick once too, on the web, but the landing was not really perfect. Still cool though.*End EDIT*

Wow, about time I found this thread. Anyway, allow me to introduce myself with some background info.

I'm very fluent in martial arts, but not in the way most of you are thinking. My style is basically self-taught, combined with many elements of different martial arts styles.

Originally many years ago, I started taking Tae Kwon Do. I quit after I earned my orange belt, because I was being taught by a "McDojo." I hung up the uniform and didn't go back to any schools.

One day down the future, however, I was assaulted and wound up with broken ribs and some other severe injuries. I proclaimed myself the winner of this bout, simply because I was the one who could stand. I decided I needed to reteach myself how to fight. So, I trained myself in endurance and swift movements. Of course, having no one to spar with, I couldn't use these abilities. I've never been rich by any means, so trying to find a good dojo was out of the question. So where could I go to?

Street fighting tournaments.

Yup, I eventually wound up becoming a street fighter for about a year or two until the arena I fought at was locked off. I have many, many scars on my body from street fighting. It helped me a lot, but I wouldn't recommend this to anybody.

Anyway, I haven't fought for about a year now, so I was slacking off until about a few weeks ago when I picked up training again each evening for an hour or two.

My style is primarily based around my old Tae Kwon Do training, with many elements of Hapkido's joint locks and throws in the mix. I focus heavily on fast movements with the knife-edge of my hand. My legs are incredibly heavily, and I even broke one guy's arm in two when I swung my leg blindly during a defensive maneuever.

I have absolutely no weapon training, but am currently looking for a teacher who is willing to teach Escrima/Kali. I prefer smaller weapons over large ones, as I found swords and boes very uncomfortable. (any websites with info in general about Escrima/Kali would be most hepful)


That's about it, so hi all.

Cyborg_wolf Wrote: Neither did i think that you would kick people in the face all day long. Yeah, so true, relyng too much on any kind of weapon, natural or artificial, is not good. Look at Jax in MKA, he nearly got trampled to shit by motaro cause he was relying too much on his strengh and metal arms. Or if you've seen Drunken Master 2, a Jackie Chan movie, the character portrayed by Low Houi Kang, Chan's personal bodygard, he got his ass kicked cause he really did almost only that, kicking. Good points about what kind of attacks you use depending on your position, center of gravity, distance, etc... But i would like to add two more, the environement( if one is in a 3 foot((i think)) wide hall way filled with obstacles, i doubt one would kick a lot, for example) and the opponent.( If one is fighting someone twice as big and twice as strong, grappling would probably not be a good idea.) Heh, i never could outspar my sensei either, but i did pretty good otherwise, since i was too small too catch up with for adults, and too strong too mess around with for kids( damn, i gess being a teenager has advantages! ) With that, i leave you guys for now. BTW congrats Forevergrey! *EDIT* Oops, forgot to mention i saw a guy doing a 720 double spin hook kick once too, on the web, but the landing was not really perfect. Still cool though.*End EDIT*

Very true, enviroment is a very important factor I forgot to bring up. If you ever get into a fight in a stair well, throwing kicks is a horribly stupid idea. You may aswell jump face first down the stairs and cut out the bit in the middle where you kick, miss and slip, lol.

My Sensei was very good in that respect and went further than just dojo training. If it was raining outside, he'd ocassionally get us to do our whole training session in the car park so we were used to wet/muddy conditions. He'd take us out about 1-2 times a month to train in different places, confined spaces through to places with slippery tiled floors, etc. Ontop of that, sometimes while sparring you would end up 2-3 onto 1 without knowing prior to the bout, taught us to always take in our surroundings and be aware of more than just the immediate threat. He'd arm 1 person in a sparring match without the other knowing, so you really learnt to always be on the look out for somebody about to pull a weapon. Alot of stuff like that is what made him such a great Sensei, most don't put in even 1/4 of the effort he did. I teach the same way I was taught, which is probably why that black belt mate of mine is getting such quick results.

And while I'm not a teenager myself anymore (as of April), I understand the advantage you're talking about. I'm not a big guy, about 5'10" and roughly 70kg (not sure how that works out in lbs). I'm at that perfect size where I'm capable of knocking out a huge guy with a few decent punches, but I'm also faster and more agile than a majority of people with an even smaller build than I have. I like being an all round fighter rather than a fighter who relies more heavily on power or speed at the cost of the other.

Wanderer Wrote: Wow, about time I found this thread. Anyway, allow me to introduce myself with some background info. I'm very fluent in martial arts, but not in the way most of you are thinking. My style is basically self-taught, combined with many elements of different martial arts styles. Originally many years ago, I started taking Tae Kwon Do. I quit after I earned my orange belt, because I was being taught by a "McDojo." I hung up the uniform and didn't go back to any schools. One day down the future, however, I was assaulted and wound up with broken ribs and some other severe injuries. I proclaimed myself the winner of this bout, simply because I was the one who could stand. I decided I needed to reteach myself how to fight. So, I trained myself in endurance and swift movements. Of course, having no one to spar with, I couldn't use these abilities. I've never been rich by any means, so trying to find a good dojo was out of the question. So where could I go to? Street fighting tournaments. Yup, I eventually wound up becoming a street fighter for about a year or two until the arena I fought at was locked off. I have many, many scars on my body from street fighting. It helped me a lot, but I wouldn't recommend this to anybody. Anyway, I haven't fought for about a year now, so I was slacking off until about a few weeks ago when I picked up training again each evening for an hour or two. My style is primarily based around my old Tae Kwon Do training, with many elements of Hapkido's joint locks and throws in the mix. I focus heavily on fast movements with the knife-edge of my hand. My legs are incredibly heavily, and I even broke one guy's arm in two when I swung my leg blindly during a defensive maneuever. I have absolutely no weapon training, but am currently looking for a teacher who is willing to teach Escrima/Kali. I prefer smaller weapons over large ones, as I found swords and boes very uncomfortable. (any websites with info in general about Escrima/Kali would be most hepful) That's about it, so hi all.

Combining different arts is always a good idea. I've trained in a few arts, although I use alot of techniques I was never actually taught but rather just figured out for myself and tailored to the way I fight. I've never done a grappling martial art, but I'm pretty good at joint locks and take downs regardless. A favourite of mine is the palm push under the jaw. When somebody throws a haymaker you step in with your gaurd up and palm under their jaw pushing slightly backwards. The result is the person going down pretty hard, the head can only be pushed so far back before the person loses balance and falls, no 2 ways about that one. If it's a really bad situation, you can (from the palm strike) get your hand over their face and really hammer their head into the ground (lean into it so you end up standing over them to either side once they've hit the ground). It can also include an eye gouge too (which is really bad while smashing their head into the ground, needless to say), but that's getting a little too harsh unless your life is in danger. Just little things like that, never got taught that technique, although I understand how a human body works so I figure out alot of stuff like that on my own.

I've never been a part of organized street fights, just countless attempted muggings and cocky idiots who greatly underestimated what I'm capable of. A few years back I got into a fight on a train, the first guy copped a headbutt which broke his nose and knocked him out (he was too busy mouthing off so I decided to get the first hit in), I immediately punched the other one clean in the jaw knocking him out before what I did to his mate had sunk in, the 3rd guy was left standing there like an idiot trying to figure out how a 3 on 1 fight turned into a 1 on 1 fight in about 2 seconds flat. People are dumb.

It's a shame you don't live here if you're interested in Escrima and the Kali sticks. I trained using them for a majority of the time I did Karate, and at the risk of sounding a little cocky, I'm pretty damned good with them. I chose them because I found them to be practical, in a street fight you're more likely to find 2 bits of wood (or 1 bit you can snap in half) than nun-chaku or a sword (no shit, hey?).

I think this will be my very first tripple post in about 4-5 years of posting here, go me

I was wondering if any of you had any photo's of MA related stuff you're doing? Whether it's just a photo your parents took at a grading while you were on your knees about to accept your new belt, or if it's you actually striking in some way or another, etc...

I have a few little photo's to post myself. These are extremely out of date, you can tell by the fact that I have short hair in the pics but currently have hair just past shoulder length, lol. I actually posted these well over a year ago now in a similar thread, but that was a long while back and I figure not everybody has seen them (new posters and stuff). These were taken after I had lost a fair amount of weight due to a few personal problems (I stopped working out, didn't eat nearly enough, etc), I'm about 10-15kg heavier now than I was then and back in good shape again. I'm also more flexible these days, for that matter. Anyways...

Note - These were taken as part of a little friendly comptetition I had going with a few people from a martial arts board I used to regular at. We used to post pics and try to outdo eachother just for fun, it was all about looking flashy and not about proper technique (hence the gaurd being dropped in most of the pics)

Jumping hook kick... Kind of, anyway - I can't even remember if this actually was a jumping hook kick or some other sort of spinning aerial kick, but it's something atleast, lol.

Roundhouse/Axe Kick - This is pretty fun, you start off as if you were throwing a roundhouse, once the kick gets to a certain height you change the angle of your leg/foot and bring it down as an axe kick to finish.

Side kick - I can kick much higher than this with an actual kick, you can probably tell I was holding that up rather than kicking at full speed (no motion blur). Still reasonably high though, I s'pose. I'm much more flexible now days, as I mentioned, I was probably at the lowest point of my health/fitness at the time these were taken.

Now, I really encourage any of you who have pics of something MA related to post them. I'd like to see what some of the other MA'ists on this board can do

Edit: I just found this one, I forgot all about it, it's pretty funny. Me trying to be Bruce Lee/Liu Kang - The kick isn't quite extended, my digital camera has about a 2 second delay so it's really hard to time things properly. This kick is not at all practical, way too fancy to be of any real use (unless you're kicking someone with their back turned who don't know you're coming, lol), but it looks pretty fancy