Martial Arts

Godzillawolf · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 7:06 am

Does anyone out there practice Martial Arts? If you don't know, Martial Arts is like Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, ect., the art of self defense. I am a yellow belt in Judo, I had to quit because of a medical condition I devolped, and I know some Mantis, Tiger, and Crane Kung Fu but I don't know much. This topic is to discuss Martial Arts, so any information is welcome, such as history, a particular style you'd like to talk about, or just your personal Martial Art experience.

blueeyedwolf · **Joined:** Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:41 am **Posts:** 1814

I used to go to Ju-Jitsu, it was a great class. I'm a black belt in this. =]

Godzillawolf · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 7:21 am

That's cool! I learn mine via internet, we can't afford formal training often, I've only had formal training once. Have you ever had to use it?

blueeyedwolf · **Joined:** Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:41 am **Posts:** 1814

Yes, once. But it was only for self defence.

Frost · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 8:35 am

Lol I do Karate=Black Belt ;]

UKthewhitewolf · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 9:56 am

I used to do Tae Kwon Do, like JC, but only ever got to yellow belt before stopping. The instructor ended being the money-hungry type.
He wanted us to pay £600 just to test for our next belt... no.

I have always liked the idea of Aikido though. Admittedly that's from watching Steven Seagal movies but it still looks cool. x]
Doubt I'll ever be able to take it up though, all costs too much money.

Oh yeah, I also tried Tai Chi once, my mum was more into that one than me though. Did kick-boxing for a short time too. Not sure if those count as martial arts.

Godzillawolf · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:59 am

I'd like to get back into formal training but as I said, we can't afford it, so I'm just reading how to stuff off the internet. I also have a friend who studies MArtial Arts and is teaching me. Do any of you know any background on your styles? Here's some on Mantis:

There are two forms, Northern and Southern. I practice Northern The style is known for its fast and chained attacks. It was invented in China's Song Dynisty by Wang Lang. It, as its name suggests, is based off the agressive attack style of the Preying MAntis, its most distinctive trait being a mimicing of the 'preying' positure of the Mantis which builds up tenson in the tendens of the arms, increasing the speed of the blows.

Rusty the Fox · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 12:38 pm

I started out with Shinpu-Ren karate. The rank I got to was an orange belt with a black line all the way through it, which is the 5th belt in from white.
Then, the instructor decided to change the whole style after being confronted at a tournament. The name of the new style escapes me, but I got a blue belt because it was the same rank I was already in (orange-black). But after that all happened, nobody leaned anything new and nobody tested for their next belt. We decided to quit.

It took me about two years to go and take classes again. I started up again with Okinawa Shorin Ryu. I'm an orange belt (3rd in) about to test for purple. I've been a part of their weapons class and I know tonfa and nunchaku.

Pirate480 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 3:31 pm

Well,I took tryouts for tae kwon do,but for reasons I can't remember I didn't go in.I would however go into it if I could.Since I'm going for a career in the USMC,I'm likely to learn MCMAPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCMAP.For now I'm probably going to learn Kyudo(The Japanese way of the bow) if it can be as an individual.If I was able to,I'd take go for Okichitaw(A martial art based on native american weapons) without hesitation.Plus I find Ninjutsu very interesting.

To put it simple,If I can go to a martial art,I would.

MCMAPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCMAP
Kyudohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyudo
Okichitawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okichitaw
Ninjutsuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninjutsu

UKthewhitewolf · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 4:26 pm

JerseyCaptain wrote:

UK - Ban Cat wrote:

I used to do Tae Kwon Do, like JC, but only ever got to yellow belt before stopping. The instructor ended being the money-hungry type.
He wanted us to pay £600 just to test for our next belt... no.

I have always liked the idea of Aikido though. Admittedly that's from watching Steven Seagal movies but it still looks cool. x]
Doubt I'll ever be able to take it up though, all costs too much money.

Oh yeah, I also tried Tai Chi once, my mum was more into that one than me though. Did kick-boxing for a short time too. Not sure if those count as martial arts.

Man...we never had to pay much for our belt tests...certainly not anything as ridiculous as that! :shock:

It was usually just a nominal fee.

Tai Chi (Chuan) and Thai Kick boxing do count as martial arts, even though Tai Chi (Chuan) is usually used for physical and mental health. And Thai kick boxing is usually quite brutish and aggressive...especially in the Dutch system (the way the Dutch use and do it).

I have always been fascinated by Steven Seagal, even though he's earned more than his fair share of criticism and attacks because he's never been afraid to use his movie production career to make activistic statements. He's a good actor and an excellent martial artist, who not only opened a dojo in Japan after becoming an aikido black belt - a dojo which apparently still operates today - but also one in Hollywood, CA (which may or may not still be in operation). Seagal is not just a black belt in aikido (7th degree), but also in Japanese karate (not sure which form) and some other arts. And you can see that in his moves in the movies he's been in. He uses offensive techniques as well as the defensive ones of aikido (which has no aggressive offensive moves). Next to Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme, he is my favorite martial artist/actor. Here are some interesting links, with good and relevant information:

http://www.stevenseagal.com/martialarts

http://www.stevenseagal.com/about

http://www.journaled.com/MA/Aikido/SSeagal/main.htm

Lol. I knew you'd be doing a huge informational post here sooner or later. xD

Our teacher just got £ signs in his eyes. Realised he could make money from it and conveniently forgot he actually cared about the art.
He did end up bankrupt though and his school shut down after he spent all his money on buying expensive stuff for himself, including a Ferrari.

I've always loved Steven Seagal movies! :'D
His older ones are better than some newer ones but there is a recent one I do want to see. Not "Against the dark", that was disappointing due to a bad story and worse camera work.
I'll be checking out those links though.

Godzillawolf · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 4:48 pm

That was very informative Jersey Captain. Its actually rather easy to learn real martial arts from Kung Fu movies, suprisingly, as many actors who do the films have to take classes in the styles their character uses, at the very least the basics, or are masters themselves. I try but I prefer to read intructions on the internet as I can go at my own pace. Also, there are the five animal styles, Mantis, Tiger, Monkey, Crane, and Snake, anyone able to remember a recent movie with those five animals in it? :lol:

Banshee · **Posted:** Sun Mar 08, 2009 5:49 pm

First I did kung fu. I only made it up to a white belt. I got really bored of that so I quite.

Then I did karate and made it up to a yellow belt. I uit that too, I think because I got bored of it.

I might join karate again. My life is boring and I have nothing better to do.

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Martial Arts