>> ^xxovercastxx:

>> ^TheFreak:
Don't know what's been happening with tae kwon do in the past decade. It's developed this strange focus on ineffective spinning-jumping kicks. More like gymnastics than martial arts.
Government interference is what happened.
First they pressured the separate kwons to unify in an attempt to form one universal Korean martial art. This is what created TKD (in name, at least). Then they sought ways to make it a symbol of the country, to give the Korean people something to be proud of. Ultimately this culminated in an effort to introduce it to the Olympics. In order to accomplish this, they had to turn it into a sport. The military style of TKD still exists but, aside from the actual military, it's hard to find anywhere that teaches it inside Korea.
I have a friend who is from South Korea. He was adopted and brought to the US when he was still a baby. He's a TKD black belt. He's taken trips back to Korea and he's sparred with people who have learned TKD there and they are all horrible because they've been taught to dance rather than fight.
The only fighting they know is point fighting so they do not learn to defend and they do not learn how to generate power. They are incredibly fast but, in a real fight, he had no doubts that they would pose little to no threat unless he was greatly outnumbered.


Interesting, I was unaware of most of that.

I was talking to one of my older Aikido students last night who's been teaching TKD for a long time. I'd judge his style as very martial and effective based on the punches and kicks he was using while we compared notes. We were discussing how the tai sabaki from Aikido has influenced his TKD and I asked him about the change in TKD. He brushed it off and pointed out how he teaches both point fighting and martial effectiveness and distinguishes between the two to his students. His only thoughts on the current state of some TKD was that it was a passing fad.

>> ^TheFreak:

Don't know what's been happening with tae kwon do in the past decade. It's developed this strange focus on ineffective spinning-jumping kicks. More like gymnastics than martial arts.

Government interference is what happened.

First they pressured the separate kwons to unify in an attempt to form one universal Korean martial art. This is what created TKD (in name, at least). Then they sought ways to make it a symbol of the country, to give the Korean people something to be proud of. Ultimately this culminated in an effort to introduce it to the Olympics. In order to accomplish this, they had to turn it into a sport. The military style of TKD still exists but, aside from the actual military, it's hard to find anywhere that teaches it inside Korea.

I have a friend who is from South Korea. He was adopted and brought to the US when he was still a baby. He's a TKD black belt. He's taken trips back to Korea and he's sparred with people who have learned TKD there and they are all horrible because they've been taught to dance rather than fight.

The only fighting they know is point fighting so they do not learn to defend and they do not learn how to generate power. They are incredibly fast but, in a real fight, he had no doubts that they would pose little to no threat unless he was greatly outnumbered.

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by Barseps.

Ah ok, well always nice to be proven wrong Keeps you alert!

It seems her videos are tailored to getting herself a job, so that does explain why this is so showy. Nothing wrong with that, people gotta eat!

>> ^ChaosEngine:

>> ^yellowc:
Not to be a downer but it is one thing to learn to use nunchucks as a performance tool, than it is to use them as a weapon. Her movements to me don't suggest martial arts training or very loose training, seems to be some dance orientated thing.

>> ^swedishfriend:
Pretty cool but does suggest stunt work reel rather than actual martial arts. I want to see her in some protective gear real time sparring with another nunchaku practitioner if she was trying to show off martial arts skills.
-Karl

I actually thought the same thing when I saw this video, but after a quick google, it does seem she's the real deal.
http://www.amy-johnston.com/Bio-Resume.html
Problem is, it turns out that teaching a good martial artist to act well is far more difficult than teaching a good actor to do some believable martial arts scenes. Not that any action movies ever feature much in the way of believable fight scenes anyway.

>> ^yellowc:

Not to be a downer but it is one thing to learn to use nunchucks as a performance tool, than it is to use them as a weapon. Her movements to me don't suggest martial arts training or very loose training, seems to be some dance orientated thing.


>> ^swedishfriend:

Pretty cool but does suggest stunt work reel rather than actual martial arts. I want to see her in some protective gear real time sparring with another nunchaku practitioner if she was trying to show off martial arts skills.
-Karl


I actually thought the same thing when I saw this video, but after a quick google, it does seem she's the real deal.

http://www.amy-johnston.com/Bio-Resume.html

Problem is, it turns out that teaching a good martial artist to act well is far more difficult than teaching a good actor to do some believable martial arts scenes. Not that any action movies ever feature much in the way of believable fight scenes anyway.

Pretty cool but does suggest stunt work reel rather than actual martial arts. I want to see her in some protective gear real time sparring with another nunchaku practitioner if she was trying to show off martial arts skills.

-Karl

>> ^pho3n1x:

hand-eye coordination and rhythm. it also probably helps get your body used to being in an arms-up guard position for extended periods of time.


Exactly this.

Couple speed back with jump rope interval training, heavy bag interval training, sparring, and shadowboxing and you're well on your way to being a decent boxer. Take away sparring and the competition of boxing and you have an excellent work out.

>> ^notarobot:

I'm sorry? Which "decade of darkness" are you talking about? Are you going back to the 1982 recession--which has nothing to do with this discussion--just to find a point to defend the Conservatives on? You don't even like them!


Sorry if I didn't make myself clear. I agree that Mulroney's government didn't do a very good job balancing the budget, but it was their actions that set the stage for the balanced budget under Chretien and Martin. While the deficit was shrinking under the Liberals they were gutting the military. This period from 1993 to 2006 is what I referred to as the "decade of darkness" because, even with a budget surplus, the Liberals all-but-destroyed the Canadian Forces.

So far, only the Conservatives have made it clear that they wont let the same thing happen again.

As for the debt, while Canada has fared better than the rest of the west, we are still in a recession. Deficit spending is one way to improve the situation and end a recession. I don't like the debt any more than anyone else but ending all government spending, especially a program that is expected to provide around $5 billion US to Canadian industry is silly.

Anyway, I know we wont agree on this issue so I think we should agree to disagree. It was nice sparring with you.

From Wikipedia: Gatka (Punjabi: ਗਤਕਾ gatkā) is a weapon-based performance art created by the Sikhs of the Punjab during the British Empire...The Punjabi word gatka refers to the wooden stick used in sparring matches...Gatka can be practiced either as a sport or ritual. The modern sport originated in the later 19th century, out of sword practice in the British Indian Army during the 1880s. It is played by two opponents who spar with wooden staves intended to simulate swords. The sticks may be paired with a shield. The older techniques and various other weapons are taught in the ritual aspect of the art.

You know, I think you people are posting Wonder Woman stuff these days just to provoke me.

Let's get this straight: The '70s TV show was *terrible. The only reason it lasted as long as it did was because of this:



Now let's discuss what Wonder Woman's superpowers really are (mostly copy/pasted from Wikipedia)

1. Strength - She has lifted the entire island of Themiscyra out of the water, and prevented chunks of the moon from hitting Earth
2. Speed - She has moved as fast as half the speed of light
3. Stamina - She NEVER tires out
4. Flight - She can fly completely unassisted, no jet required (and look damn good while doing it)
5. She is highly resistant to injury - She has even shaken off gun fire. She also heals quickly.
6. She is a master of both armed and unarmed combat. NO ONE is her rival in this department. Even when sparring with other superheroes (while lowering her strength and speed to match theirs, just to be fair), she still kicks all their asses. Even Batman's. She is also a natural leader in combat, and a brilliant tactician and strategist.
7. She's a genius. She's a master of numerous languages, sciences, and philosophies.

She has other powers too, but those are the main ones. Her golden lasso and bracelets are also useful, but not necessary to put the smack down. In the DC universe she is second only to Superman in overall power, and not a distant second either. When Superman's mind was being controlled by a villain, she was the only one who was able to stop the Man of Steel long enough until the situation was brought under control.

So leave my woman alone!

CHEERS!

In reply to this comment by Reefie:
I should've added a after my comment, reckon by now people on both sides of the pond are used to sparring over spelling differences and treat it more as a tongue in cheek sport

In reply to this comment by quantumushroom:
I meant no offense and was joking.

Besides, everyone knows the favorite spelling of favourite is favouЯite.

In reply to this comment by Reefie:
@quantumushroom Those of us from the British Isles tend to spell words correctly because we've been using this language a hell of a lot longer than residents of other countries around the world. Coincidentally did you know that the English language originated in England? Yes I know, how bizarre!

I fail to see what's so "extremely uncomfortable" about this, or why everyone is making such a big deal about it. The academy (or whatever) hired an edgy comedian. What did they expect? They got exactly what they wanted, which was controversy and attention, because their medium is dying and no one really cares about their show.

If the delicate genii talentless hacks in the audience cannot handle it, they should stay home where their pretty faces and fortunate timing gave them such cushy lives. That said, it's pretty obvious to me that the majority of attendees enjoyed the hosting and the more comedically inclined among them were actually sparring with Gervais on stage (e.g. Downey). Newsflash: That's what comedians do. Nevertheless, the papers go and spin Downey's comment out of context, making him sound furious with Gervais... so they can get their slice of the attention pie, too. It's all a drummed-up drama fest to get viewers to a format which no one cares about anymore.

Gervais did a brilliant job so they got exactly what they asked for.

The boxer who took the dive was found unfit to fight in Sydney by the New South Wales Combat Sports Authority.

On 21 July 2010 Briggs returned to the ring in Perth to take on Danny Green for the IBO cruiserweight title. Before the bout Green labelled Briggs "unprofessional" after the latter weighed in nearly 4kgs over the agreed-upon weight. The ensuing fight was seen as a "farce",[4] with Briggs collapsing after 29 seconds following an innocuous left jab by Green, his first in the fight, which appears to have at most brushed the top of Briggs' head. Briggs was subsequently booed out of the stadium by irate fans, and had to be protected by management from projected missiles being thrown at him. In a post-bout interview Green labelled Briggs a "less than canine" and claimed he would not be getting paid for the fight, while also apologising to fans who had paid to attend.[4] Speculation has arisen as to whether Briggs threw the fight, as online bookmaker Centrebet labelled the bout "highly, highly dubious" following a massive betting plunge shortly before the fight.[5] The fight had been due to be held in Sydney but was moved at the last minute after the New South Wales Combat Sports Authority refused to commission the bout claiming Briggs was "unfit" to fight.[6]

Boxing is known to cause damage to the sense of balance. I thought it was the left jab to the body, a late pain in the lower stomach that caused him to give up. He could have gotten up. This statement is in hopes that he was physically unfit for fighting.

According to the Article that @kymbos posted, he was knocked out while sparring two weeks prior to the fight. Who the hell get's knocked out whilst sparring. Unless they do some different sparring down under.

Paul Briggs came out looking good, but I think he was just spent mentally. His trainers should have never let him fight.

Edit: This fight looks like shit.

I'm not trying to offend you brother. I think you are the cats pajamas. That's just how I see it. I could claim that you aren't trying to comprehend democracy, or decry the long list of shallow epithets (statist, authoritarian, communist, nazi, fascist, socialist, Moaist, Stalinist, Marxist, government cock sucker, cult member, proponent of violence, thief etc.) that you use here on a daily basis - terms which are twice as offensive as anything I've said above - but I don't, because your opinion is your opinion and I feel perfectly comfortable in our disagreement. It doesn't offend me that you think what I believe is wrong. More power to you.

You don't seem to see the double standard here, probably because you believe yourself to be absolutely objective in your judgments. You are just as partisan as I, if not more so, and your point of view is no less subjective than mine or V's or NR's.

I believe you mean well, and I try to be open minded, but the fact that I can't get a straight answer to...

"What does 'people have direct control of the market' mean, and how does it specifically translate into either 'stopping a corporate dictatorship' or achieving meaningful change?"

..makes me think you don't have an answer. If I could get a satisfying answer to this question - a tough task no doubt - it would do a great deal to improve my confidence in your ideology. It's at the crux of my skepticism towards free marketism. If you don't like tough questions, then by all means, feel free to turn the tables and hit me with your own. If I can't answer them, then you win!!!

I haven't always had such a negative view of the free market. It's only after studying it and talking to free market libertarians that I've changed my perspective. For what it's worth, you are probably the person who has informed me the most on free market politics, so either you need a better sales pitch or our world views are just dramatically different.

Yes, I do think you are misguided, but isn't that always the tacet implication in political argument? You've called me a cult member and a kool aid drinker, which sounds like you think I'm misguided too? I'm OK with this. Why do you fucking care so much? If I think you are wrong, it doesn't mean you are wrong, just wrong to me.

love, your friend and sparring partner, distoepeeanfewchertooday

I guess perception is reality, but I fail to see where anyone bullied or taunted him more than the verbal sparring that occurs constantly amongst all members, regardless of seniority. People disagreed with him, and he didn't like it.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Really? A member quits because he felt he was being bullied by more senior members, and then you leave this taunt on his page as he walks out the door? You just proved his point.

In reply to this comment by KnivesOut:
Instead of crying and whining about it... no, nevermind, just fucking leave.