Friday, November 18, 2011

What has brought you closer to the truth, religion or martial arts?

Yes, I know that both subjects can be seen as one and the same... From my experience, martial arts has guided me toward a better understanding of all things and finally pushed me towards a more complete understanding of Buddhism. Now, I use both in conjunction to face all my challenges in life; so far it has worked well. Do any of you have any similar experiences you wish to share?|||There is no correct answer, really. It%26#039;s defined by personal experience, which is different for all of us. However, what I have found through my life in the martial arts, is that the answer is neither.


What brings you closer to any %26#039;truth%26#039; is knowledge of yourself. Finding religion, whether through practice, prayer, or martial arts; or vice versa, is just a euphamism for finding one%26#039;s self. When you know yourself, you%26#039;re able to handle life with calm confidence, and cut through the extraneous to find, as defined by you, the %26#039;truth%26#039; in any situation.





When you know yourself; capacity, strenghts, soul, and weaknesses, you can better form your resolve, which solidifies your ability to believe in whatever course you choose, and as such, handle whatever situation may come your way, with unwavering honor, pride, and soul.|||Hmmmm? What an interesting question ... I think that the truth is not all that related to either religion or martial arts. Both are meant to teach aspects of truth -- but one can learn through other endeavorers.





Don%26#039;t rule out just studying ... If you want to understand the nature of justice (for example) there is no better source than the writings of Plato. One of the Socratic Dialogs deals with the topic in great detail.





There is a lot to be said for what I would call Eastern meditation (Yoga is a favorite of mine). The Western method of reading, and discussion can be more precise. It does have its drawbacks but overall it is quite effective.





Hope this helps a bit





W. H.|||Neither...and both.


It is the individual that must look, see, ponder and understand.


For some, the religion may allow that process to flow smoothly. For others, martial arts is more direct (as the one poster joked).


While I prefer martial arts, I try not to forget that some find their %26quot;way%26quot; in tea ceremony, writing, fishing, etc. To each his own.|||But they are two sides of the same coin. Martial Arts seeks enlightenment of the body and mind. While religion seeks that same enlightenment of the spirit and soul. While im not a Buddhist I agree they work together making for a better understanding of many situations.|||I can%26#039;t Really say. My Martial Arts has Prayers that Adress one GOD. It%26#039;s Not %26#039;bout Truth Its About Bettering your Spirit, Mind, and Body. %26#039;bout being a better person





Im not to proud about religion most dont really change who you are. they just change you for about a hour maybe.|||Martial arts. At the end of the day, religion is just a bunch of people%26#039;s opinions. A straight punch in the mouth is a stone cold fact.|||Both, not nesscary religion as much as spirtuality.|||Rastagrappler, that was hilarious and true that the same time.|||Truth!! Never tried martial arts so truth

How did the actor Chris Cardona get his start in martial arts and kickboxing?

How did the actor Chris Cardona get started in martial arts and kickboxing?|||Not exactly what you are asking but this may help - I did Mountain Boarding in Buffalo, USA but then I started to train back into wing chun and it really improved by using this invention! http://www.martialarm.com Regarrds|||Here is some help.. - I found my wing chun training improved when I added some martial arts training. try the martialarm http://www.martialarm.comI used to train in Windsurfing in Truro, England but then got this martial arts machine which is not too bad.|||No idea since I never heard of him...must be a direct to video person?

Do you need to have previous martial arts skills to succeed in Okinawan kobudo?

I am thinking about taking a class at my school, but I don%26#039;t really have much martial arts training. Does it require you to have some skills before you enroll? I was in tae kwon do for a semester so I understand how martial arts work, I just didn%26#039;t want to pursue training in TKD.|||of course not, go for it man, you need to start somewhere beside you have taekwondo experience (won%26#039;t help much but its a basis)|||Hi there





Although Okinawan Kobudo is a stand alone art it has similarities with Okinawan Karate. You often find that the best instructors already have dan grades in Karate because Kobduo is naturally the next step for them. Having a background in karate helps because all the weapons have a series of kata to them along with kihon waza and partner work. Its the large forms that will take some getting use to if you have no prior knowledge of the pinan katas or kushanku. The first bo form is difficult to grasp without any concept of the kamae and body movement. But it can still be done so dont be put off. Having knowledge of the terminology from other japanese arts is also beneficial.





Hope this makes sense?





Best wishes





idai|||You should be able to learn kobudo without a lot of martial arts training. If you had a good background it would be a little easier. You would already know the stances that will be used in the kobudo training. I%26#039;m with Sensei S. I%26#039;d talk to the instructor. He is likely to work with you if you ask him.|||Okinawan Kobudo, depending on the organization you join, will require you to have some rank. It varies by organization. You have to ask them. |||that depends on the organization and the instructors.


kobudo is suppose to be a separate art. but some instructors wont teach you until you become a blue or purple belt.


other instructors and organizations will teach you

What type of martial arts promote 50% hand and 50% fight?

I have a very strong upper body and a strong lower body. I would like to know kind of martial arts that I can join that will allow me to use 50% hand and 50% fight.|||Good answers so far.








The styles you should be looking for in that department would be certain styles of Kung Fu (It%26#039;s really that you try to use your whole body as a weapon), Tae Kwon Do (The ONLY style I%26#039;ve done with 50/50 hand/leg striking is Moo Duk Kwan, but there%26#039;s bound to be others [I%26#039;ve heard some good about Songham Tae Kwon Do, but I don%26#039;t know about the ratio actually]), Karate (The one that is really likely to be 50/50, but would still depend on the school/style), Kempo (Usually more hand striking than leg striking, but again: Search the school, and the style), and more. I would suggest Muay Thai too, but I don%26#039;t think that is 50/50 actually





Good luck.|||Any.|||Any form of Karate. Shotokan, Shorin Ryu, Kokushinkai. Any Karate style generally promotes a 50/50 split.





Where as TKD promotes a more 70/30 mix feet and hands.





Most important though, find a school with a good certified teacher who knows what they are doing. 50/50 or not, if they are a bad teacher you will not learn well.|||Akido.|||boxing|||Tae Kwon Do|||definitley tae kwon doe its also a great work out|||i dont know what you mean by 50% %26#039;fight%26#039; since you said strong lower body imma guess you mean foot/legs/kicks





lol i wouldnt think taekwondo would be 50/50 more like 20/80(hands/feets)





try looking into some form of kickboxing: muay thai, san shou, american(however american kickboxing fights tend to have a kicking requirement so they may favor kicks a lil more), also some karates are pretty good like kyokushin karate, and some kung fus like wing chun





sometimes it just depends on your teacher though. where i practice thai boxing we focus less on kicks but the place i used to train had a heavy emphasis on kicks|||50% fight? if you mean foot, then most types of kung fu. And lolz at the person who said tae kwon do...|||50-50 would be Okinowan or Japanese Karate-Do or SOUTHERN style Chinese Gong Fu.

What type of martial arts promote 50% hand and 50% fight?

I have a very strong upper body and a strong lower body. I would like to know kind of martial arts that I can join that will allow me to use 50% hand and 50% fight.|||Good answers so far.








The styles you should be looking for in that department would be certain styles of Kung Fu (It%26#039;s really that you try to use your whole body as a weapon), Tae Kwon Do (The ONLY style I%26#039;ve done with 50/50 hand/leg striking is Moo Duk Kwan, but there%26#039;s bound to be others [I%26#039;ve heard some good about Songham Tae Kwon Do, but I don%26#039;t know about the ratio actually]), Karate (The one that is really likely to be 50/50, but would still depend on the school/style), Kempo (Usually more hand striking than leg striking, but again: Search the school, and the style), and more. I would suggest Muay Thai too, but I don%26#039;t think that is 50/50 actually





Good luck.|||Any.|||Any form of Karate. Shotokan, Shorin Ryu, Kokushinkai. Any Karate style generally promotes a 50/50 split.





Where as TKD promotes a more 70/30 mix feet and hands.





Most important though, find a school with a good certified teacher who knows what they are doing. 50/50 or not, if they are a bad teacher you will not learn well.|||Akido.|||boxing|||Tae Kwon Do|||definitley tae kwon doe its also a great work out|||i dont know what you mean by 50% %26#039;fight%26#039; since you said strong lower body imma guess you mean foot/legs/kicks





lol i wouldnt think taekwondo would be 50/50 more like 20/80(hands/feets)





try looking into some form of kickboxing: muay thai, san shou, american(however american kickboxing fights tend to have a kicking requirement so they may favor kicks a lil more), also some karates are pretty good like kyokushin karate, and some kung fus like wing chun





sometimes it just depends on your teacher though. where i practice thai boxing we focus less on kicks but the place i used to train had a heavy emphasis on kicks|||50% fight? if you mean foot, then most types of kung fu. And lolz at the person who said tae kwon do...|||50-50 would be Okinowan or Japanese Karate-Do or SOUTHERN style Chinese Gong Fu.

Which country is the best in martial arts?

Real answers only please? In almost all kind of martial arts and with high quality teachers (grant master of martial arts)


Can you mention some of them for information and obviously what makes them great!? And how they attained that level? Can a normal person attain such a mark?|||japan and china are the best places to learn martial arts...





Qungfu, Tai Chi kind of deadly martial arts were born there only....|||European union is becoming a top contender, they just have to join up with Russia|||The last part of your question is ridiculous:





%26quot;Can a normal person attain such a mark?%26quot;





Obviously the grand masters WERE normal people before becoming grand masters. They weren%26#039;t born with any super powers or anything.





Asia is a good place for martial arts. Aside from that, you could also check out James S. Benko:





http://www.itatkd.com/gmbenko.html





...And of course, study the life of Bruce Lee.|||For sport-fighters probably the US with the explosion of the UFC.





For real fighters, probably the Philippines, or Thailand.





The rule of thumb is the poorer the country, the better the best fighters will be because they have had to fight to survive.|||Israel has one of the best fighting methods, if you want to know how to defend yourself. Krav Maga is hardcore, no rules fighting. I don%26#039;t know if it truely qualifies as a martial art but I%26#039;d rather fight against someone using karate or kung fu than someone using Krav.





This brutal fighting method was developed around 60 years ago when Israel was fighting enemies on a daily basis and on a street by street basis. Their enemies didn%26#039;t just want their land, they wanted the Israeli people dead and gone (still do).





I say that this is the best place for martial arts because it is the most relevent in today%26#039;s warring places. Every IDF troop is trained in this and it emphasizes winning, not dancing or posing.|||Japan ,China


Okinowa a island of Japan is regarded as main martial art centre in world


keep on looking!!|||its on asia.. specifically the countries of china..

What is the best martial arts for me?

I%26#039;m looking for a martial art that is mostly punching and grappling. My knees aren%26#039;t in the best shape so kicks need to be minimal. I%26#039;m leaning towards krav maga or aikido, but I want advice from people with experience in different martial arts.





I have 2 years of experience in kyokushin karate, but that was 7 years ago and I%26#039;m looking for something different. I don%26#039;t plan to fight or compete. I don%26#039;t want to know what wins UFC. I just want the best art for myself.|||I%26#039;d comment on Krav Maga, but I have not knowledge of it directly. Aikido I do have knowledge of so I hope my comments are helpful.





First off I%26#039;d say forgive me, but I question whether you never really understood front snap kicks. I spent about 6 years trying to hyper-extend my knees thinking that was the source of the power. I did that from age 8 to age 14. By 16, I had gotten a better idea but ever since I was 14, every time I bend my knees, I can hear them crack. I feel for you.





That issue, like it is for you, was one of the reasons that after I quit at 16 (long story) then came back to martial arts at 27, I didn%26#039;t go back to Karate. I investigated all sorts of different schools in my area and was left with awe when I visited my current dojo.





In my case, its Aikido, but the style doesn%26#039;t matter so much - its the school. Aikido for example has all sorts of opportunities for injury when training - its just less self imposed through repetition as Karate. In AIkido, the injuries are immediate, accidental and in some way related to your partner.





That said, I%26#039;ll mention one example. We have a student in our dojo that used to be a western boxer. He had a hip replacement and will limp for the rest of his life. Does that stop him? Nope - he%26#039;s on the mat like everyone else and yes, people do adjust in the sense that he takes ukemi a little different than everyone else but so what, he%26#039;s doing what he needs to do to keep himself safe - his physical issues simply dictate a difference as to what he needs to do and that by nature changes how technique needs to be performed to be effective.





I consider it to be a great learning tool to be forced to adjust. I also appreciate him pointing out openings (with a light pop to the ribs or whatever) I didn%26#039;t protect when he sees them.





I%26#039;d worry less about a specific style than I would about %26#039;hard%26#039; vs. %26#039;soft%26#039; and %26#039;linear%26#039; vs. %26#039;circular%26#039;. Rather, I%26#039;d visit as many dojos as I could and compare what your knees can handle vs. what the class is like... at that dojo.





Last comment... Aikido involves two types of situations that might not be acceptable for your knees. Suwari Waza - defense in Seiza from an attack from Seiza - and Hanmi Handachi - defense in Seiza from a standing attack. Seiza is all over the place in Aikido - if for no other reason that you will be sitting in it while Sensei is demonstrating, at the beginning and at the end of class.





On the other hand, I%26#039;m in the same boat as you and I%26#039;ve not had a problem with it.





There is no way around it really - to learn to protect and keep your body intact, you end up having to harm it. If you don%26#039;t, you aren%26#039;t learning as much as you can, it you do, you will pay the price over time. Ideally, it shouldn%26#039;t be that way, be we are human and we aren%26#039;t perfect.





Its not the styles we practice, its us that causes an injury we get - be it immediate or repetitive impact/stress related.





Edit - yupchagee - I%26#039;d say that in my experience, around half of the formal curiculum in my dojo at least are throws. Jiyu Waza could result in anything, but Randori definatelly has more throws than pins - when you are dealing with multiple attackers, to pin someone is to pin yourself and make defense against the other people trying to kick you in the head more difficult.





I also disagree with the idea that the throws are stressful on the knees. If anything, they are stressful on upper body joints when the throw is forced, but not on the knees.





The knees come into play when you are doing technique from a kneeling position. Then they get damaged due to repetition rather than stress in a given instance.





Not an absolute rule or course, but a decent generality in my experience.|||Krav Maga uses a lot of knee strikes. Probably not a good idea with bad knees. My guess is Aikido or Hapkido, which are grappling styles that mostly use joint manipulation rather than throws. Throws are likely to put more strain on your knees.|||jujitsu or pankration.|||I think both the styles you are considering will still be tough on your knees, Aikido is heavier use on the knees say than Aikijujitsu its for father or Ju Jitsu. Other styles you may consider are Judo where you are using your opponents body weight against them and less of your own. Maybe Tai Chi, now many will say Tai Chi is not for fighting, that is more or less correct, but it is GREAT for self defense once you have spent years studying it, you will move like the wind and never be touched. This will take a near life time to learn unfortunately but is great health for your body and knees mixed with Qui Qong or Reiki.





I would stay away from most the external arts for your knees and more of your body%26#039;s sake. I was a full contact fighter for years and in the end have hurt my body badly from all the external Ki I have used and have not counter balanced with internal Ki. That is why I personaly wish to learn Tai Chi and qu Qong together to focus that internal Ki (Chi) to heal the damage I caused with external.





I hope this helps you decide on a direction, when it comes straight down to it the style will only matter if the teacher is able to teach it well so you can understand it. All styles are equal, practioners differentiate.|||I%26#039;d do either muy thai or jujitsu. Muy Thai is a Big maybe if you think you can condition you shins and knee%26#039;s to be used it doesnt have alot of kicking. Brazilian Jujitsu sounds more your style. It%26#039;s heavily grappling oriented but it doesnt really used strikes only grapples. Also I%26#039;d stay away from Aikido although I havent done it myself I%26#039;ve fought practitioners and they arent really anything special|||Check out Shim Gum Do


You will appreciate it alot.