OT: Looking for a new thing...

[Suicide Junkie]

Joachim said:

As has already been identified - David used principles of Aikido to deal with the Karate "instructor" and as David pointed out it seems the natural thing to do - which is part of the Aikido way. The Karate instructor did not allow himself to be pulled over (in Aikido you never "pull" someone anyway), David re-directed the instructor's attacking energy (Ki or Chi) and then used it against him.

Dont go and learn Aikido - as any Sensei worth learning from will not teach you with an attitude of wanting to beat the proverbial out of others.

If David said he pulled, I'm not inclined to call him a liar. If the story went anything like what david said, I doubt the instructor really allowed himself to be pulled over except in the sense of failing to act against it (probably because he was expecting David to follow his instruction to try and block). And I think the word you're looking for there near the end is "momentum", perhaps with a pinch of angular momentum for flavour and a healthy side dish of gravitational potential energy.

[David E. Gervais]

To clarify,.. The instructor Stood facing me and threw the punch with his left hand/arm. I was facing him and he instructed me to block upwards with my right forearm. This was what I thought was an unnatural and energy wastful move. So, instead of blocking upwards, I turnd my body to the left, grabbed (as in clutched his wrist) with my right hand and redirected the incomming blow to my left. He was obviously caught off guard, and off ballance as he fell on one knee beside me. At that point, if looks could kill, I was a quallified cooked turkey. He didn't get mad of loose his temper, but in no uncertain terms said "This class is for students only, get out."

I was 16 at the time, was 6 feet tall, and weighed in at a whopping 138 pounds. He was pretty much the same height but must have been a good 200 pounds. (or more) And he was a 3rd degree Black belt. I have no doubt that he could mop the floor with my sorry ***, but like I said, he was obviously caught by surprise. He also did not like being out maneuvered by a scrawny little untrained kid in front of his class. But in my defense, All I said, (and this to my friend sitting beside me) is I thought that the whole blocking thing was a a waste of energy and looked more difficult than avoiding the blow. 'HE' heard me and decided to teach me a lesson. I was young and not easily impressed by braun.

In hindsight, I was stupid, but I was also young and those two traits often go hand in hand.

Nuf said, Cheers!

[narf poit chez BOOM]

You were not stupid, you were impolite. He was very impolite.

[Raging Deadstar]

Not Stupid, Perhaps even samrt, you taught the Instructor one thing...

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall"

[ToxicSlurpee]

Want brute force? Learn Boxing.

Just because it's American doesn't mean that it isn't a refined form of fighting. It's pure, absolute, brute force, and is geared toward walking into a punch to hit your opponent twelve times.

[dogscoff]

Since when was boxing american? Boxing was around long before the USA was.

[ToxicSlurpee]

dogscoff said:
Since when was boxing american? Boxing was around long before the USA was.

It has? Where did it originate?

I know that fist fighting has been around as long as humans have, but I thought the sport of boxing was American. 'course, if I'm wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.

[Puke]

the Romans participated in the sport of pugilism, and the Greeks before them. In the early days of American boxing, many of the champions were Irish imigrants. so its not very American at all, unless you mean 'roided out heavyweight boxing, which is pretty boring to watch compared to lightweight and welterweight.

anyway, its probably alot older than the greeks. i just cant think of any earlier examples.

[AMF]

And the british used to love to box - it was an organized sport there, which I always assumed to mean that America imported it from the British...

Puke said:
the Romans participated in the sport of pugilism, and the Greeks before them. In the early days of American boxing, many of the champions were Irish imigrants. so its not very American at all, unless you mean 'roided out heavyweight boxing, which is pretty boring to watch compared to lightweight and welterweight.

anyway, its probably alot older than the greeks. i just cant think of any earlier examples.

[Instar]

AgentZero said:
Instar, I've got almost the opposite problem to you. I'm about the same height (ok, an inch taller), but you've got about 60-80 pounds on me, and I wouldn't exactly say a sizeable portion of my mass is muscle either. However, a not-so-pleasant childhood has left me extremely proficient at, as you put it, beating the tar out of punks.
I've gone along to a few martial art classes, but found that their main purpose was to give people the confidence to be in a real fight, rather than actually teach them anything that they could really use. If you don't feel you have that confidence, any martial art will give it to you. If you feel you have it already (and I don't see why someone your size wouldn't), I can tell you about 6 simple tricks that'll bring you out on top in just about any fight.
Which I'll post later cause it's lunch time and I'm starving. ;-)

Sure, I'm interesting in hearing this. Good comments on the confidence bit.
As to a handgun, I'm considering getting a concealed carry and suppressor license. All my bases will be covered, but then again, Im a crazy nut. It's really not that big of a deal.
Right now though, I'm going to work on training for the NAS Strongman competitions. Should be interesting...