Martial arts thoughts?

[Bobby]

Didnt need to always lived in good neighborhoods !

So you never went to a dodgy public bar and had the crap beaten out of you?

No!

What about you?

Yes I did once although I got of it with only a fat lip but
my mate ended up in hospital -
that was in the 1980s.
We were sitting quietly in the corner doing nothing wrong but it was a bad pub.
We didn't know.

Wasnt the local Abo pub was it.

Reminds me of a mate visiting Nowra and went into this pub which was full of Abos and the Abos gave them the "what are you doing in here stare?"

, he reckons that was the quickest he downed a beer and exited in his life!

I wouldn't go to an Abbo pub.
It was a pub full of drunken ockers.

[sprintcyclist]

I did karate many years ago.
It was good for me.

Try the local club to you, if you like it, well and good.
Let me know how it goes.

[Bobby]

I did karate many years ago.
It was good for me.

Try the local club to you, if you like it, well and good.
Let me know how it goes.

I'm too old now - I did a bit when I was young.
I really enjoyed it.

[sprintcyclist]

I did karate many years ago.
It was good for me.

Try the local club to you, if you like it, well and good.
Let me know how it goes.

I'm too old now - I did a bit when I was young.
I really enjoyed it.

Yes.

I've never tried Tai Chi and think it will be good

[Bobby]

I did karate many years ago.
It was good for me.

Try the local club to you, if you like it, well and good.
Let me know how it goes.

I'm too old now - I did a bit when I was young.
I really enjoyed it.

Yes.

I've never tried Tai Chi and think it will be good

Yes - excellent for the body and mind when one gets older.

[sprintcyclist]

I did karate many years ago.
It was good for me.

Try the local club to you, if you like it, well and good.
Let me know how it goes.

I'm too old now - I did a bit when I was young.
I really enjoyed it.

Yes.

I've never tried Tai Chi and think it will be good

Yes - excellent for the body and mind when one gets older.

I have been told it is much 'harder' than it looks.

If you start with a western mentality I can guarantee you will be in pain after it and you won't like it.

[Bobby]

I have been told it is much 'harder' than it looks.

If you start with a western mentality I can guarantee you will be in pain after it and you won't like it.

If you have arthritis it might be painful but you should soon be right
and it may even help such conditions.

[Valkie]

I started martial arts later in life, in my late 20s.
Shotokhan and Budokan.
Had a great master who was a surgeon and was only interested in students who gave their all.

Classes were generally small, never more than 10 students.
And we fought regularly with semi contact, unless we used body armor.

He was also a master at Judo, jujitsu and Kung Fu.
He believed that it was good to always keep learning and pushing yourself.

We had very few Showdan members, it was not awarded unless you deserved it.
Even to get to brown belt required a direct invitation from him, he tested you, your attitude and your willingness to learn before you moved further.

Black belts were done once a year, and only in threes.
At least one would fail, so you had to strive to be better than those you trained with.
At my black belt test, two failed, one because he had "a bad attitude" and one because he was not yet enough.

I started competition fighting at my brown belt and fought for 8 years.
In the many, many fights I have participated in, I have never achieved first place, the best was third.
Sometimes I didn't even make the finals.
But I was proud to have fought some of the best in Australia and overseas.

I carry a few scars, have had quite a few broken bones, but no serious lasting debilitating injuries.
Most are from just pushing ourselves to the limit and overreaching what semi-contact is.

At 63, I'm far too old to fight competitively any more.
Still practice with my knives, my boe, my sais and hit the bag a couple of times a week.
I can look after myself, but it would have to be a short fight.

Since retirement, I have taken to getting fit again.
Swimming 1.5k twice a week, exercising and walking 6 to 7 k twice a week.
I don't do weights, and I can't jog because of a spinal injury, but walking and swimming are low impact.
I have a kayak which I usually use at least once a week, but it's at the mother in laws at the moment.

Hopefully, I will be healthy for a few more years, dad lived to over 90 and was reasonably fit until he broke his hip, from there it was downhill.

I play golf once a fortnight now, was twice a week, but it was getting too frustrating, that bloody ball never did what I wanted.
Now I'm just concentrating on swimming and walking.

[Bobby]

I started martial arts later in life, in my late 20s.
Shotokhan and Budokan.
Had a great master who was a surgeon and was only interested in students who gave their all.......

Thanks Valkie for your story.
It seems that many of us did some martial arts.
I suppose I am reminiscing about the good old days.
I loved the hard training - I thrived on it.
I did Judo for a while then Taekwondo.
I think Judo was the best for all round self defence -
Taekwondo was more a sport.

[Valkie]

I started martial arts later in life, in my late 20s.
Shotokhan and Budokan.
Had a great master who was a surgeon and was only interested in students who gave their all.......

Thanks Valkie for your story.
It seems that many of us did some martial arts.
I suppose I am reminiscing about the good old days.
I loved the hard training - I thrived on it.
I did Judo for a while then Taekwondo.
I think Judo was the best for all round self defence -
Taekwondo was more a sport.

Yeah, I always wanted to be better, but when the senior students were all champions, it was hard to get near the top.

But I was fit, strong and in knife fighting I did manage to excel, becoming undefeated for 4 years straight.
We trained with rubber karambits, with rounded ends.
They left black marks on our white Gis when struck or drawn across it.
On skin it left a red welts.

As all semi contact sparing, some attacks were illegal, but We still trained in them.

I also still practice with my throwing knives regularly.
Again, not as accurate as I would like to be.
But the 12" target at 20 feet is rarely missed
At 30 feet the accuracy drops rather sadly.
And at 10 to 15 feet, I never miss.

The movies showing accurate knife throwing over 50 or 60 feet is all bull shite.
Too much momentum is lost, accurate direction and impact questionable.
I use three weights

6 oz
10 oz
14 oz

The 6 is purely for short target stuff, woukd do little damage to a man.

The 10 is a typical throwing knife, goo penetration good accuracy

The 14 oz is near the max used by knife throwers, penetration is excellent and getting the throw right is easier, but they go right through the shed wall if you miss the target.

I practice both overt and and understand throws.
Each has an advantage depending on the target.

I'm happy to consider 15 feet as a good range, it would stop an attacker quite well with little danger of him getting at me.