Martial Arts

[mwanafalsafa]

Is anyone here a martial artist?

I don't have any first hand experience with it but I've been getting interested in Kung Fu for the past few weeks and I intend to find a school and sign up for lessons as soon as I get settled in Honolulu (2 weeks away).

[Nords]

We've been studying taekwondo for a bit over four years at Oahu Taekwondo Center (http://www.oahutaekwondo.com/). You might be near the Aiea or the Waipio dojangs. A couple of the best instructors I've ever seen for any sport.

Besides all of the great things it's done for my coordination & reflexes, I like its full-contact competition aspect for our daughter. Oddly enough I find it a lot easier on the joints than judo or hapkido, too.

One of the students, Anju Jason, is representing the Marshall Islands at the Olympics. Brian McCutcheon is still having a hard time believing that he's coaching an Olympian...

[Leo Lakio]

Is anyone here a martial artist?You might also get some ideas from this (http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=12528) old HT thread.

[Hilo Artist]

I have trained since 7 years old now a 43 year old guy. I now passed my 30 plus years of experience of Muay thai , Kenpo,Shorin Ryu, and Brazialian Jiu Jitsu down to my oldest daughter 13 years old and my 5 year old son.

My daughter recently defended herself and her friends against two bully boys in her school , actually sent them home battered , bruised, and ashamed to return to school after being humiliated by the pretty girl. My daughters first love is dancing hula and participates in the Merrie Monarch here in Hilo. But get on her bad side and she hits like a man!

heres a clip of her in action
http://www.bjpenn.com/video/video/show?id=2022293%3AVideo%3A202655

[Vanguard]

I'm planning to take my kendo 1st dan exam this winter! :)

[Ron Whitfield]

I think every child should be trained in swimming, wrestling, karate, CPR & various types of emergency aid.

[LikaNui]

Hilo Artist, that was an excellent clip. Congrats to your daughter, and congrats to you for teaching your kids!

[Hilo Artist]

Hilo Artist, that was an excellent clip. Congrats to your daughter, and congrats to you for teaching your kids!

Thank you for your nice reply Lika Nui!
I have three children in all, the middle girl age 10 dislikes Martial arts and is the pacifist of my three.

I guess you could say it is in their blood as my mother was also a Black Belt in Shorin Ryu Karate.

[MyopicJoe]

My daughter recently defended herself and her friends against two bully boys in her school , actually sent them home battered , bruised, and ashamed to return to school after being humiliated by the pretty girl.

Two against one, eh? Suckers must have thought she was "jus one chick." Your girl has a good stare down.

BTW, which camera did you film that video with? Low-light conditions?

[Hilo Artist]

Two against one, eh? Suckers must have thought she was "jus one chick." Your girl has a good stare down.

BTW, which camera did you film that video with? Low-light conditions?

Yes, Those two boys really thought my daughter was this quiet girl with long hair. Next thing one was on the ground and the other in an arm bar. The best part of this, those two boys were suspended from school as one boy pushed her and the other yanked her hair first. She got off Scott free and went on to make friends with them and got their respect.

As for my camcorder, I shot it with a Panasonic AG DVC 60 which is a prosumer 3 CCD cam. I got it about a year ago to film documentaries and also short segments for a local Tv show we have here in Hilo. I opened the aperature up as the lighting in my living room was not the greatest for video. The DVC 60 is known for it's good low light shooting. But as with all hobbies, I want to upgrade to HD!

[MyopicJoe]

I'm planning to take my kendo 1st dan exam this winter!

Congrats on getting that far, Vanguard! G'luck with the test.


yanked her hair

I assume the hair yanking was what started the fight, as opposed to the boy's desperate attempt to win after your girl started whupping his butt.


She got off Scott free and went on to make friends with them and got their respect.That's rather savvy of her. Some bullies are like that. If you're weak, they'll despise you and be mean. If you're tough, they'll respect you and be nice. They could end up being loyal friends, assuming your daughter feels they are worthy of her friendship. Maybe she'll be a positive influence on them.

Heh. We all know how boys pick on the girls they like ;)



In regards to the OP:

I'm not a martial artist, but any boy growing up in Hawaii is gonna have some exposure. I'll share my observations about the few I have dabbled with. I'm sure the more experienced folks will correct me if I'm wrong.


Wing Chun Kung-Fu Association of Hawaii (http://wingchunassoc.com/faq.htm)

It's a short-range, fists-of-fury type of Chinese martial art. It's short-ranged in that you want to be close enough to your opponent so your forearms cross. You sense your opponent's intentions and weaknesses through touch and pressure. You also try to jam and control your opponent's arms.

If you're far away from your opponent, you're taught to quickly "bridge" the gap so you can "touch hands". Once you get into this ideal range, you're trained to stay there, so that means no backing up and always pressing the attack. You may sidestep a bit, but you're expected to drive into your opponent's "center line".

I didn't stick with it long enough to find out what a Wing Chun fighter does when the fight goes to the ground. I think the advice was, "Don't go there," which means learn that elsewhere.

One strength of the Wing Chun system is its simplicity. You can train up a person to a decent level of proficiency within a "short" amount of time. If you had a conscript army, this is a practical martial art to teach them.

I was lucky to have had a good Sifu. It's hard to explain, but he felt more like a sports coach than a traditional martial arts teacher. He was tough and pretty scary, but he was also kind. Even though I only studied under him for a year, I still have unconscious habits to this day (especially when opening doors).

If you want to do gymnastics, acrobatics, or dance later in life; you probably shouldn't practice Wing Chun. They train you to lock your body into an unnatural position. This serves a practical purpose within the fighting system, but it can create bad habits outside of Wing Chun. My classmate went to a Pilates instructor and she had this concerned/puzzled look on her face. "Your hips and torso...they move as if they're one piece."

Sifu would be proud.


Dong Family International Tai Chi Chuan Association (http://www.dongtaichi.com/)

Most Tai Chi taught today is health oriented, but Tai Chi does have martial roots. Master Dong smiles a lot and looks like a push over, but he's a rock when you "touch hands". I have no doubt he could man handle someone in his weight class. I have yet to see a Tai Chi practicioner enter a PRIDE fighting championship though. Anyways, it seems to me the real martial training is kept within in the family, and rarely taught to outsiders. None the less, the Dong Tai Chi school seems to be more "combat" oriented than most. Many schools teach a "slow set" (health), but there's also a "fast set" (cat like), a "hard set" (like isometric strength training), and a "fa-jing set" (efficient transmission of physical force through your body, into an opponent).

As a new student you'll be learning solo forms a lot. You might do "pushing hands" a few times, here and there, but you won't get into anything "combatish" for years. Well at least that's how I last remember it. IMHO, Tai Chi is best as a side practice, to augment your main self defense training. You can learn good body awareness from it.

Here's an interesting story (http://www.dongtaichi.com/Writings/100years.html) from Master Dong (who doesn't speak a lot of English BTW).


Genbukan Ninjitsu / Ninpo (http://www.genbukan.org/)

In Japan, I believe the main school of ninjitsu is the Bujinkan, headed by Hatsumi-sensei. At some point there was a big rift and Tanemura-sensei split off to form the Genbukan school. The two schools HATE each other. They even attack each other's wikipedia pages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bujinkan). It's a modern day ninja blood feud, without the blood. Maybe they strangle each other with mouse cords.

Anyways, I trained for a while under the bastard Genbukan (I can already feel the Bujinkan shadows moving behind me). Ninjitsu is a martial art geared specifically to fight armored Samurai. Culturally and historically very interesting, but not very practical, since you don't see that many Samurai hangin' out in Da Hood.

Now to be fair to the ninjitsu practitioners out there, I didn't study for long and I didn't study under any masters, but IMHO the techniques are just way too complicated and intricate to be practical on the street. I think if you could dedicate every moment of your life to ninjitsu, then yeah you could use it in self defense...CUZ REAL NINJAS FIGHT ALL THE TIME (http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm)

What clinched it for me was watching a ninjitsu training video. It went something like this:

"Situation #7: Disarming Knife Wielding Attacker while Unarmed Defender is in the sitting position"

WTF!?!?!?

If a guy is coming at me with a knife, I'm not gonna try to disarm him. I'm gonna throw the chair I'm sitting on at him, and run as fast as I can. You will not believe how many times you can get stabbed before you realize what's going on.

Now the one thing I did love about ninjitsu was the taijitsu training. You basically learn how to do dive rolls on concrete. Trust me. You learn VERY quickly to maintain a round shape and not a square one.

Also, my classmates were really cool guys. Skinheads, the lot of them. One was haole, one was Filipino, and the other Japanese. I learned that Skinheads is a subculture built around Oi music. The Neo Nazis hijacked the image.

(once again, sorry for poking fun at ninjitsu. if a person is dedicated and realistic about their art, that deserves respect. also, hawaii isn't the mecca of ninjitsu, so the training here may not be representative of the art as a whole)


Final thoughts

The "best" system is the one which suits your body type, personality, etc. the most. A good teacher is more important than the system. A good teacher is one you click with.

Self defense does not equal survival. Survival is owning a gun and training to use it properly...and owning lots of flashlights.

For some reason it seems most of the hard core martial artists are on the Big Island.

[Hilo Artist]

Myopicjoe

At this point, I believe you are correct about the Big Island, the town of Hilo is currently the top destination for Mixed Martial Arts in the State.

Everyone is headed to UFC World Lightweight & former Welterwaight Champion and also Brazilian Mundial World Champion BJ Penn's academy to train or to visit.

I saw WEC world Bantam weight Champion Uriah Faber walking the streets of Hilo when he came to visit BJ, Kid Yamamoto from Japan, and even Former UFC World Light Heavy weight champion Chuck Liddell here as well.

I'm really proud of BJ and his acomplishments! I used to hold the Muay Thai bag for him when he was a kid at the Waiakea Rec he was crazy strong back then as well!

[turtlegirl]

[quote=MyopicJoe;206104]

If a guy is coming at me with a knife, I'm not gonna try to disarm him. I'm gonna throw the chair I'm sitting on at him, and run as fast as I can. You will not believe how many times you can get stabbed before you realize what's going on.

Now the one thing I did love about ninjitsu was the taijitsu training. You basically learn how to do dive rolls on concrete. Trust me. You learn VERY quickly to maintain a round shape and not a square one.
[quote]

Hahahaha!! ahhhhhahaha! LOL! I used to take ninjitsu, but the class moved quickly, and the point I dropped out was when the instructor had us fighting with two long sticks (there's a name for them, but I don't remember). I just thought it created an accident waiting to happen.

As far as dive rolls - always roll like a ball, never roll like a brick! :eek: And wing your arms out a bit to protect your head.

[MyopicJoe]

LOL! I used to take ninjitsu

Hahaha. Quick! What's the secret ninja handshake? ;)

Hmm. Is that why you named your turtle Ninja?


Perhaps the staff they used was a Jo (~4') or a Bo (~6').

[turtlegirl]

[quote=MyopicJoe;206249]
Hmm. Is that why you named your turtle Ninja?
[quote]

Yep!! I got her the same year I was ninja-ing!

[Marco]

I have trained since 7 years old now a 43 year old guy. I now passed my 30 plus years of experience of Muay thai , Kenpo,Shorin Ryu, and Brazialian Jiu Jitsu down to my oldest daughter 13 years old and my 5 year old son.

My daughter recently defended herself and her friends against two bully boys in her school , actually sent them home battered , bruised, and ashamed to return to school after being humiliated by the pretty girl. My daughters first love is dancing hula and participates in the Merrie Monarch here in Hilo. But get on her bad side and she hits like a man!

heres a clip of her in action
http://www.bjpenn.com/video/video/show?id=2022293%3AVideo%3A202655

Great video of your daughter, Hilo Artist. Those are some mean MT knees and elbows she was throwing! And nice hook! I actually sent in a shadowboxing video to that contest at bjpenn.com, too, but I can't remember my password to login to link it. Ah well. Didn't win anyways :p


I used to box Golden Gloves and still regularly spar with my buddies and cousins a couple times a week. So, say about 15 years boxing experience. About 3 years Muay Thai experience. And almost 2 years of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which is what I'm currently doing and in love with. Rolling is such a different experience than sparring, but real good fun and sinking in a deep submission is just as satisfying to me as landing a clean shot.

In my garage, currently have a pretty nice boxing/grappling area set up, complete with heavy, speed, and double-end bags, wrestling mats for grappling and a bubba dummy I made from scratch.