I am now a blackbelt!

[saint]

I also appear to have a broken ankle. In the ER now awaiting x-rays, but the way it went "pop" and now flops to the side is a pretty good clue I think.

[Hoopz]

Congrats and tough luck about your ankle all at the same time.

In light of the conversation yesterday about Karate Kid and your achievement, I thought this video was appropriate:

[daywane]

well.... you are sitting there board to death... I was with my finger.
Take a pic. we want to see. 

[Samstag]

When can we expect to see a how-to book?

[saint]

Heh. No books about this one.

Update - I did break my foot... but just not today. X-rays don't show a new break. Appears to be a tendon/ligament thing. Have to call the ortho doctor on Monday, possibly get an MRI... Currently in cast and crutches. Apparently I broke my foot years ago though I didn't know it.

[Vanguard]

I broke a rib at some point in my life and never knew it.   I had a chest xray for some reason (don't remember why) and they asked my when I broke my rib.  To this day, I can't for the life of me remember how/when I would have done it.

Congrats on the blackbelt.

[shmokes]

I had a chest xray for some reason (don't remember why)

Probably you had a positive tuberculosis skin test.  It's pretty common.  They'll do a chest x-ray to make sure you don't have active TB.


Congratulations Saint.  If I ever see you I will punch you in the face so I can see your skills.  Or, perhaps now I will only manage an attempt. 

[Xiaou2]

If you want to test a martial artists skills, you better let them know beforehand.

 If someone tried to punch me out of the blue - they may end up crippled for life.
The reality of combat, is that you do not take chances being "Nice".   If you do,
you will more than likely end up a corpse when someone with real bad intent
attacks you.

 
 Saint, Best wishes for a speedy & full recovery.

(PS - Better to Kick with the heel/ball, and not the top of the foot)

[jamesjones626]

i have a blackbelt, got it at walmart for 5$$  HI-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO    YUK YUK YUK!

[Howard_Casto]

i have a blackbelt, got it at walmart for 5$$  HI-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO    YUK YUK YUK!

-Daniel  "What kind of belt do you have?"
-Mr. Miagi "You like?  got at Jc-Penny... on sale"

Congrats Saint!

[saint]

If you want to test a martial artists skills, you better let them know beforehand.

 If someone tried to punch me out of the blue - they may end up crippled for life.
The reality of combat, is that you do not take chances being "Nice".   If you do,
you will more than likely end up a corpse when someone with real bad intent
attacks you.

 
 Saint, Best wishes for a speedy & full recovery.

(PS - Better to Kick with the heel/ball, and not the top of the foot)

Thanks Wasn't a kick. Was doing a tamoinage (Spelling probably badly mangled. Grab opponent, put foot sideways in their gut, roll backwards while throwing them up and over your head launching them with your foot).  As I was throwing him, I heard a "pop" and the foot twisted sideways (er.. more sideways).

[saint]

Normal foot on left. Notice the extra flop to the side on the right.

[Ed_McCarron]

Careful this thread doesn't end up in P&R; looks like you might lean to the right now.

Now that thats out of my system, yikes.  Surprisingly, it doesn't look very bruised.  Doc's say how long?

[javeryh]

Congrats saint!

Also, gross.

[saint]

Careful this thread doesn't end up in P&R; looks like you might lean to the right now.

Now that thats out of my system, yikes.  Surprisingly, it doesn't look very bruised.  Doc's say how long?

Heh. No bruising at all yet actually, probably start to show up today. Won't know anything until I see ortho doc next week, can't make an appointment until tomorrow.

[RobbyMac]

Did this have anything to do with kicking a hole in your ceiling? 

[RayB]

Real black belt, or "I've been paying to go to this local dojo long enough that they graduated me to "black belt" black belt" ?
;-)

[shmokes]

Probably you had a positive tuberculosis skin test.  It's pretty common.  They'll do a chest x-ray to make sure you don't have active TB.

Only if you test positive twice, and by the time they're doing the chest x-ray, they're also prescribing nasty medications for the next year of your life (or threatening too).

Went through this a couple years ago, idiot nurse didn't know that chlorine would aggravate the test sites, etc etc.

Yeah . . . that just seems the most likely reason that someone would get a chest x-ray for which they couldn't remember the reason.  My money is on TB test.  So I guess your second test was negative and you didn't have to take the suppression meds (6 months, not a year, I think).  Why do you describe the meds as nasty?  Do they have bad side effects?

[Vanguard]

I have had a bazillion test run on my lungs.  That's why I can't remember why it was being done.   A number of years ago I had a chronic cough that wasn't producing anything.   It seem to come from nowhere.   My dad had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was a smoker.   My doctors took extra precautions and ran a number of tests.  One of the MRI's turned up "nodules".   They are basically some sort of abnormal cluster of tissue.   They were found in my liver, lungs and thyroid.  Since then, I've had CT scans, MRI's, X-rays and ultrasounds to determine what they were.   Now, I have an annual MRI and ultrasound to make sure none of them show any signs of growth.   After 3+ years, none of them have changed so I've been given a clean bill of health.   I can't recall if the chest xray was done because of the nodules or because of the original cough but it was in the last 3-4 years so it was due to either the cough or subsequent discovery of the nodules.  I've never tested positive for TB.

My doctor said a large portion of the population has nodules but never know it because they never have any sort of test that discovers them.  Once discovered, they need to be watched to rule out cancer.

[shateredsoul]

So.. you didn't fall through your roof?

or break it fighting off a bear?

[Vanguard]

Oh, so, in other words, Ocho is the reason we all pay high medical insurance premiums. 



Thanks, Mike.

What?

[saint]

Real black belt, or "I've been paying to go to this local dojo long enough that they graduated me to "black belt" black belt" ?
;-)

No paper promotions here. It's at the YMCA so there's no profit motive in the dojo.  Took 5 years for me to get here. I do not by any means consider myself a lethal weapon, but what I've learned I've honestly learned. Over the 5 years I've been laid out with bruised ribs (having had bruised ribs, please shoot me if I ever break one. Worst pain in my life ever), tore my planterus muscle in my left leg, and now whatever I've done to my right ankle. Aside from that though I'm in probably the best physical shape of my life, more flexible than the first 35 years of my life, can clear 8 feet in a dive roll, and also know some self defense as well

That said, I have much much to learn. Black belt is just the beginning.

[saint]

So.. you didn't fall through your roof?

or break it fighting off a bear?

Heh. I did fall through the roof, same foot. Probably should have taken that as an omen!

[northerngames]

If you want to test a martial artists skills, you better let them know beforehand.

 If someone tried to punch me out of the blue - they may end up crippled for life.
The reality of combat, is that you do not take chances being "Nice".   If you do,
you will more than likely end up a corpse when someone with real bad intent
attacks you.

 
 Saint, Best wishes for a speedy & full recovery.

(PS - Better to Kick with the heel/ball, and not the top of the foot)

someone so deadly should know that it is actually better you kick with the lower shin.



 most the time in a real fight your not going to get away with too many ax kicks unless they stand there for ya.

a straight kick to the stomach works sometime's for a heel kick but the shin is what most pro fighter's use as heel kicks are very limted and mostly a risky take against real people outside the movies.

[Xiaou2]

I preform a lead leg diagonal Stomp kick to the attackers knee / shin.

 Ive fought plenty of skilled fighters of multiple arts, and had little problem landing it...
and, only due to his consistent disrespect over a period of several months, I nearly broke
a guys knee in a sparring match in 1 second flat.  (a man twice my mass, grasping his
knee, rolling in the fetal position Crying for over 5 min)  I put only about 30% power into it,
and it took him several months to heal fully from it.

 Shin kicks are not very effective.  Hence why you see countless MMA shin kicks, and
both fighters are still standing.
 
 The problem with Shin kicks, besides the fact that you can break/hurt your own shin in
the process... is that they are round, and as the kick starts to land, the opp can allow his
leg to bend and absorb in that same direction... thus reducing its power / damages vastly.  Also,
round kicks with damage power are usually thrown from the rear leg, and a slow wide arc, making
them much easier to read and avoid.

 You can also take a quick sidestep to the opposite side of the kick, taking away almost all
its power.  

 However, a straight kick against the knee/shin is much harder to evade and
can not be  "absorbed".  It can be quick as a fast jab, nearly unseen to the eye.. and land
with enough power to stop a fight instantly.

 Ohh, I almost forgot... A shin kick is also usually landing on the Fleshy part of a leg.
Muscle can take a good amount of abuse. However, damage directly to a joint is 100x worse.


 The stuff you see on TV, is just that.  Its sport games.  Not real combat.  I dont play games.
I train for real life / death situations... where split seconds and maximum potentials are a must.

[shateredsoul]

that's it, we need to have a byoac not videogame fighter tournament

one condition, each fighter must provide a mandatory training montage video

[northerngames]

DING! DING! lol...

[Dexter]

Godd man Saint, welcome to the black belt club!

[Hoopz]

I've got $10 on Xiaou2 to lose against anyone he fights.

No bet and I'll bet on anything.

He'd carriage return em to death!

 

[Hoopz]

Hrm over/under on the number of hits he takes before he falls down like a ---smurfette---?

I'll take under on 3.

You can't make the line AND take the under.  One or the other.   

I'd put the line at 1.5 hits.   

[shmokes]

I train for real life / death situations... where split seconds and maximum potentials are a must.

Does it ever get annoying how few life/death situations you find yourself in?  Like . . . I'd be kind of annoyed to finish school and then go my whole life with no exposure to the law. 

[saint]

I have taken JuJitsu for 5 years. I have taken Aikido, Kyukido, and Hapkido for approximately a year now. I have been instructed by my JuJitsu instructor, who is an 8th dan (8th degree for you laymen) JuJitsu martial artist, 6th dan Karate, and 2nd dan Judo. I have been instructed by 4 other similarly ranked instructors as well. I have, I think, a broad spectrum of exposure to philosophies of martial arts.

What I have been taught is situational assessment and control. I have been taught lethal techniques. I have also been taught disabling technique, and simply countering techniques. I've been taught to use non combative responses as well (i.e. talk someone down instead of fighting).

If you were to come up to me to punch me, responding to you with lethal force would not be my default reaction. My level of response would depend on my initial assessment of the situation. Granted, in a split second there's not a lot of time to think, so my response might be more or less aggressive than is called for, but that's where situational awareness and training come in.

My hierarchy of responses would be to avoid and tell you to chill, avoid and strike you or put you in a controlling lock to get you to back off, avoid you and do something disabling (i.e. coming at you just shy of full force, attempting to break a limb, or to knock you out, or to otherwise stop your ability to come at me), and only as a last resort attempt to do you lethal harm.

My teaching and philosophy is not the same as Xiaou2's. I can't tell you his is wrong. I can only tell you it's different than mine. My buddy (black belt in Kung Fu) came up behind his instructor in a parking lot one dark night for fun and did a "boo" of some kind for fun, and his instructor whirled around and about clocked him pulling back at the last moment. His instructor told him not to do that, he was lucky he wasn't badly hurt. Different philosophies and circumstances.

Now, if you came at me with a knife or other weapon, or you threatened my wife or children, I would immediately ramp up to extreme force. Situational awareness and training...

My long winded point is that in my training, there isn't a single response level. It will vary. This is based on training in 4 different martial arts disciplines.

--- saint

[shmokes]

saint . . . why bother with all of that when you could just kill a ---maternal-smurf---?  At least I think that's what Xiaou is saying . . .

[saint]

saint . . . why bother with all of that when you could just kill a ---maternal-smurf---?  At least I think that's what Xiaou is saying . . .

Too much paperwork.

[Hoopz]

Saint, I missed the caveat that said once you're off the crutches.   

[saint]

No caveat necessary - with one busted ankle, I still have 3 limbs to get you with

[Xiaou2]

 This is what happens when people project their own ideas into what is being said.

 Firstly, as I said, I train for Real combat.   This does not mean that in every situation, I
would take a life, or break a limb.  It Means, that I train in a manor that is more realistic to
REAL COMBAT.  I do not train to avoid certain areas, such as would be required in a sport.
I also train on hard sandbags, and not soft foam pads.  This again, is because in Real combat,
you dont have time to strap on wrist tape and gloves... and if your fist and wrists are weak
internally... they may get hurt and or break - in addition to you not being able to deliver
full power levels.

 That said... just as Saints post describes... if someone sneaks up on me in a dark parking
garage... the reaction in not going to be a friendly one.   You can theorize all you want... but
had that kid been a real thug, and that Sifu tried to do a "nice" move... he may have been
a few lines of text in the newspapers today.

 I also follow a conduct of appropriate reactions, and appropriate force levels.  So far, Ive never
needed to deal out anything that caused major damages.  After I nearly broke that guys knees
to prove to him that my skill & power, and the techniques of Wing Chun work... I felt very bad
at the results.  I know what Im capable of... and after that, I never sought to prove it using
heavy force again.
 
 Now, Ive had a guy jump out of his car and want to fight... and I talked him down... which
happens to be the best course of action.  Ive talked several potential fights down actually.

 The only time I couldnt talk someone down... (In a goth nightclub)  He went to strike me with
intent, so I punched him hard enough in the head to dizzy him, as well as breaking his glasses
in two.  His inflated ego immediately backed off, and came the instant respect.

 In that same place, different time... A guy wouldnt leave this poor woman alone.  I asked her
if she needed help... and the guy cockily got in my face, and told me to mind my own business.
He went to grasp me, and I immediately swept my arms around and countered so fast,  that he realized what he was up against... and said he didnt come here for trouble!  heh

 
 I dont advocate violence to solve problems.  But I DO Advocate realistic training.  Something
that seems is getting more and more lost over the years of time.

 Why bother to learn and develop it, if it may never be used?

 Why keep an emergency candle if you may never need it?
  Why keep a few canned goods, if you may never need it?
   Why learn wilderness survival, if you may never need it?
 
 There are many factors as to why I choose to spend time learning the arts.
(In no particular order of reasoning)

1) Confidence & Piece of mind.  No need to Fear anyone, or any situation, ever again.

2) Just in Case. For me, My family, My loved ones.. or Even... complete strangers in need.

3) Health. Better shape. Better coodination. Able to avoid being injured, & can take injury
better than non-artists.  Ive learned breathing techs that have aided me, and
mental techniques which have calmed my mind, and set me at ease.  As well as a higher
awareness, and level of focus.

4) Its fun. Like a game of Robotron, but even more intense and adrenalized.

5) Its an Art form.  Like Painting and Dancing.

6) Challenge. Takes practice, dedication, and developed skill to become effective.

7) Its not a job.  Its something done for pleasure.  Its satisfying, and enjoyable in more
ways than I can ever explain.  Its life changing...  and I cant recommend it highly enough,
even if its only a few years time at most.

[shmokes]

I still don't get why you want so badly to kill people all the time . . .

[Xiaou2]

 Additionally,  I feel I should mention a few more things...

  A Bully, will pick on you if they think you are weak.  They can see it in your eyes.. and the
mere way you move.  They often pick on the shorter guys, cause they believe small guys are
easier targets.   They will react negatively with No provocation on your part at all.

 Not only have I experienced this to a lesser extent,  but I have buddies with more true
unprovoked conflict stories than you can ever imagine.

 As for me, Ive been approached several times at a club by punks, merely cause I look thin,
weak, and non threatening.   (When I drink, Im all giggles and smiles)

 If it was not for my Confidence and experience, I may have reacted in a way that either
would have made them think I was a pushover,  hence a fight... OR, I would have reacted out
of my own Fears, in a non-skilled way... possibly causing me a trip to the hospital... or worse.

 Because of my training and secure attitude, they pretty much can see that Im not phased at
all... which scared them.  Makes them realize that they better be careful.  IF Ive ever had to
make any martial Gesture... most Immediately will back off.   The rest.. can and have been
dealt with, by skilled hands.

 Sure, you COULD simply TRY to project that same level of attitude... but what happens If
they start something anyways?  Also, are you so sure you will hold it together?  What
will you be feeling inside?  Fear. Terror.   Yet, with Good training, you are fearless. Calm.
Clear and unphased.   This level of internal achievement is priceless.  Its like a heavy weight
lifted off your shoulders.

 In my short life so far, here are the situations that have took place after my training...
In which training has helped to keep a positive outcome:

1) Sister needed to move things out from EX bfs.  BF, who generally is a mean punk, was scarred
of me, and so were his stronger "buddies" who were standing nearby. (when he found out I was
on my way)   Had my sister not had anyone to keep the peace, she may have been assaulted
by this idiot, when trying to get her things.

2) Guy who jumped out of car, wanting to fight me, cause he had a misunderstanding.
Got 2ft away from me, with fists up.  Had I not been calm and confident, he would have struck me
for sure.  I talked him down, and made him realize his roadly ignorance.

3) Macho artists who couldnt stand a reasonable critique, ( I explained it was not a good idea
to try to teach someone a single Karate move, as they would never be able to master it,
and properly defend themselves with One single lesson)   and wanted to take my head off
to prove himself.  While you could say that it was partially provoked... I was very nice, as well
as concerned for the person.  I got back a vicious response, merely due to problem with Ego
bruising.  This situation could happen to anyone, such as mentioning a differing point of view,
rooting for a different team...etc.  Theres always someone who can not control their emotions
well.. and will react physically immediately.

4) Guy at the local nightclub touching a girl and pushing her around, even after numerous
attempts to push him away...  Then he jumps in my face when I attempt to make sure she
was alright.  Had I Not gotten involved.. Maybe all would have been fine.  But, maybe she
would have ended up in a ditch somewhere later on.  Maybe Mr Woman-Dominator will learn
to control himself a bit better - merely out of fear of the consequences from someone like
me, who wont stand by and let people like him do as they please.

5) Brother was being threatened by some punk kid who he used to hang out with.
I went over and verbally made it known that hed better back off, or he would get
schooled in the Arts.

 
 So, Ive never much had to resort to any real violence... yet, my skills have gave me greater
internal strengths which I never would have had...  Had I not developed the martial arts
to an effective level. 

 I do not regret one single moment of my time training.

[shmokes]

But it's your apparent bloodthirsty desire to kill people that I wish to understand . . .