Beginning Martial Arts

You are definately not too old (at 23) to begin training. You're still young and should be able to progress quite well. Most schools have seperate adult and children's classes of all skill levels, from beginning to advanced. You won't get the poo beaten out of you as a beginner. That will come later.

 

With my diet I try to eat alot of lean protein and I avoid junk food and soda like the plague. Sunday is my free-day.

 

i have been trainning for 3 months, my sensei has taught me 1 kata. my friend laughed at me when i told him that my sensei wont teach me another kata until he's happy with the 1 i have learnt. even if it takes a year.

 

no you can not fly (pigs can)

 

I've been to an instructor that only teaches one kata, and you start learning it after you have spend 6 months doing punches in horse stance.

I've been to another instructor that teaches 3-4 Kata's from the day you join.

Which is better? Neither - they are just different approaches to teaching martial arts.

I personally think it makes sense to learn one Kata properly before moving on to the next, and that is how I used to teach. However, that is just my personal approach. There are pros and cons of both methods.

 

Haha probably best shown recently in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. When I was growing up, I used to watch all the old movies and all us kids would be "Ahya do people really fly lah when they master gung fu koh koh?" Haha the wonders of child hood.

There is a story of a Chinese emperor, he believed in and loved Dragons. A great sign of wisdom, others didn't really share his views, some did. One day a dragon learnt of the Emperor's love of dragons and decided to pay him a visit. When he arrived, the Emperor ran off screaming. I believe in that, if you believe in something than it will be true.

So if you believe those masters could fly, then they probably could if they wanted too. Maybe they just choose not too in case they scare those who can't. Or simply won't believe.

 

**Opinion Based On Logic**

I don't want to stir up something. I really don't think you can "Fly", but rather, perhaps slow down your descent, somehow. If you could jump real high, then come down slowly, would that be flying? I think people can levitate, or the idea of levitating wouldn't even be considered. Again, opinion based on logic.

 

Hehe no please do 8)

I'm not really sure what defines "flying" in terms of your body being suspended in the air. And well my beliefs on the human body being able to fly, well it's a nice idea isn't it? But that a side, no i'm not convinced off, but I'm open to demonstrations.

 

Maybe give it a few million years and humans might be able to fly properly. There's those suits with the sort of webbed bits under the arms and stuff to create a sort of mini parachute (they probably have a technical name somewhere), perhaps someday we'll evolve to do that.

...I just think that'd be fun. ^^

I think how you jump pretty much determines how you fall, like in dance if you point your toes and go all delicate and stuff you tend to land smoothly and gracefully rather than just sort of splatting down. I don't think you can change how you fall too much though, be cool if you could.

 

People seriously think the masters can semi-fly? I...They shoulda...sent...a...poet...

I am at a complete loss for words.

 

You mean like those people who get pretty much into a butterfly stretch and use the upward movement of their legs to propell them off the ground but tell themselves that is levitation because they paid five hundred bucks for seminar?

 

Im thinking of starting a MA,but I don't know what would fit me

im 12 years old
i weight abt 45 kg
im about 160 cm long
im pretty flexible,i.e i can put my hand under my foot when im standing straight
I want to stay as CALM as possible

there are only few choices in my town they are:
Taek Won Do,Wadoryu karate,judo,Hokutoryu ju-jutsu

I prefer TKD,but what u think????

 

don't know about other ninjutsu classes but we only start on weapons for grades when we get to about 6th kyu .. but our sensi does throw in random weapons classes

 

about the flying thingy, it really depends on your beliefs. sure, it could happen, if you spent 25 years of your life summoning that chi of yours, but why do that when i could wait 10 for some guy to invent hoverboots? seriously though, "flying" isn't impossible, it's just that no one's stupid enough to go try it.

 

I think Buzz Lightyear put it pretty good in Toy Story:

"It's not flying. It's falling with style."

:woo:

 

Beginning and need Advice

I didnt want to start a new thread, so i decided this was the best place...

i'm looking for the proper martial art to practice... I'm a stocky out-of-shape Asian guy... actually, i weigh like 180lbs and 5'8... i used to do a lot of rock climbing, so my upper is more developed... and when i say im stocky, i mean, naturally stocky... im like plain peasant stock from Southern China, meant to carry a big load... im 19 turning on to 20, so im gonna lose the benefits of youth soon

anyways, im looking for a martial art that will fit me most appropriately... im not really agile nor coordinated, but pretty flexible... i was looking into the soft-types of martial arts more, but i'm unsure if that will fit me... i used to do Taekwondo from like age 8 to age 12, and got a Junior Black Belt.. but I quit, and I dont think I want to go back to that again... I did like 10 lessons of Hung Gar Kungfu, and though it was fun and felt good and all that... i feel like due to the small class and stuff, im just learning drills and nothing more (no philosophy, weapons training, etc etc)... of course, i never gave enough time for it to actually get anywhere besides the basic horse stance...

so i wonder, what do you guys have to suggest for a guy like me? I want to do martial arts because I want to participate in a healthy activity... self-defense is of course a plus, but its not a primary concern... i was doing wushu also cause of "heritage", but am willing to look outside traditional Chinese martial arts... most importantly, i want to learn to develop my body back into what I was like a kid, a frigging monkey that could take any beating (i got lazy n fat after stopping TKD and starting to do school)... graceful instead of clumsy, focused power instead of brute strength

im not looking for the best martial art... I'm looking for the most appropriate one for my body type and my goals... if you can advise me for a specific martial art that will be great... can you also suggest me a specific school i should look into in the Seattle (WA) area?

thanx a lot guys...

P.S. just for the hell of it, can Ninjitsu guys really disappear? and do they flip out and kill ppl? haha j.k, I did read the warnings...

 

Wow a first post that actually clearly states its not asking which art is the best thats gotta be a first! Welcome to MAP

Im actually not sure what artial art would suit what your looking for best so I think Ill leave that to some more qualified members to advise.

However, I dunno if you've considered it and Im actually not really sure if its the kinda thing your looking for but seeing as how you asked for schools in Seattle and I actually know of a decent one I think I'll mention it... theres a Wing Chun school ran by a Sifu Julio Ferrer when I was over in the summer I visited the club and aside from the very friendly atmosphere- that sifu seemed to know his stuff, thats his webpage if you want a look http://www.sifujuliowingchun.com/

 

You watch too many movies A ninja can't "disappear", persay, but they are masters at blending in with their surroundings to where it's believed you can look straight at a ninja and never see them. Also, true ninja would only kill when it was for the better of the "universe", since every action the ninja takes is considered to be some small part of the larger, governing universe. Of course there were the rouges and ones that just hired themselves out as hitmen, but every heritage has it's blacksheep.

 

Don't most ninja's wear black anyways?

I'm pretty sure ninjas can't dissappear, because that wouldn't be logical. You could say the human eye sucks when it comes to spotting stuff, so yeah, a ninja can dissappear in that sense. All I know about ninjas is their big katana sword things and then the ninja stars (Hence the name) and then the ... Umm.. Other stuff. Yep. That's ninja for ya....

:woo:

 

Actually "ninja stars", shuriken, were around long before the actual "ninja" came on the scene, but close enough It would take too long to explain the history of them here. And yes, the traditional uniform is normally black, because ninjas attack at night to heighten the element of suprise. But a ninja uniform can take on other colors though, the goal is simply to blend in with the environment and not be seen.