143 replies to this topic

[nephron]

I know at least a few regular posters probably do...

So what all do ya practice? How long ya been doin it?

Expound....

[tofu]

I am a negotiater but I did learn hand to hand combat in the Marine Corps called line training. something of Judo and Knife Fighting combined. Somewhat effective tool if their no other means to survive.

6 years of that.

1 month of Sho Tai Ryu a form of Karate.

but no martial arts expert hehe never stayed in it long enough.

Edited by tofu, 28 August 2006 - 02:01 PM.

[budgie]

Black belt ist Dan in Wado Ryu style Karate - a traditional form, not sports.
Been back at it a couple of years after a 20 year absence.

Also did a little Okinawan weapons training (Sai, Bo, Okinawan Nanchaku) but never reached any grade in that as it was costing too much to travel to classes.

Tried Judo when I was younger too but it wasnt for me.

Still a peacful sorta guy though, I get all the trouble I need from my wife and kids

Budgie

[Xaltotun]

WMA (Western Martial Arts) in the Liechtenauer tradition. Two-handed fencing and some pole-arms.

"Two hands, two edges."

[PainBrush]

When I was a lot younger I used to get the stuffing kicked outta me by a couple young Korean neighbor kids whose uncle was a 'very' good Tai Kwon Do instructor- we used to practice in their back yard . Like all expert western practitioners of the eastern martial-arts - I tired of getting tossed & kicked around so I learned to use my bigger size & weight to 'stop' getting the stuffing kicked outta me !! hahaha . I also developed a hard turtle-like carapace of a skull on my noggin from all the bumps I took learning Nunchaku - can't say what style - it's all & none - call it Jeet Kun Do I guess . Dabbled in kick-boxing , excelled at regular boxing . Now the only martial art I still regularly practice is Tai Mai Shoos .

[vikingwarrior]

When I was young I dabbled in lots of different styles. Tae Kwon Do for years as a young kid but as I got older I came to the realization that Tae Kwon Do is really just a competition style, and I wanted more real world kind of training, so I went on to Hwa Rang Do, which is a Korean variation of Jujitsu, and then some Aikido. Some freestyle wrestling in high school too, does that count? But I haven't kept up with it since college, maybe 8 years or so. And the only time I ever used any of it in real life was fighting drunks when I was a bouncer, and there was only one time that I was ever really challenged, cause usually beating up a drunk guy isn't too difficult!

[Hyborian Frog]

When I was younger...

Tae Kwon Do (4 years)
Kenjutsu/Iaijutsu (3 years)
Aikido (1 year)
Goju Ryu Karate (six months)

Currently...

Eishin Ryu Iaido (Samurai Sword)

The samurai sword(Iaido, Kenjutsu, Iaijutsu) is by far the most fun I have ever had training in Martial Arts. I plan to train in swordsmanship for the rest of my life. I do respect the various Budo, especially the breathing katas of Goju Ryu. Aikido is heavily influenced by the Samurai Sword and I find it and it's older forefather, Aiki Jujutsu, very fascinating.

[nephron]

Been doin wing chun for 'bout 3 years. It's good stuff. Slap-happy wing chun isnt't very barbaric of me I know, but at least it's not required that I wear some silly outfit when I do it.

Haven't been in any sort of real sort of fight outside of class since high school (15 years already? How did that happen?!). The oppurtunity either hasn't presented itself, or maybe I'm just too apathetic.

Was lucky enough to get to play at ARMA in Houston a few times. For those of you that have been to the site (www.thehaca.com) and thought. "Whoa...that looks cool. That John Clements guy seems pretty good"...yeah he is. I got to spar with the guy for a few minutes. My ass got kicked. All I really remember about it was sweat in my eyes, struggling to breathe and lift the damn practice sword while Clements was buffeting me about head, torso, arms, legs and other assorted body parts while saying "Keep going. You learn better when you're tired".

It was cool. I recommend y'all go.

[Warduke]

Had about 4 years of tae-kwon-do as a younun. And a few good old fashion street fights. Other then that I spend more time beating up my heavy bag, I would like to pick up a combination of Jujutsu and Boxing eventually.

[Brad_The_Destroyer]

I've been practicing Hung Gar Kung Fu, most famously known for its Southern Shaolin roots and for its legendary lineage, for a few years. Its most famous Grandmaster is Wong Fei Hung who is portrayed in literally hundreds of kung fu movies. It is, imo, one of the greatest chinese kung fu styles, very powerful, internal and external.

[Taranaich]

I've been practising Chen style Tai Chi for a good 6 years, and started practising with the 49 posture Jian (sword) form and 13 posture Gun (staff) form about 5 years ago. I'm pretty good, I'm a fast learner.

For all those who'd scoff, I'd like to point out the the slow movement of Tai Chi burns more calories than surfing, and almost as many as downhill skiiing.

At some point I'd love to join an SCA and learn how to actually swing my claymore. As for now I'm rather awkwardly trying to apply my Jian form, but it just doesn't work at all, and applying techniques to swords that aren't designed for such uses is kinda lame anyway.

[slideyfoot]

I know at least a few regular posters probably do...

So what all do ya practice? How long ya been doin it?

Expound....

I prefer to put it into hours, as there have been a number of occasions when I haven't been able to train consistently over the course of a year or more (most recently, irritating shoulder injury. Grr.) The main ones are Zhuan Shu Kuan (487hrs), Fencing (30hrs), MMA (26hrs), Kickboxing (10.5hrs) and Judo (10hrs) - I've dabbled in various others, but all less than 10hrs each.

I'm hoping to start BJJ in the near future, though I've been delayed by that shoulder injury for the past year or so. You'll find me babbling on various martial art sites, such as Bullshido (mainly the Throwdown section), or on various Facebook groups.

[Kortoso]

I have a black belt in dilettante-fu.

Started out in tae kwon do, foil fencing, kendo, iaido, karate (s hito-ryu), escrima (Pedoy/derobio), tai chi, kenpo/jujutsu, ninpo, jeet-kune-do, BJJ, jujutsu (Danzan-ryu), WMA (Fiore).... ummm... oh yeah, etc. Can't forget the etc.

[PainBrush]

Can't forget the unsaid ' etceteras ' - those are the only ones that count - all the rest is just practice right ?

[Xaltotun]

WMA (Fiore).... ummm... oh yeah, etc. Can't forget the etc.

Ah, il Maestro dei Liberi!
That's what I started with, before Meister Liechtenauer.

[slideyfoot]

foil fencing

I only ever got the chance to do fencing back at school (and yeah, that was entirely due to "ooo, ooo, I want to be a knight!" type thinking ), but never moved past foil. I'd love to get the chance to do saber or epee, though I'd need plenty of refreshing on foil first as its been a long time. Then again, is there much cross-over between the three types, or are they all completely unrelated in terms of the motions etc?

BJJ

How far did you get with that, and what did you think of it?

At some point I'd love to join an SCA and learn how to actually swing my claymore.

Me too (well, except for the 'my' bit - the only sword I've got is some small souvenir jobby from Toledo ), although I'm assuming that a group like ARMA would be the place to go for authenticity?

[Kortoso]

Foil, and epee are enough alike that you'd have no trouble transitioning. The main difference AFAIK is the weight of the weapon and target areas. If you're looking to explore Renaissance rapier a la Solomon Kane, this would be good preparation. It doesn't apply much toward typical knightly combat, although recently I was training in Regia spear and in that the techniques map across pretty well, who'd a thunk it? Sabre is a different beast, and it's fun; it helps if you're getting into boffer combat as in Belegarth or that other group. They all help in teaching the discipline of footwork and reactions.

BJJ (Brazilian Ju-Jutsu), where to start? The classes are run in a more casual manner than I'm used to in traditional Japanese arts. I was told by my earliest sensei that the discipline of sitting up straight, straightening out your gi, giving respect, etc., helps to screen out the bullies and jerks and keeps the skills to those who have respect. I found that in the BJJ "dojo" I trained at that indeed, the jerks and bullies were not screened out at all, and they were being taught skills that they could easily use for robbery and rape. That's not a good thing.

Plus, BJJ students often say that most fights wind up on the ground thus that's all they teach. For me, the ground is where the other guy belongs. A boxer will tell you that all fights start standing up, therefore that's all you need to know.

I moved on to study with a more traditional ju-jutsu school where we trained in all ranges and techniques, and everyone showed respect or they were out. Put in two or three years there before they moved the dojo out of town and I discovered WMA.

For sword, first check out http://www.swordforum.com - there are a large number of excellent independant WMA schools right now, teaching a variety of sword traditions. Where are you located, by the way?

[Almuric]

I own a bokken, a wooden version of a Japanese katana, used for training purposes. Some of my friends know some legitimate swordfighting and have schooled me in proper stance and methods of holding the blade. I can at least pose halfway convincingly with the thing.

[slideyfoot]

Foil, and epee are enough alike that you'd have no trouble transitioning. The main difference AFAIK is the weight of the weapon and target areas. If you're looking to explore Renaissance rapier a la Solomon Kane, this would be good preparation. It doesn't apply much toward typical knightly combat, although recently I was training in Regia spear and in that the techniques map across pretty well, who'd a thunk it? Sabre is a different beast, and it's fun; it helps if you're getting into boffer combat as in Belegarth or that other group. They all help in teaching the discipline of footwork and reactions.

If I got back into it, would probably be through the fencing club at uni (depending when they train - I'm part-time, so not on campus most of the week). So thats probably my easiest route, although I've got a fairly well-paid job (at least for part-time ), which gives me more options if there does happen to be something like ARMA or the various other groups in my area.

BJJ (Brazilian Ju-Jutsu), where to start? The classes are run in a more casual manner than I'm used to in traditional Japanese arts. I was told by my earliest sensei that the discipline of sitting up straight, straightening out your gi, giving respect, etc., helps to screen out the bullies and jerks and keeps the skills to those who have respect. I found that in the BJJ "dojo" I trained at that indeed, the jerks and bullies were not screened out at all, and they were being taught skills that they could easily use for robbery and rape. That's not a good thing.

I much prefer the casual approach. I find bowing, kata, sitting in seiza, honorifics and the like all rather irritating, as its time I'd rather be drilling technique or rolling. I'd say that the bullies and jerks would also be screened out by good solid training; most idiots don't have the patience, from my experience training at one club (Zhuan Shu Kuan, very small stand-up MA in the UK) over the past 7 years. In that time, I can only think of one real **** who stayed the course: generally speaking, if the instructors see someone is acting up in sparring, they'll hand them a beating (within the context of sparring, of course). On top of that there is the usually high cost of BJJ, though I guess there are plenty of wealthy jerks around too.

Plus, BJJ students often say that most fights wind up on the ground thus that's all they teach. For me, the ground is where the other guy belongs. A boxer will tell you that all fights start standing up, therefore that's all you need to know.

The way I see it is that its not a matter of training to take the fight to the ground, but being prepared if it goes to the ground. If someone puts me on the floor, I don't want to lying there without a clue what to do.

IIRC, the "95% of all fights go to the ground" was allegedly based on police department statistics, but I don't have a source for that, so may have been inflated during the UFC (plenty of other things were, like some of the competitors' records - 400-0 in 'bareknuckle fights'? I think not - along with their background. Kimo as a supposed 'TKD blackbelt' was fairly amusing, as was 'Kuk Sool Won blackbelt' Gary Goodridge. Totally fabricated on both counts ).

On the other hand, I train for fun rather than self-defence anyway, so the main thing for me is doing training I enjoy. After all, learning how to swing a broadsword isn't going to help me much on the street, but it sure sounds like fun.

For sword, first check out http://www.swordforum.com - there are a large number of excellent independant WMA schools right now, teaching a variety of sword traditions. Where are you located, by the way?

Oops - thought I'd put that in my profile. I'm in the UK, either in Birmingham, London, Buckinghamshire or Coventry, depending on the time of week.

Cheers for the link!