Which is the best martial art(s) for a jedi

as weve discussed before - the primary problem with self teaching anything - is that you can all too easily teach yourself 'bad habits' or simply put - teach yourself how to do something incorrectly - and if left long enough - it becomes increasingly harder to lose the bad habits when you do find an actual teacher.

Book etc are great - dont get me entirely wrong - but I think they should only be treated as a 'reference' for when you have proper coaching/training.

MTFBWY - A

too true kana ...books are a great reference source for information however they can't correct improper technics...however if you've taken actual classes and learned the basics you can then use the books to continue the basics an actual instructor should always be used to learn further technics...

to quote the great Bruce Lee: do not limit yourself to just one style, no one style holds all the answers, you must learn many answers and take what is useful to you and discard the rest. the ultimate goal of every martial artist should be to create thier own style.

as for me i have studied many styles and done just that, however i am constantly modifying my style to match my abilities as well as surroundings...a good martial artist should be adaptive to any situation. or to use another Bruce Lee quote: don't be like the water, be the water, don't be like a thought, be a thought.

you'll find that amongst martial artists(especially older ones) that Bruce Lee was the most influential martial artist of all time...not just because he gave the world Jeet Kune Do, but because he was also a great philosopher, and his technics can enhance any martial arts style....he was also a trememdous fitness buff...if you ever want to see an intense workout find one of his old books with his training regiment in it...i've tried it several times and despite my conditioning it's still quite intense...he was in phenominal shape at the time of his death.

Kana Seiko Haruki wrote:

Book etc are great - dont get me entirely wrong - but I think they should only be treated as a 'reference' for when you have proper coaching/training.

Books can be dangerous too, I bought three Jiu Jitsu books from the 40s on Ebay and whilst being very good textbooks they do show some techniques that could have devastating consequences.

May the Force be with you.

Matt.

yup - there are all kinds of 'danger' in any book

If your referring to certain moves that could/would prove fatal tot he other party - it does however come down to personal decisions and responsibility.

Its like knowing how to shoot a gun - you dont have to point it at a person and pull the trigger

I read quirte alot of 'survival' guide type things - and the best example of a sensible 'choice' point put in a book was this

In a survival situation - you could risk wild mushrooms as a food source - but if you dont know what your doing - your more likely to end up worse off - and given fungi have little nutritional value (verses the effort need to gather) - its best to leave them well alone.

IF you know what your doing with mushrooms - then great - bonus points.

The point is that its better to err on the side of caution than to take a stupid and potentially lethal 'risk'

Treat 'Martial Arts instruction' books this way

MTFBWY - A

Kana Seiko Haruki wrote:

I read quirte alot of 'survival' guide type things

Heh, I found a copy of Chris Ryans SAS survival guide in a charity shop and upon getting home discovered it was signed! Cost me a quid:laugh:

Re; the books, I don't think the authors were trying to be malicious but they do show a lot of fatal techniques, I've been asked by a few people if they can borrow them but have refused point blank. (I say it's because of their value! )

I had to sign a disclaimer for one SAS book I bought (and no i wont be turning it to pdf format anytime soon ) cos of the 'lethal' force techniques shown

But - IMHO - almost anything from a book can be used for real harm if that is the intention of the reader so is this form od censorship justified - granted in this day n age - alot of folk dont need encouragement

MTFBWY - A

Kana Seiko Haruki wrote:

I had to sign a disclaimer for one SAS book I bought (and no i wont be turning it to pdf format anytime soon ) cos of the 'lethal' force techniques shown

Did you have to promise to eat it once you'd read it?:laugh:

yup - they even provided a free bottle of mustard to ease the process

they suggested keeping it as emergency rations in a survival kit as well

I suppose if nothing else its to protect their own backs. Still a wee bit silly though but we go with the flow

There is as much of this sort of info on the net etc if folk know where to look so inthis day n age - I dont see the point.

Its a bit like the UK laws on buying katana - if I really wanted to get another - id just goto europe or mail order from usa etc. If people want something enough - theyll get it sooner or later. (so if anyone knows wherre I can get a genuine ASP outside of the UK id love to know )

MTFBWY - A

no author of a self defense book means to be malicious they simply try to pass on the knowledge they have, it's just unfortunate that some people use that info in a bad way

it's a wise decision not to let your friends read that if they have the wrong intentions and/or personality

i've spent the last 18 years blending styles and developing new techniques that are far more effective then their predecessors were since i didn't want to hurt anyone by testing the techniques on them i had to experiment on myself...i don't recommend that :laugh: after many headaches, numb limbs, and much vomiting, i made diagrams of the techniques and what they do, afterwards i decided it would be best not to teach them to anyone (since i tested them on myself i knew what they felt like)but before i could destroy the diagrams the notebook disappeared...i have since been developing defensive techniques to specifically counter those offensive techniques...they're based on atemi (pressure points that deal with the flow of ki/chi) because of that they are very hard to defend against...i don't know how i'd feel if someone i know had those techniques used against them

Not sure where I saw or read it - but the founding fathers of martial arts were also what we'd deem 'medics' or 'healers'

By learning the way the body works, especially biophysics and mechanics (as well as anatomy) they learned the weaknesses of all humans and thus the ways to defeat opponents. Obviously aikido is a relatively new martial art but an excellent demonstration of this idea

a wise woman once told me 'if you dont want others knowing something - dont write it down' (or type it)

You gotta love your wise old mom