Disqus - Latest Comments for bobpatteson

Re: Star Wars or Star Trek?

bobpatteson — Mon, 30 May 2011 08:48:46 -0000

False dichotomy! Why not both?

Re: Trouble in MMA Town (Cheap Shots, Brawls, and Taunting)

bobpatteson — Mon, 10 May 2010 06:04:00 -0000

"If MMA wants to be considered a martial art in the classical sense, these examples are moving them further and further away from the kind of character development and personal responsibility stressed in established arts."

There's the rub -- I don't think that it wants to. Part of the "MMA experience" is all the hype and soap opera trash-talking.

But you are correct re: sport like football. If it wants to get mainstream air time and mainstream advertisers it will have to clean up it's act. Otherwise it will probably stay on SPIKE TV along side the Deadliest Haircut.

-B

Re: Fighting with Tonfa – Techniques and Handling Methods

bobpatteson — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:45:09 -0000

Nice video! I just learned something new: you can filp the tonfu and use them as hooks.

I did not know that.

-B

Re: The Top 7 Kicks in Martial Arts Movie History

bobpatteson — Sun, 02 May 2010 08:55:48 -0000

Sadly, I just showed you my age!

:-)

Re: The Top 7 Kicks in Martial Arts Movie History

bobpatteson — Sun, 02 May 2010 08:44:36 -0000

Great post! It's rare that I disagree with you and even more rare that I defend Prime Chuck; however, I was a fan of his early movies. e.g. The Octagon is a classic martial arts movie IMO. Anyhow, one of the kicks that made Chuck Norris famous came from the 1978 Good Guys Wear Black. It looks hokey now, but back in 1978 it was original and wowed audiences!

Chuck is famous for that roundhouse but in his early movies you see a lot of jump side kicks which is classic Tang So Do & Tae Kwon do.

:-)

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Bob

Re: In the name of science, I offer my boobs

bobpatteson — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:36:06 -0000

I too am stuck in this wretched state of Indiana. As for the boobs, well, I fully support this!

Re: Ninja Assassin – Movie Review

bobpatteson — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 06:11:00 -0000

Yeah, I mostly agree. All that CGI blood overkill got very annoying after awhile! It could have been a good movie were it not for that.

Re: Steven Seagal Sued For Coercing Women Into Sex Employment

bobpatteson — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 06:04:23 -0000

Well done! Although in my defense, I was at work and later exercising so I missed this one for good reason.

Perhaps you should consider working for Striking Thoughts? Currently my staff consists of four cats and a library hobo. I could always use a few more good men! (or women)

Re: The Crossing and Uncrossing of Kama (Okinawan Sickle)

bobpatteson — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:30:51 -0000

Nice video!

Re: 31 Days to Becoming a Better Martial Artist

bobpatteson — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:55:39 -0000

Don't quit too soon but quit if you need to.

I've taken lessons at two tae kwon do schools and one kung fu school. The biggest problem I see is students quitting in under three months -- realize that it takes years to become proficient! Second to that is someone who sticks it out too long in a particular style that is not suited for them. Doing the latter is a waste of time and money.

Give it six months to a year. If, after a year, you are not seeing improvement then try another art.

Re: The End of Urban Samurai

bobpatteson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:23:24 -0000

Neal -

Keep in touch! You have my e-mail: bpatterson67@comcast.net. I look forward to your next big thing. Also, if this blog is taking too much time ever think about posting just once-per-month?

You could also go to a hosted blog like wordpress.com. That way all you have to do is blog.

Anyhow, thanks for some good articles and take care!

Bob Patterson

Re: How to Choose a Karate Uniform (Or Gi)

bobpatteson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:09:22 -0000

Back in TDK I preferred the 12 or 14 oz uniforms. Some said the lighter uniforms added speed in sparring. I did not see it and think it was just mental. The heavier uniforms held up. Also, when we practiced throws they were more durable. I saw one student have their fancy Adidas "ultra light" tear after a night of throws. When it came to uniforms I was a minimalist - function over style.

Re: Could MMA Be Saving Karate?

bobpatteson — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:04:01 -0000

You are very right about one thing: "when the next big thing hits".

Re: The Value of Persistence

bobpatteson — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:21:38 -0000

Hi Neal,

Sadly, I got serious about martial arts well after I got serious about education. Most of my prime martial arts years were spent becoming an egg head. I am at a point in my career where I now make time for the martial arts. In addition, I have my past days as a prison worker to guide me insofar as self-defense is concerned.

If I had it to do over would I have done it differently? Yes! I would have spent time in those prime years learning a particular martial art style. If I had done that teaching would be realistic. As it stands I got my first black belt at age 40 and it was a rough haul. Kung fu is just my rest spot until my career takes me to a new locale. Once that happens I intend to choose my "retirement art". However, I'm 42 so by the time that happens I'll probably be too old to do much teaching.

I'm just happy I was able to still embark on the martial journey.

-B

Re: The Value of Persistence

bobpatteson — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:20:35 -0000

Re: The Value of Persistence

bobpatteson — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:31:21 -0000

Very nice post with some very good advice! This past year I've applied to 10 jobs. Numbers nine and 10 just recently. Out of all that work I only had one interview. Worse still, I came in 2nd place!

I'm at the point in my career where I've advanced as far as I can and done all that I need to do at my current university. The next step is out and up. Doing that in this economy is proving to be harder than I thought.

2010 is the year of the cat. Given that I own four cats I've decided it's my year!

:--)

Anyhow, good luck with the new you and keep up the writing!

-B

Re: Self Defense- Multiple Attacker Tactics

bobpatteson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:52:54 -0000

It was always a no-win situation in prison. I've blogged about this before!

Short version:

- Hit hard (you are correct!)
- Stick and move and try to keep them in each others way
- Avoid going to the ground
- Escape if you can
- Make a lot of noise so help arrives.

Re: A Karate RELIGIOUS Crusade…!?

bobpatteson — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:09:19 -0000

Marc -

Very interesting post and certainly well-written. Thanks for bringing it to my attention! I tend to side with how my old taekwondo instructor ran class. He would have us leave our shoes outside of the studio door. He did this as a metaphor for leaving all of our troubles behind and, for the next hour or so, focus on nothing but the martial arts. No work politics, no politics, no professional sports, no marital strife, and no religious discussions. If you want a religious service go to church. If you want to learn about the martial arts come to class.

I would be very interested to see your opinion on the various "Karate for Christ" organizations. There are many pastors or churches who use the martial arts as a tool for evangelism.

I've blogged about this before, too. Rather than dredge up my "Karate for Christ" posts how about I refer you to this one? It sort of gets at why some Christians think that the martial arts have the trappings of religion.

http://strikingthoughts.wor...

I think that most of them are wrongly interpreting scripture. You may be surprised to know that I was once very religious and even taught Bible class. Religion is a topic that I am still interested in to this day. One thing I do know is that many Christians--pastors included!--wrongly interpret scripture. A good place to visit which frequents this topic is Dr. McGrath's blog:

http://exploringourmatrix.b...

Re: The Role of Compassion in the Martial Arts

bobpatteson — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:07:00 -0000

Really great post! The old masters came up with what modern-day law enforcement, corrections, and security calls a use-of-force-continuum. Distilled to it's essence it goes something like this: You meet the attack with equal to, or slightly greater force with which to regain control of the situation.

So, say, when confronted with a verbal attack you need to use verbal skills to regain control, deescalate, etc. In this model deadly force is the last option and only appropriate under extreme circumstances.

The problem with this model is that it puts the defender at a distinct disadvantage -- mostly because you lose the first-strike capability.

-B

Re: Steven Seagal is……Lawman

bobpatteson — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:01:12 -0000

You have no idea. Part two should be up tomorrow!

:-)

Re: My Top 10 Ninja Movies

bobpatteson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:11:30 -0000

Dang! I did not know that there were 10!

Re: Tegumi – Okinawan Grappling and Wrestling

bobpatteson — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:16:09 -0000

Very interesting and not surprising at all. I also find it interesting that some from the Karate camp will criticize certain sports oriented versions of tae kwon do when in fact their Karate probably went through a similar evolution. I mention that because at my TKD instructor's wedding I was seated with people from her husband's shotokan school. Well I spent the better part of an hour artfully dodging their jibes about TKD and also had to listen about how their art was pure. Yeah, right.

You bring up yet another Kung Fu parallel too. Most styles of Kung Fu kept most most of their traditional heritage because there's far less styles that have made the sport jump. Included in that is chin na aka mostly stand up grappling. The problem is that most of these techniques are quite nasty - definitely not for the sport environment. e.g. in my school's childrens' class they have taken out all the nasty. At age 16 the children can move to the adult class and learn the more brutal stuff.

That link out to the YouTube video is most excellent! It reminds me of our Praying Mantis drills -- only done from a Karate perspective. I really do wish TKD would cover more in-close fighting like what's shown in that Karate video. Cool stuff!

Re: A Black Belt in Commitment

bobpatteson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:22:25 -0000

He can try some of my lines:

"Yes, dear."

"I'm sorry."

"I have no idea how the plunger got stuck in the garbage disposal."

At least two of those usually work.

Re: Interview: Forrest Morgan, Author “Living the Martial Way” (Part 1)

bobpatteson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:21:22 -0000

I have to add this book to my list. Interesting that he got into tae kwon do when it was fracturing. I got my first dan at a school that tried to devote equal amounts of time to tradition and sport. Overall that was a good experience but I can also understand his frustration because I also trained in a "reality" system.

Re: A Quick Thanks

bobpatteson — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:46:50 -0000

Neal,

I'm next on the list. I plan to write a review for Blogcritics. If I finish your book by this weekend it should be done by Sunday.

:-)