Everyone has seen Einstein’s famous formula, E=MC². One aspect of the formula is that as an object approaches the speed of light, its mass increases enormously. A corollary of this increase in mass is that time slows as the object approaches the speed of light. Even at the relatively slow speed of the space station in relation to the speed of light, when astronauts return to earth from a long mission, they have aged a few milliseconds less than their counterparts on earth have aged.
So, how does this relate to Taekwondo, it means that if you punch and kick very fast, your hands and feet will have greater mass and thus hit harder—and you will have younger hands and feet.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Om
Meditation involves sitting quietly and focusing upon breathing or an image, sometimes while thinking or saying an innocuous word such as "om." Sara Lazar of the Harvard Medical school used MRI to study the effects meditating may have upon the brain. She found a thickening of the pars of the brain involved with memory and attention, areas that shrink with age.
In another study, Bruce O’Hara of the University of Kentucky found that 40 minutes of meditation did better on attention tests compared with their own performance after reading for 40 minutes. In another study, Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin found meditation produced a jump in brain waves associated with vigilance and attention.
Research has show that meditation works, but it also shows that it works irrespective of any religious connections. All you have to do sit quietly, empty the mind, and focus on something meaningless so the mind does not begin thinking about the thing. All the religious beliefs are superfluous. As usual, people exploit a natural phenomenon and confuse the issue. Use your brain; do not let others use it.
In another study, Bruce O’Hara of the University of Kentucky found that 40 minutes of meditation did better on attention tests compared with their own performance after reading for 40 minutes. In another study, Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin found meditation produced a jump in brain waves associated with vigilance and attention.
Research has show that meditation works, but it also shows that it works irrespective of any religious connections. All you have to do sit quietly, empty the mind, and focus on something meaningless so the mind does not begin thinking about the thing. All the religious beliefs are superfluous. As usual, people exploit a natural phenomenon and confuse the issue. Use your brain; do not let others use it.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Men versus Women
As the late James Brown sang, "It's a man's, man's, man's world. But it won't be nothing, without a woman, or a girl."
Despite claims of unalienable rights, constitutional rights, and rights bestowed by God, the only rights anyone has are those granted by the people in power. And the only reason those in power grant any rights is to help ensure that those in power remain in power. Power comes from physical force or the treat of physical force. Money itself has no power, but it allows people with weak physical force to hire powerful physical forces to protect them. The power to bestow material things, such as jobs or gifts, and the power to bestow abstract things, such as prestige and notoriety, also allows those with weak physical force to get people with a strong physical force to protect them. But this is fine line, since these mercenaries hired to protect may turn on you and take all you have rather than let you bestow some of it on them.
People say that constitutions grant rights. Constitutions are only pieces of paper; they cannot do anything. The rights listed in then are those that society believes should be granted to its citizens and society grants those rights through using its physical powers: the police and military. Elected officials have no physical powers. The courts have no physical powers. Their only power comes from a willing police force and a willing military.
A constitution may grant rights to all citizens regardless of sex, but those rights only exist because the citizens support them. They do not exist by themselves. There is not some right that will stand in front of a woman to protect her; however, society has stated that the woman should be protected.
Women are only safe, because our society protects them. The only thing that allows a woman activist stand and to demand her rights is society as a whole. Otherwise, men would just eliminate her. All the talk about women’s rights is just that, talk. The only rights women have are those allowed by the physically powerful, the men. No matter what your think or feel, men are genetically stronger and more powerful than women. The only way women survive is because society protects them from men.
In martial arts classes, women train to protect themselves. Some are proficient at self-defense and may deter or stop an attack by a weaker man or a man not so intent on harming her. But, the best female fighter in the world is no match against any untrained male who is intent on harming her.
Women have physical and mental endurance and they have a high tolerance of pain, but that does not make them physically able to defend themselves successfully against a determined male. A male who is expecting a defenseless woman make be deterred by a woman who fights back, but if the male is determined to kill her, she will die, no matter how much she resists. The same is true of a male who is attacked by multiple male attackers.
In martial arts classes, women train to fight back and they gain confidence from the training. Fighting back is preferable to letting someone harm you, but, make no mistake about it, when a man wants to kill or seriously harm a woman he will do it. The woman may do enough to make the man back off and leave her alone or she may delay the end until help arrives, but, if neither occurs, she will die, no matter how many black belts she has.
Like anything else, there are exceptions to the rule. In the case where the woman is much larger than the male, the male is incapacitated in some way, or the male is disabled in some way, the woman may win. If the woman has a weapon, such as a firearm or a fighting knife, and knows how to use it, the woman may win.
So what it all boils down to is that women only exist because men protect them from other men and men only exist because women give birth to them and raise them. Like everything else in nature, there is something to be gained by each side, so they work together. The men protect the women from other men and return the women bear and raise the children,
Men are physically more powerful than women, but women have emotional control over men. Although the two forces are not equal, the emotion control is enough to protect women from men most of the time. So a woman’s most powerful weapon against a man is her emotional influence.
When a woman is sparring with a man, she may think she is just as good as the man (and she may be, at least technique wise) but the woman must realize that, if at any point the male opponent decides she must die, then she will die, unless she gets others to protect her. That is neither a male chauvinist viewpoint nor a politically correct viewpoint; it is just the way nature determined it will be.
Despite claims of unalienable rights, constitutional rights, and rights bestowed by God, the only rights anyone has are those granted by the people in power. And the only reason those in power grant any rights is to help ensure that those in power remain in power. Power comes from physical force or the treat of physical force. Money itself has no power, but it allows people with weak physical force to hire powerful physical forces to protect them. The power to bestow material things, such as jobs or gifts, and the power to bestow abstract things, such as prestige and notoriety, also allows those with weak physical force to get people with a strong physical force to protect them. But this is fine line, since these mercenaries hired to protect may turn on you and take all you have rather than let you bestow some of it on them.
People say that constitutions grant rights. Constitutions are only pieces of paper; they cannot do anything. The rights listed in then are those that society believes should be granted to its citizens and society grants those rights through using its physical powers: the police and military. Elected officials have no physical powers. The courts have no physical powers. Their only power comes from a willing police force and a willing military.
A constitution may grant rights to all citizens regardless of sex, but those rights only exist because the citizens support them. They do not exist by themselves. There is not some right that will stand in front of a woman to protect her; however, society has stated that the woman should be protected.
Women are only safe, because our society protects them. The only thing that allows a woman activist stand and to demand her rights is society as a whole. Otherwise, men would just eliminate her. All the talk about women’s rights is just that, talk. The only rights women have are those allowed by the physically powerful, the men. No matter what your think or feel, men are genetically stronger and more powerful than women. The only way women survive is because society protects them from men.
In martial arts classes, women train to protect themselves. Some are proficient at self-defense and may deter or stop an attack by a weaker man or a man not so intent on harming her. But, the best female fighter in the world is no match against any untrained male who is intent on harming her.
Women have physical and mental endurance and they have a high tolerance of pain, but that does not make them physically able to defend themselves successfully against a determined male. A male who is expecting a defenseless woman make be deterred by a woman who fights back, but if the male is determined to kill her, she will die, no matter how much she resists. The same is true of a male who is attacked by multiple male attackers.
In martial arts classes, women train to fight back and they gain confidence from the training. Fighting back is preferable to letting someone harm you, but, make no mistake about it, when a man wants to kill or seriously harm a woman he will do it. The woman may do enough to make the man back off and leave her alone or she may delay the end until help arrives, but, if neither occurs, she will die, no matter how many black belts she has.
Like anything else, there are exceptions to the rule. In the case where the woman is much larger than the male, the male is incapacitated in some way, or the male is disabled in some way, the woman may win. If the woman has a weapon, such as a firearm or a fighting knife, and knows how to use it, the woman may win.
So what it all boils down to is that women only exist because men protect them from other men and men only exist because women give birth to them and raise them. Like everything else in nature, there is something to be gained by each side, so they work together. The men protect the women from other men and return the women bear and raise the children,
Men are physically more powerful than women, but women have emotional control over men. Although the two forces are not equal, the emotion control is enough to protect women from men most of the time. So a woman’s most powerful weapon against a man is her emotional influence.
When a woman is sparring with a man, she may think she is just as good as the man (and she may be, at least technique wise) but the woman must realize that, if at any point the male opponent decides she must die, then she will die, unless she gets others to protect her. That is neither a male chauvinist viewpoint nor a politically correct viewpoint; it is just the way nature determined it will be.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Show Me the Money
While surfing the web recently, I came across a Kenpo site that explained why the author did not furnish any useful information about Kenpo on the web site. He said it was because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks; that he did not want to reveal the deadly techniques of Kenpo to any terrorists who may visit the site. What a bunch of bull!
This reasoning posits that a terrorist who is willing to blow himself up and kill hundreds of people and go straight to heaven, with no prior training except for how to push a button, will be searching the Internet for some secret Kenpo technique he could practice using for years so he could kill one person, and then have to wait even longer to get to heaven.
Can you picture bands of radical Muslum terrorists roaming the streets of America secretly killing unsuspecting shoppers using secret Kenpo techniques they learned from a web site? The real reason for not putting free information on the web is that the author wants the public, which could also include terrorists, to pay for the information, either through the purchase of classes, books, or videos. There is nothing wrong with wanting people to pay for your expertise, just don't be afraid to admit it.
This reasoning posits that a terrorist who is willing to blow himself up and kill hundreds of people and go straight to heaven, with no prior training except for how to push a button, will be searching the Internet for some secret Kenpo technique he could practice using for years so he could kill one person, and then have to wait even longer to get to heaven.
Can you picture bands of radical Muslum terrorists roaming the streets of America secretly killing unsuspecting shoppers using secret Kenpo techniques they learned from a web site? The real reason for not putting free information on the web is that the author wants the public, which could also include terrorists, to pay for the information, either through the purchase of classes, books, or videos. There is nothing wrong with wanting people to pay for your expertise, just don't be afraid to admit it.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Combat-Ki
Have you seen the demonstrations of Combat -Ki on television. Combat-Ki is supposed to be a way of absorbing punches and kicks so that they are rendered harmless.
As you watch Combat-Ki in action, watch the way the practitioners are struck. First, they are always stuck by another Combat-Ki practitioner. Second, most of the techniques are slaps and pushes. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners attack, then I see why they need the ability to absorb punches because they will receive a lot of them. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners spar each other, then don't see the reason they need the ability to absorb blows because slaps and pushes are not going to injury anyone.
Watch how the Combat-Ki person who is kicked is knocked backwards. If a person struck by a kick is knocked backwards, it is because the kick was a push, not a strike. A proper kick only penetrates the target 1 or 2 inches, and then is retracted. This means the force of the kick is a strike, not a push.
I have held a body shield for Taekwondo masters who were demonstrating a proper kick. I was not pushed backwards, I was jarred from head to toe by a shocking, shuddering blow that made me think my teeth filings had fallen out or that my eye balls were bulging. One time, I was sweating from a workout when I held a body shield for my instructor's side thrust kick. When the kick stuck, I was suddenly blinded; all the sweat on my whole head had suddenly rushed to my face and into my eyes.
When using a proper kick, the force of the kick is not expended in moving the opponent backward, it is expended within the opponent's body. Just as you see in the punches of professional boxer, the punch does not knock the opponent backward into the ropes, the opponent just suddenly drops to the floor. If a Combat-Ki practitioner tried to absorb a Taekwondo side thrust kick or a karate reverse punch, he or she would be injured, guaranteed.
As you watch Combat-Ki in action, watch the way the practitioners are struck. First, they are always stuck by another Combat-Ki practitioner. Second, most of the techniques are slaps and pushes. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners attack, then I see why they need the ability to absorb punches because they will receive a lot of them. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners spar each other, then don't see the reason they need the ability to absorb blows because slaps and pushes are not going to injury anyone.
Watch how the Combat-Ki person who is kicked is knocked backwards. If a person struck by a kick is knocked backwards, it is because the kick was a push, not a strike. A proper kick only penetrates the target 1 or 2 inches, and then is retracted. This means the force of the kick is a strike, not a push.
I have held a body shield for Taekwondo masters who were demonstrating a proper kick. I was not pushed backwards, I was jarred from head to toe by a shocking, shuddering blow that made me think my teeth filings had fallen out or that my eye balls were bulging. One time, I was sweating from a workout when I held a body shield for my instructor's side thrust kick. When the kick stuck, I was suddenly blinded; all the sweat on my whole head had suddenly rushed to my face and into my eyes.
When using a proper kick, the force of the kick is not expended in moving the opponent backward, it is expended within the opponent's body. Just as you see in the punches of professional boxer, the punch does not knock the opponent backward into the ropes, the opponent just suddenly drops to the floor. If a Combat-Ki practitioner tried to absorb a Taekwondo side thrust kick or a karate reverse punch, he or she would be injured, guaranteed.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Slow Students
Instructors shouldn't hold a class back so a slow student may catch up; the class should move along at a steady pace. The slow student should be encouraged to keep up and may need extra instruction, but you do not punish the many for the imitations of a few.
Commercialism
Ever notice how the people who put down commercialism in the martial arts usually have the least profitable schools. Once again, it is the "have nots" criticizing the success of the "haves." To rationalize their failures, they consider themselves the martyrs of the martial art world. They think they are the only ones who are "true" to arts and thus will not lower themselves to be profitable.
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