New article
I wrote a quick how-to article about Renaming or Moving Oracle Files in response to a forum thread. Nothing new and exciting here for those in the know, but it might help some of the newer people.
Weird experience
I had a bit of an weird experience last night. I finished quite a tough Karate class and didn’t feel particularly like socializing so I went to the cinema on my own to watch “The Descent”. I’d been meaning to see it for a couple of weeks, but never got round to it. I was feeling pretty thirsty so I bought one of those stupidly large cups (more like buckets) of diet Coke. I sat down to watch the film and started drinking at a pace. Within about ten minutes of the film starting I had the shakes bigtime! I was shivering uncontrollably and felt really bad. I guess the fact I was so tired and had just downed a bucket of ice-cold diet coke had caused my core temperature to drop quite quickly.
I wasn’t totally sure what to do, my judgment was a little off as you can imagine, but fortunately my natural reaction was to start using Ujjayi breath. This is a special type of loud breathing (like Darth Vader) used in Ashtanga Yoga to help generate heat. Sounds a bit dumb, but within five minutes I was feeling a lot better. So much so I was able to watch the film…
Film review – The Descent
Take a bunch of athletic and overly adventurous young women with an assortment of issues and send them caving. Next, have them make some stupid decisions and for good measure throw in some subterranean predators.
Unknown to me I’ve become claustrophobic in my old age. I can’t remember really having a problem with this before, but there are several scenes where people are in really confined spaces that made me want to freak out. I know these scenes were included to increase the tension, but they were by far the scariest bits of the film for me!
There are the usual gore and “make you jump” scenes that you would expect from a horror film. Several of the latter made everyone in the cinema scream, then bust out laughing.
Despite the unfortunate episode at the start of the film I really enjoyed it. It’s not a high budget film, so don’t expect perfect effects, but it’s a significant step forward compared the director’s previous film “Dog Soldiers”. I liked that too, but it is a seriously low budget film 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
Note to self. If you’re ever invited to go caving make a polite excuse and run for your life!
Sir,I dont know whether you have posted it before or not but still i will ask,which rank at the moment you hold in Karate and from how long you are practising?Have you competed in the tournaments and have given demos like of breaking,kaatas and all these things?
regards
Aman
Hey, I’m no superstar of Karate. I’m just another Karate jo-shmo 🙂
I’ve been training for about 16-17 years. I got my 2nd Dan (second degree black belt) about 11 years ago and haven’t graded since. We’re not big on grading in my club, although a group of us are thinking of taking the plunge again. One guy wants to go for 4th Dan, a couple more want to do 2nd Dan and they want me to go for 3rd Dan. It’s easier to get ready for these things in a group. It helps you stay motivated. Not sure what I think about it yet 🙂
We have some serious fighters. One of our guys has won the British championships 5 times in the last 7 years. We’ve got a number of men and women on national and regional squads for Kumite (fighting) and Kata (patterns). It’s a good club to train at, but it’s very small.
I won a few medals for Kata and Kumite in national and regional competitions as a student, but only a couple of small things as a senior. I’m not in the same league as some of the guys and girls at my club.
As for demos of breaks, I’ve publically demonstrated:
– Getting my nose broken.
– Getting my ribs broken.
– Destroying the radial ligaments of my right foot.
– Misaligning my pelvis. It still haunts me to this day.
– Last week I demonstrated getting my shins so bruised that everyone at Yoga thought I had been in a crash or was into self-harm. They’re now a nice shade of yellow 🙂
In answer to your question, in my style we don’t do board or brick breaking.
WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!
17 years,2nd Dan!!thats great!!
Oh definately go for upgrade.Its good to be updated;-)
As for demos of breaks, I’ve publically demonstrated:
– Getting my nose broken.
– Getting my ribs broken.
– Destroying the radial ligaments of my right foot.
– Misaligning my pelvis. It still haunts me to this day.
– Last week I demonstrated getting my shins so bruised that everyone at Yoga thought I had been in a crash or was into self-harm.
what am I supposed to say?:-)
in my style we don’t do board or brick breaking.
I think its not in any style.In mine too its not there.I think its just a way to demonstrate the power of the inner-self combined with the technique of martial-arts.
So which is your favourite Martial-artist?
regards
Aman
Hmm can call it a time-waster.I just got it.
check out what your name and date-of-birth say for you?
regards
Aman
Re: Birthday thing.
I like things like this. I don’t necessarily believe them, but they make interesting reading 🙂
Re: Favourite Martial Artist.
I don’t have one. I prefer martial arts films that are filmed well (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero, House of the Flying Daggers etc.) over the conventional kick and puch fest things. I loved films like that as a kid, but it’s all a bit hectic for me now 🙂
Whenever you can watch,have a look at these movies..
(a)Drive
(b)Iron Monkey
Hope will like them..
regards
Aman
Hi.
(a) Bad film, with some good fight scenes. Mark Dacascos is very talented, but I’ve not seen a good film by him yet.
(b) I have this film on DVD. It’s considered a classic, but there are some really poor bits in it. Donnie Yen is very cool!
Cheers
Tim…
Hi Sir
I recommended both the movies for the fight scenes only.Donnie Yen is really so cool.Yesterday I saw Iron Monkey-2,fight 10/10, movie NULL/10.Hmm there are not many martial-arts movies with good story line except a few which you already mentioned.I like Jet Li’s ,Jackie Chain’s movies alot.Bruce Lee’s are good for some fight scenes but the balance and speed of Jet Li,its superb.All time favourite Bloodsport:-).I almost watch all the chinese movies of martial arts.Cant remember any name now but if will see some nice will let you know.
regards
Aman.
I think Jet Li is as close to the perfect martial artist as you are likely to get. I’m not a major fan of his films though, except those mentioned.
This is a special type of loud breathing (like Darth Vader) used in Ashtanga Yoga to help generate heat.
You could have said “flame on” 😀
PS: Why are only blogger logins allowed to post comments ?
I can’t say I noticed this before. I’ve changed so that anyone can post now 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Hey Tim,
Just wondered what style of karate you practice (apologies if you’ve posted this elsewhere and I’ve missed it)?
For martial arts movies, see Drunken Master with Jackie Chan (fantastic!)
Cheers,
Ian
ian murphy said…For martial arts movies, see Drunken Master with Jackie Chan (fantastic!)
Not sure if you are talking about the original one that he did when he was fairly young or the sequel that he did years later. If it is the sequel, then I suggest that you get hold of the HK version instead of the International version. The International version has an abbrevated climatic fight sequence as compared to the HK version.
Poor Mark Decascos. He is now the Chairman for the Iron Chef America 😀 Check out his performance in “Brotherhood of the Wolf” (a French flick). Wonderful!
Hi.
This is fast becoming a martial arts blog 🙂
I do Shotokan karate. I’m a member of the Karate Union of Great Britain (KUGB), who until the death of Sensei Enoeda were affiliated to the Japanese Karate Association (JKA), so my current grade is recognized by the JKA, but any subsequent gradings would not be, unless I cross graded to JKA subsequently.
Cheers
Tim…
I’ve got Drunken Master on video. Bought it about 10+ years ago. Not sure of the version. The kicks on that Thunderfoot guy at the end are untrue. I’m not a major fan of Jackie Chan, but there are some really cool bits in that film 🙂
I’ve got Brotherhood of the Wolf on DVD. I like the fact it’s not a “normal” martial arts film, but I’m not totally sure how I rate it. Some nice fight scenes 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
How about the “Best of the Best” series of movies?
http://vollman.blogspot.com/2003/08/youll-be-sorry-you-missed-this.html
PeterK
—
Yeah, I was talking about the original. Didn’t know there was a sequel but will certainly look it up now 🙂
Tim
—
Cool, thanks for the reply. Have you ever had any experience of any of the Indonesian martial arts such as Silat or Escrima? Pretty impressive stuff!
Cheers,
Ian
Escrima – I’ve seen it on TV. In the UK we recently had a series on TV called “Mind, body and kickass moves” where a guy went round the world looking at all the different martial arts. It was on that.
I did some Muay Tai between my 1st and 2nd Dan. The instructor liked knife work also. Very painful, even with rubber and cardboard (paper cuts :() knives. Nothing as cool as Escrima though.
Vin Diesel did some Kali training for “Chronicles of Riddick”. I believe Kali and Arnis are alternate names for Escrima.
Silat – Heard the name, but I know nothing about it. Always get it confused with Savate 🙂
Do you do either? If so, how do you find them?
Cheers
Tim…
Yeah, Arnis and Kali are different names for Escrima (or Eskrima).
My cousin spent a few years in the Archipelago studying Silat. It’s fascinating – very scientific from what I’ve seen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silat
if you’re interested 😉
Cheers,
Ian
Further to previous, Savate is French Kickboxing.
I have done a bit of Silat but not a great deal – would really like to do more but, with my cousin not living in the same country as me, and no local classes / instructors, it’s sadly quite difficult.
Learning from books and videos just isn’t the same.
Cheers,
Ian
I know what you mean. I always feel it’s not the martial art that is important, but the people who are teaching and training with you that matter.
I used to consider certain martial arts superior and others inferior, but then I would come across a telented exponent and change my mind.
Now I consider them all the same, but different if you know what I mean 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
Tim said…
I used to consider certain martial arts superior and others inferior, but then I would come across a telented exponent and change my mind.
Now I consider them all the same, but different if you know what I mean 🙂
There are no superior martial arts per sec just different degrees of emphasis. The whole idea is making one with oneself (of course there are lots of side benefits). What I found amazing is the variety of styles and forms from all over the world.
ian murphy said…Yeah, I was talking about the original. Didn’t know there was a sequel but will certainly look it up now 🙂
Drunken Master 2 is the “sequel” and is the one that Tim has. The fight sequence at the end of the movie is just amazing. The actor (Ken Lo) is actually Jackie’s personal bodyguard.
Re: Styles
I agree!
Re: Drunken Master 2
It doesn’t say “2” on the box. Is it a remake of the original or a proper sequel?
Anyway, that guy kicks ass bigtime!
Cheers
Tim…
Tim said…Re: Drunken Master 2
It doesn’t say “2” on the box. Is it a remake of the original or a proper sequel?
Nah, it wasn’t a remake or a sequel per sec. It’s just that Jackie Chan did another movie based on the Drunken style.
Another good movie is Jet Li’s Fists of Legend. A different take on Bruce Lee’s Fists of Fury. Jet plays the same character (Chen Zhen) as Bruce. Lots of good fighting sequences.
Wow!!A lot of Martial-Arts stuff 🙂
Wish you all the best for your health Sir.hope you get well soon.
with best regards
Aman
I’m suer it’s just a summer cold.
Cheers
Tim…
Hi Sir,
Good to hear that you are fine now and have got your voice back.Hope and wish you get well completely fine asap.
I did watch these movies last night.
1.Knockabout(I like it)
2.Big trouble in little China
3.Fire Dragon
with best regards
Aman