Martial Arts

**Cabeleira** · 05-31-2006 09:19 AM

Originally posted by Oneironaut

I think Capoeira would be an excellent style to practice in dreams. (It's also one of my favorite styles and I'd love to learn it, but as of now I don't have the flexibility for it ) But anyway, it focuses more on grace and smooth transitions than power and solidity. There's a plus and minus to that though, I'd think, when it comes to practicing in your dreams. The minus would be that you can't take into account exact waking-world physics, so it would be much easier to do some of the flashier, higher-risk moves while dreaming, and they may disrupt the way you percieve doing it in waking life, but if you moderate between the two practices, I don't think it should be that much a problem.
The plus side is that most of the high-risk flips and spins are founded upon the confidence that you are going to complete the rotations required for the move, much like, say, breakdancing and acrobatics. You have to go into the moves confidently and casually if you're going to be consistent and I think practicing the acrobatic moves in dreams will definitely help build that confidence.

And....yeah...Capoeira kicks ass....just in case I forgot to mention it.

You shouldn't worry about not being flexible enough, since you get so much more flexible when training. There are people who start at 40-50+ and get a lot more flexible.

I train the angola style, which is more on the floor and more mandinga (slyness?). It's really a game of the mind and body, since you have to be quick and try to fool your opponent into traps and such. So I think training in lucid dreams would be great, since you could be really creative and come up with solutions for different situations.

You should definitely try it! It is soo much fun once you get into it. You sort of fall into a capoeira-trance in the roda and just listen to the music, and play instinctively. Everything else sort of dissappears for a moment, cause you are so concentrated and caught up in it. I sometimes sort of sit and drool while watching two great capoeiristas cause it can look so beautiful. The music is awesome as well.

**pyrhho** · 06-07-2006 07:04 AM

To anyone considering Aikido I say do it. I love it.. I'm still a total newbie at it, but it is a blast if you get a good sensei. Mine's a short little japanese guy that can pin guys twice his size with only his thumbs.

However, if you're a practically oriented person you may get discouraged, but stick with it! In the beginning you mostly practice wrist-locks, and techniques starting with wrist-grabs, but trust me, from what I've seen of the more advanced students it gets pretty intense later. When you're starting you may find yourself asking, how will this help me if someone tries to punch me?? But those wrist-locks are important cause they help you practice your footwork, and lay the ground-work for the more advanced techniques (or so I've been told).

Most Aikido schools are non-competitive, but if you like the competitive aspect of martial arts there is one type of Aikido with competitions (can't think of the name right now, starts with a "T" I think).

Aikido is mostly about timing, finesse, and balance. It's not about strength, or speed (though they help).

If you have anymore questions, just PM me, and I'll do my best to answer 'em.
(Can you tell I love Aikido?)

**CryoDragoon** · 08-30-2006 06:28 PM

YAY! i'm officially an Aikido student now (well... almost, anyway...)

i did two test lessons, decided i liked it, and the next lesson i show up, ill get a subscription form... so...

:yumdumdoodledum: :yumdumdoodledum: :yumdumdoodledum:

(yay, i've made 500 posts now)

:yumdumdoodledum: :yumdumdoodledum: :yumdumdoodledum:

**Amethyst Star** · 08-31-2006 06:13 AM

Ah.... back in Judo

This is my third time taking the beginner's class, but you can never practice the basics too much, especially when it comes to learning how to fall. Funny thing, though, is that I'm considered the "senior ranking" member of the class (since I earned my yellow belt last semester... earned it, but I haven't received it... but I will soon... or else). Anyway, so I "get to" stand in the front row in the right-hand corner so that everyone can see me. Not to mention I felt obligated to be the first one running the stairs when our sensei was teaching us the drills. (It ammounted to 27 times up/down a set of 14 stairs... can't wait to start doing pushups

)

But I'm excited about this semester. Hopefully I'll have time to do the club where I do most of my real learning. And a friend of mine is in the class, so hopefully I'll get to throw him around a few times

**dreamerer** · 09-03-2006 12:07 AM

Interesting topic. I took Tae Kwon Do for about 3 years and got to red belt, but then I quit. I'm not sure why.

One type of martial arts I'd like to study is Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. It looks very interesting. But where do you learn martial arts like that?

**TestofFaith** · 05-09-2011 11:08 AM

I'm a Brown Belt in Shaolin Kempo, but our instructor also trains us in Tai Chi
However, my personal 'fighting style' is mainly kempo but has influences from capoeira, boxing, taekwondo, and karate.
The combination of Tai Chi and Kempo leads to an interesting flow of technique - Kempo the direct, destructive returning fist and Tai Chi, the flowing art of gracefully rendering your opponent unable to fight back

**Ward** · 05-09-2011 12:38 PM

Should have known a forum about dreaming would be filled with Kung Fu fans and Aikidoka. I would play rugby to learn how to fight before training any of that shit.

You learn to fight by fighting. Train something with full contact sparring.

**ninja9578** · 05-09-2011 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by Ward

You learn to fight by fighting. Train something with full contact sparring.

No, you don't. Save that until you are actually ready. Without good balance, reflexes, and technique, full contact sparring won't do anything for you. It takes years to acquire those three things. I only let students hit each other when they are blackbelts. Don't bullshit me about then they don't know how to actually fight, I know a hell of a lot more than you do.

Why does Muay Thai continue to come up as real-world ready? It's not. They kick high, which is the absolute stupidest thing you can do. Against someone who knows what they are doing, you will miss. High kicks are heavily reliant on hitting their target for balance. If you miss, you are off balance for a full second. I can duck and counterstrike in a quarter of that time. They also tend to keep their hands up high, they have no protection for their knees or groin. Muay Thai works for sport, MMA, not self defense. While it would work against someone trying to mug you, it wouldn't work if they were well trained.

**sloth** · 05-09-2011 10:10 PM

I have a first degree black in Taekwondo.
That means that I can fight slightly better than the average person.
That's about it, though.

Thread: Martial Arts

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