[31pumpkin]

Don't laugh. I would like to know if I can learn some lite forms of martial arts for self-defense. I think this way because I do not always have a gun handy. I do carry a bat ( short bat ) in my car though. However, I am interested in a one on one
Scenario.

The funny part is that I will be 54 tomorrow! I am in excellent shape though, a little on the thin side, but I really would like to learn something like a little Martial Arts
For my birthday!

I also believe I have the whole Ying-Yang thing down pat. Could this help?

[CaptainForest]

I do not always have a gun handy. I do carry a bat ( short bat ) in my car though.

Only in America does one feel the need to carry a gun and a bat around with them.

Florida, nonetheless, with the new, Shoot First Ask Questions Later Law

You are never too old to learn Martial Arts. Being that you are in great shape, it shouldn't be too hard for you to learn some moves.

[Fr_Chuck]

Of course that is not Fl law, it merely allows a person to use a weapon to protect thierself. Better than being arrested after you stop someone from killing your wife.

As for the bat, unless you are trained to use it as a weapon, it really is not a good weapon, will not work on a person close up, after the first swing you are defenseless against further attack. SO if you don'g get the job done with it with one swing, you will most likely have it taken away from you.

As for the gun, if you are that scared ( personally I would move) but why are not your carrying it everywhere. The smaller ones can be carried without notice, leg hoster and the such. ( assuming you live in an area where you can have a carry permit)

As for as martial arts, you can learn at any age,

[31pumpkin]

Perhaps I should take a course (a requirement) to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

We keep at least one gun in the house. The law has eased up to my advantage regarding a threatening situation. Plus my daughter in the house, this & that.

I live in a fine neighborhood. I will be going back to work soon and will be working nights.

I tend not to be too keen on caarry a gun though. It could be used to my disadvantage possibly.

I will wait for further feedback on the Maritial Arts agenda, or else I'll pick up a book and see what I can learn.Thankyou very much.

[Fr_Chuck]

No on the book, I guess it is better than nothing, but exact hard motion and the such are so important, In many areas they even have special classes for seniors.

You will start slow doing streching and balance. Also if you don't want to go into actual martial arts you can consider some basic self defense classes. They have some on direct street self defence, you learn to use everyday items as weapons for defense.

Also mace is good item for self defense. It works good against dogs also, where hand to hand just gets you bit.

[31pumpkin]

Mace should be a good temporary fix. The last one I had had been keep too long and must have gotten crushed in my purse. It was empty I think.

The stretching & balance exercises should be good. Maybe some kickboxing. My older brother was a professional light-heavyweight boxer in his day. It's in the family, as the back of his robe said " Italian-Irish...born to fight!

It's been nice talking with you Fr. Chuck. Good to see you have friends too. If you know what I mean.

Going to shove off now.


P.S.- I had a little bit of the luck of the Irish today. It was unbelievable. It happened as I took my daughter to the airport. Long story short, she made her plane on time, just at the wire almost. But it was the journey, 50 miles, and then 3/4 the way it was a crawl. The lucky break was there for me to take right at 2nd "problem". The road opened up & I pretty much Tom Petty'd it there to the curb some 10 miles from that point.

It was one of those defining moments. And thank God she made the gate on time & called at her connecting flight.

Funny story, don't you think... lol

[31pumpkin]

Oh, I meant Richard Petty! Dale Ehrhard Jr.

[Phil Elmore]

Whatever you do, don't take the advice of subjects from the UK when considering self-defense. The culture is so hostile to the topic of self-defense there that all you'll get is rampant hoplophobia and a lot of sneering wishful thinking masquerading as advice.

I run a website devoted to the topic at http://www.themartialist.com . Everyone is capable of defending themselves with some practical training and, whenever possible,a legal force multiplier (a weapon) such as a flashlight, a gun, a knife, etc. I even wrote an entire book on the topic here.

[tinacasler]

I am going to say something that most of you may not believe... My fiancé is 24 years old and he is in a martial arts class... it is wonderful... his teacher was one of Bruce Lees last students... and he is 79 years old... and in better shape than my fiancé... rock hard... you are never too old to learn martial arts or be good at it.

[31pumpkin]

Tinacasler:

Thank you. By your words I found my answer. You "kids" are SO smart!

[eawoodall]

Don't laugh. I would like to know if I can learn some lite forms of martial arts for self-defense. I think this way b/c I do not always have a gun handy. I do carry a bat ( short bat ) in my car though. However, I am interested in a one on one
scenario.

The funny part is that I will be 54 tomorrow! I am in excellent shape tho, a little on the thin side, but I really would like to learn something like a little Martial Arts
for my birthday!

I also believe I have the whole Ying-Yang thing down pat. Could this help?

Yes sure, martial arts are for any age. And balance when doing martial arts can keep you from getting really hurt if 'they' know any throwing or tripping martial arts. Because balance is the key point of y-y. 1.be sure to not get in trouble legally, because bats can be 'deadly weapons' in some jurisdictions, and are the same as guns under such laws. So always obey the law. 2. find a local school who treats you and the other students well, and the teacher has a style or at least way of teaching you can understand, most schools let you see classes before you decide if you will be a student. 3. do not go for quick super schools of instant death training, unless that is what you NEED. Many fine schools teach actual techniques such as that, but if you only want a little martial arts for you birthday stick with the standard schools that are into teaching some self defense, and mostly olympic style martial arts, or sport martial arts even, for exercise only. Most people do not need to use martial arts, so take your time and in 15-20 years you can become quite capable of doing great martial arts, really, even with schools that seem to be extra careful to teach you slowly, methodically. 4. although a gun is assumed by many to be an all answer, I do not think so. If you do not know how to keep it, you cannot even hope for someone to not use it on you. And most people are so inaccurate with a gun and have such an attitude toward guns as to be well not a threat, if you react well and have a middle level (15-25 years) of martial arts training. A pro with a gun is usually not as dangerous as an amateur because a pro does certain things, you never know what an amateur will do. 5. whatever you choose to study or do, you can always change your mind later, and study something else, there do exist courses just in guns for example, so do not limit your martial arts to just not guns.

[Style]

Just some insight in case you were feeling you were perhaps too old, there are some masters of kung fu in China who are said to be 140+ years old and still insanely profficient in martial arts. =D

[kp2171]

While I understand the need to protect one's self, my suggestion is to not use a weapon unless there is simply no other resort, of course.

I grew up on a not so great part of town. Not the worst. Not the best. A little rough. And my attitude is if you pull a weapon on me you better be willing and able to use it, because if I get it from you it might be turned on you. The way you hold a knife can tell an attacker whether you really know how to use it, for ex.

You want to fight me straight, OK. But if a weapon is pulled I may fight like you're trying to kill me, not protect yourself. That is a whole other level of rage that you'd better be sure about.

I'd focus primarily on flexibility, strength and stamina. Then you can see if there are defense courses through the police dept or public ed. My daughter took one to understand pressure points. There are simple turns of the wrist, knee kicks, leg sweeps that can buy you a moment or two.

But again, if you resort to force be willing to escalate the violence.

Simply practicing the martial arts will also increase flex, strength, stamina. Took tae known do and it was great for flex, and quickly taught some minor hand to hand, though not some of the grappling and other hand to hand that other forms do more of. If nothing else, sparring helps you with timing and lets movement be more automatic reflexes than thought processes.

Your age is fine. Again, focus on flex and strength. Find a class that fits your speed and enjoy it. I guess my first concern was the statements about use of weapons. One block of the bat and a leg sweep and you might not have that weapon anymore.

[kp2171]

by the way, did you ever see buzz aldrin's punch of the quasi-reporter 45 years younger than him? I love buzz.

didn't matter he was around 72, call him a "a coward, and a liar, and a thief" in front of his granddaughter and he'll show you his mettle.

http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96781308/K=bu...3X19xXkBm3.wmv

by the way, the LA district attorney's office declined to press charges. =)

[Style]

That link didn't work for me,but I'm dying to see the clip. Could you perhaps save the video and host it yourself?

[kp2171]

If the link doesn't work, as was mentioned in the previous post, just go to Yahoo, type in "buzz aldrin punch", search for movies, and several will come up that are all the same clip more or less.

A few have the angle reversed, but its still the same thing.

[31pumpkin]

Thank you all for your interesting input.

I've decided to put away my manic phase for a while. Since I do have a physical problem (some minor, but restrictive problem with my knee/shin) I will probably end up taking this local course for ladies only. It hones rifling & pistol skills.
When it comes down to it, I still think it takes only one bullet to send a message. Sometimes though, of course, it probably takes more.

Now where the beach!
Have a good time!!

[drbillkutaman]

Kuta- the story continues. We have found someone who trained with Lee before me. A social friend of Lee's as well. He was also a student of Dr.Pittaway OF ISSHINRYU fame. He is an old man now and not doing well, but gave me some new info on Lee. A level 2 kuta seminar will be held on June 17, 2006 in Shreveport, Louisiana. This is open to all previous students of any kuta instructor. I will review level 1 in the morning and do the level 2 seminar in the afternoon. Most of the attendees are master instructors in okinawan karate- all highly critical of anything that does not work in reality- like most tae kwon do. There is no charge for this seminar and any doubters are more than welcome to come and see what kuta is. Everyone is always cordial.please be polite and courteous. Dr. Bill Pogue, oldest known kuta instructor and suave dude

[Phil Elmore]

I don't believe you.

[eawoodall]

To pumpin:
I agree, most people get the message after one bullet. Usually I even notice when some one sends a bullet my way, but hey that is just me. I got to admit sometimes it takes a few to get my attention, but one should be enough, sometimes I am too headstrong.

dr. bill:
Sounds great. I got to work the 17th, bummer. Have fun all. I do know some people who trained with my master before I did, but I am not sure how many did or how long they did before I trained, and everyone, I barely trained before dr bill, although with a different Dok.

To all:
Yes one of the best ways to make someone go for a weapon is hold it so they "think" they can get it away from you. Baiting someone can be nice, and safer as well, because as long as they are trying to wrestle the knife out of your grasp they are not hitting you with that knife. Indeed many weapon forms are such that they will stop attacking and spend all their effort and time on retaining the weapon they were trying to hurt you with, if you 'lock' or latch onto the weapon they are using. So use one hand to grab their weapon, but do NOT disarm them, let them hang on, let them put all their effort (both hands) into keeping that weapon, as you use your free hand to do whatever you need to do, to get them to stop their illegal attack on you.

To style:
In martial arts you get better with age not worst! No one should be surprised that older masters are better. It is only in the west, in general, ignorant of the fighting arts that anyone does not respect their elders, because in the east if you do not respect your elders you WILL! They will beat you up and down, and sideways, until you learn respect. I often say,
"if you do respect your elders, you better fear your betters" because your betters and elders are often one and the same.

To Phil Elmore:
It is okay. We know you do not believe. Be safe. Be well.