The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial-arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Colombian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, and devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad.
Hiro used to feel this way, too, but then he ran into Raven. In a way, this was liberating. He no longer has to worry about being the baddest motherfucker in the world. The position is taken.
I read this feature story on National Geographic that said piracy in the Malacca Strait (strait between Malaysia and Indonesia) is apparently pretty heavy too. The article outlined their method of taking over large tanker ships. The writer interviewed a group of the pirates and they described in detail how they rob a ship, like how they approach the ship at night, and they get onto the ship using bamboo trunks, and such. I didn't even know modern day pirates even existed until I read that article. Weird.
darksteel on
0
Zen VulgarityWhat a lovely day for teaSecret British ThreadRegistered Userregular
edited November 2008
So did the Somalis actually fire an RPG at the Indians?
I think the first I was made aware of it was a few years ago - Chinese Pirates I think. It's funny. The first time you hear about modern day pirates it's like, "No way, someone is making this shit up. Who would even do that any more?" But then you think about it and you realise, well, why the fuck not? Big ship full of valuables miles from any help? Of course there's still going to be pirates around. Obviously they are more common off the coast of largely lawless states, but they sure do get around. I was looking at a page earlier with a google map of modern pirate attacks, complete with a button to report an attack, lemme see...
Basically, with the exception of Northern European pirates (AKA Vikings and the Irish - although there was the occasional piracy at the height of the Troubles), it's all the old traditional pirates that have been at it since the dawn of sea-faring vessels.
The history of piracy is pretty interesting. Vikings made raids right down to the coast of Africa, the Black Sea and Persia whilst Barbary pirates made raids as far North as Iceland.
Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial-arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Colombian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, and devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad.
Hiro used to feel this way, too, but then he ran into Raven. In a way, this was liberating. He no longer has to worry about being the baddest motherfucker in the world. The position is taken.
I did actually find that funny because I read it at 21 and trained with people like that. Also I have trained under a handful of people who strike me as the baddest motherfuckers in the world, and they're all over 60. It's still funny to me when I'm training with some 21-year-old kid who has six months of total training in his life and he drops some hardcore badass wisdom like "ain't no 'theories' on the street." Yeah, kid, you're probably right. This champion muay thai fighter over here with ten years in the ring and a couple of belts is probably wasting everyone's time by explaining the "theory" behind things like turning your hips to generate power. Shut up and listen to teacher. Also try to show up sober next time, OK? Jesus.
Who the hell would argue or contradict a champion Muay Thai fighter? That seems assinine to me.
Well there are two parts to that answer.
Part one - we were training next to the muay thai class, not in the muay thai class. So the guy was talking to me about what the muay thai instructor said. This is after I said "oh cool, he's teaching some theory, that's important stuff." So the guy was contradicting me and the muay thai instructor, both of whom are way more skilled and educated than he was, but he wasn't directly contradicting a teacher during class.
Part two - The guy was 21 or 22 and was convinced that he was a badass solely based on the fact that he wished he were. He had some natural ability, but very little training, and thus probably didn't realize that when he did things like spar high-ranked people in jiujitsu or whatever, they were taking it easy on him, not "just barely" beating him at the last minute.
I read this feature story on National Geographic that said piracy in the Malacca Strait (strait between Malaysia and Indonesia) is apparently pretty heavy too. The article outlined their method of taking over large tanker ships. The writer interviewed a group of the pirates and they described in detail how they rob a ship, like how they approach the ship at night, and they get onto the ship using bamboo trunks, and such. I didn't even know modern day pirates even existed until I read that article. Weird.
I think I read that same article...but for the life of me I don't remember much, aside from envisioning his guide as Blondy Dread from Bad Boys 2.
ahh so he was merely just ignorant and conceited. Well props for not being completely suicidal I guess.
Note:
For the extent of this joke I am assuming that a muay thai instructor beats lessons into people, I'm sure that only happens occasionally.
No, that would be a terrible instructor. Although occasionally one of them does attempt to beat lessons into me, but I think he just wants to do that because he doesn't like karate. Also he knows that I can take it. You don't beat on students, though. That just makes some of them quit, while the rest don't learn anything except how much it hurts to get beat up. You really need to apply that kind of lesson with great care.
That said, sometimes I think this kid needs some beatings just to get his ass in line.
Based on that answer am I right in assuming you train for/study karate and not Muay Thai?
I study Muay Thai, but I have taught Karate. That's where the problem comes in. When I try to do MT moves, I default to standing and moving like one would in Karate, and the different rules and conditions and gear and everything makes it work differently.
Ah, then yeah I could see how that might annoy a certain type of instructor.
Are you able to consciously apply one style's characteristics when you're sparring with an opponent of the other style? Like I'm wondering if you've ever found a situation where you go "nice, I could use X counter here vs Y counter and be in a better position as a result or is it just too quick most of the time to do any realtime analysis?
the whole concept of their still being pirates and pirate ports is pretty whacky
i can understand small scale piracy, like on the internet and stuff, but stuff like the oil tanker being hijacked, and the pirates actually have a pirate port to take it to, that is the mindblowing part
Ah, then yeah I could see how that might annoy a certain type of instructor.
Are you able to consciously apply one style's characteristics when you're sparring with an opponent of the other style? Like I'm wondering if you've ever found a situation where you go "nice, I could use X counter here vs Y counter and be in a better position as a result or is it just too quick most of the time to do any realtime analysis?
That's an interesting question and now I will type up a PhD thesis on the topic.
I think that we can make an analogy to military combat here, even though I'm not a military person. So the Army has tanks. And they are doing research (or paying private companies to do research) to develop new tanks with better technology in general, and maybe better technology for specific situations. Like if they're fighting in Siberia a lot, they'll start making tanks that perform in the cold, or if they spend a long time in the desert, they'll find ways that tanks don't get tons of sand into the gears or whatever. Point is, they'll adapt to their environment in addition to making tanks that are just all-around better. But when an actual war starts, they can only roll out the tanks that they already have.
So that's what it's like. When you start actually moving, you can only really use the reactions that you already know, the tactics that you already know. Anything you don't have down cold will fail against a skilled opponent for two reasons. First, you have to slow down and think about it consciously, which takes too long during execution. Second, you'll do it kind of awkwardly and inefficiently since you aren't adequately practiced. Just because you do a move in the air or on a heavy bag does not mean you can do the move on a skilled person who isn't letting you do it.
That's why sparring needs to be at less than 100%, because if you fight full-force, you will never experiment with new techniques or tactics, because you'll get killed.
I have found that there are a few Karate techniques/tactics that work in Muay Thai pretty well. One is the defensive rear kick. You turn your back slightly (!) and pop up your front heel, then fire it up at a 45 degree angle. It's just like an uppercut, but with your leg. MT guys who see your back turned tend to go in for the kill, because MT apparently doesn't have a lot of attacks for when the other guy is behind you, since that isn't supposed to happen in ring fighting, so they are used to "I see his back" meaning "he cannot do anything." Karate is for self-defense, not ring fighting, so it has a lot of techniques for "what if a guy just comes out of nowhere at me from some obscure angle." MT guys therefore tend to charge straight into those kicks and get the wind knocked out of them because they don't have any idea that it's coming. I have hit competitive MT fighters with about 90% success with that move. Don't miss, though, because you're pretty fucked if you miss.
I've also found that feinting carries over. If I fake like I'm going to punch you in the face, then drop down and smack your ribs, that works exactly the same in both systems. Slipping is also pretty much the same. So in Muay Thai, I find that I can fake people and I can dodge well. However, a lot of Karate attacks do not work right because of the gear difference. I can't grab the guy's shirt because he's not always wearing one, and I have 16 oz gloves on. I can't slip punches between his guard because of the size of the gloves. Kicks are less effective because I don't have shoes on, and because I'm wearing shin pads. Also, I like to move around over as wide an area as possible, which is nice if I fight a big guy in an open space, because they tire out faster than I do, due to my light weight. It's harder to use that in a ring, and there's a much greater danger of being cornered.
So all these little rules change the effectiveness of certain techniques, and those changes ripple out to affect your tactics and even your overall strategy. In Karate, my strategy is defense first. Priority number one is "don't get hit." In Muay Thai, that's much harder to implement and you have to be more willing to trade hits. If you land one solid punch in Karate, it can easily end the conflict because you're bare-handed and it's like smashing a dude with a rock. In Muay Thai, a one-hit KO is retardedly hard to get unless you're lucky enough that he just charges with his hands down into your right punch or something.
This also, by the way, contributes to the super-retarded attitude that's pervasive in martial arts schools of "my style works and everyone else's style is bullshit." Seriously, if Karate didn't work for what it was made to do, it wouldn't be practiced widely. Same goes for Muay Thai. Muay Thai doesn't work as well for self-defense as karate because it makes assumptions like "I'm ready for the fight" and "the guy is in front of me" and "we're wearing this type of gear and fighting in this type of ring." Karate is not as good for Muay Thai ring fighting because Karate training "wastes time" on katas and techniques for use against grabs and tackles that cannot happen in a Muay Thai ring fight, meaning that the Karate student has spent time studying something that will not be used and is therefore not prepared as well. Ultimately, all styles work for what they were designed to do. Except the "no-touch spirit energy knockout" stuff. That stuff is a con and does not actually work at all. It's bullshit.
Defender on
0
Quoththe RavenMiami, FL FOR REALRegistered Userregular
the whole concept of their still being pirates and pirate ports is pretty whacky
i can understand small scale piracy, like on the internet and stuff, but stuff like the oil tanker being hijacked, and the pirates actually have a pirate port to take it to, that is the mindblowing part
You have to bear in mind that some parts of the world have modern machinery but not modern civilization.
Even though it pretty much benefits no-one and is generally nothing but a dangerous pain in the ass, my heavily romanticized view of pirates causes me to be a little happy that piracy hasn't been wholly stamped out. I blame the muppets.
the whole concept of their still being pirates and pirate ports is pretty whacky
i can understand small scale piracy, like on the internet and stuff, but stuff like the oil tanker being hijacked, and the pirates actually have a pirate port to take it to, that is the mindblowing part
You have to bear in mind that some parts of the world have modern machinery but not modern civilization.
the whole concept of their still being pirates and pirate ports is pretty whacky
i can understand small scale piracy, like on the internet and stuff, but stuff like the oil tanker being hijacked, and the pirates actually have a pirate port to take it to, that is the mindblowing part
You have to bear in mind that some parts of the world have modern machinery but not modern civilization.
Well said. I think barbarism will win in the end.
Haircuts for all?
Ruckus on
0
Quoththe RavenMiami, FL FOR REALRegistered Userregular
Posts
Apart from that "Now is the winter of our discount tent" one.
But they are all brilliant.
Hiro used to feel this way, too, but then he ran into Raven. In a way, this was liberating. He no longer has to worry about being the baddest motherfucker in the world. The position is taken.
SE++ Map Steam
It's all like ZZZAAAAAPP
Who would've thought the same person would go on to write novels which you could actually read without puking after every paragraph.
Samus Strikes Again!
Tesla fo' lyfe
SE++ Map Steam
CHARGING UP
need a BOOOOST(interrobang)
hehehehe
Here we go
Basically, with the exception of Northern European pirates (AKA Vikings and the Irish - although there was the occasional piracy at the height of the Troubles), it's all the old traditional pirates that have been at it since the dawn of sea-faring vessels.
The history of piracy is pretty interesting. Vikings made raids right down to the coast of Africa, the Black Sea and Persia whilst Barbary pirates made raids as far North as Iceland.
I did actually find that funny because I read it at 21 and trained with people like that. Also I have trained under a handful of people who strike me as the baddest motherfuckers in the world, and they're all over 60. It's still funny to me when I'm training with some 21-year-old kid who has six months of total training in his life and he drops some hardcore badass wisdom like "ain't no 'theories' on the street." Yeah, kid, you're probably right. This champion muay thai fighter over here with ten years in the ring and a couple of belts is probably wasting everyone's time by explaining the "theory" behind things like turning your hips to generate power. Shut up and listen to teacher. Also try to show up sober next time, OK? Jesus.
**EDIT**
Who the hell would argue or contradict a champion Muay Thai fighter? That seems assinine to me.
Well there are two parts to that answer.
Part one - we were training next to the muay thai class, not in the muay thai class. So the guy was talking to me about what the muay thai instructor said. This is after I said "oh cool, he's teaching some theory, that's important stuff." So the guy was contradicting me and the muay thai instructor, both of whom are way more skilled and educated than he was, but he wasn't directly contradicting a teacher during class.
Part two - The guy was 21 or 22 and was convinced that he was a badass solely based on the fact that he wished he were. He had some natural ability, but very little training, and thus probably didn't realize that when he did things like spar high-ranked people in jiujitsu or whatever, they were taking it easy on him, not "just barely" beating him at the last minute.
No, not when you're on the huge military vessel that the pirates have to negotiate with because they can't destroy it.
Note:
For the extent of this joke I am assuming that a muay thai instructor beats lessons into people, I'm sure that only happens occasionally.
I think I read that same article...but for the life of me I don't remember much, aside from envisioning his guide as Blondy Dread from Bad Boys 2.
No, that would be a terrible instructor. Although occasionally one of them does attempt to beat lessons into me, but I think he just wants to do that because he doesn't like karate. Also he knows that I can take it. You don't beat on students, though. That just makes some of them quit, while the rest don't learn anything except how much it hurts to get beat up. You really need to apply that kind of lesson with great care.
That said, sometimes I think this kid needs some beatings just to get his ass in line.
I study Muay Thai, but I have taught Karate. That's where the problem comes in. When I try to do MT moves, I default to standing and moving like one would in Karate, and the different rules and conditions and gear and everything makes it work differently.
Are you able to consciously apply one style's characteristics when you're sparring with an opponent of the other style? Like I'm wondering if you've ever found a situation where you go "nice, I could use X counter here vs Y counter and be in a better position as a result or is it just too quick most of the time to do any realtime analysis?
i can understand small scale piracy, like on the internet and stuff, but stuff like the oil tanker being hijacked, and the pirates actually have a pirate port to take it to, that is the mindblowing part
That's an interesting question and now I will type up a PhD thesis on the topic.
I think that we can make an analogy to military combat here, even though I'm not a military person. So the Army has tanks. And they are doing research (or paying private companies to do research) to develop new tanks with better technology in general, and maybe better technology for specific situations. Like if they're fighting in Siberia a lot, they'll start making tanks that perform in the cold, or if they spend a long time in the desert, they'll find ways that tanks don't get tons of sand into the gears or whatever. Point is, they'll adapt to their environment in addition to making tanks that are just all-around better. But when an actual war starts, they can only roll out the tanks that they already have.
So that's what it's like. When you start actually moving, you can only really use the reactions that you already know, the tactics that you already know. Anything you don't have down cold will fail against a skilled opponent for two reasons. First, you have to slow down and think about it consciously, which takes too long during execution. Second, you'll do it kind of awkwardly and inefficiently since you aren't adequately practiced. Just because you do a move in the air or on a heavy bag does not mean you can do the move on a skilled person who isn't letting you do it.
That's why sparring needs to be at less than 100%, because if you fight full-force, you will never experiment with new techniques or tactics, because you'll get killed.
I have found that there are a few Karate techniques/tactics that work in Muay Thai pretty well. One is the defensive rear kick. You turn your back slightly (!) and pop up your front heel, then fire it up at a 45 degree angle. It's just like an uppercut, but with your leg. MT guys who see your back turned tend to go in for the kill, because MT apparently doesn't have a lot of attacks for when the other guy is behind you, since that isn't supposed to happen in ring fighting, so they are used to "I see his back" meaning "he cannot do anything." Karate is for self-defense, not ring fighting, so it has a lot of techniques for "what if a guy just comes out of nowhere at me from some obscure angle." MT guys therefore tend to charge straight into those kicks and get the wind knocked out of them because they don't have any idea that it's coming. I have hit competitive MT fighters with about 90% success with that move. Don't miss, though, because you're pretty fucked if you miss.
I've also found that feinting carries over. If I fake like I'm going to punch you in the face, then drop down and smack your ribs, that works exactly the same in both systems. Slipping is also pretty much the same. So in Muay Thai, I find that I can fake people and I can dodge well. However, a lot of Karate attacks do not work right because of the gear difference. I can't grab the guy's shirt because he's not always wearing one, and I have 16 oz gloves on. I can't slip punches between his guard because of the size of the gloves. Kicks are less effective because I don't have shoes on, and because I'm wearing shin pads. Also, I like to move around over as wide an area as possible, which is nice if I fight a big guy in an open space, because they tire out faster than I do, due to my light weight. It's harder to use that in a ring, and there's a much greater danger of being cornered.
So all these little rules change the effectiveness of certain techniques, and those changes ripple out to affect your tactics and even your overall strategy. In Karate, my strategy is defense first. Priority number one is "don't get hit." In Muay Thai, that's much harder to implement and you have to be more willing to trade hits. If you land one solid punch in Karate, it can easily end the conflict because you're bare-handed and it's like smashing a dude with a rock. In Muay Thai, a one-hit KO is retardedly hard to get unless you're lucky enough that he just charges with his hands down into your right punch or something.
This also, by the way, contributes to the super-retarded attitude that's pervasive in martial arts schools of "my style works and everyone else's style is bullshit." Seriously, if Karate didn't work for what it was made to do, it wouldn't be practiced widely. Same goes for Muay Thai. Muay Thai doesn't work as well for self-defense as karate because it makes assumptions like "I'm ready for the fight" and "the guy is in front of me" and "we're wearing this type of gear and fighting in this type of ring." Karate is not as good for Muay Thai ring fighting because Karate training "wastes time" on katas and techniques for use against grabs and tackles that cannot happen in a Muay Thai ring fight, meaning that the Karate student has spent time studying something that will not be used and is therefore not prepared as well. Ultimately, all styles work for what they were designed to do. Except the "no-touch spirit energy knockout" stuff. That stuff is a con and does not actually work at all. It's bullshit.
arrr
avast ye mateys
You have to bear in mind that some parts of the world have modern machinery but not modern civilization.
Due to issues of national pride, that technique has been pretty much outlawed everywhere except Japan. Some variants are acceptable in China, though.
to which i say WTF
they should be opening witchcraft schools to teach us all the dark arts
Gosh darnit.
I'll just have to kill myself and get King Kai to teach me Spirit Bomb.
Well said. I think barbarism will win in the end.
Haircuts for all?
i did not specify where the schools would be located
i vote for aruba