What's your style/rank?

[Excel Zero]

I don't think I missed it...but if you study martial arts...or used to...what is your style and current ranks? How did you start? What do you like about your art? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

GET IT ON!!

Current Forms: Kenshou Karate - 2nd Black
Isshin Ryu Karate - 1st Black
Tae Kwon Do - Purple Belt
Kendo - Level 2

How I Started: I started back in oooooh 1990. Back when I was young I lacked discipline and was picked on as a child. I started in Tae Kwon Do but had a horribly cocky instructor. I am not really crazy about earning a black belt in less than 3 years. So I moved on to Isshin Ryu then finally started Kenshou.

What I Like: I really like the devestating, but also calm and healing power of Kenshou meditation.

My Strengths: I am a good stand up fighter and as far as I know, a good instructor.

My Weaknesses: I have a problem when a fight goes to the ground. I do all I can to keep a fight from dropping down.

Well...your turn!

End of Line

Excel

[Shandriz]

I practice...er...Shotokan (I think that's right. Something very similar to that if not) karate, and I'm a white belt. . I probably won't go any further in it, either, because I am totally not cool with my Sensei. He's a nice guy, but he doesn't teach well.

[Shino]

Shotokan Karate - Adv Brown

I passed the Novice Black Belt test while I was Brown so I was not actually eligible to get my Novice Black belt. I have to take it again and that will happen on May 21st.

[Ultrawolf]

Shorinji Ryu - Blue 1st Degree

I had to stop for financial reasons but I really liked it.
Shino, how do you like Shotokan?

[Shino]

Yes I do... very much.

[Zinka]

I study Ying Jow Pai (Eagle Claw Kung-Fu). It's a northern style and I like it mostly because of its acrobatic forms as opposed to the stiffer and ,to me, less interesting southern styles. I've been studying since I was 11, so that's about seven years but during the school year its hard for me to go more then once or twice a week which makes advancing harder. I also like that advancement isnt really a huge deal in my school....mostly it's like a huge family.

My weakness is probably fighting, I loose my head and just don't really do very well at it.
My greatest strength is my flexibility whcih really helps during forms. Kicks, jumps, and arcrobatic stuff (such as handsprins, splits, etc.) are much easier for me.

[BWS-1]

Current Forms: Kodokan Judo - Yellow Belt
unnamed personnal ''formless form'': 10 years
Survival combat: 5 years
Application of ''Система'': 5 years

How I Started: As far as I can remember, I was 5 years old (back in 1988) when I gave my first punch on my dad's 110 lbs punching bag. I was barely tall enough to hit the bottom of the bag at that time . I didn't like my experience with ''punching'' ... especially with the weak wrists I had back then, so my dad told me to try judo at the age of 7. And so I did. Won 2 bronze medals in injured state, both times I've been lectured by my sensei about it too >_>, I didn't like competitions at all, it made the entire thing look like a sport. Stoped training at the dojo when I was 12 since I wasn't focused enough in school anymore. Since the age of 16 I've been working on a personnal form, trying to assimilate as much as I could from various philosophies, practices, styles, and train what worked best for me, often merging moves, combos, trows, counters from different styles* to turn them into ... err ... things that can't really be trained with a sparing partner. Started judo again all over at the age of 19, but had to stop almost before getting my Orange belt because of 2 accidents I had (before and after a competition).

What I Like: ''One counter battles'' as I like to call them, or ''2.94 seconds battles''. Opponent attacks, I counter once in a way that the threat is neutralized, either after fainting from blinding pain or simply by having his arm/leg/wrist/neck/etc. snaped, or is trown with enough strength on the ground or a wall to make him choke, all disoriented on the floor (usually my own strength + his own + his weight + my weight = ... can somebody say ''car accident with a wall/floor''? yup, it's that devastating, russian martial arts are brutal when used in combination with Kodokan Judo ... as if they weren't brutal enough already)

My Strengths: Don't let me get grab you ^^; I work well in close range combats, I get irritated if the opponent keeps his distance lol But I'm usually not eager to get to him/her, I'll wait. I'm a very ''passive'' fighter in overall (more of a ''non-resistant'' one), I'll very rarely make the first move, it goes against my way. I also perform well in pinning an opponent down to the ground, if the struggle ends up being there. Thx to the intensive sessions of sparring with my Judo sensei.

My Weaknesses: I spar like white belt :p I end up thinking too much and freezing in crucial moments, thinking of a move I am allowed to do, and crossing the moves I'd have done instincivly from my mind that are forbidden. I'd say I also don't make good use of my legs, as Shino made me realise when I spared with him, I could likely do something good with them, I need to invest more time into working those legs out! My sight is bad, if I do end up fighting without my glass, I have no notions of distance without my ''eyes''. So ... that gives me a pretty big disadvantage, depending of the situation, since if I'm 2 feet away from my opponent, I'll see him clearly, but anything further away is a blurr. I have trouble with anything like summersaults, spin kicks, spinWHATEVER. If I jump it'S to reach something higher or dodge ... not to spin or flip, I can barely front flip decently so ... I know only one kick well, I call it the ''rib cage cracker''... yup, that's the only one I could think of training on my punching bag back when I still had it, I keep training that one kick every now and then, but striking at nothing but the air isn't really helping me, not for that kick, *sigh* I miss my punching bag ._.

*
Aikido
Boxe
Budo Tai-Jutsu
Hapkido
Happo Biken
Jeet kune do
Karate
Kendo
-|Kodokan Judo|-
Koppo-jutsu
Krav Maga
Kung Fu
Muai Tai
Nin-jutsu
-|Russian Martial Arts (Система)|-
Tai Chi
Tae Kwon Do
Zui quan

[Ming]

I'm about to start studying two-bladed Niman. Or at least I would like to....