One Bad Karateka

[Tom Yum]

Hmm .. I have to disagree. Take the same middle class child and put him in the rough neighborhood and eventually he too will develop those instincts. I know this to be true.

Ditto.

You can take a kid from a well-to-do home, put him through a rough school or neihborhood and he'll have the same instincts as the others. It happens all the time with "re-districting."

[shaolin-warrior]

If the kid lives long enough. Thats why I send my kids to karate, we live in a great town but the middle and high schools are integrated. Its the transition period that makes or breaks it for the kids. they either adapt and overcome or lay down and be bullied.

[Uke]

Ditto.

You can take a kid from a well-to-do home, put him through a rough school or neihborhood and he'll have the same instincts as the others. It happens all the time with "re-districting."

I'm not sure what you meant by this last post. Did you mean re-disticting in terms of school districts or in terms of neighborhoods becoming bad due to rezoning?

[Tom Yum]

I'm not sure what you meant by this last post. Did you mean re-disticting in terms of school districts or in terms of neighborhoods becoming bad due to rezoning?

Both cases.

[Tom Yum]

If the kid lives long enough. Thats why I send my kids to karate, we live in a great town but the middle and high schools are integrated. Its the transition period that makes or breaks it for the kids. they either adapt and overcome or lay down and be bullied.

In highschool its relatively easier to face bullies; teachers know who the problem kids are versus the ones trying to get through, thrive and get a diploma. A kid can stand up for himself and even fight back physically, mentally and politically if he's in the right and not get penalized (or minimally) by the school system.

I'd say the biggest challenge for any highschool (or middleschool) kid to face, isn't being bullied; rather the level-headed kids facing their own mortality - knowing that they could be in the wrong place at the wrong time or randomly targeted in a drive-by shooting or related acts of violence. If a kid can grow up in this environment, face his/her own mortality and still thrive its says alot.

Some kids shriek away and try to displace it, some learn how to cope with it and stay out, some get sucked into it or some combination thereof.

Most bullies at 16 or 17 believe themselves to be invincible.

[Uke]

Both cases.

I strongly disagree with that statement. Having to go to school in a bad neighborhood and having to live in a bad neighborhood are two VERY different things and situations. You will not foster an instinct for survival because you go to a bad school. You may learn how to run faster or hide more skillfully, but you won't develop the skills or instincts in the context that shaolin-warrior spoke about.

Being bussed to and from school in a bad neighborhood isn't the same as having to eat, sleep, work and shop there. Far different. Even if you had to walk to and from, the experience is different in that you wind up at a safe and non-threatening destination.

[DickHardman]

Man!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5faGD5b6Zw

that guy has some really good sweeps.

[Karate_is_cool]

First of all, that guy is BAD ASS!! (for a shotokan fighter anyway) You guys touched on some good points. I think that good trainers and good training make good fighters, but to be exceptional takes something much deeper. Attitude, killer instinct, and heart cannot be developed. You either have it or you don't. Even athleticism is very hard to develop. Sure you can improve athleticism but some guys just cannot get to the same level as others. As for the karate guy it looks like he had a lot of potential. Maybe if he was trained in mma earlier in life he could have been good. You can tell that he's a FIGHTER and not just a competitor like everyone else he fought.

[Uke]

As for the karate guy it looks like he had a lot of potential. Maybe if he was trained in mma earlier in life he could have been good. You can tell that he's a FIGHTER and not just a competitor like everyone else he fought.

That's interesting to me that you'd make that assessment. I don't know anyone that competes that started out in MMA very early in their lives. Most started out as wrestlers, kickboxers and BJJ players. I think if he were at the right age and still had the right conditioning, it would boil down to his takedown and submission defense, much like CroCop.

[Albert]

You can throw bare knuckle punchez too the head in shotokan?

[Albert]

In highschool its relatively easier to face bullies; teachers know who the problem kids are versus the ones trying to get through, thrive and get a diploma. A kid can stand up for himself and even fight back physically, mentally and politically if he's in the right and not get penalized (or minimally) by the school system.


You actually cant stand up for yourself if your a HS student, most schoolz follow the zero tolerance policy now, and if your involved with a fight in any way, even if completely in self defense, itz automatic suspension and police involvement. Your guilty no matter what. Which iz absolute bs of course, but thtz how they deal with fighting.