Annette,
that was awesome.
did I mention that I have been enjoying your blogs?
Glaodh Sgrios!
DBeasley :) (a Scottish lady who would so love to give flashy baton twirling boy
a lesson with my broadsword)

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "annetteray007" <annetteray007@...>
> "If you choose to carry this weapon, one of three things will happen
> to you. 1 nothing, 2 you will end up getting yourself killed because
> it leaves your hands, or 3 it may save someone's life."
>
> I will never forget the words of the sheriff's deputy who taught the
> concealed weapons class I attended many years ago.
>
> As a child I had always been taught extreme respect for weapons. I
> grew up in a household and a culture where firearms and other
> weapons were an integral part of life. If there was one thing I was
> taught early as a child, other than how to talk, it was that weapons
> were not toys. They are to be used correctly and never recklessly.
> You learn to use your weapon and take it seriously. Not only is it
> literally a matter of life and death, it is a matter of personal
> pride. Take good care of your weapons, treat them with respect,
> learn to use them with skill, and they will take care of you.
>
> As a martial artist, I was originally trained in an empty-handed
> style. To be able to use weapons was considered a privilege. It was
> not a part of the regular curriculum, and you had to show
> proficiency in the basics of empty-handed combat prior to picking up
> a weapon for the occassional weekend weapons seminar. A weapon was
> not the proverbial magic bullet; if you did not have the basics to
> go behind it, you would be even worse off than you were before you
> started. Weapons can be used against you. We were always reminded
> that not only can a weapon be taken away by your opponent, but also
> by your instructor. Basics first, dessert last.
>
> I attended a martial arts tournament yesterday, and saw a variety of
> weapons forms. Some were very good, and I found others to be truly
> awful. I felt like telling those particular competitors that I
> really did not appreciate them making a mockery of the use of
> weapons, and that they obviously did not 1. understand the entire
> concept of using a weapon 2. show any respect for their weapon 3.
> have a clue about what they were supposed to be doing and 4. had no
> right to be calling themselves a martial artist .
>
> Call it my upbringing, but I found it incredibly, unbearably
> offensive to watch someone being so disrespectful as to willingly
> throw their weapon with the only purpose being to catch it again, or
> to twirl it around to impress someone watching. You never, ever,
> ever, willingly let your weapon leave your hand. (The only exception
> to this being of course, if it were being used to impale your
> opponent, or if it were a weapon designed to be thrown or launched.
> This is not the type of weapon we were dealing with. )
>
> A form is supposed to be the simulation of fighting multiple
> opponents. A weapons form is supposed to the the simulation of
> fighting multiple opponents with the use of a weapon. The particular
> weapon in question is a bo staff.One of my favorite weapons because
> of it's sheer simplicity and practicality. So how can you take one
> of the simplest and most practical of all weapons and really screw
> it up? By trying to make it into something that it is not. The bo
> staff is meant to be used as a weapon of self defense, not as a
> flashy, twirling implement, leaving your hand, thrown in the air
> multiple times with the only purpose being to catch it again.
>
> If you are fighting multiple opponents, once that staff leaves your
> hands, you will never see it again. You will be fighting empty
> handed. The staff will be used to bludgeon you to death unless you
> are really good at defending empty-handed against weaponry. Had the
> form shown this, I would have been impressed. You throw your weapon
> away, then defend empty-handed against what was once your weapon.
> That's the reality you've just simulated. That would look really
> cool if you managed to pull your butt out of that one. Could be
> done. You'd have to be incredibly good at your basics of unarmed
> combat. You would have to display a level of skill way beyond any
> that the competitor in question would have been capable of. One that
> shows a true mastery of the martial arts. Not just a regurgitation
> of a few cool techniques that someone has shown you. You have to be
> able to think like a warrior. Something the competitor in question
> was obviously incapable of doing.
>
> Where was this kid's dad when he was growing up? Geez, hadn't anyone
> ever taught him that weapons were serious stuff. They were not toys.
> Please do not insult me as a martial artist and use my weapon as a
> toy. Please do not call it a weapon if you intend to use it as a
> toy. Please do not disrepect my weapon in this manner, I find it to
> be very offensive. This is not the way of a warrior.
>
> So I had quite a dilemma. Here I was sitting as a judge. How do I
> score a competitor like this? If I were to go with my heart, what
> kind of score does he get? He has just committed a grave sin. I can
> still hear the mantra of my first martial arts instructor in my
> head, "Respect and Discipline.... the two most important things we
> teach in this school..." Wow, he had just violated the Prime
> Directive. Ouch. Not only that, he would also be dead. So I gave him
> a score, one that would be socially acceptable; as the other judges
> scored him high. What I really wanted to do though, was put the
> score on the card then put a big slash so everyone could see as I
> held up the scorecard it would say 9.3/Dirt Nap. In parentheses
> below that would be the explanation: That means you're dead, but you
> looked cool getting your butt killed.
>
> Spartan, come back with your shield or on it. Do not be throwing it
> away. Some fair Scottish-trained lad or lassie will be kicking your
> sorry butt. Duh.
>
>
>