Rick Tew

[Nishi]

Hi Andrew, freqninja is entitled to his opinion, your right, so are all of us....but it dosnt mean these opinions are the best options. I have trained in several martial arts and still dabble in a few things for intrest. I have studied BJJ, Aikido, Hapkido, anything i found interesting in Kung-fu, and even a couple of weeks tai-jutsu, i currently box (when time permits)...ive played with Bo, jo, tanto, nunchuku, escrima, and of course bokken and shinai. This all started at the age of 11, and by my early 20's i realised that street fighting was against the law, assult was against the law, and as mentioned above, so was assult with a deadly weapon. Violence is for those who do not understand peace, and cannot create options when under pressure (lesson revealed thru kendo).

I was lucky and found an Aikido instructor that started to challenge my (tiny) mind. The truth is, modern martial arts are for those who have decided they do not want to fight. If you want true combat in its purest most applicable form possible today with all its weapons, join the United States Marines. If you want to discover yourself and the world around you, look up your local budo dojo...( i can vouch for Kendo and Aikido personally)....dont sell yourself short though.

Good luck!

[Neil Gendzwill]

Please try to have serious discussion with him w/o getting too harsh or critical or judging him.

Okay, here goes:

if a technique doesn't work why use it?

In the case of kendo, we don't use techniques that don't work. We use techniques that are well-proven in competition, and kendo competition is at a level of skill and seriousness unsurpassed in martial arts.

Rick Tew'S art is not just to survive a street fight. It is to improve the individual in areas like fitness, flexability, weapons, hand to hand, agility ect.

This is in direct conflict with your earlier statement. According to you, Mr. Tew uses techniques that don't work to improve fitness, agility etc. This is all fine by us so long as he's honest about what he's teaching: not martial arts, but stage-fighting, showmanship. The Chinese have been training and competing in this type of thing for a long time, they call it "wushu". You see wushu people all the time in movies, it makes for great-looking stunt scenes. It's only superficially related to martial arts.

Many people with a lot of experience have looked at Mr. Tew's website and concluded that he looks to be a gifted athlete but an unskilled martial artist. See this thread

Now you guys seem to disagree with his sword techniques. WHO CARES!?[snip]Most sword training is for fun.

We care, quite strongly. He presents videotapes of sword techniques on his site, not "for fun" but as a way of aquiring students who will be impressed by the flashy technique. We're unimpressed.

Kendo i'm sorry is not the best art for street fighting. Kendo is a traditional art.

True and true. Most of us here don't care about street fighting. I haven't had a fight since I was 14. However if what you are looking for is combat effectiveness, Tew is not it, either. I suggest joining your local military reserve.

The other thing is that you bash the students on the videos who are just students.

Nope, we're looking right at Mr. Tew his own self.

[Hongsermeier]

I have been watching this thread and can no longer contain myself.

Freqninja and Andrew, you both talk of street fighting. Have either one of you been in a street fight? They are not fun. Martial arts go right out the window. When someone grabs you by the shoulder and spins you around unexpectedly and sucker punches you, there is no defense. If your playing pool and someone decideds to break their pool que over your back while your lining up the next shot, there is no defense. Most Martial arts were originally formed by Buddhist monks as a form of defense, not offense. Most Martial arts are based as a way to avoid a fight. The last time I saw a real street fight, both people had studied Martial arts. Neither one used it. One guy grabed a beer mug off a table. The other guy grabed a pool que. They both ended up in jail. Take some honest advice from someone twice your age, street fighting is for morons with no self control and probably very little future.

[Hingus]

Andrew, you need to ask yourself what you are looking for in martial arts. You are in America, if you want to train CMS, go ahead, you have every right to do so, but do yourself a favor and ask yourself what you wish to accomplish. If self defense is your answer, the United States Constitution guarantees you the right to keep and bear arms. The martial arts are completely different.

I am new to Kendo, but have been involved with Okinawan Karate for well over 20 years. The longer I study the martial arts, the less I believe they are about fighting and/or combat. Sure, there is that aspect, but they are more of a journey within yourself.

I do not know Rick Tew, I will probably never meet the man, I don't particularly care for his style of martial arts, and he probably wouldn't care for mine. Who cares? I am happy with my journey.

[Yowai]

The other thing is that you bash the students on the videos who are just students

The students reflect the teacher. Who videotapes complete beginners acting very irresponsibly as a video promotion?

[freqninja]

I did not post to start a flame war. Show some maturity and respect to me and my friend Andrew. I will train in whatever art I feel like weather for fun self-defense or even to show off to friends. If you have a disagreement with my OPINIANS then respond like an adult and please do not resort to flaming or child like name calling.

[LNGUYEN]

I did not post to start a flame war. Show some maturity and respect to me and my friend Andrew. I will train in whatever art I feel like weather for fun self-defense or even to show off to friends. If you have a disagreement with my OPINIANS then respond like an adult and please do not resort to flaming or child like name calling.

Amen, I am done.

[ben]

This is funny.

Go to www.e-budo.com : Their idea of good budo is usefulness in a street fight.

A bit of a generalisation when many regular posters are either published authors on MA, or hold PhDs and Professorships in MA or Asian Studies. Sure it's got its fair share of fruit loops and ninjas, but hey, it's a pretty huge community.

You want feral? Try rec.martial-arts.

b

[aru-ma]

Here's some website that offers combat effective fighting tecniques, they also have a fitness program and weapons technique too.

link 1

link 2
or
Link 3

and did I mentioned that you'll get paid for it too?

[sminki]

I did not post to start a flame war. Show some maturity and respect to me and my friend Andrew. I will train in whatever art I feel like weather for fun self-defense or even to show off to friends. If you have a disagreement with my OPINIANS then respond like an adult and please do not resort to flaming or child like name calling.

You certainly have a right to learn whatever (whether it's pure gold or pure crap) you desire to learn. Good luck and remember to stay in school!

[Yowai]

I did not post to start a flame war. Show some maturity and respect to me and my friend Andrew. I will train in whatever art I feel like weather for fun self-defense or even to show off to friends. If you have a disagreement with my OPINIANS then respond like an adult and please do not resort to flaming or child like name calling.

You are certainly entitled to type OPINIANS. Good luck and maybe the next time you visit, you won't have to remind people to treat you as an adult.

Here's some website that offers combat effective fighting tecniques, they also have a fitness program and weapons technique too.

Only murderers and sadists may apply.

[KATSUJIN]

well well...this topic is catching fire....

freqninja....i have to agree with u on one thing....u and andrew are entitled to ur own opinions...tats true....but i also have to agree with the rest on the objective of ur wanting to learn martial arts.....personally...this is just a opinion, u dont have to take it seriously...rick tew's 'martial science' will never help in real life....the dynamics of the cuts he present wont work in real life....except for wild swinging....

[swrdply400mrela]

I did not post to start a flame war. Show some maturity and respect to me and my friend Andrew. I will train in whatever art I feel like weather for fun self-defense or even to show off to friends. If you have a disagreement with my OPINIANS then respond like an adult and please do not resort to flaming or child like name calling.

Freqninja, I think you're focusing too much on defending yourself. These people are trying to help you if you look closely. At first you said you wanted to learn about street fighting. People with experience in street fighting are trying to tell you that the martial arts were not designed for today's environment. And even if they could help you, Rick Tew won't be able to help you in that field. Martial arts are a defensive strategy with physical force as the last resort.

If you want to pursue martial arts to perform or show off for your friends, that is your choice. But don't think that would help you in a street fight. I think your ego is playing a huge part of your decision making, which could be a regrettable choice. Relatively speaking, you are quite young, so you're prone to make mistakes. Please take advice from people who have been down that past.

Mike

PS - If you're looking at MA's for performance, you may also want to look into gymnastics. If you're looking at MA's as an intimidation factor, starting heading to the gym 4 days a week.

[Nishi]

I did not post to start a flame war. Show some maturity and respect to me and my friend Andrew. I will train in whatever art I feel like weather for fun self-defense or even to show off to friends. If you have a disagreement with my OPINIANS then respond like an adult and please do not resort to flaming or child like name calling.

I work as a rehabilitation coach for those unfortunate people who have suffered an aquired brain injury or traumatic head injury, some by accident, some by mis-adventure, some by violence....the violent cases are the worst, now these people have slurred speech, impared vision and hearing, full loss of co-ordination, disexecutive syndrome, loss of social skills and even incontinence, because some one attacked them, i see the reality of street fighting on a daily basis...this is what you want to learn?

I can avoid violence for the rest of my life by the chioce of freinds i keep, the places i visit, and the way i treat the people around me, i pray you never have your head kicked-in, or have to smash someone elses skull through aggression or self defence... if excitement and movies get the best of you, you will miss all the wonderful things budo has to offer, true budo is not about learning to kill its about learning to live.

I really hope you make a good choice,
good luck.

[L. johnson]

Once again I would like to thank you all for your wisdom in this matter. First off, I completely agree w/ your views on budo. I gained this from reading Bushido . I agree w/ all of the philosophies about MA being a journey of self. I also believed you should be prepared for a street fight. Unfortunately, there is no real way to prepare for that because they are always different, in different settings, different circumstances, and you never know what weapons they may or may not have. All we can do is keep training for a day we hope will never come. And we can only hope whatever training we have will at least keep us alive.
I also think everyone needs to find their own way. It should all work out in the end and I hope it will.
See you later, Andrew
(I will soon have my own name for people to send me stuff)