Uh guys and gals, Could we get back tot he point at ahnd? Before we were so dudely interrupted I was asking what differentiates an internal system from an external system. To Dave: Your point regarding mind-set is well-taken. I refer you back to Van Cann's forum for discussion of this topic. To Rick...

To Dave: Thanks for your input. I am cognizant of the difficulties in transmitting and elucidating physical movement thorugh electronic or written media. However, the panegyric ramblings of Mr. Sigman were a little too much to take. A recent colloquy with a comrade who holds dan rank in Uechi and si...

Bill, I understand that you are a scientist and it is in your nature to explore, question and analyze. I am also an exponent of learning from "outsiders" so long as they have something of value to demostrate and/or share. Has Mr. Sigman offered anything of value, yet, to this discussion? H...

Mr. Sigman wrote: There are two main points in this discussion. The primary point I was trying to make was that in my opinion there can be no serious study of push-hands by Uechi practitioners if they have no usage of the core strength of the internal martial arts. It would simply be an external, te...

Mr. Sigman wrote: What happens almost everytime is that someone mistakes a hard-style martial art that has "neigung" (which translates as "internal exercises") as implying that the style is "internal". It's a different meaning. "Neijia", the "internal art...

Mr. Sigman wrote: >I met Nidans and Sandans who were simply >horrible at sparring. Later I noticed that >this is a common affliction in many of the >martial arts. Oh, come now Mr. Sigman. Are you implying that all or the majority of Nidans and Sandans are bad at sparring. That is a very broad brush ...

The license plate belongs to Sensei Carmine DiRamio of Quincy, MA. Carmine has been teaching uechi-ryu for over 30 years. He ran a school with the late Forrest Sanborn and was one of my original instructors. Carmine is a retired police officer from the city of Quincy. The last I heard he was still t...

David, Ther are very few senior students who have not a failed a dan or kyu test at one time or another. I failed my nidan test twice but I was determined to keep coming back until I passed. When I did pass on my third attempt I had an overwhelming feeling of joy that I had never experienced up unti...

Anthony, I forwarded the information you gave me to my ISP tech support and they are checking it out for me. They seemed to be concerned about this problem so it must be affecting many of their users. I installed a very cheap ($29) 56K internal modem known as a HSP K46 FLEX PNP MODEM. I will let you...

Hi, Thanks for all of your assistance. Anthony, I only recently installed the modem and that is when I started to have problems. I never had this problem with my old 28.8 modem, so I thought the problem was associated with installation and configuration of the new modem. Dakkon, my ISP is named artn...

Hey Anthony, I have seen the 'bad day" movie wherein the user pounds his keyboard into submision and then knocks his monitor into oblivion. Right now, I understand those emotions. My Internet connection has been disconnected three times in the last five minutes for no apparent reason. Here is t...

Hi, The more I practice this art the more complex it seems to become. I had a workout and a discussion with one of my seniors this past weekend and he told me that I should make the hard techniques soft and the soft techniques hard. My initial response to this statement was "Huh"? He then ...

David, It really doesn't much matter what any of us think of your earning your shodan. What matters is what it means to you. Ultimately, the experience is personal for each dan candidate. To the outside world a black belt has a mystique of specialized fighting skills. IMHO, to the board a Shodan tes...