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Post by Gilmoy on Jun 10, 2019 23:29:21 GMT -5
I took karate, taught by Tsutomu Ohshima (who was taught by Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate). We sat (knelt) in on a couple of kyu (degree) tests, in which the brown belts tested each other in 1-v-1 punch/block duels.
The weirdest thing I ever saw was when Lenny, a brown belt, finally made ichidan (1st degree black belt), and he quietly awed all of the new students. The simplest sparring drill is that you both line up about 1.0m away in stance, and then one lunge-punch and the other step-back-and-block. You know exactly what's coming, and so it's just a matter of executing the reflex. Lunge punch (step forward, punch with same hand as the leg that steps forth) is the longest, slowest, least-efficient punch in existence, which is why boxers and brawlers never use it, hence it's slow enough for white belts to practice with. Nonetheless, white belts always choked and fumbled whenever Lenny started his move, and we later realized he was deliberately moving at only about 1/2 speed.
One day, a sandan (3rd degree black belt) visited and joined in the drills for a day, and ... Lenny choked and fumbled. Same drill he's been doing for years, but whenever that sandan moved, Lenny got the yips. He had this mental hurdle that emerged only under that kind of stiff test. It takes years of training to burn the newbie out of an ichidan, so that he can remain cool under pressure and qualify for nidan (2nd-degree).
In wvb terms, ichidan would be like a Top 10 freshman in high school who still can't dive for pancakes, sandan might be like a college senior, and 5th-degree would be Aköz diving toward Egonu's hits like they don't matter.
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Post by hammer on Jun 10, 2019 23:34:07 GMT -5
Those PE courses are an absolute necessity for NERD schools like CalTech, MIT, and Harvey Mudd. Add in the Video Game effect, and that doubles the need.
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Post by Wolfgang on Jun 10, 2019 23:41:00 GMT -5
I took cheerleading.
Those splits...oh boy.
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Post by Wolfgang on Jun 11, 2019 10:51:15 GMT -5
I checked MIT's website and they now allow some "extreme" sports to count for the PE requirement. One option that Wolfgang would be interested in is to take a parkour class. You love to do it so much in video games.... .... Well, umm, thanks. So, all I have to do is apply to MIT even though I already have a shiitload of degrees and become a freshmen again just so I can take that parkour class. What...? I would probably be one of the oldest freshman ever in the history of the school. I say "probably" because when I recently went to grad school as a 40-something guy, I wasn't the oldest graduate student on campus. Surprising.
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Post by mikegarrison on Jun 11, 2019 13:08:48 GMT -5
I checked MIT's website and they now allow some "extreme" sports to count for the PE requirement. One option that Wolfgang would be interested in is to take a parkour class. You love to do it so much in video games.... .... Well, umm, thanks. So, all I have to do is apply to MIT even though I already have a shiitload of degrees and become a freshmen again just so I can take that parkour class. What...? I would probably be one of the oldest freshman ever in the history of the school. I say "probably" because when I recently went to grad school as a 40-something guy, I wasn't the oldest graduate student on campus. Surprising. It's not unusual for people to retire from a first career and go to grad school. Isn't that pretty much what you did? It's also not unusual for people to take graduate classes as part of continuing education, especially if they can get their employer to pay for it.
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Post by Phaedrus on Jun 11, 2019 13:48:42 GMT -5
How did I miss this thread until now?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2019 13:56:05 GMT -5
bigfan , why are you a Caltech fan? All their athletes play hard, compete hard and know they are going to lose more than they are going to win. The athletes don't pout or complain. The coach's dont yell at their players or refs or act like fools. It is free to see them play and I live 10 mintues away. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought everyone at CalTech had to participate in one varsity sport?
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Post by Wolfgang on Jun 11, 2019 14:06:35 GMT -5
Well, umm, thanks. So, all I have to do is apply to MIT even though I already have a shiitload of degrees and become a freshmen again just so I can take that parkour class. What...? I would probably be one of the oldest freshman ever in the history of the school. I say "probably" because when I recently went to grad school as a 40-something guy, I wasn't the oldest graduate student on campus. Surprising. It's not unusual for people to retire from a first career and go to grad school. Isn't that pretty much what you did? It's also not unusual for people to take graduate classes as part of continuing education, especially if they can get their employer to pay for it. It's not unusual, but I wasn't expecting THAT old! LOL! The oldest at my school was 62. When I graduated, I was 49. If you drew a distribution chart, there'd be 80% in the 22-29 age group, 18% in the 30-39 age group, and 2% in the 40+ age group (me and this other 62-year old woman). LOL! We were the only ones who got together for lunch to talk about our children and, in her case, her grandchildren. LOL! Also, I wasn't talking about continuing education students. There are always buttloads of them around campus, especially at night. I was talking about full-time degree-pursuing students.
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Post by Wolfgang on Jun 11, 2019 14:06:50 GMT -5
All their athletes play hard, compete hard and know they are going to lose more than they are going to win. The athletes don't pout or complain. The coach's dont yell at their players or refs or act like fools. It is free to see them play and I live 10 mintues away. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought everyone at CalTech had to participate in one varsity sport? Wrong. If I'm wrong about this, don't contact Caltech because they may ask for my degree back. Bastards. Anyway, Caltech had many many non-athletic types. I mean, you could throw a rock at a group and you'd probably hit someone who couldn't catch a ball to save his life. One of my friends couldn't run, swim, catch a ball, or throw anything more than 5 feet. And he would almost always trip and fall from getting his legs tangled. You want these types on your intercollegiate athletic team? Oh, man...
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Post by hammer on Jun 11, 2019 15:04:08 GMT -5
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought everyone at CalTech had to participate in one varsity sport? Wrong. If I'm wrong about this, don't contact Caltech because they may ask for my degree back. Bastards. Anyway, Caltech had many many non-athletic types. I mean, you could throw a rock at a group and you'd probably hit someone who couldn't catch a ball to save his life. One of my friends couldn't run, swim, catch a ball, or throw anything more than 5 feet. And he would almost always trip and fall from getting his legs tangled. You want these types on your intercollegiate athletic team? Oh, man... If you trip over your own two feet walking, then taking a PE class could lead to an early and untimely death. Hopefully CalTech has a waiver process?
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Post by bigfan on Jun 11, 2019 16:28:23 GMT -5
All their athletes play hard, compete hard and know they are going to lose more than they are going to win. The athletes don't pout or complain. The coach's dont yell at their players or refs or act like fools. It is free to see them play and I live 10 mintues away. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought everyone at CalTech had to participate in one varsity sport? Everybody has either take a school calendar year of PE classes or play on sports teams.
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Post by Wolfgang on Jun 11, 2019 16:42:44 GMT -5
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought everyone at CalTech had to participate in one varsity sport? Everybody has either take a school calendar year of PE classes or play on sports teams.
Back in the day, you could also do intramurals or self-study.
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Post by rugbydog on Jun 12, 2019 17:06:50 GMT -5
Only at Caltech would they say "Statistically Strongest Season Ever". Over the years, several Caltech players have played on my rugby team (I live close by too...yay). We had a play where if you called a state you went left...a country you went right. The flyhalf called Georgia...bedlam ensues.
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Post by bigfan on Sept 14, 2019 11:14:58 GMT -5
Volleyball Seals Best Start Since '97 PASADENA (Sept. 13, 2019) – The Caltech women's volleyball team pulled out the win in an eventful five-set match with Marymount California University and in doing so secured its best start to a season since 1997 when the Beavers opened up with five wins through the season's first six games. The victory now has Caltech riding a four-game winning streak, the program's longest since 1990. www.gocaltech.com/sports/wvball/2019-20/releases/20190914gt4pvp
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Post by bigfan on Sept 21, 2019 11:07:51 GMT -5
Caltech Stuns Whittier in SCIAC Volleyball Opener PASADENA (Sept. 21, 2019) – A team performance for the ages earned the Caltech women's volleyball team a 3-1 victory in its 2019 SCIAC opener against Whittier College for the second conference win in the history of the program www.gocaltech.com/sports/wvball/2019-20/releases/201909219368i1
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