From:	dbuehrer@******.carl.org dbuehrer@******.carl.org
Subject:	CC Martial Arts
Date:	Mon, 05 Jun 2000 10:05:34 -0600

Sommers wrote:
>How about as a bonus for the martial arts guys, you can use your knowledge
>skill as a "Linked Attribute" instead of Strength for purposes of the
>Karma costs and training time for raising the Unarmed Combat Skill. So the
>old master with the strength of 2 can still raise his "Death Fu" to
>ridiculous levels because his knowledge skill is so high, fitting in well
>with a cinematic theme.

I must have missed the bit about Unarmed Combat being linked to Strength
for purposes of karma cost and training. Because if I had, I would have
raised bloody hell.

Martial arts techniques are not based on strength, they are based on technique.

Technique beats out strength every time. I'm 6'2". My sister is 5'2" and
weighs half as much as I do. I'm much stronger than she is. However, she
is also a 2nd Dan and her technique is good enough that she can do pretty
much anything she wants with me. I'm only a 6th Gup (1/3 the way to Black
Belt) and if my technique isn't right I can't gain control over the
lightest of my fellow students. And god forbid if they are in my weight
class (went to throw someone my size once and ended up throwing myself :)

In my Hapkido class we break boards during tests. If one does not use
proper technique, it doesn't matter how strong one is, that board will not
break. I've learned this from experience. However, if one uses proper
technique, even if one is a not so strong, that board doesn't stand a
chance. If my sister performs a kick with proper technique she can put
almost all of her mass behind that kick. There isn't a bone in the human
body that can withstand 100 pounds of force moving at speed.

Watch a professional boxer sometime, a good one. Watch their hips when
they throw a punch. Their hips rotate with the punch. Almost their entire
upper body and most of their lower body is behind that punch. If the boxer
weighs 230, there's almost 200 pounds behind that punch. Even when they
are throwing jabs, they are putting a lot of body into that jab.

If unarmed combat should be linked to any attribute, it should be linked to
quickness.

To Life,
-Graht
http://www.users.uswest.net/~abaker3
--
"What you are doing at the moment must be exactly what
you are doing at the moment--and nothing else."