Non Bonsai tools and stuff for Bonsai

[Cajunrider]

Have to admit I’m still at a bit of a loss . What exactly do you use it for . As per bonsai collecting . As I said I have a short machete . For clearing over grown brush . But I need it very rarely . Some use a survival knife like that to dig . Might be pretty handy in a bear fight .

Or gator fight
The thick gator skull means smaller light blade will bounce off. I once had to dispatch one with a pick ax.

That said, gators are the lesser of my worries when collecting in the swamp.

 

[19Mateo83]

Very cool looked it up . Seems ideal light weight and very strong . Fast search only shows it in large spools . $$ but will keep looking thanks

Search for amsteel

 

[HorseloverFat]

So bonsai basically started with . Monks growing trees from the mountains. In a pot . There is a lot of zen and being one with nature . I go into the woods . With that mindset . You guys know like yoda says . When you are calm at peace . You will find the trees . It’s not about who is the heaviest armed for battle . If you fight Mother Nature you lose .

The Monks WERE warriors!!

Up until they decided to stop doing the Emperor's bidding.

Even after... "Warrior Monk" was a duty within the community.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

The Monks WERE warriors!!

Up until they decided to stop doing the Emperor's bidding.

Even after... "Warrior Monk" was a duty within the community.

Why are you screwing up my story . With the facts . Don’t you think I have seen the tv show king fu

 

[Cajunrider]

Why are you screwing up my story . With the facts . Don’t you think I have seen the tv show king fu

When I was little I went to school in a temple. Some of the kung fu practice sessions I saw were spectacular.

 

[Cajunrider]

I had my best use of the big Timber Rattler bowie knife at lunch time today. My buddies were grilling rib eyes steaks for our monthly Monday-Meat lunch. I wore the knife on my belt and watched my buddies grilling steaks. I had my eye on one particular steak. When it was done to my liking I walked over, pulled out the knife, jabbed it and lifted it from the grill saying: "This one is mine!" - Well. No one argued.
Next time I go into the woods, I am going to give it my torture test. For now it is just for show. I hate the idea of a knife that failed on heavy chops.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

When I was little I went to school in a temple. Some of the kung fu practice sessions I saw were spectacular.

A coworker at one time . Was deeply into Wing Chun . His dad put him in kung fu at 12 . So he did not hang out on the street . He went to China to finish his training , was just mind blowing what he could do . When his teacher in Canada retired . He made a vid . In it he disarms 6 black belts . With katanas. In under 1 minute . Crazy what humans can do . When they apply themselves

 

[HorseloverFat]

I was JUST talking to @19Mateo83 about building a Wing Chun Dummy!!

 

[Cajunrider]

I was JUST talking to @19Mateo83 about building a Wing Chun Dummy!!

I built one out of a chunk of power pole. I left the diameter too big. It was so heavy. I felt like punching and kicking a water buffalo. I wound up spending a long time shaving it down to a useable diameter.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

I’m trying to remember what I did for comic relief before I meet . You three

 

[Cajunrider]

The trunk has no taper. Terrible placement on the branches and that aerial root is funky. I was so pissed off at it that I punched and kicked it daily.

In 2020 it ran away with Laura.

 

[August]

I must have seen this at least once because the dummy is ringing a bell in my head. Wing Chun training I presume is a whole lot of punching and kicking that thing? Very hard (pun intended). I did a style of Kung Fu (White Dragon, Pai Lung) that originated from Chinese monks and (iirc) was formalized by Japanese martial artists. Practicing proper form was painful even without punching trees; when doing tests for advancement, you would have to hold a perfect horse stance for greater and greater amounts of time depending on the belt; up to a couple hours I believe. For reference:


Edit: I should note that this was from when I was 13-16. I am by no means a martial artists, I had "extracurricular" parents

 

[Frozentreehugger]

The trunk has no taper. Terrible placement on the branches and that aerial root is funky. I was so pissed off at it that I punched and kicked it daily.

In 2020 it ran away with Laura.
View attachment 471551
View attachment 471550

I look at the second pic and first thing comes to mind . Is cut that thing down . Get it out of the way . You need a chair . Rod holders . A cooler . Umbrella. For shade . Tackle and fishing rods .

 

[Frozentreehugger]

A very old style of kung fu . The training dummy is much newer . Use of the wording . I do not practice kung fu . According to my friend that was very serious. The monks removed the fighting element from Tai Chi . Goal was to train the masses . In case overthrowing the government was necessary. The best translation of the wording is a girls name . She was the first student . I have nothing to back this up other than the word of my coworker .

 

[Cajunrider]

I look at the second pic and first thing comes to mind . Is cut that thing down . Get it out of the way . You need a chair . Rod holders . A cooler . Umbrella. For shade . Tackle and fishing rods .

That was a trial. It was later taken off the ropes and mounted on the traditional rods. That was the upper deck of my pier. The lower deck has all the things you mentioned.
PS: Instead of the Dim Mak touch I had the dock mak kick. I kicked at a piling at the end of the pier and my friends swore they felt the kick at the end of the pier 500 ft away. It is ludicrous but that’s their story and they are sticking with it.

 

[Maiden69]

The monks removed the fighting element from Tai Chi .

The evolution from a martial art into a more health conscious art is what "removed" the fighting from Tai Chi. I did a little bit of kung fu before messing up both my knees and moved into tai chi for a while. The instructor was from Taiwan, he belongs to the American Chen Taiji Society. According to him, around the mid 1800's tai chi instructors started teaching the soft forms in preference of the hard fighting forms. He suggested that if we ever wanted to move into a more martial arts form to look for a school that refers to the art as taijiquan (the original name) instead of tai chi. I rarely do any now, 4 surgeries later my range of motion on my knees and shoulders have diminished so much that basic forms are difficult to say the least.

 

[Cajunrider]

The evolution from a martial art into a more health conscious art is what "removed" the fighting from Tai Chi. I did a little bit of kung fu before messing up both my knees and moved into tai chi for a while. The instructor was from Taiwan, he belongs to the American Chen Taiji Society. According to him, around the mid 1800's tai chi instructors started teaching the soft forms in preference of the hard fighting forms. He suggested that if we ever wanted to move into a more martial arts form to look for a school that refers to the art as taijiquan (the original name) instead of tai chi. I rarely do any now, 4 surgeries later my range of motion on my knees and shoulders have diminished so much that basic forms are difficult to say the least.

The fighting element from Tai Chi has never been and cannot be "removed". Even in the soft form, when the chi is gathered and then extend out to the extremities, the point of contact will receive it. If extended in a burst, it constitutes a strike any way you look at it. From a non-mystique & pure western scientific point of view, no matter how gentle and smooth things look, at the point of contact, the mass and velocity of the palm, fist, elbow, knee, feet involved will deliver a certain amount of kinetic energy. If that point of contact is on a vulnerable spot on the body the result can be serious injuries. Things only look peaceful in the soft form to Tai Chi simply because the energy is extended then retracted back to the body to it looks harmless just like when we pull a punch. Take that punch before it is pulled back and you will feel it.

Enough of a derailment of this topic: I am picking up some rebars for my attempts of trunk bending by wedge cuts on bald cypress in the near future.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Agreed we are starting off topic . Like I said have no idea .or interest in kung fu . Just what was said to me by one that should know

 

[Frozentreehugger]

The fighting element from Tai Chi has never been and cannot be "removed". Even in the soft form, when the chi is gathered and then extend out to the extremities, the point of contact will receive it. If extended in a burst, it constitutes a strike any way you look at it. From a non-mystique & pure western scientific point of view, no matter how gentle and smooth things look, at the point of contact, the mass and velocity of the palm, fist, elbow, knee, feet involved will deliver a certain amount of kinetic energy. If that point of contact is on a vulnerable spot on the body the result can be serious injuries. Things only look peaceful in the soft form to Tai Chi simply because the energy is extended then retracted back to the body to it looks harmless just like when we pull a punch. Take that punch before it is pulled back and you will feel it.

Enough of a derailment of this topic: I am picking up some rebars for my attempts of trunk bending by wedge cuts on bald cypress in the near future.

Interested in that . Especially after watching the Ryan Neal demo . On a pine . He said in demo that lining up the cambium . Is not what makes it work . It’s the fact that pine can move resources sideways . That make it successful . He admitted he had not done it on other species . And was unaware what other ones can move resources . Sideways. But was confident without that ability . There is very little chance of success . Opposite side of that is the internet is full of people doing it on other species but no one talks about success rate

 

[Maiden69]

I am picking up some rebars for my attempts of trunk bending by wedge cuts on bald cypress in the near future.

back on topic... this may now work well with BC's, the scars on the trunk take eons to fade away... unlike a tree with bark or something like a ficus that will cover them in a few years time.

I have seen a few BC trees here that were scared by wire on the trunk that didn't fade at all.