"and therein the pubbe I espied a foppish Italian rapier instructor, his camp demeanour and long thin pointy weapon offended my valiant Englishe Eye and so I smote him with my tankard using the famed Plowmans Fist of Gloucester- I coldcocked his Skull and he fell to the floor wherin I estomped him until he wept like a little girl... then I stabbed him with a quill in his necke "

George Silver/ Joe Pesci

Just read your Silver/Pesci quote again ...Glorious!

Interesting thought on Asymmetry:

"The idea of balance is enough to convince us that balanced positions with best play on either side must lead again and again to balanced positions.
Only after the balance of the positions has been disturbed, so that one player holds an uncompensated advantage, may this player attack with intent to win".
Emmanuel Lasker - Lasker's Manual of Chess

"A fight is not won by one punch or kick.
Either learn to endure or hire a bodyguard."

-Bruce Lee

"If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight,
even though the ruler forbid it;
if fighting will not result in victory,
then you must not fight,
even at the reler's bidding."

Sun Tzu

"To fight is a radical instinct; if men have nothing else to fight over
they will fight over words, fancies, or women, or they dislike each other's
looks, or because they have met walking in other directions."

George Santayana [philosopher/poet]

"This is what extremely grieves us, that a man who never fought
should contrive our fees to pilfer, on who for his native land never to this
day had oar, or lance, or blister in his hand."

Aristophanes

upon reading a book about an american gangster in history,
a subject my old TKD instructor was expert in, he wrote a book
review thus:

"Big words with no content or accuracy...i felt as though i'd been raped by a
thesaurus." to paraphrase

Dr. Jose Alvin Jones
Navy Diver and high ranking TKD teacher

"...What would happen if a year-old baby fell from a fourth-floor window onto the head of a burly truck driver, standing on the sidewalk? It's practically certain that the truckman would be knocked unconscious. He might die of brain concussion or a broken neck. Even an innocent little baby can become a dangerous missile WHEN ITS BODY-WEIGHT IS SET INTO FAST MOTION..." - Jack Dempsey

Hmm... Improvised weapons. You know, I read a ninjutsu book once that recommended cats as improvised weapons.

First post here guys, this is my favourite quote...

' Oh people, know that you have committed great sins. If you ask me what proof I have for these words, I say it is because I am the punishment of god. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me!'.

Genghis Kahn, Bukhara 1220

I also see quotes from Silver, as Rich knows I teach how to use historical weapons, Silver was a top bloke, with an almost insane dislike for Italians... :-)

“If you think you know what the hell is going on, you're probably full of shit.”
Robert Anton Wilson

"I'd like to inform the public that gung fu cannot be mastered in just "three easy lessons". Intelligent thinking and hard work are required ".
- Bruce Lee

this one my guru used to say; i say it students, but it's hard to
swallow as it takes either having an ego that is boundless or
no ego at all!

"mistakes are not for humilation. mistakes are for learning"

-swami hariharananda giri

he was always MUCH more strict with people who made the same mistakes
twice
negative reinforcement followed

"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat."

Napoleon Bonaparte -