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16 Oct 2005 - 16:03
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-- RobertStacy - 16 Oct 2005
I suspect the karate chop became extinct not only because it was oversold but also because it was bogus. After all, wouldn't there have been, between 1965 and 1975, a great profusion of 6 year-old to 12 year- old stunnings and deaths resulting from chops to the backs of heads? Or perhaps it was banned BECAUSE of such activity? In any event, many thanks for bringing to my attention something about the 60s that I'm not sentimental about. -- RobertStacy - 16 Oct 2005
"Or perhaps it was banned BECAUSE of such activity?" No. Having been roughly 6 to 12 during the time of interest, and having tried it a few times myself (we all did), I can tell you that it was more painful to the donor than to the recipient. I think it was banned because it was ridiculous. -- CarolynJohnston - 16 Oct 2005
oh my gosh swoon -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
ok, now i'm gonna read the post -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
golly now i'm going to become OBSESSED with WHAT HAPPENED TO KARATE CHOPS??????? -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
actually, i have an immediate hypothesis -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
if you assume each era needs some-lethal-something that is EQUALLY LUDICROUS, then our era's macho ludicrosity is guys shooting each other with handguns HELD AT A 90 DEGREE ANGLE FROM TRUE. I first saw that.....a few years ago, and I thought: this is too much. I have officially reached the limits of my almost-infinitely elastic ability to suspend disbelief. -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Another GOOGLE triumph: Vincent tells the Creep to get "[his] hands off her!" and the Creep whips out a gun and opens fire. He's holding the gun sideways, like he's in Reservoir Dogs or something. Damn trendy purse-snatchers. Television Without Pity -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
OK, so Reservoir Dogs came out in 1992. When did we see the last of the karate chop? -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Here you go. No photos of some dweeb from RESERVOIR DOGS holding his guns sideways, but this is what appears to be the entire RESERVOIR DOGS screenplay. -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
it's called the gangster pull Dos and don'ts of Hollywood Gunplay: Shot again on location with two Navy SEALS, this feature shows obvious mistakes that show up in Hollywood and why they are faulty and what could be done to correct them. It's both interesting and informative as was the first extra. This feature teaches a bit of safety and then shows the most efficient and smartest way to fire a gun. For example, don't chase after a person with your gun drawn, your bullet goes much faster than you can run. The feature goes over various mistakes in Hollywood such as the "gangster" pull - holding the gun sideways - then goes to explain the best way to hold a gun and in subsequent demonstrations, the best way to go down to one knee, and the best way to take a corner with your gun drawn. Once again, interesing, informative, and enjoyable. Movielocity -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Good to know Navy SEALS are NOT holding their guns sidways. -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Apparently, the subject of the gangster pull has preoccupied many people before me: Joe Green notes: The scene where Lou asks Chief Wiggum if he can hold his gun sideways refers to a relatively recent action-film cliche, most likely inspired by the films of Hong Kong-born director John Woo. Ironically, I've been told by some firearms experts that trying to shoot people while holding a gun sideways isn't quite as effective as Hollywood seems to think. Haynes Lee adds: Hollywood cops' way of shooting handguns which in practice will screw up your wrist. "That Guy" (seriously, that's how he identified himself) disputes this: Why would holding a gun sideways screw up your wrist? The recoil on the gun exists on matter which way it is pointed. The direction of the recoil in the opposite of the direction of the projectile. Either way, it's a thump on the heel of your hand and the base of your thumb. I don't see what difference it would make to your wrist whether you are holding the gun vertically or horizontally. The sites on a gun are adjusted for vertical drop. Holding your pistol sideways would throw off your aim and would be useless for any but very close-range shooting. Trilogy of Error -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Interesting, though, that these folks think the gangster pull originated in Asia, too. We may have lost the karate chop because Asian film directors came up with the gangster pull...... -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
This is hilarious. Personaly I find this more subtle pistol-aiming posture much mor my style. it doesnt nessecitate raising your arm in the air like a chimp.
-- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Why don't I knock this off and start planning my class for tomorrow? -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
I don't think I have ever seen a gangster pull! That shows you when I stopped watching much TV (about the time the karate chop went out of fashion). If you think Edward Fox is good-looking, you should see DOTJ. It's an eerie feeling, watching this extremely good looking guy with the coldest, flattest eyes ever going about his business. -- CarolynJohnston - 16 Oct 2005
Is this a gangster pull?
Is this?
-- CarolynJohnston - 16 Oct 2005
oh i've seen it, believe me! many times! -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Those pictures are a hoot! -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
You've probably seen the 'gangster pull'; I'm just not describing it right. It's ludicrous. It's not done with a machine gun, but with a handgun. The character holds a handgun straight out, but turned sideways instead of pointed straight. -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
You mean not pointed at the person they're aiming at? -- CarolynJohnston - 16 Oct 2005
I found this gangsta shooter: And who dares sully the name of James T. Kirk -- KDeRosa - 16 Oct 2005
OH! That's absolutely ridiculous!!! Noone... is sullying... the name of James T Kirk. Seriously, I love Star Trek. And Spock made me what I am today (read my bio, about 4 paragraphs down). -- CarolynJohnston - 17 Oct 2005
Khaaaan! -- KDeRosa - 17 Oct 2005
OK, now I am seriously turning over my job to KDeRosa. How on earth did you find those photos???? I looked all over the place. -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Did someone speak ill of James T. Kirk? -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Did I miss this? -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
My place on the real time line is at Kung Fu fighting. -- BarryGarelick - 17 Oct 2005
I used the variant "gangsta" keyword with "gun." and Googled this on google images. The great man's name was besmirched right here: "The 1960s Karate Chop was used by both good guys and bad guys; ... and James T. Kirk used it to excess." The horror. Kirk had some of the most lethal karate chops in filmdom thank you very much. -- KDeRosa - 17 Oct 2005
good grief gangsta I was NEVER going to think of that -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
OH! I barely even remember James T. Kirk using the karate chop. Those memories are all crowded out by vivid images of Spock doing his shoulder-pinch thingie. -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Kung fu I'm getting out of my depth -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
While Spock used his Vulcan nerve pinch, Kirk was using his karate chop to disable bad guys. -- KDeRosa - 17 Oct 2005
it's true he was always karate-chopping folks -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
"he was always karate-chopping folks" I rest my case. -- CarolynJohnston - 17 Oct 2005
Does anyone remember Hai Karate? I think I had a bottle of it growing up. If you wore the cologne, you had to fight the women off. It didn't work. Hai Karate Promo http://www.wfmu.org/MACrec/haikarate.html -- SteveH - 17 Oct 2005
or the song " Kung-Fu Fighting " -- KDeRosa - 17 Oct 2005
Yes, I love the song Kung-Fu Fighting. Hey, well I hate to break up a discussion about karate chops and Kung Fu by bringing up math, but I was on another thread, looked something up, was going to report on it, got distracted by karate chops and Star Trek, but I have some info. I was looking at the discussion about boys and girls in Trailblazers and what publishers are actually doing when they have such stereotypes. I looked up in the dreadful text "Geometry: An Integrated Approach" by Larson, Boswell STiff, a multi-cultural blurb. It features a young African-American female fashion designer. (The "right" gender, race and cool profession). They include an interview with this young woman in which she is asked about the math she took in school. She replies that because her high school math was strong—all the way through calculus—“I didn’t need to take more in college” What is the message supposed to be here? Could this amount of space have been used for another purpose; say for a proof of a theorem that the authors decided to state as a postulate? That would probably do more for the under-represented population they are trying to mollify. "Spock, Bones!" -- BarryGarelick - 17 Oct 2005
While the karate chop was a '60s-'70s cliche, earlier it was the "judo chop". It is not important that judo doesn't teach anything that could be described as a chop; it was a judo chop. I suspect this was an artifact of people knowing that the IJA (Imperial Japanese Army - WWII Japan) taught unarmed combat, and that judo was a form of Japanese unarmed combat. With the dramatic rise in the popularity both of martial arts movies and general unarmed combat training, both the karate and "judo" chops were seen as too silly. The "gangsta pull" reminds me of watching '30s and '40s westerns. Back then most of the actors seemed to think that firing a handgun required a wrist snap, pulling the trigger at the bottom of the snap. It seems pretty clear to me that they'd never actually tried to hit anything with that technique. -- DougSundseth - 17 Oct 2005
Or the Judo "flip," often used by the lovely Diana Rigg against big, angry men in "The Avengers." You people are showing your age. Of course, I've only heard of Kung Fu Fighting from some commercial. (heh) Barry, I speak to Mr. Larson and Stiff everyday (and not in a nice way) since they are two of the three authors of this Heath Algebra I book we have been enduring for the last couple of months. It also has "Career Interviews" every so often in between the calculator lessons and various charts and graphs. These guy's personal stories of how they use (or don't use) math take up a solid third of the page. It takes serious concentration skills to read the Heath Algebra 1 book. -- SusanS - 17 Oct 2005
Susan, Yes, I've seen their algebra book as well. I tutored a student who was afflicted with the book. FYI, Lee Stiff is a former president of NCTM. I say he needs a good combination judo/karate chop. Hey, since we've talked about Judo and Karate, what about Jiu Jitsu? -- BarryGarelick - 17 Oct 2005
She replies that because her high school math was strong—all the way through calculus—“I didn’t need to take more in college” What is the message supposed to be here? This is in the textbook? -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
The "gangsta pull" reminds me of watching '30s and '40s westerns. Back then most of the actors seemed to think that firing a handgun required a wrist snap, pulling the trigger at the bottom of the snap. The wrist flip! That's RIGHT! -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Wait. That's Edward Fox. Not James. -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
I speak to Mr. Larson and Stiff everyday (and not in a nice way) since they are two of the three authors of this Heath Algebra I book we have been enduring for the last couple of months. It also has "Career Interviews" every so often in between the calculator lessons and various charts and graphs. These guy's personal stories of how they use (or don't use) math take up a solid third of the page. More fodder for wit and wisdom! -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
I just got back from teaching my first Singapore Math class. The kids loathe TRAILBLAZERS. They spontaneously told me this; I wasn't fishing for opinions. They kept saying, 'They made us write letters to ants! We don't care about ants! Kids don't care about ants!' Apparently there's some unit on an ant city; something like that. One of those Real World connections. -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Catherine: Not sure what your question means: "This is in the textbook?" What is in the textbook is "I didn't need to take more in college". I added: What is the message here? That is not in the textbook. I was just asking. Rhetorically. -- BarryGarelick - 17 Oct 2005
Yeah, I mean 'I didn't need to take more math in college.' I find that an astonishing thing to print IN A MATH TEXTBOOK. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2005
My English course was so good I didn't have to read any more books in college. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2005
My Physics class was so good that I am no longer affected by gravity... -- DanK - 18 Oct 2005
Barry: "It features a young African-American female fashion designer. (The "right" gender, race and cool profession). They include an interview with this young woman in which she is asked about the math she took in school. She replies that because her high school math was strong—all the way through calculus — “I didn’t need to take more in college” What is the message supposed to be here?" The message is that it's assumed, understood, that you get math over with as quickly as you can, and don't look back. That you don't let it beat you, but it's beyond the pale that you would go on with it, because noone expects that you will like it. The dirty secret is that a lot of educators who don't explicitly love math, and want to teach it specifically, actually hate math. Contrast it with this statement: "A lot of teachers who don't explicitly teach reading actually hate reading." Sounds ridiculous, right? And yet the same statement made about math... doesn't. -- CarolynJohnston - 18 Oct 2005
Yes, and Messrs Larson, Boswell and Stiff certainly help kids get geometry over with as fast as they can. Very few proofs, no discernible logical sequence, analytic mixed in with synthetic geometry with no regard to where analytic geom. comes from (try the Pythagorean theorem for starters, guys). In fairness to these bozos, (not that I'm compelled to be fair to them), publishers put a lot of that stuff in independent of authors, as I indicated in another thread. A little known fact is that authors have very little control over their books once the publisher agrees to publish it. But in the case of this book, the ridiculous multi-cultural blurbs seem to fit right in with what they seem to be calling geometry. -- BarryGarelick - 18 Oct 2005
Dan K My Physics class was so good that I am no longer affected by gravity... Wow. That's a good course. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2005
That sounds more like a pharmacology course. A really good pharmacology course. -- DougSundseth - 18 Oct 2005
LOL -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2005
We saw THE DAY OF THE JACKAL this weekend. Along with JAMES BOND. That's probably why I collapsed with the flu on Sunday. -- CatherineJohnson - 05 Dec 2006
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0068767/086162612138_z_chiniccu.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Lee,%20Bruce%20(I)&seq=4 This guy killed the Karate Chop. As soon as one saw more realistic martial arts the James T Kirk style was past its sell-by date: Really liked the Bond movie. Very Frankenheimer-like. Day of the Jackal has been on my list to see for some time. -- BenCalvin - 06 Dec 2006
Frankenheimer..... really? I'm going to have to go back and take a look (at Frankenheimer, I mean....) It really was incredible. I didn't even mind the length. -- CatherineJohnson - 09 Dec 2006
oh yeah....you're right about the karate chop Jackal is amazing I need to watch it start to finish we tuned in midway and I was distracted - doing math, I think - even then it was riveting ... -- CatherineJohnson - 09 Dec 2006
Frankenheimer is all over the map, but Ronin (1998), French Connection II (1975), and the non-horrible parts of Grand Prix (1966) have that euro feel. -- BenCalvin - 12 Dec 2006
The 1960s Karate Chop
Bernie and I watched "The Day of the Jackal" last night on DVD. It's a good movie; very low-tech, suspenseful, and believeable, with Edward Fox in the title role of the snake-eyed sociopathic assassin (whom I found charming, but not likeable). The movie is almost timeless -- and I say almost because there is one thing that places it firmly as having been made in the years between 1965 and 1975, and that is the 1960s Karate Chop. The 1960s Karate Chop was used by both good guys and bad guys; you just had to be very cool to use it. James Bond used it, and the Jackal, and James T. Kirk used it to excess, and so did a lot of other people. The 1960s Karate Chop was one swift blow with the side of the hand, usually to the back of the neck, almost always unexpected. It could be adapted to either stun (Kirk and Bond) or kill (Jackal) the recipient; either way it was bloodless -- the person getting it would just crumple without making a sound. It was just the thing to use when you wanted someone to be out of the way with a minimum of fuss. At some point, the 1960s Karate Chop just dried up -- by the 1980s it was gone, like the other ideals of the 1960s. Getting someone out of your way is, after all, a fussy process in reality.
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-- RobertStacy - 16 Oct 2005
I suspect the karate chop became extinct not only because it was oversold but also because it was bogus. After all, wouldn't there have been, between 1965 and 1975, a great profusion of 6 year-old to 12 year- old stunnings and deaths resulting from chops to the backs of heads? Or perhaps it was banned BECAUSE of such activity? In any event, many thanks for bringing to my attention something about the 60s that I'm not sentimental about. -- RobertStacy - 16 Oct 2005
"Or perhaps it was banned BECAUSE of such activity?" No. Having been roughly 6 to 12 during the time of interest, and having tried it a few times myself (we all did), I can tell you that it was more painful to the donor than to the recipient. I think it was banned because it was ridiculous. -- CarolynJohnston - 16 Oct 2005
oh my gosh swoon -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
ok, now i'm gonna read the post -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
golly now i'm going to become OBSESSED with WHAT HAPPENED TO KARATE CHOPS??????? -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
actually, i have an immediate hypothesis -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
if you assume each era needs some-lethal-something that is EQUALLY LUDICROUS, then our era's macho ludicrosity is guys shooting each other with handguns HELD AT A 90 DEGREE ANGLE FROM TRUE. I first saw that.....a few years ago, and I thought: this is too much. I have officially reached the limits of my almost-infinitely elastic ability to suspend disbelief. -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Another GOOGLE triumph: Vincent tells the Creep to get "[his] hands off her!" and the Creep whips out a gun and opens fire. He's holding the gun sideways, like he's in Reservoir Dogs or something. Damn trendy purse-snatchers. Television Without Pity -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
OK, so Reservoir Dogs came out in 1992. When did we see the last of the karate chop? -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Here you go. No photos of some dweeb from RESERVOIR DOGS holding his guns sideways, but this is what appears to be the entire RESERVOIR DOGS screenplay. -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
it's called the gangster pull Dos and don'ts of Hollywood Gunplay: Shot again on location with two Navy SEALS, this feature shows obvious mistakes that show up in Hollywood and why they are faulty and what could be done to correct them. It's both interesting and informative as was the first extra. This feature teaches a bit of safety and then shows the most efficient and smartest way to fire a gun. For example, don't chase after a person with your gun drawn, your bullet goes much faster than you can run. The feature goes over various mistakes in Hollywood such as the "gangster" pull - holding the gun sideways - then goes to explain the best way to hold a gun and in subsequent demonstrations, the best way to go down to one knee, and the best way to take a corner with your gun drawn. Once again, interesing, informative, and enjoyable. Movielocity -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Good to know Navy SEALS are NOT holding their guns sidways. -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Apparently, the subject of the gangster pull has preoccupied many people before me: Joe Green notes: The scene where Lou asks Chief Wiggum if he can hold his gun sideways refers to a relatively recent action-film cliche, most likely inspired by the films of Hong Kong-born director John Woo. Ironically, I've been told by some firearms experts that trying to shoot people while holding a gun sideways isn't quite as effective as Hollywood seems to think. Haynes Lee adds: Hollywood cops' way of shooting handguns which in practice will screw up your wrist. "That Guy" (seriously, that's how he identified himself) disputes this: Why would holding a gun sideways screw up your wrist? The recoil on the gun exists on matter which way it is pointed. The direction of the recoil in the opposite of the direction of the projectile. Either way, it's a thump on the heel of your hand and the base of your thumb. I don't see what difference it would make to your wrist whether you are holding the gun vertically or horizontally. The sites on a gun are adjusted for vertical drop. Holding your pistol sideways would throw off your aim and would be useless for any but very close-range shooting. Trilogy of Error -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Interesting, though, that these folks think the gangster pull originated in Asia, too. We may have lost the karate chop because Asian film directors came up with the gangster pull...... -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
This is hilarious. Personaly I find this more subtle pistol-aiming posture much mor my style. it doesnt nessecitate raising your arm in the air like a chimp.
-- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Why don't I knock this off and start planning my class for tomorrow? -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
I don't think I have ever seen a gangster pull! That shows you when I stopped watching much TV (about the time the karate chop went out of fashion). If you think Edward Fox is good-looking, you should see DOTJ. It's an eerie feeling, watching this extremely good looking guy with the coldest, flattest eyes ever going about his business. -- CarolynJohnston - 16 Oct 2005
Is this a gangster pull?
Is this?
-- CarolynJohnston - 16 Oct 2005
oh i've seen it, believe me! many times! -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
Those pictures are a hoot! -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
You've probably seen the 'gangster pull'; I'm just not describing it right. It's ludicrous. It's not done with a machine gun, but with a handgun. The character holds a handgun straight out, but turned sideways instead of pointed straight. -- CatherineJohnson - 16 Oct 2005
You mean not pointed at the person they're aiming at? -- CarolynJohnston - 16 Oct 2005
I found this gangsta shooter: And who dares sully the name of James T. Kirk -- KDeRosa - 16 Oct 2005
OH! That's absolutely ridiculous!!! Noone... is sullying... the name of James T Kirk. Seriously, I love Star Trek. And Spock made me what I am today (read my bio, about 4 paragraphs down). -- CarolynJohnston - 17 Oct 2005
Khaaaan! -- KDeRosa - 17 Oct 2005
OK, now I am seriously turning over my job to KDeRosa. How on earth did you find those photos???? I looked all over the place. -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Did someone speak ill of James T. Kirk? -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Did I miss this? -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
My place on the real time line is at Kung Fu fighting. -- BarryGarelick - 17 Oct 2005
I used the variant "gangsta" keyword with "gun." and Googled this on google images. The great man's name was besmirched right here: "The 1960s Karate Chop was used by both good guys and bad guys; ... and James T. Kirk used it to excess." The horror. Kirk had some of the most lethal karate chops in filmdom thank you very much. -- KDeRosa - 17 Oct 2005
good grief gangsta I was NEVER going to think of that -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
OH! I barely even remember James T. Kirk using the karate chop. Those memories are all crowded out by vivid images of Spock doing his shoulder-pinch thingie. -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Kung fu I'm getting out of my depth -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
While Spock used his Vulcan nerve pinch, Kirk was using his karate chop to disable bad guys. -- KDeRosa - 17 Oct 2005
it's true he was always karate-chopping folks -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
"he was always karate-chopping folks" I rest my case. -- CarolynJohnston - 17 Oct 2005
Does anyone remember Hai Karate? I think I had a bottle of it growing up. If you wore the cologne, you had to fight the women off. It didn't work. Hai Karate Promo http://www.wfmu.org/MACrec/haikarate.html -- SteveH - 17 Oct 2005
or the song " Kung-Fu Fighting " -- KDeRosa - 17 Oct 2005
Yes, I love the song Kung-Fu Fighting. Hey, well I hate to break up a discussion about karate chops and Kung Fu by bringing up math, but I was on another thread, looked something up, was going to report on it, got distracted by karate chops and Star Trek, but I have some info. I was looking at the discussion about boys and girls in Trailblazers and what publishers are actually doing when they have such stereotypes. I looked up in the dreadful text "Geometry: An Integrated Approach" by Larson, Boswell STiff, a multi-cultural blurb. It features a young African-American female fashion designer. (The "right" gender, race and cool profession). They include an interview with this young woman in which she is asked about the math she took in school. She replies that because her high school math was strong—all the way through calculus—“I didn’t need to take more in college” What is the message supposed to be here? Could this amount of space have been used for another purpose; say for a proof of a theorem that the authors decided to state as a postulate? That would probably do more for the under-represented population they are trying to mollify. "Spock, Bones!" -- BarryGarelick - 17 Oct 2005
While the karate chop was a '60s-'70s cliche, earlier it was the "judo chop". It is not important that judo doesn't teach anything that could be described as a chop; it was a judo chop. I suspect this was an artifact of people knowing that the IJA (Imperial Japanese Army - WWII Japan) taught unarmed combat, and that judo was a form of Japanese unarmed combat. With the dramatic rise in the popularity both of martial arts movies and general unarmed combat training, both the karate and "judo" chops were seen as too silly. The "gangsta pull" reminds me of watching '30s and '40s westerns. Back then most of the actors seemed to think that firing a handgun required a wrist snap, pulling the trigger at the bottom of the snap. It seems pretty clear to me that they'd never actually tried to hit anything with that technique. -- DougSundseth - 17 Oct 2005
Or the Judo "flip," often used by the lovely Diana Rigg against big, angry men in "The Avengers." You people are showing your age. Of course, I've only heard of Kung Fu Fighting from some commercial. (heh) Barry, I speak to Mr. Larson and Stiff everyday (and not in a nice way) since they are two of the three authors of this Heath Algebra I book we have been enduring for the last couple of months. It also has "Career Interviews" every so often in between the calculator lessons and various charts and graphs. These guy's personal stories of how they use (or don't use) math take up a solid third of the page. It takes serious concentration skills to read the Heath Algebra 1 book. -- SusanS - 17 Oct 2005
Susan, Yes, I've seen their algebra book as well. I tutored a student who was afflicted with the book. FYI, Lee Stiff is a former president of NCTM. I say he needs a good combination judo/karate chop. Hey, since we've talked about Judo and Karate, what about Jiu Jitsu? -- BarryGarelick - 17 Oct 2005
She replies that because her high school math was strong—all the way through calculus—“I didn’t need to take more in college” What is the message supposed to be here? This is in the textbook? -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
The "gangsta pull" reminds me of watching '30s and '40s westerns. Back then most of the actors seemed to think that firing a handgun required a wrist snap, pulling the trigger at the bottom of the snap. The wrist flip! That's RIGHT! -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Wait. That's Edward Fox. Not James. -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
I speak to Mr. Larson and Stiff everyday (and not in a nice way) since they are two of the three authors of this Heath Algebra I book we have been enduring for the last couple of months. It also has "Career Interviews" every so often in between the calculator lessons and various charts and graphs. These guy's personal stories of how they use (or don't use) math take up a solid third of the page. More fodder for wit and wisdom! -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
I just got back from teaching my first Singapore Math class. The kids loathe TRAILBLAZERS. They spontaneously told me this; I wasn't fishing for opinions. They kept saying, 'They made us write letters to ants! We don't care about ants! Kids don't care about ants!' Apparently there's some unit on an ant city; something like that. One of those Real World connections. -- CatherineJohnson - 17 Oct 2005
Catherine: Not sure what your question means: "This is in the textbook?" What is in the textbook is "I didn't need to take more in college". I added: What is the message here? That is not in the textbook. I was just asking. Rhetorically. -- BarryGarelick - 17 Oct 2005
Yeah, I mean 'I didn't need to take more math in college.' I find that an astonishing thing to print IN A MATH TEXTBOOK. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2005
My English course was so good I didn't have to read any more books in college. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2005
My Physics class was so good that I am no longer affected by gravity... -- DanK - 18 Oct 2005
Barry: "It features a young African-American female fashion designer. (The "right" gender, race and cool profession). They include an interview with this young woman in which she is asked about the math she took in school. She replies that because her high school math was strong—all the way through calculus — “I didn’t need to take more in college” What is the message supposed to be here?" The message is that it's assumed, understood, that you get math over with as quickly as you can, and don't look back. That you don't let it beat you, but it's beyond the pale that you would go on with it, because noone expects that you will like it. The dirty secret is that a lot of educators who don't explicitly love math, and want to teach it specifically, actually hate math. Contrast it with this statement: "A lot of teachers who don't explicitly teach reading actually hate reading." Sounds ridiculous, right? And yet the same statement made about math... doesn't. -- CarolynJohnston - 18 Oct 2005
Yes, and Messrs Larson, Boswell and Stiff certainly help kids get geometry over with as fast as they can. Very few proofs, no discernible logical sequence, analytic mixed in with synthetic geometry with no regard to where analytic geom. comes from (try the Pythagorean theorem for starters, guys). In fairness to these bozos, (not that I'm compelled to be fair to them), publishers put a lot of that stuff in independent of authors, as I indicated in another thread. A little known fact is that authors have very little control over their books once the publisher agrees to publish it. But in the case of this book, the ridiculous multi-cultural blurbs seem to fit right in with what they seem to be calling geometry. -- BarryGarelick - 18 Oct 2005
Dan K My Physics class was so good that I am no longer affected by gravity... Wow. That's a good course. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2005
That sounds more like a pharmacology course. A really good pharmacology course. -- DougSundseth - 18 Oct 2005
LOL -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2005
We saw THE DAY OF THE JACKAL this weekend. Along with JAMES BOND. That's probably why I collapsed with the flu on Sunday. -- CatherineJohnson - 05 Dec 2006
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0068767/086162612138_z_chiniccu.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Lee,%20Bruce%20(I)&seq=4 This guy killed the Karate Chop. As soon as one saw more realistic martial arts the James T Kirk style was past its sell-by date: Really liked the Bond movie. Very Frankenheimer-like. Day of the Jackal has been on my list to see for some time. -- BenCalvin - 06 Dec 2006
Frankenheimer..... really? I'm going to have to go back and take a look (at Frankenheimer, I mean....) It really was incredible. I didn't even mind the length. -- CatherineJohnson - 09 Dec 2006
oh yeah....you're right about the karate chop Jackal is amazing I need to watch it start to finish we tuned in midway and I was distracted - doing math, I think - even then it was riveting ... -- CatherineJohnson - 09 Dec 2006
Frankenheimer is all over the map, but Ronin (1998), French Connection II (1975), and the non-horrible parts of Grand Prix (1966) have that euro feel. -- BenCalvin - 12 Dec 2006
| WebLogForm | |
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| Title: | The 1960s Karate Chop |
| TopicType: | WebLog |
| SubjectArea: | OffTopic |
| LogDate: | 200510161202 |