Protective Gear

[Hanuman]

Anyone know much about body armor or protective gear?
I was thinking of getting some discrete shin and knee single piece guards to fit under clothing, mainly for knee protection for practical combat armor.
Anyone have advice?

[bluestarultor]

Anyone know much about body armor or protective gear?
I was thinking of getting some discrete shin and knee single piece guards to fit under clothing, mainly for knee protection for practical combat armor.
Anyone have advice?

Given you're a fire-spinner, I'm just going to have to suggest you learn how to throw cards. (http://lyricsfever.net/images/g/gambit--img-m839739a973f01852016a18afccda5bc9.jpg)

[Darth SS]

Yes.

Son, don't be a jack ass.

Practical combat armour does not exist, outside of cut vests and bulletproof vests. This is because there is no such thing as practical combat. Soldiers don't fight with their hands, they fight to get an opportunity to get their guns. Civilians don't fight with their hands, they fight for the opportunity to run away. You clear the threat, you hit back until you have an opportunity to run. You don't know who you're fighting, you don't know if they're alone, and you don't know what's in their pocket.

Rule number 1 of self defence: Practice your run fu first. Wearing this kind of stuff gives you a false sense of invincibility.

Your knee caps are already solid bone, as are your shins. Trust me, these hurt plenty, and they've worked fine in a hurry for thousands of years. If you're looking for something to keep yourself from being hurt when he hit something, then that means you plan on hitting them more than once and you're planning on hitting someone. This makes you the agressor. Don't be the agressor.

Furthermore, you are not going to be able to practically use kicks enough to justify this. Will you have the space for them? Doubt it. Will you have the time for them? Doubt that too. We are not all world K-1 champions like Mirko Cro Cop. If we're kicking, we telegraph it really badly. To hide that, we have to set it up with punches, which again raises the question of "Will you have the time to do that?" and if yes then raises "Why aren't you running?" And even if you did land it, again, we're not Cro Cop, we can't knock people clean out at will.

So...I guess my advice is "don't waste your money."

[Hanuman]

Soldiers don't fight with their hands, they fight to get an opportunity to get their guns. Civilians don't fight with their hands, they fight for the opportunity to run away. You clear the threat, you hit back until you have an opportunity to run. You don't know who you're fighting, you don't know if they're alone, and you don't know what's in their pocket.
Your knee caps are already solid bone, as are your shins. Trust me, these hurt plenty, and they've worked fine in a hurry for thousands of years. If you're looking for something to keep yourself from being hurt when he hit something, then that means you plan on hitting them more than once and you're planning on hitting someone. This makes you the agressor. Don't be the agressor.

Furthermore, you are not going to be able to practically use kicks enough to justify this. Will you have the space for them? Doubt it. Will you have the time for them? Doubt that too. We are not all world K-1 champions like Mirko Cro Cop. If we're kicking, we telegraph it really badly. To hide that, we have to set it up with punches, which again raises the question of "Will you have the time to do that?" and if yes then raises "Why aren't you running?" And even if you did land it, again, we're not Cro Cop, we can't knock people clean out at will.
I don't intend to kick with my guards, I intend to block with them.
If someone kicks my knee at a double 45 I don't want to be maimed, knees are one of the most fragile and important things on your body, very easy to be maimed or to cripple yourself later in life.

My main martial arts philosophy is to be as neutral as possible, neutral stance, neutral posture, passive and limp kind of like a marionette, legs are very slow moving, the knee/shin area as well as the thigh/butt area are the only 2 places that can be armored in my martial art, I really enjoy the concept of having armor on all the time, but most armor types retard the concepts of my martial art.

It's not that I think I'll ever use it, it's just a little bit of security because I am a little afraid of my knees getting damaged, whether the fear is warranted or not! :)

[Nikose Tyris]

Tenser bandages holding wooden dowels against your shins. just turn your leg so it catches and strikes the dowel, absorbing and distributing the impact.

Good for makeshift leg/arm braces for after the guy realizes he can't shatter your leg and breaks your face/arm instead.

[Hanuman]

Tenser bandages holding wooden dowels against your shins. just turn your leg so it catches and strikes the dowel, absorbing and distributing the impact.

Good for makeshift leg/arm braces for after the guy realizes he can't shatter your leg and breaks your face/arm instead.
Good advice! I could just make them!

Yeah I don't need to worry about arms, I've never needed to directly block a strike in sparring, I just absorb it softly.

Besides, having hard arms makes it much easier to slip around them, soft arms are really sticky if you use them right-- bruce lee of all people agrees with me.


As for combat being practical, a wide variety of both private and public security jobs use body armor, from the security guard to the bouncer to police officer to the armored car private security.

[gekkogo]

Good advice! I could just make them!

Yeah I don't need to worry about arms, I've never needed to directly block a strike in sparring, I just absorb it softly.

Besides, having hard arms makes it much easier to slip around them, soft arms are really sticky if you use them right-- bruce lee of all people agrees with me.


The only problem is that this isn't sparring, it's a fight and everyone knows the difference between sparring with a good buddy who will knock you, and the attacker who wants to do his best to kick the ever living crap out of you.

Honestly armor is great in theory, and god knows it looks cool, but mobility is the one thing you're always going to want in your legs. Presumably it only takes around 160 psi to break a human bone, plus the muscle, angle, and stability, so really not that much. If you think someone is going to break your leg/knee, they're going to telegraph it. I mean even if you're a big dude mobility in your leg is what's going to keep it safe not armor, unless you're considering Plate Mail ;].

[Hanuman]

The only problem is that this isn't sparring, it's a fight and everyone knows the difference between sparring with a good buddy who will knock you, and the attacker who wants to do his best to kick the ever living crap out of you.

Honestly armor is great in theory, and god knows it looks cool, but mobility is the one thing you're always going to want in your legs. Presumably it only takes around 160 psi to break a human bone, plus the muscle, angle, and stability, so really not that much. If you think someone is going to break your leg/knee, they're going to telegraph it. I mean even if you're a big dude mobility in your leg is what's going to keep it safe not armor, unless you're considering Plate Mail ;].
We spar while conscious about how mean the other person could be, and we certainly don't ever let ourselves be open due to the other person being nice.
Sparring in my circles being nice is an appreciated and respected courtesy, and by no means is taken for granted.

Knees are strong? Yes, if a knee was simply a hamstring muscle and a knee cap and 2 bones then yes, it would be quite strong, same as a piece of metal, 2 thick bars of oak and a piece of surgical tubing would be strong, but a knee is far more complex than that.

http://www.aclsolutions.com/anatomy.php

As you can see, the knee is built to be very strong, at the common angles, but is INCREDIBLY weak at others, on top of that it has some parts that heal slowly, and some that don't heal properly at all, and even some you need to go get your parts replaced by plastic and metal.

Look at the ligaments, those aren't bones holding your leg together, those are very small, very inflexible and very weak muscles, the knee has a huge efficiency of leverage to rip those to shreds, and pulling the meniscus out of place in doing so, that right there is a one way trip to crutches, for months if you're lucky.

[gekkogo]

Yep, the knee is weak, that's kinda the point. Why leave it out in the open if you know how weak it is, again this is just personally but that's just seems like grabbing a stick, wrapping it in duct tape and deciding to see if it stands up to an axe. Now unfortunately and fortunately I can't say whether every Tom, Dick and Larry out there who's been watching too much UFC and decides he's up to the challenge is going to think. Presumably you can call him an equal in a fight (let's just pretend ;] ) and ten to one how often are you thinking about snapping someone's knee in a brawl, seems like something you'd not bring up unless it's life threatening no?
But then there's the contrary, maybe he's a moron who thinks he can snap your knee and get away with it, with the mobility that you can provide yourself (and of course training) avoiding this situation isn't all that difficult. Granted i can't say from experience that having someone snap your knee is easily dodged or parried it's safe to assume that someone with training such as yourself will have the edge on speed and awareness. BUUUUT back the main point, honestly i can't see any flexible enough, or steadfast enough to honestly say it's a step in the right direction as far as knee protection is concerned.

Sincerely

[TDK]

My advice would be rather than change what you wear, maybe change your life such that you don't get into situations where people might try to do these things to you that you need to protect yourself from. I can honestly say I've never been in a situation where I was worried someone was going to kick my knee at a double 45.

I'm of the opinion that that is a GOOD THING.

So yeah.

[PhoenixFlame]

Armor is worn for combat purposes. Wearing armor all day, and especially concealed armor, brings up several red-flags to me. It's uncomfortable, it's restrictive, and it's unnecessary, unless you are honestly expecting to be attacked at any given moment. Regardless of how minimalistic it is, I have to agree with TDK on that one.

On a slightly less (more?) serious note, I strongly suggest a new morph. If this is a concern to you and your lifestyle, you should consider sleeving a synthetic combat model body with reinforced articulated knee joints. Failing that, at least go get your musculature replaced and your skeleton reinforced with a good set of fullerene lattices.

Then you won't need the armor.

[Darth SS]

I don't intend to kick with my guards, I intend to block with them.

You realize they're fundamentally the same motion, right?

My main martial arts philosophy is to be as neutral as possible, neutral stance, neutral posture, passive and limp kind of like a marionette, legs are very slow moving, the knee/shin area as well as the thigh/butt area are the only 2 places that can be armored in my martial art.


Y'know what's pretty neutral? Not getting in fights Trust me, it's the healthiest way to do it.


We spar while conscious about how mean the other person could be, and we certainly don't ever let ourselves be open due to the other person being nice.
Sparring in my circles being nice is an appreciated and respected courtesy, and by no means is taken for granted.

So you get tackled and punched in the face a lot? Run two on ones? Knives? Grabbed from behind?

I've seen someone throw a kick once outside a gym, ever, and it was a bouncer who has been doing Savate since he was seven. And that baby wasn't at the knees, that was a high-line.

Besides, kicks to the knees could be bad, yes, but you're looking for what amounts to a one or two inch moving target. Boxers can't hit someone's chin with every punch, and that's with their hands. Unless you're rolling with a serious pro, it won't be a kick that'll get your knees. It'll be someone dropping for a punch (in which case move) or someone putting you in some kind of knee bar (which you should learn to avoid,) and both of those can best be described as hiiiiiiighly unlikely.

[Hanuman]

Yep, the knee is weak, that's kinda the point. Why leave it out in the open if you know how weak it is, again this is just personally but that's just seems like grabbing a stick, wrapping it in duct tape and deciding to see if it stands up to an axe. Now unfortunately and fortunately I can't say whether every Tom, Dick and Larry out there who's been watching too much UFC and decides he's up to the challenge is going to think. Presumably you can call him an equal in a fight (let's just pretend ;] ) and ten to one how often are you thinking about snapping someone's knee in a brawl, seems like something you'd not bring up unless it's life threatening no?
But then there's the contrary, maybe he's a moron who thinks he can snap your knee and get away with it, with the mobility that you can provide yourself (and of course training) avoiding this situation isn't all that difficult. Granted i can't say from experience that having someone snap your knee is easily dodged or parried it's safe to assume that someone with training such as yourself will have the edge on speed and awareness. BUUUUT back the main point, honestly i can't see any flexible enough, or steadfast enough to honestly say it's a step in the right direction as far as knee protection is concerned.

Sincerely
I don't want to avoid the situation of them going for the knee, if the leg does not have to be moved then it's just another trap.


You realize they're fundamentally the same motion, right?
Standing still is not kicking, I intend to block with the armor, not the leg.


Y'know what's pretty neutral? Not getting in fights Trust me, it's the healthiest way to do it.
Neutral stance does not provoke fights, the martial art uses tiredness and the unwilling intent to fight to be more effective since you get heavier, and heavy means you apply force to them without applying force, it's like you grab them with the gravity of just your arms.


So you get tackled and punched in the face a lot? Run two on ones? Knives? Grabbed from behind?
Grabbed from behind yes, punched in the face yes, two on ones yes, knives no. It's my birthday this week, friend is getting me a training knife. :)
As for tackling, I don't get tackled much because the only way anyone has ever taken me down since I started using my stances is when they are completely defenseless (leg tackle, greek wrestle), and my friends don't like to get crunched or run into my foot during a kamakazi.
Seriously, my martial art is 90% balancing and stability, groundfighters tend to get REALLY frustrated when fighting me because they slide right off of me-- I emulate being my entire weight as 3'x3'x6' box, which is about 175lbs, with an iron pole stuck through the middle attached to a 6'x6' moving dolly with wheels, except i can strike or gouge with 1 of my feet and both arms in this so you can't exactly pick me up, lean over, use both arms if any arms, or push me over. If you straight out push or grapple on me I usually just go under you like a snow plow because I resist using the ground and not my muscles. FRUSTRATING.


Besides, kicks to the knees could be bad, yes, but you're looking for what amounts to a one or two inch moving target. Boxers can't hit someone's chin with every punch, and that's with their hands. Unless you're rolling with a serious pro, it won't be a kick that'll get your knees. It'll be someone dropping for a punch (in which case move) or someone putting you in some kind of knee bar (which you should learn to avoid,) and both of those can best be described as hiiiiiiighly unlikely.
Why move when you can't be hurt there? If you leave a target open for them which has far less gain than they risk losing, I see that as a smart investment.

Seems like if I leave that part of me open I can get a free block in, they are on 1 foot, most stances use 2 feet, looks like bodyarmor ftw to me.

Also, yes I can also use the armor to block and hurt their leg, my stances are ALL on 1 foot (very odd, but true), and usually have more stability than any 2 legged stance of the same mobility.

tl;dr I want my leg to be a trap, they attack it big whoop, free AoO.

[gekkogo]

Why move when you can't be hurt there? If you leave a target open for them which has far less gain than they risk losing, I see that as a smart investment.

Seems like if I leave that part of me open I can get a free block in, they are on 1 foot, most stances use 2 feet, looks like bodyarmor ftw to me.

Also, yes I can also use the armor to block and hurt their leg, my stances are ALL on 1 foot (very odd, but true), and usually have more stability than any 2 legged stance of the same mobility.

tl;dr I want my leg to be a trap, they attack it big whoop, free AoO.

This would be great if we were in the position of having access to some kind of crazy affordable exoskeleton. But back to the original question, no I'm almost positive that there is no existing armor or material that you can surround your knee with and have it not break.

[Hanuman]

This would be great if we were in the position of having access to some kind of crazy affordable exoskeleton. But back to the original question, no I'm almost positive that there is no existing armor or material that you can surround your knee with and have it not break.
Protective armor is armor that protects the body, not itself.
I don't care about the wellbeing of plastic stuff around my legs as long as it's doing it's job.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

If I have learned anything from movies, guys in armour will always lose to a roguish guy in a leather jacket and jeans.

[Marc v4.0]

I'm sure the enjoys getting a good lecture about lifestyle choices thrown at his face over and over again as much as the next guy, but I'd rather hear more about combat armors in general, honestly.

[Loyal]

Yeah, I get the feeling he's more than aware of how to actually conduct oneself in a fight and is more looking towards what bloody armor to invest in. In other words, "lol you shouldn't have armor because it's a bad idea" seems to be beside the point.

[Darth SS]

Oh god...Lev, you're not a Systema guy are you?

Protective armor is armor that protects the body, not itself.
I don't care about the wellbeing of plastic stuff around my legs as long as it's doing it's job.

Okay, if you want to protect your knees, they need to be unable to move in inappropriate directions. So something breaking isn't an option, you need a rigid structure to keep your knees from moving inappropriately. This in turn more or less means you need a metal tube around your knee so that it can't bend, period. Alternatively you could wear metallic knee braces, but then you'd just atrophy the muscles in your knees, which is just...bad...

As for your shins, I guess you could wear shin-pads from soccer. But we're right back to the hot/itchy problem.

I'm sure the enjoys getting a good lecture about lifestyle choices thrown at his face over and over again as much as the next guy, but I'd rather hear more about combat armors in general, honestly.

It's big. It's heavy. It's uncomfortable. Do you know why? Because you wear armor when you know you're going into a violent situation. As that point you care less about being discreet and more about being able to hurt and kill without the same happening to you. They amount to metal plates hung on you in ways that they should probably cover your important organs.

Sorry, it's kind of painfully unsexy, but that's the way it is.

As for tackling, I don't get tackled much because the only way anyone has ever taken me down since I started using my stances

So you walk around in your stances all the time, eh?

Standing still is not kicking, I intend to block with the armor, not the leg.

Too bad it's attached to you.

Quick hitter for you: When you have a punch coming at you, do your hold your arm up very still and imagine the punch breaking over it like a wave over a rock? Or do you take your arm and in some way move it towards the punch, ablating the energy?

Probably the second, you jam it. Kicking is the same thing, you jam it. All you're doing it kicking the kick instead of kicking the person. If you think that standing still and just eating it is a good plan...man, more power to you, guess. Personally I'm going to move, but that's just me.

[Lumenskir]

I'm kind of lost, is he asking for armor to use during practice fights with his buddies, or does he legitimately get tackled and attacked at random in the course of his let's say normal life?

[Darth SS]

I'm kind of lost, is he asking for armor to use during practice fights with his buddies, or does he legitimately get tackled and attacked at random in the course of his let's say normal life?

Well, he specified "discreet armour that fits under clothing," in the first post, and also asked from "practical combat armour," so I'm assuming normal life.

If he wants training, it's really either suck it up or drop 300$ on a FIST suit.

[POS Industries]

Yeah, I get the feeling he's more than aware of how to actually conduct oneself in a fight and is more looking towards what bloody armor to invest in. In other words, "lol you shouldn't have armor because it's a bad idea" seems to be beside the point.
Not really. Questioning the practicality of his apparent "I'mma wear armor all the time under my clothes" idea is perfectly reasonable since there's not really any way he can go through his daily life like that without it making him progressively tired and uncomfortable, which will then put him in even more danger should these sudden ninja attacks that he seems to be expecting any day now, since he'll be less apt to move and react properly to defend himself, regardless of whether or not his stance apparently allows him to hulk up as he takes more damage/gets more tired or whatever.

Honestly, if he's so intent to blow money on body armor that's not going to do him a lick of good, he might as well just duct tape some twenties to his knees and call it a day.

[batgirl]

I was going to ask you what in the hell you're doing with yourself that requires you to wear body armor all day? Are you in a gang? Drug dealer? Owe some money? Other than thinking that you're a ninja/look awesome in your own mind/think you're ever so protected, what reason could you have to walk around like that? Body armor = heavy and that makes you tired. If you're in a fight, a real fight, you'll be nice and protected but you won't be able to defend yourself because hey look, you have constricting heave armor on.

Also, you can't armor your entire body. Smart criminals/hand ninja will simply hit you where you don't have armor after figuring it out, like your face. I play ice hockey and I wear 50lbs of equipment on me for at least an hour. I have my entire body virtually encased in padding and where did I get hit last? My neck, where I have minimal to no padding.

If you want to have it to look cool, then spend away, but I agree with SS, just don't get put in the position to need it.

[Azisien]

http://christianburns.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/0702_1.JPG?w=300

???????






You'll have no more surprise attacks after that.

(Edit: Substitute pistols for double fire spinning?)

[Hanuman]

Oh god...Lev, you're not a Systema guy are you?
I get that once in a while. No, systema, like wing chun is just another bastardized version of tai chi application.

Okay, if you want to protect your knees, they need to be unable to move in inappropriate directions. So something breaking isn't an option, you need a rigid structure to keep your knees from moving inappropriately. This in turn more or less means you need a metal tube around your knee so that it can't bend, period. Alternatively you could wear metallic knee braces, but then you'd just atrophy the muscles in your knees, which is just...bad...
All I need is a sheath around the sides of my leg, they can be supported at the calves and just shoot up without connecting with the thigh section pressing the sheath into the thigh when hit nullifying the leverage efficiency.

As for your shins, I guess you could wear shin-pads from soccer. But we're right back to the hot/itchy problem.
The shins aren't too important for me, but it seems like the best way to sheath the sides of the knee.

It's big. It's heavy. It's uncomfortable. Do you know why? Because you wear armor when you know you're going into a violent situation. As that point you care less about being discreet and more about being able to hurt and kill without the same happening to you. They amount to metal plates hung on you in ways that they should probably cover your important organs.
You'd think, but the knees stay right over the balance point of the feet at all times, making my legs heavier just improves my abilities both in immediate and long run. Tai chi armor is very tricky to pull off since you grab, pull and manipulate them however you want with any part of your body, sensitivity is generally your best weapon. Even wearing sleeves retards your combat ability, anything you wear generally either makes you weaker or is used against you-- shin/knee is really the only place i've found, except welders goggles that would help seeing as sight isn't strictly needed and you generally don't contact them with your face except to bite.

So you walk around in your stances all the time, eh?

Yes, the stance is my neutral posture.
http://www.worldtaichiday.org/photos/TCIMAGES.SpinalAlign.jpg
The left is your standing alignment, the right is mine. It's an internal martial art, the stancing is mostly just aligning things inside of you to maximize your body's natural weight and stability. You are a 150-200lb bag of water, fight like one! =]

Quick hitter for you: When you have a punch coming at you, do your hold your arm up very still and imagine the punch breaking over it like a wave over a rock? Or do you take your arm and in some way move it towards the punch, ablating the energy?
No, I am not hard. They are a small rock, and I am a river. My vital spots are the air above the river and my non-vital spots are the water current.
I move with them fluidly, it's very much like contact dancing except competitive instead of cooperative.

Pretty lost art now adays tbh, grapplers are starting to pick up on it though due to wing chun.

his stance apparently allows him to hulk up as he takes more damage/gets more tired.
I never get tired as I don't waste energy, I keep a clear head and don't use muscles that need excess blood pumped into them. I can spar for about 5 hours at full intensity and 8 hours in practice intensity.

I was going to ask you what in the hell you're doing with yourself that requires you to wear body armor all day? Are you in a gang? Drug dealer? Owe some money?
Nope, I have good diplomatic skills and no enemies.

Other than thinking that you're a ninja/look awesome in your own mind/think you're ever so protected, what reason could you have to walk around like that? Body armor = heavy and that makes you tired. If you're in a fight, a real fight, you'll be nice and protected but you won't be able to defend yourself because hey look, you have constricting heave armor on.
Shin guards won't constrict as the knee joint moves at a right angle, and I'm only protecting 2 maybe 3 sides of it, it won't make me look awesome because it will be under my pants, weight doesn't matter because I only gain more power when I am heavier-- I tried sparring with 80lbs of dumb bell weights at the bottom of a camping backpack, just under my center line, and I felt ridiculously powerful.

Also, you can't armor your entire body. Smart criminals/hand ninja will simply hit you where you don't have armor after figuring it out, like your face. I play ice hockey and I wear 50lbs of equipment on me for at least an hour. I have my entire body virtually encased in padding and where did I get hit last? My neck, where I have minimal to no padding.
I don't mind, the only reason I'm wearing armor there is because it's the only vital spot which doesn't hinder me to armor, so I feel that if I ever needed to protect someone it would be better to have on than not.

If you want to have it to look cool, then spend away, but I agree with SS, just don't get put in the position to need it.
I hope to never have to, but when it comes down to it, it's just filling a security in me to be able to protect and rescue the people around me, I can guarantee that I myself have enough social grace and insight to not fall victim to something that would require me to need armor, but people around me might not be.

(Edit: Substitute pistols for double fire spinning?)
Full body armor is too inflexible for dance! Even long sleeved shirts are sometimes! :)

[pochercoaster]

Don't your martial arts classes teach you that fighting isn't glamorous? Are you hoping to get into a fight? Are you still in high school?

In short: WTF?

The best way to protect yourself is to be aware, particularly of the kinds of people around you and how not to piss them off or cross the line. If anything that armor will give you a false sense of security and end up screwing you in the end when you piss someone off and they beat the crap out of you.

[Hanuman]

Don't your martial arts classes teach you that fighting isn't glamorous? Are you hoping to get into a fight? Are you still in high school?

In short: WTF?

The best way to protect yourself is to be aware, particularly of the kinds of people around you and how not to piss them off or cross the line. If anything that armor will give you a false sense of security and end up screwing you in the end when you piss someone off and they beat the crap out of you.
And if you leave a friend alone for a few minutes and he bumbles into a situation, what then? Call the cops as he gets the living tar beat out of him?

I want the ability to be there for people, and the self confidence in crisis situations that goes with being protected. If I hear a car crash deep inside of me I have an innate urge to bolt towards it at top speed, but my limited medical background prevents me from being able to help properly-- a problem I am slowly fixing.

As for my teachers, they don't provide structure or guidance, the entire martial art is based around intuition and perception of ones self and others, so they tend to say very very little.

[Lumenskir]

See, I think you would have gotten a lot more positive/substantive responses if you had coyly started off by asking what a hypothetical wannabe Batman would wear on his knees, instead of directly telling us that you want to be a wannabe Batman and expecting us to think that's run of the mill.

[Marc v4.0]

expecting us to think that's run of the mill.

You expect something more of us around here? This seems about par for the course, minus the penis jokes.

[krogothwolf]

You expect something more of us around here? This seems about par for the course, minus the penis jokes.

You do know mentioning that is going to bring the penis jokes to this thread now? Though thinking about it does explain why Lev is really looking forward to protecting his knees.

[Hanuman]

You do know mentioning that is going to bring the penis jokes to this thread now? Though thinking about it does explain why Lev is really looking forward to protecting his knees.
Truth, I find being on my knees really painful, in fact I moved my chair away to work out so I'm on my knees right now. Ow.

[POS Industries]

I'm on my knees right now.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/posindustries/facepalm/may1.jpg

[gekkogo]

In all honesty... lol.... End Statement

You could probably try molding? In the Cosplay universe I'm sure that there's some type of plastic, or rubber, or even possibly metal that you could construct for an exoskeleton. Another route you might take is looking into Motorcycle Racing Gear, I'm sure that might give you a boost in the right direction. I found some gnarly medical looking braces that seem to provide the same type of support BUT they're like $500.

[TDK]

Wow, Lev, you're such a big strong hero with your stance that is like a river and a mountain and your uncontrollable desire to help others! All the girls must be crazy about you. I'm glad you'll be prepared all of the countless times in your life when people will be in need of rescuing and you must battle an unarmed assailant*!

*Criminals don't use weapons!

And wow, you can spar for five hours? I imagine most fights are long and drawn out like that, just like in the movies, and your claim impresses me (not to mention all the girls) immensely, and in no way reeks of bragging.

What's that? A woman screaming! Someone shine the Lev signal!

[Hanuman]

You could probably try molding? In the Cosplay universe I'm sure that there's some type of plastic, or rubber, or even possibly metal that you could construct for an exoskeleton. Another route you might take is looking into Motorcycle Racing Gear, I'm sure that might give you a boost in the right direction. I found some gnarly medical looking braces that seem to provide the same type of support BUT they're like $500.
Yeah I'd probably do an exchange with lessons for fabrication time with some of my engineering contacts.

Wow, Lev, you're such a big strong hero with your stance that is like a river and a mountain and your uncontrollable desire to help others! All the girls must be crazy about you. I'm glad you'll be prepared all of the countless times in your life when people will be in need of rescuing and you must battle an unarmed assailant*!

*Criminals don't use weapons!
Actually a friend is getting me a prop knife in the next week and we are going to be learning knife disarms in my sparring group, cool stuff.
Actually it's the most humble stance I've ever seen, the martial art is the complete opposite of showy as it is nearly invisible.

And wow, you can spar for five hours? I imagine most fights are long and drawn out like that, just like in the movies, and your claim impresses me (not to mention all the girls) immensely, and in no way reeks of bragging
In the world of video games stamina usually does nothing, it's all hit points.
The martial art I use tires out the body at the same pace as walking does, mainly because you are using muscles very akin to walking and never using strength.

Trolling 3/10, though you did pretty good considering you can't exactly google or wiki tai chi and learn anything about it.

[POS Industries]

Trolling 3/10
You don't get to decide that.

In fact, this borders on backseat moderating. TDK's post borders on flaming, but in all fairness these threads of yours do sort of come off as ego stroking. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that. I mean, that's what everything I do is about. But there's no sense in pretending otherwise, you know?

[Hanuman]

You don't get to decide that.
I get to decide my opinions.

[POS Industries]

I get to decide my opinions.
And that's wonderful, but it's not your place to declare if someone is or is not trolling. It's mine and my colleagues'.

If you have an issue with another member's post, you may contact a member of the staff who will review it and see if anything needs to be done. Otherwise, there's nothing else you need to worry about.

[Lumenskir]

It's getting a bit late for me, but what's the over-under on this being a joke by Lev? He already has a bumbling sidekick who gets into trouble at a moment's notice if he's not on a leash, he's got engineering 'contacts', he feels he's outgrowing what his teachers are feeding him...this is like the plot to Green Hornet #1 or something copy-pasted, right?

[POS Industries]

It's getting a bit late for me, but what's the over-under on this being a joke by Lev? He already has a bumbling sidekick who gets into trouble at a moment's notice if he's not on a leash, he's got engineering 'contacts', he feels he's outgrowing what his teachers are feeding him...this is like the plot to Green Hornet #1 or something copy-pasted, right?
Hey, if a guy wants to be Canadian Batman, I welcome it and support the endeavor.

Sounds neat.

[TDK]

He would be perfect for defeating Mr. Freeze, since as a Canadian he is already immune to ice and cold.

[Lumenskir]

Wait, Canadian Batman? Isn't the worst crime over there being overly polite?

[POS Industries]

He would be perfect for defeating Mr. Freeze, since as a Canadian he is already immune to ice and cold.
Well, yeah, but it'd be Canadian Mr. Freeze, so he would be even colder.

And more polite.

[Sithdarth]

Hey, if a guy wants to be Canadian Batman, I welcome it and support the endeavor.

Sounds neat.

We all know that after I get my PhD I'm totally going to invent the first power armor and become the world's first true super hero.

[POS Industries]

We all know that after I get my PhD I'm totally going to invent the first power armor
See, forget a silly pair of kneepads. If you're wanting to invest in some real body armor, this is the way you go!

[Krylo]

Dude, sorry to break it to you, but... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_5)

[Tev]

I've not actually read past the first page of this thread because...well it's silly, but has anybody suggested just wearing a simple pair of shin guards under your jeans/sweatpants/zubas/whatever Lev?

http://www.robbinssports.com/sporting-goods-store/images/macgregor-plastic-youth-soccer-shin-guards.jpg

I'm pretty sure you can find a nice thin solid pair of these at any sporting goods store. There are even some that come with knee coverings if you really are afraid of getting a shot to your bendables.

Failing that I guess you could just man up and go kick some trees until you deaden the nerves in your legs and fill in the thousands of micro-fractures your bones would receive with tough skeletal scarring.

http://mymomthinksimfunny.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/kicking-tree.jpg

[POS Industries]

Dude, sorry to break it to you, but... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_5)
Oh like Japan even counts. All they do is make robots and rape porn. Also:

A Japanese company known as Cyberdyne Inc. plans to mass-produce and rent out 10 units within the first year for further testing.
They obviously have no intention of using it for superheroics, so Sith's still in the clear there on his dreams of being charisma-less Iron Man.

[Krylo]

On the bright side, he really needs a power armor wearing super villain, otherwise he's just some loon in a metal suit beating up defenseless poor people.

Cyberdyne Inc. may be just the people to provide it.

[bluestarultor]

He would be perfect for defeating Mr. Freeze, since as a Canadian he is already immune to ice and cold.

Well, yeah, but it'd be Canadian Mr. Freeze, so he would be even colder.

And more polite.

Actually, Lev lives in a city that, by freak of nature, has palm trees year round and never gets below like 60F. He may as well be in Hawaii.

[POS Industries]

Actually, Lev lives in a city that, by freak of nature, has palm trees year round and never gets below like 60F. He may as well be in Hawaii.
Well, obviously this provides a motive for Canadian Mr. Freeze's inevitable rampage: He wants to make Vancouver into a frozen, lifeless hellhole just like the rest of Canada!

[Archbio]

They obviously have no intention of using it for superheroics[...]

Lets not forget that they called it HAL.

[Premmy]

On the bright side, he really needs a power armor wearing super villain, otherwise he's just some loon in a metal suit beating up defenseless poor people.

Cyberdyne Inc. may be just the people to provide it.

In this case it'd actually be like a loon in a metal suit abusing handicapped people

[Sithdarth]

That totally doesn't count it's only a powered exoskeleton and that's all it's intended to be. Although I might have to borrow the control system. I'm talking about something combining that crazy bear suit guys armor with something like that powered exoskeleton. Possibly also rockets. It'll require me to invent super advanced composite materials as well as carbon nanotube capacitors with plate separations on the order of 100s of nanometers so that I can pack literally hundreds of thousands of miles of capacitor plate surface in a package I could carry. Charging the thing would probably cause black outs but hey all in the name of crime fighting. But hey what else would you do with a degree in materials science.

In this case it'd actually be like a loon in a metal suit abusing handicapped people

Didn't Ironman always do that?

[Azisien]

http://christianburns.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/0702_1.JPG?w=300

+

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fa/Hybrid_Assistive_Limb_2.jpg/220px-Hybrid_Assistive_Limb_2.jpg

+

http://www.martinjetpack.com/media/2754/_martinjetpack006.jpg

=

You are now protected.
(And Sith might be happy)

[POS Industries]

Didn't Ironman always do that?
That's no way to talk about Happy Hogan.

[Sithdarth]

I just made this thread awesome and you all saw it!

Edit:
That's no way to talk about Happy Hogan.

I feel like I should get the reference but I don't and it bugs me.

[POS Industries]

The fact that you don't is probably a good thing.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

though you did pretty good considering you can't exactly google or wiki tai chi and learn anything about it.

I just put tai chi into google and got 8,770,000 results.

[Darth SS]

Actually a friend is getting me a prop knife in the next week and we are going to be learning knife disarms in my sparring group, cool stuff.

I'm a KM and FMA guy, just so you know where I'm coming from, I do a lot of knife.

Knife disarms are basically useless. If you want to live you avoid getting stabbed initially and then you run like hell. There's too much to go wrong with disarms, especially where knives are concerned. The only time you should ever need them is when you can't get away, or you need to protect people who can't get away. Like being stuck in an elevator with a crazy man, or trying to arrest someone hopped up on PCP.

Actually it's the most humble stance I've ever seen, the martial art is the complete opposite of showy as it is nearly invisible.

What does a visible martial art look like? Someone walking around in a crane stance? A punch is a punch is a punch, you don't "see" martial arts until you attack someone. Even then it's more of a stylistic thing than anything.


In the world of video games stamina usually does nothing, it's all hit points.
The martial art I use tires out the body at the same pace as walking does, mainly because you are using muscles very akin to walking and never using strength.

It's not that you're going to fight for 5 hours, it's stress response. People with better conditioning are better able to adapt/control their stress response in unexpected situations, because they've spent more time simulating stress. Mental preparation is good, hence the staggering number of sports psychologists, but it will never replace simulation, and even then it's not perfect. Think of how many soldiers go through boot camp and then freeze on an operation. How bad would it be if all they had done had been thinking really hard about what it will be like.


I get that once in a while. No, systema, like wing chun is just another bastardized version of tai chi application.

Um...okay, simplest way to say this? You're wrong. On both counts.

Systema has nothing to do with tai chi, if anything it's better described as the Aikido to Sambo's Judo. It's Russia "fancy" martial art.

Really, here's what I'm not getting about this so far: You want to walk around in armor so that you can play super-hero, or something to that effect. Your justification/qualification for this is that you practice a nameless martial art which is based on standing straight and thinking heavy thoughts. And this doesn't sound unreasonable in any way to you.

By the way, why are you so intent on not naming it?

[Azisien]

Just imagine every Lev post made with a Bale Batman voice. It kind of helps, or at least keeps things interesting.

Guy must go through a lot of water.

[Premmy]

Azisien's user title should be Lev's new name

[Loyal]

Seems a mite unwieldy at the login screen, though.

[PhoenixFlame]

Truth, I find being on my knees really painful.

Become Catholic, I'm serious.

In any case, I frankly think your entire concept is insane, because my self-defense concepts run entirely different. Combat is sudden, quick, and lethal, and should be avoided at any opportunity. If you must fight, you must be armed. Speed is everything, because energy is 1/2MxV(2).

V is squared, mass is not. A 120lb female can still break your skull with a rapid jo strike, or suitable jo-like instrument. I really love the Jo, because it's one of the easiest things to improvise at a moment's notice. In America though, I would just suggest acquiring a concealed carry permit if you're so dead-set on being a civil defender. Sadly, you're Canadian, so... Yeah.

That said, Parkour is going to be more useful to survival in an urban enviroment than fighting ever will be.

[TDK]

Parkour is also AWESOME, so there's that.

[Hanuman]

And that's wonderful, but it's not your place to declare if someone is or is not trolling. It's mine and my colleagues'.

If you have an issue with another member's post, you may contact a member of the staff who will review it and see if anything needs to be done. Otherwise, there's nothing else you need to worry about.
If we want to play that game, it's your place to be respectful of NPF posters by default.

I just put tai chi into google and got 8,770,000 results.
I mean that it's almost impossible to find a good tai chi teacher in most parts of the world, almost all will teach you some retard version their "way too formal" master taught them, something that looks like it came right out of a 108 form and has been drilled into them a million times.

Knife disarms are basically useless. If you want to live you avoid getting stabbed initially and then you run like hell. There's too much to go wrong with disarms, especially where knives are concerned. The only time you should ever need them is when you can't get away, or you need to protect people who can't get away. Like being stuck in an elevator with a crazy man, or trying to arrest someone hopped up on PCP.
So, in your wisdom what situations would you use a knife? Would you run away against someone with a knife yourself? Do you learn to block and disarm?

What does a visible martial art look like? Someone walking around in a crane stance? A punch is a punch is a punch, you don't "see" martial arts until you attack someone. Even then it's more of a stylistic thing than anything.Most martial arts are external, internal martial arts are a style of their own. You guys really should stop thinking you can immediately understand this.

It's not that you're going to fight for 5 hoursIt's that they waste strength while I don't.



Um...okay, simplest way to say this? You're wrong. On both counts.

Systema has nothing to do with tai chi, if anything it's better described as the Aikido to Sambo's Judo. It's Russia "fancy" martial art.Oh? You've taken tai chi application?

Really, here's what I'm not getting about this so far: You want to walk around in armor so that you can play super-hero, or something to that effect. Your justification/qualification for this is that you practice a nameless martial art which is based on standing straight and thinking heavy thoughts. And this doesn't sound unreasonable in any way to you.

By the way, why are you so intent on not naming it?Aha, I was unclear. Tai Chi is the martial art.

Azisien's user title should be Lev's new nameShaolin is pretty much the opposite of tai chi.

Become Catholic, I'm serious.

In any case, I frankly think your entire concept is insane, because my self-defense concepts run entirely different. Combat is sudden, quick, and lethal, and should be avoided at any opportunity. If you must fight, you must be armed. Speed is everything, because energy is 1/2MxV(2).

V is squared, mass is not. A 120lb female can still break your skull with a rapid jo strike, or suitable jo-like instrument. I really love the Jo, because it's one of the easiest things to improvise at a moment's notice. In America though, I would just suggest acquiring a concealed carry permit if you're so dead-set on being a civil defender. Sadly, you're Canadian, so... Yeah.

That said, Parkour is going to be more useful to survival in an urban enviroment than fighting ever will be.
True, weapons do make a world of difference-- the weapon of tai chi is the Jian, which extends the internal tai chi aspect within the weapon, a master can grab the opponents weapon with the flat of his sword, through a single slow parry (compared to something like fencing) can slice the wrist tendons and veins in one movement.

See, tai chi is very... sticky. Bruce Lee adopted this technique into his fighting style (Wing Chun), though it's very poorly done in comparison as they sacrifice stickiness and sensitivity for speed and hardness, using vision mostly.
So when I mean you can manipulate them with a part of your body, even a flat piece of metal against another flat piece of metal, I mean you stick by moving with it, and it's easier and way harder to beat than it seems.

Internal martial arts are invisible mainly due to the reason that they look staged, that to the untrained eye it seems impossible for it to work so well =]

Tai Chi Ground Grappling/Sticking (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGTxDEa92B8)

Sam Masich Tai Chi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXh0BCHcL5g)

Explosive Tai Chi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSnUDkCQ0WU)

[Premmy]

Shaolin is pretty much the opposite of tai chi
I was under the impression that kung-fu was the blanket term used to describe either
1: Intense discipline towards anything
2: all martial arts(if you're a chinese martial artist)
3: all chinese martial arts( if you're not)

[Hanuman]

I was under the impression that kung-fu was the blanket term used to describe either
1: Intense discipline towards anything
2: all martial arts(if you're a chinese martial artist)
3: all chinese martial arts( if you're not)
Possibly, other people may use different terms. I was taught kung-fu == shaolin

[POS Industries]

If we want to play that game, it's your place to be respectful of NPF posters by default.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/posindustries/facepalm/heh.jpg

You guys really should stop thinking you can immediately understand this.
Yeah, welcome to Bullshit Town, population: You.

You don't get to come in, go on about your super rare form of Chinese aerobics that makes you an inexhaustible engine of fist-flying destruction while providing no evidence whatsoever to back up your claims, and then tell everyone that they're just not capable of understanding your ancient art of slow-motion breath control of doom despite providing educated arguments that what you say is silly.

This insipid smug, holier-than-thou attitude you pull with everyone on these forums, regardless of how they behave, will stop now. It will stop because, if you expect to be treated with respect from the people of this forum, you will earn it from them, just as every one of us had to do before you. You will lighten up, roll with the punches, have some laughs, and be a part of this community just like the rest of us, or you won't be a part of the community at all.

I don't want to see any more lines like the one above, calling people who disagree with you trolls, backhandedly insulting the entire forum community in supposed "compliments" toward other members, complete dismissal of moderator warnings (especially from the ones who are actually good at this shit AKA not me), and the various other items on the long laundry list of crap you've been pulling ever since you got a fancy bit of fire around your name.

And, on a personal note, don't you dare tell me I don't respect these people ever again. I wouldn't be here if I didn't respect them--if I didn't owe them that respect. Are we clear?

Now..... Let's get back on the topic of body armor.

[Hanuman]

You are clearly trying to flame me by berating me publicly and using your moderator status as a defense.

I honestly do not care if you are a moderator or not, I do not care whether you think your opinions are just, I do not care what your opinion is between a passive aggressive jab hidden within jokes (the common forum trend) and an open opinion meant to critique the very apparent problems of the forum.

You and I are people, there are rules and I will respect them, if I do not respect them then explain the reasoning as I am reasonable.

I listen to what you say, I agree with you on some points, but I will refuse to play into whatever game you are playing by keeping this public, as this is clearly a very personalized message and if it is intended to address other members of the forum, I do not see the connection.

[POS Industries]

I listen to what you say, I agree with you on some points, but I will refuse to play into whatever game you are playing by keeping this public, as this is clearly a very personalized message and if it is intended to address other members of the forum, I do not see the connection.
Lev, you've been through this before with multiple mods already:

You asked for an explanation you shouldn't need, I gave it to you. I don't use PMs for moderatorial action. I never have. Personally, I prefer people to be publically told what not to do so that others can see their mistakes and try not to repeat them.
Lev yeah we don't do moderating by PM here and you've been around long enough to have caught on to that.
Moving on...

You are clearly trying to flame me by berating me publicly and using your moderator status as a defense.
No, I'm not. Your behavior has been under scrutiny by the staff for a while now. Longer than I've been on the job, in fact. I've received more gripes from other members about you than I care to count. You can be a pretty all right dude, but you've got this really nasty habit of trying to make things centered around you--whether you're aware of it or not--and that puts people off.

I honestly do not care if you are a moderator or not, I do not care whether you think your opinions are just, I do not care what your opinion is between a passive aggressive jab hidden within jokes (the common forum trend) and an open opinion meant to critique the very apparent problems of the forum.
Well, that's too bad. I don't particularly care if you "respect my authoritah" or not. I have a job to do here, and I'm going to do it. If you can't deal with that or the way the people of this forum like to spend their time here and interact, then maybe NPF isn't for you.

We're a snarky, humor-oriented bunch. We take friendly jabs at one another. We also, sometimes, take not-so-friendly jabs, sure. But you can't go acting like every sarcastic comment thrown your way is a direct assault on you because otherwise you're going to, well, keep being the sort of pain in the ass you've been.

If the rest of us had taken the same approach, we'd have all ragequit ten times over by now and there wouldn't be an NPF for jackoffs like me to lord over with an iron fist.

You and I are people, there are rules and I will respect them, if I do not respect them then explain the reasoning as I am reasonable.
Fair enough:

Backseat Moderating: even if you mean well, please avoid making calls as to what is or isn't a rules offense. That's the moderators' job. We don't particularly want people here to accuse each other of spamming or flaming or trolling, no matter - and this is important - whether we'd agree. If you're absolutely sure something is against the rules, report that post, and we'll take a look at it (remember that this isn't a guarantee we'll actually do anything about it, since we might still disagree with your assessment).
Publicly deeming posts that offend you in some way as trolling and flaming? Yeah, that's this.

Flaming: Do not be aggressive towards or insult other forum members, whether actively ("John, you're a dick") or passively ("anyone who likes Pokemon must be retarded").
That last part is something you've been pretty bad about, be it telling everyone they just can't understand your martial art or referring to a member as "one of the posters who keeps this from being a lolwut forum" is pretty degrading to the vast majority of people in this community.

Trolling: Trolling: Do not make statements only to get angry responses. Also, do not reply to such statements, just report the post and leave it alone.
Once again, the bolded part is key. We will handle perceived cases of trolling, not you. It's not your responsibility, and it only causes more problems for the people whose responsibility it is.

Like I said, you totally have it in you to get along well here, and I really do think your hobbies are neat, despite the way you present them having a tendency to be a little hard to swallow sometimes. And you're nowhere near as bad as a lot of people were who eventually settled in and became some of our most awesome members.

But you've got to be willing to do it.

[Hanuman]

Lev, you've been through this before with multiple mods already:
Understood, I must have forgotten and further become confused with the rule of incoming moderation by PM but not outgoing.

No, I'm not. Your behavior has been under scrutiny by the staff for a while now. Longer than I've been on the job, in fact. I've received more gripes from other members about you than I care to count. You can be a pretty all right dude, but you've got this really nasty habit of trying to make things centered around you--whether you're aware of it or not--and that puts people off.
Understood, I will try and change my behavior.

Well, that's too bad. I don't particularly care if you "respect my authoritah" or not. I have a job to do here, and I'm going to do it. If you can't deal with that or the way the people of this forum like to spend their time here and interact, then maybe NPF isn't for you.

We're a snarky, humor-oriented bunch. We take friendly jabs at one another. We also, sometimes, take not-so-friendly jabs, sure. But you can't go acting like every sarcastic comment thrown your way is a direct assault on you because otherwise you're going to, well, keep being the sort of pain in the ass you've been.

If the rest of us had taken the same approach, we'd have all ragequit ten times over by now and there wouldn't be an NPF for jackoffs like me to lord over with an iron fist.
Understood, I do not see every comment as an insult, but my job for the last 11 months (60hour/week) has been centered around sensitizing myself to intent, sensory input, social flow, body language, mentalizaton overlay due to my mentor, sorry if I seem a little sore right now even to things which don't seem like a big deal, I'm currently dealing and working with male emotional flow and how men tend to be both ignorant and passive aggressive with their own feelings, and it stands out as a giant empathic sore thumb right now, sorry if I seem to be taking that and being very short with it.

Fair enough:
Instead of "You don't get to decide that." I mean.

That last part is something you've been pretty bad about, be it telling everyone they just can't understand your martial art or referring to a member as "one of the posters who keeps this from being a dick joke forum" is pretty degrading to the vast majority of people in this community.
1) They can, more questions instead of assumptions are needed though.
2) If you say something in a common joke phrase you can suddenly camouflage it regardless of validity or intent.

Like I said, you totally have it in you to get along well here, and I really do think your hobbies are neat, despite the way you present them having a tendency to be a little hard to swallow sometimes. But you're nowhere near as bad as a lot of people were who eventually settled in and became some of our most awesome members.
I'd love to develop more media around my hobbies, but I don't get much positive encouragement so the motivation is lacking compared to other things.

I'd also love to see this forum evolve beyond commonly having dick jokes, see more organic conversations evolve, see people's projects and things that really benefit from input, all good stuff.

[Meister]

Dude Lev you're a nice guy with lots of interesting ideas and hobbies but you should really listen to what POS is saying here because he's pretty much entirely right. And I'm not saying this because he or anyone else asked me for input, I just happened to come across this exchange and I don't want you to think this is just POS having a private feud with you.

e: well I guess you're doing that, serves me right for not reloading the page.

That said it would also be extremely nice for everyone else to tone down on the "lol Lev thinks he's Batman Lee Goku" subtext. I mean lord knows I've thought of like five jokes along those lines ever since post #1 but I haven't actually made any because, for one they're too easy and cheap shots, and for two, I'm more interested in the actual topic than getting some laughs out of it. I'm not saying DON'T MAKE JOKES GODDAMMIT but, y'know, there's a lot of interesting martial arts discussion in here which is a great topic for a thread that we don't usually get here but too much of it seems like just people flat out immediately dismissing ideas.

tl;dr: Lev, lighten up, everyone else, calm down, we'll all meet in the middle and there we'll discuss martial arts, philosophy and also Spiderman and Grand Theft Auto.

[Hanuman]

tl;dr: Lev, lighten up, everyone else, calm down, we'll all meet in the middle and there we'll discuss martial arts, philosophy and also Spiderman and Grand Theft Auto.
Sorry for being short, I'm under a lot of pressure organizing things, it's 3AM and it's my birthday tomorrow, I have multiple appointments early-day and am in makeup prep from 1pm-4pm to join a zombie flashmob and I'm not sure if you guys have ever gotten full airbrushed before, but low oxygen input and closed eyes when tired is really really tiring ;]

[Premmy]

What ever happened to that Kevlar Compound stuff that hardens on impact? Suposedly it's a chemical treatment you put on clothes to accomplish that effect, they make ski-suits out of it, so it's probably pretty light and flexible, something like that on a reinforced surface would be cool.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

I did a miniproject in materials chem on impact resistant polymer fluids which are basically the same as what Premmy talk about. They work pretty well- will stop knifes and blunt objects but are not noticeably heavier or less flexible than regular clothes. Proper stuff isn't cheap though.

[Premmy]

The Idea I have is you treat your clothes with the stuff, then(or before if necessary) modify your clothes with unobtrusive padding on the desired areas, BAM: easy, discrete protection from whatevers

[TDK]

That's actually a cool idea. I'd love to get my hands on some of that stuff, its awesome. If anything would do the job Lev is talking about for the kneepads and junk, that's totally it.

Although a problem I can think of is that it would make the joint immobile at the moment of impact, and armor isn't terribly effective at blocking blunt force. It'll provide some protection if someone goes for your knees, but a well placed kick could still very well break something because it could still push your knee in the wrong direction or some such.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Eh, to get proper protection you need the fibres to be specially woven/constructed as well, particularly if you want impact protection rather than just cut protection.

While blunt force can still do some damage, the fibres are pretty good at dissipating energy through minor phase changes and non-Newtonian flow. Sure the ycan still do damage but its better than most fibres, though nto as good as like a kneepad.