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Yeah that is true, there is no reason to assume that one or the other would improve at a faster rate. Though i would say that what i put into parentheses is also equally applicable towards training at any martial arts club. All true but i think this also applies equally to any martial arts club. Nothing stopping the child playing the long game and training at a regular club. Long term martial arts training doesn't make someone a decent person by default - first example that pops into my head is Rousimar Palhares (there are other issues with him too i know) who basically liked to injure people and did it a lot with leg locks. This likely varies from country to country. I am in Scotland and there is no wrestling taught as part of school here (or indeed in most of the UK). Typically PE here is football/soccer; rugby; basketball; gymnastics; badminton. If anyone wanted to learn a martial art of any kind (including wrestling) it is done outside school. At risk of shifting the focus of the discussion, learning the rules of the sport does not in my view make it useless for self defence. I remember our judo coach showing us all Uranage with the comment "if anyone ever starts on you in a bar and you can't avoid it then uranage them through a table - will put them down". I have always inherently disagreed with the assumption that the untrained/"self defence trained" fighter will use all kind of dirty tricks etc. but the trained individual magically loses the ability to do so. I remember watching an excellent video with the well known BJJ instructor Draculino demonstrating a triangle choke with the person being choked permitted to bite etc. The bite didnt work - he also pointed out that if they can bite him he could put his thumbs through both of their eyes as their head is trapped! While the focus of the sport in judo is definitely competition and sport, hitting the ground hard hurts a lot. For self defence, in my view, one of the best ways to protect yourself is to down your opponent and get away. Slamming someone to the ground hard, when most assailants will not have great Ukemi (and tbh on concrete even if you do it will still hurt a tonne) will in most instances give you the time to get away safely.

Looks like Pete Carroll could be one and done in Las Vegas. Rumors swirling about the Raiders planning an exit strategy after the season. At 2-12 the Raiders are one of the worst teams in the league and are having one of their worst seasons in franchise history. They lost on Sunday 31-0 (the second time this year they lost by that score) and only had 75 yards of offense, the lowest yards total by any offense so far this season. Carroll believes that his job is not on the line and he hopes to return next season saying that the rebuild was necessary but also expected the season to go better than it has. After Sunday's loss some reporters had impaled that the team quit on Carroll, who was quick to deny and disagree with that.

Is this in your dojo, or the MA community at large? If it's happening in the dojo, then that's on your instructor(s) for failing to maintain a positive training environment. If it's in the MA community at large, then I would just limit my MA fellowship with my classmates. Before you quit martial arts, I suggest checking out some other schools in your area if there are any. You'll find that no two schools have the same environment. My school has a very peaceful atmosphere, while I've seen others that are run like a military boot camp. However, this is assuming that your issue is with your school and not the MA community at large.

Mental Health is a very serious and personal matter; it should never be taken lightly. When it comes to my mental health, the MA is just a thing, it is just a want and not a need, and not worth to affect my mental health. Before, I wasn’t alone, but nowadays I’m very much alone. What was once alive is now a lonely destitution. The SKKA is dead, our Soke and Dai-Soke are dead, many of my fellow Shindokanists are either dead or gone their own way; only empty chairs surround a once thriving table. I’m still trying to understand and cope with the fact that what was is no more; not easiest thing to wrap my mind around. Still, I’m a MAist, now and forever and nothing will change that in me. My mind might be a very lonely thing but my mind is strong. Keeping God first before the martial arts keeps my sanity in tact amongst the dark cloud of loneliness.

Your fist needs to travel a certain distance and your arm needs to be extended out by a certain amount before your punch can have much effect. So if you grab the other guy and pull him towards you into the punch with the other hand, you're reducing the effectiveness of your own punch. I respect your opinions wholeheartedly; I thank you for them. Power aided by Hikite isn’t forgotten nor is it ignored by us Shindokanists, inasmuch as how our grappling is aided by Hikite across the board. For us, our fists as well as our feet are used primarily as set-ups for our grappling; that’s us, and may not be for others. We, you and I, might have different methodologies and ideologies concerning many different things including Hikite, and in that, I don’t discard what others have been taught across the board. Oftentimes, MAists have yet to mature in their techniques, which is understandable because it takes a lot of time to mature in ones technique, and this by no means to be directed to you personally or anyone else here. Imho!!

While an argument could be made that hikite could be used to grab, I don't think the use for power can be dismissed. Even outside of karate where the word "hikite" isn't used, pulling one hand is indeed crucial for increasing the power of the other hand that's punching. Without pulling that hand back, the punch is just another jab or cross. A punch that's designed to wear your opponent down, and not knock them out. In karate, we're always going for the knockout. End the fight quickly and get out of there. If we're just trying to wear the other guy down, that's not self-defense. Here's why I don't think it's the grab that most people think when they say it is: if someone is standing one foot away from you, you're not going to land a very powerful punch. If you look at viral videos of fights on the internet, even untrained people know this: you have two egotistical guys in each other's faces, and the guy who swings first always either takes a big step back or pushes the other guy away before throwing that haymaker. Your fist needs to travel a certain distance and your arm needs to be extended out by a certain amount before your punch can have much effect. So if you grab the other guy and pull him towards you into the punch with the other hand, you're reducing the effectiveness of your own punch.

Yes the Sensei, my practice and lack of understanding of it by most other people. And that is probably part of the issue, I dont see it as a hobby. Hence where the main difference in my practice comes in. As per visiting other schools, I did and was met with worst reactions then where I try to train presently. I have knowledge of where people who have a similar mindset or way of practicing are, just not physically close to where I am. And since the style of Karate I do is different at the base and adapting those Kata specifically, I am pretty much alone doing what I do, others do it with their own respective style and have managed to make a thing out of it. You may be right, either I have to stop trying to bring others to see things in a specific scope or simply let go. Only person I am letting down by removing myself from the Martial Arts is myself, and that makes it complicated...

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles. Martial arts for me is a solace and I often fall into it deeper when I am struggling with my mental health. I'm deeply saddened to hear that the martial arts community at large, a community that has made me feel so welcome and understood, has made you feel isolated. If you feel comfortable talking about it, I am interested in hearing about your experiences with martial arts. You have posted in the past about not meshing well with the sensei in your dojo who teaches the classes that you are most easily able to attend. Do you think that another dojo might be a better fit for you? That said, and I want to be clear on my stance, if your mental health is suffering because of your involvement in martial arts, then you need to prioritize your mental health and withdraw from martial arts as a whole. At the end of the day, martial arts is a hobby for most martial artists. If this hobby is having a negative impact on your life, then the only people who would put you down for leaving it behind are people you should not be associating with. Martial arts are optional, and while I love martial arts and wish that everyone would do them, I understand that there are a lot of things that need to be worked on in the broader martial arts community to make it a better, more welcoming place. Take some time away. If you end up getting the itch to come back, find a dojo promotes a culture and community that works for you. If you never feel the itch to return, that's okay too. Again, I'm sorry that your community has let you down and impacted you in a negative way. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

What you put in parentheses is why I don't think these two factors should be considered. Because it makes the false assumption that the "good" kids are more likely progress faster than the "bad" kids, and that it's more likely turn "bad" kids lives around while there's a risk of making the "good" kids more violent. Again, the moral alignment of people has nothing to do with how well they progress in any form of training or instruction. This reminds me of the scene in The Breakfast Club where Bender was responding to Brian talking about why he failed shop class. Let us not forget that there are plenty of "bad" people that know how to play the long game. Even children. With Christmas being ten days away, the most common way we see it is that when children finally reveal that they no longer believe in Santa Claus, they also reveal that they haven't believed in years. They hid their skepticism out of fear that they wouldn't get anything for Christmas. If children can do it for that, they can do the same thing to remain in martial arts training. If the reason they're teaching a martial art is for self-defense, I'm assuming karate. The reason is because they already have wrestling as part of normal physical education (at least when I was in high school), but you learn according the rules of the sport, making it rather useless for self-defense. I'll admit to having very little exposure to judo, but in that limited exposure, it appears to be similar: the focus appears to be competition and sport, rather than self-defense.

How much of your mental health are you willing to give up for martial arts? Where it is something supposed to bring people together and build communities of like minded people, I have found that it caused more divisions and isolation especially when people have opinions and dont wish to just join to be a mindless follower. At what point does one decide that Martial Art is costing them too much and isolating them more then it brings joy to their life, is that the moment they should call it quits, or betray themselves and just continue while joining the group and hiding their true feeling? Idk, at this point I truly wonder WHY do people practice martial arts, I think most people have interest in health benefits and looking at nice forms or competitions and making money via martial arts. I am highly thinking of quitting all and make my life less stressful and more happy. I dont see a reason to keep hitting my head on a wall of unacceptance. I tried to make something else/ different. It was in vain. Good continuation to those who choose to keep Martial Arts alive, I dont think I have more to give in that aspect, Ill focus on other areas in my life.

There's potential for injury in all physical activity, not just martial arts. I'd assume that schools just use whatever coverage they already have for their current physical education programs.

There are a few other points here that I think may be relevant: often kids aren't really aware of the consequences of violence and the harm it could cause to others so there is a chance that them all training would make the kids aware of the potential for harm and make them show more reserve (though the opposite may also be true and it makes people realise how much damage they could do!) Opening it up to all kids doesn't mean that all the kids have to retain the right to be trained. If kids demonstrate that they fail to meet certain acceptance criteria for the training (eg bullying people etc.) then they could be stopped from attending the lesson/s Not everyone will progress / learn at an equal rate. So even if the bully is being trained too then there is no guarantee they will improve at the same rate as the others (though again the opposite is also true). Teaching at school would remove the choice of styles from the parents to an extent. Eg for myself my son started Judo at 4. He really wanted to (and loves it) plus i personally think it is the best "foundational style" for a kid due to teaching the kids how to fall safely etc. plus the really well structured pathway for teaching from very young ages all the way to adulthood. He later added some Shotokan and he has told me he wants to try Kyokushin too and learn some mma (he is 9 currently so i told him he needs to be a little older first. Would i have liked it if the school just decided that he had to learn Muay Thai at age X? Probably not, it is a fantastic style but i would prefer him to try it when he is in his teens at least (and through his own choice). Also how would the school choose the style? Could see this causing plenty of issues too!

there is sometimes a way round this - years ago a friend of mine was brought in by a school (happened to be a private one) to teach two of their pupils martial arts during PE lessons. He was their instructor in their regular club and they were allowed to choose whatever thing they wished to do in PE providing it was a sport they could demonstrate a genuine interest in etc. He taught them during the day a couple of times a week and was given discretion over what he taught etc and his assessment. Gradings were still the usual route. I am aware this is very much the exception though - would be extremely hard to tailor it to a school situation generally

Very true - this season might decide it! Shame about Mahomes injury too - hopefully he comes back at 100%. He is easily one of the best QBs i have ever seen tbh and will be deep in the GOAT conversation when he eventually retires i think. For Allen, the key difference for me this season is Cook has been great. When the Bills had the better defences they always lacked a running game from anyone but Allen which hurt then in the playoffs etc i think. Now there is much better balance

This was my first though. I think the rest of your points are well stated.

Mahomes suffered a torn ACL, and is done for the season. Hopefully he'll be back for the start of the 2026 season. KC definitely has some evaluating to do. They lost another OL today with Moore getting injured; not sure the extent of that injury. Now the bookend tackles are both off the practice squad. It'll likely be Gardner Minshew the rest of the way, and they'll likely have to elevate Victor Oladokun from the practice squad to backup. At least I think he's the practice squad QB.

Chargers defeated the Chiefs on Sunday and Mahomes suffered a knee injury. With KC now eliminated from the playoffs Mahomes might sit the rest of the season, though we do not know the extent of the injury at the time I am writing his. KC drops to 6-8 and will miss the playoffs for the first time in Mahomes career. The Bills will remain the only team to play in the Super Bowl four years in a row. It just was not the Chiefs year from the start. They began 0-2, then 2-3, and were trying to play catch up all season. The run of three Super Bowls in a row and five of the last six likely took a physical toll on many of the key players who have been there. They basically have played seven seasons over the last six years because of all the playoff games. KC might need to do some rebuilding in the offseason. Kelcie is in the final year of his contract and will likely retire. They still have an elite coach/QB combo, so I expect they will bounce back next year. Rivers started the game for the Colts and threw a TD pass for the first time in five years! Unfortunately for the Colts it was not enough as they lost to Seattle 18-16. Some other teams that lost on Sunday were the Jets, Giants, Browns, Raiders, Panthers, Lions, Cardinals, Bengals, Titans, and Patriots. The Broncos Packers game is in the 4th; Denver has 34-26 lead. Edit: The Broncos beat the Packers and with that win the Broncos are now in the playoffs. Rams also clinched a playoff spot when they beat the Lions. In the Sunday Night game, the Vikings beat the Cowboys 34-26, making the Cowboys playoff chances very slim.

Problem is that KC does not control their own destiny. Even if they run the table, that would not be enough, they need some other things to fall into place.

Todd Bowles had an f-bomb explosive post-game press conference after Tampa's loss to Atlanta on Thursday. The Bucs started 6-2 but have fallen to 7-7, going only 1-5 since their bye week and the loss on Thursday set off the head coach. Despite having a franchise record 19 penalties the Falcons still won the game 29-28. The Bucs blew a 14-point 4th quarter lead. The Falcons had previously been 0-104-1 in their past 105 games when they had trailed by 14 or more in the 4th quarter. It was the first time the Falcons won a game when down by 14 or more in the 4th since 1993. It is not all bad for Tampa, they still have a 53% chance of making the playoffs. Two of their final three games will be against the Panthers which will decide who wins the division. Dec. 21 in Carolina and Jan. 4 in Tampa.

According to The Sporting News: My Cowboys: Minnesota Vikings at Dallas Cowboys (-6) Sunday, 8:20 p.m., NBC Peacock “The Cowboys had extra time to prepare for the Vikings. JJ McCarthy threw three TDs for the Vikings in Week 15 against the Commanders, but he also took four sacks. Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb is in concussion protocol. Dallas needs this one to stay in a tight playoff race, and the Cowboys are 4-2 ATS at home.” Pick: Cowboys 28, Vikings 20 My Wife’s Raiders: •Las Vegas Raiders at Philadelphia Eagles (-12.5) Sunday, 1 p.m., Fox “The Raiders can’t score. Las Vegas has averaged 12.8 points per game in the last five games, and Kenny Pickett replaced Geno Smith (shoulder) in Week 14. Pickett would get a chance to start against one of his former teams, but the Eagles will not be accommodating coming off a short week. The Eagles are 0-3 ATS when favored by seven points or more - but they get the message here.” Pick: Eagles 30, Raiders 16 We will see how The Sporting News predictions pan out.

Hikite is NOT about power; it’s about being in close range of my attacker. Hikite aides in providing me information as to where the body is without me having to look. With Hikite I can control, manipulate, and seize. Of course, I have to use both of my hands to do one or another. No Hikite, no acccuracy. Imagine how kata would look like without Hikite??

Two of the most obvious explanations for hikite or “chambering” become clear when considering the strategy and range of Eastern martial arts. Particularly those of Chinese and Okinawan origins in their older pre-sport versions. Unarmed fighting and self-defense is rarely if ever done at distances beyond arms reach and most techniques require closing distance. It makes a lot of logical sense to seize, trap and pull an attacker while striking. The other explanation for hikite is exploiting antagonist motions to train effective body mechanics and structure for maximum power generation. This is not really unique to Eastern martial arts, but a vital concept. Every technique involves opposite movements and push/pull is one of the most important. In Eastern arts, at least, this is more obvious in training and becomes more subtle once skill develops and when used in actual fighting or defense.

In my state, there is already a phys ed requirement. When I was a kid, the closest we go to martial arts was a unit on wrestling, which was probably acceptable since it is an intramural sport. My kid goes to a private girls school right now, but I know the public schools have plenty of extracurricular athletics available over and above "PE" class, with soccer leagues etc. There's no shortage of TKD schools for kids, either. My take is, leave it as something voluntary, outside the public sector. Then there's no parents complaining about Johnny hit Billy, we don't believe in bowing, why isn't Suzie a black belt yet, etc.

Mahomes seems to me that he’s the most dangerous when he’s forced in a corner. I sure am not counting the Chiefs out as of yet. How about them Chiefs!! (Normally I end my posts in the football thread by supporting the team from Arlington, TX but not until next season…maybe!!)

I’ve seen various MA styles being taught in a public school in after school programs that were held in the schools gym. These programs rented the schools gym but both the school and the schools administrators approved before hand. These schools allowed the CI to place stacks of flyers in the schools office or one flyer found on the school’s office bulletin board. The MA program, as part of the approval process, had to submit its syllabus/curriculum. However, the school and the school districts administrators HAD NO authority as to said syllabus/curriculum; they just wanted to know what was all involved. Those MA programs also had to show proof of insurance at various levels. In short, these MA programs were NOT part of any academic curriculum of said school whatsoever. On the other hand, I very briefly taught Karate 101 and 102 along time ago at the LAVC in the San Fernando Valley in southern California. I had to follow the college curriculum to the letter, and had to submit everything under the sun to the Department Chair of the Physical Science Department as far as grades, reports, this and that and that and this. From time to time, the Chair or the Assistant Chair would pop in and out a few times a semester just keeping an eye out. But they never ever tried to correct me on the manner of how I should teach said techniques. The whole time I was there, they never pulled me aside for cause. I knew my job and I knew it well. The powers that be at LAVC just wanted to make sure I followed the curriculum and that I didn’t deviate from it. Not everyone should learn the MA like not everyone should learn how to be a doctor. And I agree…not everyone should learn to defend themselves because the MA is not a one-seminar or one semester thint, and there are so many other ways than the MA to defend themselves with.