Freestyler

IMO I don't think any cardio matches rolling on the mats. It's a completely different kind of fitness, but my bet is to work on your anaerobic fitness to help. I'd go for plyometric exercises and interval training. You mean the first couple of months ? Expect to be on the buttom a lot. You mainly want to be working on escapes and controlling people. Don't go for submissions. Position comes before the submissions. When you can control someone, you can choose which submission you want to use; that's what control is. You will also find that using strength against technique is futile and quickly regard that and work on developing your technique.

I plan to compete in a MMA fight when I get my grappling skills up. I think the UFC is as close to a real street fight without being in one. IMO, the practioners of styles that say their techniques are too deadly are in for a shock if they go to use them on the street..

I'm not really interested in how pretty my techniques look, I'm all for effectivess and power. I nearly always drop my hand to an extent

Hi, you might like to check out this

Yeah, I'd definitely clinch in a fight. Gives me a good opportunity to get a choke on someone, which is better than exchanging strikes, IMO. I probably wouldn't throw any knees, but that's just me, I'd go for the back and apply a choke. I might use knees to loosen someone up though. To enter ? I'd probably shoot in.

I believe in a PMA (positive mental attitude), which is shown in our actions. If the only thing a student hears is criticism, he will start to think that he's no good. If, on the other hand he hears praise, he will start to think he's good. If you believe in yourself and others believe in yourself when you don't, you end up achieving. Forgive me if my point isn't clear, it's late.

karatekid1975, why not leave the school ? You don't have to train there. But, I can understand you wanting to get your money's worth. How long to go in the contract ?

ramymensa, McDojos are everywhere.. any art that is 'in' at the time will fall victim to this unfortunately. I have great respect for any martial artists of course, regardless of their style, it takes dedication and commitment on their behalf; and we all want different things out of our study, which is why we don't all study the one style, or similar styles. What do you think about what I posted in my original post ?

Hi, ramymensa, I don't mean to try and put karate in bad light. It is just my opinion, remember ? I stated that at the top of the post. I don't want to get into a traditional vs non-traditional debate. I'm interested in what you and others think...

Who here reads ? I'm attempting to get back into reading since I no longer belive reading is not 'cool'. Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body! I have a *massive* 'to read' list which I won't be finishing anytime soon. It'd be good if people could list any good books they've read and why they liked them! I'll list a couple : April Fools' Day by Bryce Courtney - wow, this book is so moving & touching. You really feel the author's pain. It's fascinating, yet tragic. The last victim by Jason Moss - supposedly you get an insight into the mind of serial killers like John Gacey. But, I think the approach taken in writing the book is wrong, the author talks too much about himself and his life which I didn't find too interesting. I was more interested in the serial killers. Still, I wouldn't say not to read it.

Kensai, sounds like a good choice. How long does it take one to become proficient in it though ? -- to be able to use on a resisting opponent ?

Frogman, that's a very good deal you have with the dojo. I don't know much about those styles though. What do they entail ? However, I would think a police officer needs to know how to grapple, so he can effectively control and handcuff an offender. He can't beat the crap out of someone until he's out cold before 'cuffing him. Weapons defense, against knives & guns. Ground experience, so he's comfortable if he ends up on the ground, and can quickly get to his feet again. IMO, I think cross-training is the way to go, I'm a strong advocate of cross training. Maybe JKD (Jeet Keen Do) is more along the lines of what you want, however, it's not really a style, it uses 'no style', as 'the style'. A good JKD class should incorprate all the aspects I mentioned. Krav maga is a possible style you might have a look into, it's a very aggressive style which taught to the Israeli government and is based on natural and instinctive movements. It was also designed to bring people of all sorts of ages and fitness levels to a very proficient level in hand to hand combat. It covers a lot of things, which are mainly for ending a fight as quick as possible. So, as a police officer, I imagine you have a lot of legal concerns and it might not be the best style if you don't want to harm an offender.

I've heard the 'unbendable arm' can be explained with physics... Can anyone clarify this, or tell me the details ?

Hi guys, just thought I'd post my opinion on karate's training methods and why I don't think it's effective for self defense. I'd like to hear your thoughts on my comments. Think of a piece of string that represents your habits. Everytime you perform something, you wrap a piece of string around it. After doing this hundreds of time, it'll become quite strong & very hard to break! -- this analogy comes from 'The seven habits of highy effective people' by Stephen Covey. The basics - when going through the basics I notice they seem to be done slow, medium paced and then fast! I think this is fine when you've developed your technique, but for beginners who are just starting out, they need to focus on getting the technique right first, before executing it as fast as possible. Hence, a lot of karate practioners have poor technique from repeatedly doing techniques poorly. The placement of the hands at the hips - this creates a bad habit as well. A lot of people adopt this when sparring. After placing your hands on your hips thousands of times after performing a punch, what makes you think you're going to keep them up in a real fight ? Boxers have trouble keeping their hands up at first, only after being constantly told to keep their hands up & kicked in the face so they keep them up. The stances - some of the stances can supposedly be adopted to provide a solid stance, so your opponent can't move you. Are you seriously going to adopt one of these in a fight ? If someone punches/kicks you in the head, it'd actually work better for them since you've got nowhere to move your head and lessen the impact of the strike. Sparring - this one is more dojo specific, but anyway. A lot of dojos do non contact sparring to 'eliminate the chance of injury'. GKR (Go Kan Ryu) is one example of such a style. They have a student base of over 35 000 members and they're increasingly exponentially. It sad to see that so many students believe they are getting taught real self defense, when they really have no idea what it's like to hit somoene, get hit, etc. These students are in for a shock if they ever have a fight on the street!

karatekid1975, you're also in a contract aren't you ? Sounds like one to me -- a McDojo, that is. The students reflect the quality of the dojo and IMO the dojo should be scary when you first walk in there! If you're looking for a good boxing gym, look for the guys who have cauliflower ears!

Yeah, my hearing loss causes me problems in my dojo. I'm also particurlarly deaf in the high tone area.. I don't hear everything that's said in the dojo, but that's pretty normal I guess like you'd know, I just ask someone what we're doing, or follow along. I find myself, watching, copying & imitating a lot, so I miss out on quite a bit of explanation. I make up for that by reading up online and what not. My aids don't stop me from grappling... I only have the one aid and it does come out sometimes when I'm grappling, but I might feel it coming out, so I'll push it back in, even if it means giving someone position on me. Generally when it comes out, I leave it out. =) I used to swim all the time when I was younger, just took the aids out. I find I can hear pretty well in the water without my aid, I don't know why. Maybe the sound waves bounce off the water... ? You don't sleep with your aids in or anything do you ?

I don't count calories, just carbohydrates. Anything low in carbs == good to me.

Caffeine King, what's your hearing loss like ? I have a profound hearing loss in my right ear, and a moderate-severe hearing loss in my left ear. Only one aid, not much use with an aid on my right ear.

Caffeine King, you working for a doctorate in pyschology ? I'm thinking of doing that next year, along with computer science. Awaken the giant within focuses on 'nero associations'.. I also agree that habits make our characters! I come online out of habit, even though I find it boring.

Learning how to grapple is the best way to avoid a fight going to the ground. Keeping the distance is the most important thing. Once a grappler is in close and can grab you, you'll be going to the ground. Learning how to sprawl to avoid shoots will help you as well.

I realise this is probably in the wrong section, but I'd like to hear everyone's input, which is why I chose this section, since I assume it is the most visited sub-forum. I have recently picked up Awaken the giant within by Anthony Robbins and he talks about copying success, and finding role models to imitate through how they think, etc. So far, I have found the book to be very good, with definite changes already, even though I'm not finished reading it. But, I want to know how you guys think. Being martial artists, I find that most of you are more ambitous and mentally tough than the population in general. I think the physical conditioning we endure is a result of our mental capabilities, which we build up, so after some time in the arts, we are quite tough. So, how do you think: When you don't 'feel' like training, 'cause you're too tired, it's too hot, too cold, you couldn't be bothered. When you can't physically go on anymore ? When you've been training harder and more consistently than someone for them to still be advancing more quickly than you, or dominating you in sparring ? When you receive negative energy, or disrespect ? When you're going over something you're sure you already know since you've done it a million times before ? When you start to doubt yourself and whether you can achieve something in particular ? Please don't be limited to this list, I want to know how you feel about anything and everything, from martial arts, to your life outside the dojo.

I know a guy who is 120lbs, while I'm 187lbs.. He has it all over me! I put fitness, then skill first any day!

Size only matters when the skill level and fitness of both competitors is similar.

I'm willing to fill out a questionnare. May I ask what it's for ?

If that's so, why do you study the art you study then ?