lupus yonderboy

I like Kyokushin quite a bit. I was wondering, how many Kyokushin fighters are starting to keep a high guard to protect their faces from punches? I saw a group that had started using a higher guard to protect their faces - and I wondered if this is common in knockdown karate, or just what this group is doing?

None of the above paragraph is true. Not true... that statement doesn't support your above statements at all. Adjusting to what works against an opponent will get rid of over half of the flashy, spinning kicks you talk about in your first paragraph. Those things don't work. Bruce also said "Keep what is useful, get rid of anyting that isn't" (paraphrashed.) So he obviusly knew some techniques are worthless. Why do you insist they aren't? But didn't you just say in your first paragraph that all those fancy moves have an application? I'm sorry, I'm not following you well..

The major reason is because small joint locks don't really work when controlling a LARGER RESISTING opponent. They work fine in class, when people are compliant and everyone is safe. But against an enraged man, larger than you, your wrist lock is just going to make him angrier. The reason a lot of functional arts concentrate on large joint destructions is because an attacker can't do much with a dislocated shoulder - can't even lift his arm. But P L E N T Y of attackers are documented as fighting on (succesfully, too) with a broken wrist.

Why would it be unethical, or even a slap in the face? Your sensei is someone you train with.. any idea of "loyalty" is kind of silly in this instance. I'd not worry too much about whether I'm a black belt or not - and concern myself more with who has the most realistic and functional classes. But that's me.

It sounds like you can already tell you'd be much better off training elsewhere.

You don't owe your sensei anything more than the monthly dues for class.

I would not advocate a "bounce step" when fighting. If you bounce around against a functional athlete, he's going to time your bounce and either punch while you are elevated, or throw you to the ground while you are elevated. It is not that hard to do. When you are elevated, you have no ability to defend or attack. It is a moment when you are out of control of yourself. Move with the step-slide of fencing, boxing and wrestling. It is efficient and simple. People who think Boxers should "bounce" have had no real boxing training at all - I'd not listen to their advice too much. It's good you are already criticicizing the move instead of just believing what you are told. Keep using those critical thinking skills.

I used focus mitts in various martial arts classes for years. One a Straight Blast Gym DVD, Matt Thornton suggest people get rid of them after the very beginning stages of training. Sounded like too radical of a concept to me at first. But we tried it recently. We catchj the punches in the palms of our gloves, just like focus mitts - but when we fire back at the man we are training (say if he drops his guard while punching) it is with proper mechanics. When we would fire the focus mitt at the guy's head, before, it was always a somewhat sloppy swing. The boxing glove changes that. But it also gives us the chance to fire back and forth at each other as a progressive step to full sparring.

That's only a single counterpunch sequence. You would want to learn more than this. However, as far as "refinement" goes, it's an excellent example of how you should learn the fundamentals. Don't learn 10,000 moves, and be able to use them all poorly at best. Learn only a few, but learn to apply them from 10,000 situations with effectiveness.

The best anti grappling out there is grappling. Matt Thornton says it well in his SBGi JKD2 dvd series: If you want to keep the fighting standing as a striker - become a good grappler. If you want to end up stuck on the ground all the time, unable to get up - work only on your striking. That's not a quote, but thats the jist of it...

- Watch training DVD's / Vids - Work movement drills - Granby rolls, etc, - Work flexibility - yoga - Work Strength - weights - Work Cardio - Interval training (Taku's Intervals)

Hi there. I'm just curious how you guys typically test? Is fighting involved, and if so, what are the limits and rules on the fighting for your test? In BJJ, they typically test by fighting with one another. When a student can "hang" with other guys of the next belt level, he can expect to become that belt very soon. How do you guys do it? I'm curious to all responses.

I know all the Muay Thai guys practice striking in the clinch. But how many of the western boxer and kickboxers spend any length of time on it? Do any of you guys spend time working your clinch striking specifically?