tallgeese

I've got to agree with Michi. Just go and see what you fall into. Campus is a great place to stumble across all sorts of things. Also, I'd be willing to be that your current school will make some sort of testing allowance given your situation. Maybe look at testing you on break or something of the like.

I will add, now that I've read thru the various commentaries, that I can see the value in training movements that one is already familiar with and applying them in different manners. I personally think there are better ways to add these kinds of things to what one is doing than adding it to kata training but that's beside the point. If it's working for you, then have at it. Better yet, if it gets practitioners thinking and training for more varied encounters, it can't be bad. I can see how it's not authentic to the system. Good points both ways.

No, actually. Interesting response. I've often seen things reverse engineered into katas. The rage for a time was to imply that just about everyone had "secret x-art ground fighting" dating back to ancient origins hidden in their katas. While many arts might have one time addressed this, I found it humorous that no on had bothered to tell anyone about those particular hidden gems until BJJ hit big in the UFC's. Interesting. Certainly I can see how one would view it as different than what you're looking to do with wado kata.

Ok, I'm even curious now, Michi. How's that?

My Japanese is horrible. Do you have a link showing the throw?

today- 3.5 mile run chest/tris/abs Qual shoot at the range in the afternoon. Got in about 150 rounds down range plus the combat course we always do. Worked vs. moving targets, hostage setups, and door clearing. Worked through my duty and off duty guns. The wrist is still sore from the snubbie airweight I use as backup.

Another good one I ran into today: "if you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics are bad"

JKD has a similar crash entry. Most RBSD entry's are work along those lines as well with some minor alterations. This infighting distance is really effective and again, where you'll see alot of sects of JKD working out of. There is some really good stuff out there as to folding strikes from this range and it's very handy. Likewise, your MT clinch will work along similar lines as will many MMA intensive schools when teaching fighting out of the clinch. These applications will generally have different methods of closing to this range than the others I mentioned above. In either case, it's a great range to practice from because even if you are attempting to maintain distance, the bad guy can and will crash into this gap of his own accord from time to time and this will immediately put you there.

I also look at blocking as something that is almost overemphasized in some circles. Defense is good, but many schools spend far too much time on training it with only a secondary thought given to attack, or counter attack if you will. Many one steps I've seen are constructed around a block then a single strike, thus giving them equal weight. Certainly, I've seen many karate practitioners that will string together multiple blocks in response to an attack. Ok, they aren't getting hit, but they're not progressing the fight either. They aren't winning. I utilize trapping maneuvers quite a bit and the same criticism can apply. Far too many people who use them start working multiple traps for apparently no other reason than to trap the same attacking arm multiple times. Defense is important, no doubt, but it only serves to keep you in the fight so you can become the predator in the encounter. I try to stay in a "cover and crash" mentality. In other words, if attacked, I'll stifle the first attack if I can't preempt it, after that my focus become delivering offense. It's the overwhelming application of force, within reason, that wins fights, not blocking. So, to me, one of the big differences between this and the karate mindset I've often seen is that blocking (or parrying or trapping, ect.) is merely a tool to facilitate offense. It's not an item to be practiced separately or as an item into and of itself.

I get what you all are saying. In a few years that movement might come to mean more, or one might understand it better. I'll grant you that. Respectfully, I just don't get why you'd spend that long to fully comprehend a movement. I might be in a fight tonight. That's a far cry from the 12+ years we're talking about to decode a mid-level blocking motion. Now no one, studying any sort of fighting art, will go from 0 to high speed killer in a day, but if we teach practical movements, that can increase someone effectiveness in short order, isn't that easier for a student to wrap their head around and make meaningful progress more quickly? I also understand the concept of teaching from simple to complex tasks. Check out the progressions I use in training on that thread. They start basic and build. The problem is that every step in the chain must be effective at every level, or the whole chain becomes suspect with applied by an advanced practitioner. So step one can't be indecipherable to a beginning student or be questionable on the face, regardless of the final product. I also think that conceptual understanding behind each movement is important. We call in principle based training, but the idea is the same. The thing is, those underlying principles must be unified and work together and be conducted using sound movements that progress one's strategy. This must be applicable from start to finish, beginner to advanced student. So I see where you're coming from in the wait and see group. But that's too much of a time investment with too far a delayed return for practical application. Minor modification to a)movement and b) mindset will ensure quicker and more effective response to attack. Granted, the more traditional blocking patters will look different than they do now if you go down this path. It' a matter of you're focus in the ma's and what you place most of your efforts into.

It's not the only way, but it does function to test and distill what you're working on. As long as your training is suited to what you're wanting to accomplish, and based realistically on what outcomes you're expecting, it too will make one better. As to the note book, it's a good idea. I have a big 3-ring binder that's the accumulation of all sorts of stuff I've done or experimented with over the years. I wish I had broken down each learning session I'd ever gone thru, but I can't say I was that diligent. Oh yeah, quotes: "takedowns are good and all, but I figure if I hit 'em in the head enough they'll fall down on their own"

Trad blocks are one of the big problems I have with most karate systems. I'm going to take a beating on this one so I apologize in advance, but the OP did ask for our opinions. They are typically too rigid in application to intercept force effectively and tend to stop one's motion prior to counter. The terminal position of them also tends to be too square in many systems and will allow the collapse of the block and thus allow the completion of the bad guys strike despite the fact they might have been in position. Also, they have become so ritualized that you'll rarely see one used in a fluid fighting encounter. The chambers are diverting from the final goal and the motions take too long to complete. Because of this, they tend to be complicated to execute and even harder to make corrections to mid-action. Most systems also tend to drop the hands low to cover body shots and groin shots as well. This is a major problem since it moves a hand away from one's very vulnerable head, a favorite target of just about any one attacking you. Of course there are exceptions, but we're talking about a base pattern here. I prefer a zoned defense that utilizes the natural weapons that are there to protect an area. Hands for the head, elbows for the body, legs for the groin and legs. Coupled with body and head movements, this makes for an easier defensive scheme that is quicker to learn and easier to apply and adapt to rapidly changing situations. So, the block across the chest that balloo describes becomes slightly different. If a threat is incoming to the solar plexus. The body shifts out and rotates to put an elbow and forearm in line with the attack as it comes in. The idea being to shunt it off, best case; or to take the impact on the resilient forearms in a less than idea situation. This motion is simpler and keeps the hands at the head where they need to be. It also keeps them in a natural spot from which to launch a counter strike. Movements that are more along the lines of parries and hand checks that intercept attacks seem to be more functional than "blocking" per se and more intuitive to counter out of and attack good targets on the baddie. I'd also agree with sensei8, the ma's aren't for everyone. But there are enough options out there that your odds are pretty good of finding one that will fit what you're looking for.

On the less encouraging side of quotes that stand out in memory: "anything worth hitting is worth hitting hard" and "just because you're curled up in a ball on the ground, doesn't mean they're going to stop kicking you in the head"

I can't speak for everyone's experience, but being in LE as well, I'd say most fights that I've been involved in have revolved more around an attempted tackle or some form of ugly wrestling attempt by the bad guy. These kinds of scuffles are much more prevalent. Now, the ones that have involved striking that I've been party to have pretty much started with either a) the bad guy grabbing with the left and swinging with the right, or b) a wild haymaker kind of thing. I've only seen one kick thrown by a mope, and that was one of them kneeing me in the groin during a scuffle with a domestic suspect, after he had tried to tackle me. It was kind of an after thought. I think that statistically, things probably break down around those lines, but I'd have to do the research. Having had the chance to be part of this line of work, I'd agree with Kuma, my training in ma has been very useful, on a routine basis in real conflict. To the original post, I think both strike work and grappling training is important. You might not pull the guy to the ground, but you can sure end up there. Or, maybe it does make more sense to get a bad guy down. Situations are oddly fluid that way. BJJ has been, by my experience, shown to be effective in real situations as well as competition. It's not a magic bullet, but it works well. The method of training has more to do with how well what you're doing will work on the street than what. Are you training against resistance? Drilling with movement? Addressing defending and attacking spontaneously to spontaneous attack? Do you occasionally look at what you're doing with a critical eye towards realism? Looking at those will impact the usefulness of any ma system greatly. remembering that even done properly with great mindset, things can still happen. So yes, it's very useful if trained properly.

Congrats! Good work on the promotion.

today- 6, 3 min rounds on the mitts. Start off with jab, cross, cover. Add elbow, loaded jab, add uppercuts. Then move to having the mitt holder throw in a shot, trainee counters via a sprawl. Finish with a MT round counter. 20 min or drilling on the double leg that we touched on in the above drill for a shot. Moved to ground. 15 min of position review for newer people. Add a short submission series. 7, 3 min rounds for free roll to finish.

Depends on how much weight your schools gives such things. Personally, I think promotion should be based on the entirety of the process and a less than adequate performance in one category shouldn't necessarily mean a total failure. Some schools will value certain things more and therefore these things will be given more weight on the overall score. Depends on where that particular skill set falls in importance to each club. We have skills divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary skills. With higher priority in competence and training time given accordingly. So by extension, they are weighed differently on tests. While breaking doesn't fall anywhere on our list, the principle is the same for how it would be viewed in a given school.

Kicks to the groin, boxing like punches, kicks to the shin. Add MT rounds, the off side kick now and again. The occasional "other" tactic.... Sounds exactly like ma to me.

2nd that. Just about any established form will be on there in multiple varitions.

today- 3 mile run

Wow, that's a bummer! Sorry, I got nothing. But I hope it clears up soon for you.

Some of your observations are correct. Others I tend to agree with less. Still, it's a start for what you're trying to do. I think the most correct statement that you make concerns groups using heavy sparring against armored attackers. I'd expand the definition to say that it's a small group that is more concerned with sd applications than anything else, including some schools of thought within trad karate circles. And that fact that organizations are ad hoc at best is, I'd say, right on the money once you get past the codified "systems" marketed to LE and civilian consumers. Not knocking on them, some are very solid and I've spoken before about how I'm a fan of some. I think an easier way to divide instruction up is probably by methodology of training rather than any nationalistic or root of origin. So, maybe there is instruction that is largely "traditional" in nature, ie. kata and such. Then there is training that is drill and sparring based in nature. Maybe there is a separate category for sd focus in training. Perhaps a subcategory under trad for the near exclusive study of weapons. I don't think there is anything wrong with the tack you're taking, but basing such divisions on methods of training might be easier and lead to a more intuitive grouping. For example, despite country of origin and philosophical differences; chin-na, tuite, and hapkido, might be closer to one another in form and training than say, chin-na and some of the animal styles. Just food for thought. Good luck in your process.

There are similarities for sure, speaking to Aikido and AJJ. I've never seen nor been exposed to this Real Aiki system although I would like to see some vids on it to see what they are doing. My understanding is that AJJ is the precursor to Aikido, much the same way that Kenjutsu is the forerunner to modern kendo. Bear in mind, I'm not a direct student of either, but one of my instructors spent a great deal of time in AJJ and many of the small joint movements that the system I study come from there. What you will notice from the two is a heavier emphasis on striking in AJJ. Most movements, while flowing, incorporate hitting movements as or before joint manipulations are applied. The locks tend to be shorter, although not always, just as a general rule, and focus on destroying joints. Certain sects of AJJ also deal extensively in body conditioning and taking strikes and such.

today- legs 1 mile run 3, 3 min rounds on BOB. Start with combos, add folding strikes, finish by adding kicks at range.

Yep, good luck! Keep us posted.