tallgeese

And that's your choice to teach that at that age. I've got no problem with that. Personally, I feel that stuff like this should be taught later when more maturity has been acheived. I've stated before, we won't promote anyone to an adult bb rank until at least 16. So figure that you're working on that stuff for a few years before that. Those early teen years are when children go from being an incidental or occassional victim of violence to indivuials who may be routinely targeted by others. I don't doubt at all that there are situations where children are placed in life threatening situations. I also feel that we as parents should do our best to see that it doesn't happen and that we shield them up until they can adaquatly protect themselves physically. Part of my reluctacne to teach this to youger kids is due to the fact of a lack of mature decision making abilites on it's use. I wouldn't teach a 5 year old how to load and fire an weapon either and expect them to responsibiliy be able to use one in the defense of their home. How different is it to teach them to tear someones eye out wiht a finger? Can they make that proper decision at the right time, every time? Another factor is that I'd like to keep my kids from having to worry about this stuff. I'll do it for them. Most psycologist I read during my grad school time indicated that children were not helped by exposure to concepts like the ones we're talking about. And lastly, I doubt the ability of a 5 yr old to successfully deploy any sort of tactic reliably against an adult. Or even an older child. There's too much weight difference between a grown or semi-grown adult and a kid. There's also an astronomical difference in avaliable muscle mass and the abilty to utilize it. And, most notably, the mental capacity for violence between a predator who would hurt a child and that child is barely even within the same reality. In my opinion, there are too many factors that speak out agianst it. Most things that should be taught in regard to truely dangerous encounters for youth should revolve around avoidance and awarness. Proper decision making in regard to their reactions around other unknown individuals, making as much noise as possible if appracahed in a way that is not appropriate to get an adult there and the like, that's the cornerstone of sd at that age. We don't do enough to protect kids in this country in my mind. Criminal punishmets are not severe enough, and is deterrance is largly unheard of. However, there are better ways to move forward in protecting children that accelerating their training to levels beyond their maturity, I believe. Researching people who have access to them is a start, as most volence leveld agaisnt children is from a known entity. Understaning a schools policy on observing and monitoring the childern at all times is another. If you find it unacceptable (and believe me, if you start asking questions at some of your schools, you will find their measures unacceptable), start raising the roof to get them changed. Once other parents start seeing stats on school violence and how little their kids are protected a PTA meeting will start looking like a UFC. Knowledge of your kids friends and play date homes is mandantory. I've irritated more than a few people on this. No one watchs my kid until I've met them, talked at lenght with them, talked to other people who know them. Find out if their guns are locked up if there are any. Any criminal background, ect... the list gets a bit long, I admit. But what can I say, my kids are kids, they can't take care of themselves yet. I don't feel that pressing knowledge that they aren't mentally ready for or skills they cannot physically perform yet on them is the best way to go about attempting to prevent anything bad from happening to them. Just my thoughts.

today- crossfit: 5 rounds of- 3 weighted pull ups (35 lbs) 5 strick form pull ups 7 "kipping" pullups back and bis

Good question, it should generate some interesting discussion. I'm definatly a left forward fighter, like a boxers stance. Always have been. I train about 90/10 to favor the left. I figure that in a high stress situation, my body is going to make every effort to get back to this position. So I do most of my training from there. I do train from negitives to get back, but I don't spend alot of time working proficiency from that side.

Well, now that we're in this format hands- upper cut feet- MT shin block- a boxing covering motion takedown- high single from the clinch, various finishes Ok, that was fun. But still, preference should always go to what's open.

I think that it has to be done safetly and with the proper gear, but it does have to be done from time to time. Like any other skill, it needs practice to hone and maintain. I don't think you need to use it every sparring session, nor should you ever do heavy contact there in training, but it does need to be practiced.

Nice work!

Don't have any suggestions, but good luck in getting better.

Just finished out the first couple of sagas of the Black Company books by Glen Cook. All very strong reads. Alos spent alot of time checking out Wrestling for Fighting by Couture. I did a review elsewhere on the board. Picking through Made in America by Mat Hughes. Just ok. Bed time reading is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. So far, so good. On deck is The Looming Tower about 9/11

today- 3, 2 min rounds on the mitts. focus on slipping the jab and counter jabbing, add overhand, finsih with tie up to single leg takedown 3, 2 min rounds on the kicking shields. cover kick and return MT round, add lead 45 egree stomp to knee, finish by going to a collar tie and firing two knees, end with pull into choke. 25 min instructional block on taking rear mount. worked on getting hooks, hip heist. moved into defending rear naked and escapes. 5, 3 min rounds of free roll Everyone had a 5 min round robin, 1 min with each fresh fighter. Then worked rounds on providing bodies for the guy in the middle as well.

So I finally got done not only reading Randy Couture's "Wrestling for Fighting" but also got time to spend some dime disecting it at bit and thought I'd post a short review here. The book itself is divided into sections devoted to freestyle wresting movments (attacking the legs), Greco (upper body) and finally, integrating the afore mentioned aspects into the overall fight game. First off, it's a well put together book. There are two photo series for each movement described (sometimes three) so you have an excellent over all picture of what it is your working through. Also, both parties in the photo series are wearing different colors, making it much easier to distinguish exactly what's going on. This has become popular in jj text of late, and I think it's a good idea. All the photos are well done and clear. All the photo series are done well, basics are stressed at it should give someone just adding wrestling to their game a great idea of what they need to be doing. If you've wrestled before but haven't tried to put it together with your fight plan, it's also a good book. Basics are stressed thru all sections and material is gone over multiple times. This is, again, a great idea for people who haven't wrestled before. The actual fighting section is good with a good integration that you would expect from a product coming out of Couture's camp. HE also goes over a handful of submissions that are specific to his wrestling-centric game. There are some issues I had. For one, I thought that the introductions for each section were a bit convoluted. Probibly more so if one hasn't wrestled before. I think a single over all intro at the begining would have been better, with a shorter overview just prior to each subsection. Minor point. My biggest gripe, I would have liked to seen more drills revolving around themovments, particularly the integraition stuff. There are a few in the Greco section and I would have just liked to seen more methodology stuff for training. Maybe in vol. 2. Granted, alot of it would have been outside the scope and target audience of the book in all likelyhood. Other than those minor points, I'd highly recomend the book for anyone involved in multi-faceted training that has little to no wrestling background. It's also be a good review for anyone already in the ground game. If you have an extensive wrestling background already, you could probibly spend your money better elsewhere, but even at at that there are some gems to be gleaned. Overall, very well done.

today- crossfit: 3 rounds of- 1/4 mile run 15 shoulder presses 15 pull ups chest/tris

What ever you call them, I th ink they are a good idea. My personal rule is any contact or breach of my safety zone will elicit a response. From what I've experianced and practiced, the more vilently andunexpceted the intrusion, the higher my response level is from the outset. The lower the incursion, the more "in check" my response. But no one breaches it. Even if I have a subject merely walk into it, it's a stiff arm back out at the least to control distance. Those are generally my rules of thumb.

today 5, 2 min rounds on the mitts. focus on combo involving the under-over concept. move to collar tie up and body shots, and bump and elbow, re-tie, finish with a high single to takedown and position. 5 min of drilling high single finsih by itself 15 min instructional block of sweeps 10 min counter sweep movements 5, 2 min rounds of free roll 3, 2 min rounds of mma sparring

I agree, it has a place in training, however, i don't stress it much. I'm more concerned with spending the time drilling at speed. I think the movements are useful when directed agianst multiple strikes from the same attacker than when used agaist a single appendage. That's when it comes into it's own more in combative usage.

crossfit: 3 rounds of- 1/2 mile run 50 back extensions 50 sit ups arms are still fragged from yeasterday

The problem of working towards any kind of mushin state with only traditional meditation techniques or even kata is the lack of a stressor agaisnt which to work. In this case, someone trying to take your head off. I don't argue that these can be valuable tools, but I think the quicker one moves into the realm of trainin their mindset against a live attacker, the quicker one will acheive goals in this area. If your moving thru different transitionary stages as joe suggests, then I'd make sure you're actually moving thru them and not becoming consumed by them, which I still see quite often. Preperation for developing mindset in combat can only truely be achived by simulated or real combat. In cases where, obviously, simulations are used in training, the closer to the real thing the better. This means sparring will have to appear on the list. As will further realistic assut scenarios.

I think that too much serious water was under the bridge in this situation to make that a viable option. I could be wrong, don't know the whole story. As jow pointed out, it's an old thread.

today- we did a 4- hour arm routine today. it's a bit of gimmick, but it does frag the arms and might shock some growth. i called it a new years workout, a buddy called it "how gym rats have fun" basically, every 15 minutes you did 3 sets of bi/tri work. we made this even better by free rolling every other break period for the entire time. working occassioanlly on movments where people were getting stuck. turned out it was 4 hours of fun and burn with a couple of pals i lift and roll with. good way to ring in the new year's training.

I'd wholeheartedly say yes. The preemptive strike is a far better option that hoping that your defensive skills are enough to prevent serious injury. Based on body language and posture, intercepting his inital attack by attacking yourself is not only acceptable, but an excellent idea. Let's face it, aggression win fights at the end of the day. The more aggressive when needed the better. Taking the fight to him ensure that your the one with the superior aggressive attitude and mind set. That will go a long way to winning the encounter.

Bag work is great to work into any training routine. It builds good strikes and combinations as well as allows you to do some range work and gain endurance. Workouts are only limited by your imagination and what you can put together that will flow for you. Personally, I do all my bag work by round (mitts too) that way you can keep a high level of intensity going for a while. It also trains the type of energy systems most useful during a fight. I'll try to build up into diffent things with each progressive round until you've almost fully integrated into a fight mode by the last. Here are some standards for me: basic combos- jab, cross jab, cross, lead hook (both in front of target and sliding to the outside) jab, low cross, hook, hook (both high) cross low, lead hook high, cross high double jab high, jab low, cross high jab, lead hook, cross now start defensive movments as well you can add them to the combos above, or build off the defensive movments with counter strikes that work well with them. For example; jab, bob to the lead side, rear hook low, lead hook high, cross elbow destruction, dropping jab, cross slip to the lead side, cover with rear hand, lead hook low lead hook high cover high, drop and send in low jab, explode up to high cross Also don't forget to focus on your tight game as well. You can add elbows to about any of the above just by changing the distance you are from the bag. Again, there are some combos that just lend themselves well to them. jab, cross, fold to rear elbow (and a lead elbow when comfortable) jab, cross, low lead hook, high rear elbow jab, close with elbow destruction, high rear elbow now that you're into elbows, you might as well get the knees going as well. I like to add these at the end of a combo or right after a good tie up. One or two will suffice at the end of combo now and again. As for kicking, you'll want to work your kicks in combination as well. With other kicks as well as putting them together with your hand movements. So, you could: lead front kick, MT round, sit it down and knee with the power loaded leg start from tie up, knee out for distacne, round double rounds, low then higher back leg front, round with new power loaded side Practice both recovering the kick to it's original position in lead or rear as well as stepping down after the kick for power on the other side. Now start putting the kicks and the hands together. You can use a kick (our combo of kicks) to clsoe distance to the hands. Finally, you'll gor from hand to elbows and knees and once comfortable there, back out again. Try not to think of it as a bag, it's the opponant, the attacer. Treat it as such. So, no dropping the hands after a series of movments and resetting. You strike recover, and move on. You can rest between rounds. Make sure you vary up the combos you work so you don't rely to heavily on any single combo or get stuck firing the combos in the same order everytime. If you're in to grappling at all, you can always add shots at the end of these (or randomly from a set up) on the lower half of the bag. This helps make the motion more natural. Lastly, you can always work the same thing on mitts, which is actually what I prefer. Additionally, you can throw more upper cuts (I have a hard time doing them on a bag efficiently) and actually take the holder down. Still, for solo training, you can do tons with the old heavy bag.

At the risk of not catching sarcasm if it was intended.... Pass on that unless you want to end up sitting in a countly lock up for disorderly conduct, battery, or worse.

I have actually got to employ them in actual scuffles from time to time. They are effective in limited application, usually from more of a controlling standpoint. Again, it's not a primary attack I work for. But, it fcan be useful for certain things.

You've got several good options that are very viable. Alot of it depends on which ones you're most comfortable with and what your overall patter on defese will be for the conflict. The best thing that works for me, aside for movement that keeps me out of range in the first place, is head movmement couples with checking the strikes as they are launched. These aren't so much blocks as minute redirections. So, if a job is thrown with his left, I bob to the outside with my head. At the same time, I'll use either my lead of reverse hand to reach out a bit and check the outside of this jab hand. Prefeably early in the movement. This moves both his target (my head) and his attack (by intercepting the punch). The cross works the same, just to the other outside. This approach works well if you're going to counter punch or initate a takedown off of their strike. I'll also use a destruction off the elbow as well. I cover with a tight boxers parry for hooks already. Now, for a straight atack I simply angle that elbow into the line of the attack and use it to intercept the punches. Never forget as well, there is truth to the best defense is a good offense maxim. the more he's worried about getting hit, the less time he has to try and hit you.

I'm not sure. I don't think it matters much beyond what's most comfortable for you and what allows you to control the shield the best.

As to bushido man's post- none that I'm aware of. If it's out there I have yet to see it. Granted, that's got to be a pretty hard study to pull off, I wouldn't volunteer . And finding the data for a survey on blunt force trauma deaths would be an extensive undertaking.