tallgeese

Welcoome aboard!

Awesome! I really am tryint not to look too forward to this. But it looks great. I was initally disapointed to hear that they were doing an origins movie. I was kind of hoping to see them take it in the direction of some of the more classic Wolvie stuff done my Miller or take him to Mandipor like some of the more recent books early in his solo series. Still, this looks pretty darn good. The bottom line is, if it's a well done Wolvie story it should be great. As to his age, they've revealed way more about his past recently since the whole Secret War nad House of M story lines in the books. I haven't followed real close to be honest. I never wanted to know where he came from so the answers are probibly out th ere on the web somewhere or over at Marvel.com. I do know that when Iwas still reading and collecting heavy (only keep up on a couple of titles now) he had made references to fighting in the Civil War. That dosn't mean that they haven't retooled the cannon to fit thier latest take on the hero.

Classic! And recreated move for move on an eposide of South Park I believe.

today- 3, 2 min rounds on mitts of defense v. jab and combos, add second defesie series from hooks, add takedown from lateral drop off hook coverage or shot off of a bob. 15 min instructional, rep work on takedowns. double leg and lateral drop 10 rep work on pulling to guard and iniating a kimura during the flow of the takedown 4, 3, min rounds of free roll 2, 3 min rounds of free roll with strikes 2, 3 min rounds of mma sparring back/bi's

At the risk of overthinking this, I'd say the movement for which there is an opening. Lots of times we get caught up in trying to land a particular attack that we favor (we all have these) and forget to flow with what the attacker gives us. The opportunities presented by the situation should dictate tactics and application, not our preference. That being said, I'm a big fan of punching combos that set up uppercuts. I've probibly rattled more cages with this than anything else.

Yeah, if you've got the option, keep training now if it's a style and school you want to be at. When and if your old school reopens you can make a decision the,n, including taking both. But that's a ways off and lots can happen between now and then. The re-opening might not occur at all, then you've lost the time in between now and the date that the reopening is cancelled to be on the mat. I agree, jump in now. See where you're at when the old place re opens.

I'm cheap. Go with what will save you the dough and still work well. That being said, some schools have pretty strict rules about what kind of gear you can and can't put on the floor. I think that's a crock, but that's just me. If it meets the needs of training at a mininmal safetly level, it should be allowed. Let guys use the interenet and what else to save their money. Still, you'll want to check the regs at your school before you sink coin into gear they won't even let you use.

I'm assuming you mean how do you rank the attributes or methods that make one a skilled fighter. It's a very complex answer with alot of nuances that really depends on what you want to do. You can also look at the question from numerous angles. For myself, simply put, I value hard, realistic training that mimics reality as close as possible.

I've always been a big proponant of training outside the norm of a class enviornment amoung peers to keep and polish skills. That being said, advancment rank wise will be difficult in this manner. As will any actual progress in skills you haven't been exposed to yet. I'd take a look around to any remotley close neighborhoods and see what they have to offer. Nearby junior colleges usually have clubs and these would probibly be willing to take you in. Getting in touch with any organization you were a part of would be a good idea as well. If you're independant, look for any group that is withing driving distace and see if you can start training with them. Keeping and honing skills works well with peer work. But to really make gains, you're gonna need instruction. Unless you have a bb level individual in your group, then you will have an easy transition to training without your former instructor.

today modified crossfit- 3 rounds of: 50 box jumps 7 185 lb dead lifts 14 pullups ches/shoulders/tris

Also, sheer repetition will help this. If you haven't been in ma's for very long, you just haven't had the reps yet to start seeing improvement. It will come though.

We've never done anything like that. It's a Christmas Party kind of thing for us most of the time. I do like the idea, though.

sensei8, I see your point. But how can a 13 yo., no matter his technical capacity, have the maturity to teach an adult serious combatives. Remember, my major problem with this was in sd settings. At that age they shouldn't have the mindset needed to really train this stuff. I can also see this with guys heavily competeing in the full contact arena (who probibly shouldn't be at large with everyone else in a club anyway). A 13 yo just hasn't been in a fight that brings the same level of contact as they will be. Now, I said later that I can see it in limited aspect for helping them learn to teach. But I'd focus on having them teach youger students than themselves. It's just a more inutitive set up for all parties invovlved.

For the sheer fun of it, I'm gonna keep and eye on ebay.

This would be a good thing to take note of. The more you can really idetify that you were "feeling" movement the more I think that you're moving past rote memorization and into that "flow" stage. An interesting note, when you really hit that state well, you'll probibly only have a hazy recollection on what SPECIFIC movments you used. It will probibly be a more general idea of what you think you did. It's usuall eaiser to walk back thru to get it back in your head. When this is happening, it's a real good indicator that you were deep in the "flow" stage.

Another thread it is on that front, bushido man. I'll refrain. ON the question of leg kicks, I'm always for adding more useful skills to the general body of practice. I'd think it was a good idea. I don't think a point for a well exectuted leg kick, one that lands squarely and solidly is out of line. The other guy always has the option to check it after all. It's like anything else, if you've got a guy doing nothing but leg kicks, keep checking him to force him out of his game. It's the same idea as everything else, just a different location. I agree that leg kicks would be of limited usefulness at less than full speed. However, this is true of all movements and a punch thown at point contact levels is equally non-sutiable for damage. Again, it's the same game, just a different target. As to those odd rules, I'll bow out. That's how each organization wants to run their sparring, it's up to them. I will say that the potential of accidentally getting hurt with a leg kick to the knee is no greater than that of getting accidentally hurt when struck elsewhere. Most of the "injuries" you'll see at that level of contact are dings from shin to shin contact or something, these are rarely of any true signifigance. As for full contact rules, I'd definatly say they have a place. It's an excellent entry shot and damaging to an opponants mobility over the long run. This is only help ful in employing more traditional tactics to win. Definatly a place for them there. Again, the risk of blowing out a knee from a MT rounds can't be any more than taking head trauma from a kick to the head at speed.

today- 3, 2 min rounds of mit work. focus on bobbing and weaving to counter. added takedown at end 10 min instructional on covering straight shots to head 3, 2 min rounds of defeding against jabs, crosses. first time thru was drill, add counter in round two, takeddown and limited engagement striking counter in the third. 15 min block of instruction on triangle choke set up and transition to armbar 5, 3 min rounds of free roll finished with about 10-15 min of developmental time on a DT project I'm working on

Very nice. I hope he hangs in there with it.

I've taken one written test for an art at bb level. It wasn't a bad idea, essay and all. But I think that most of that informatin is sufficiently convayed verbally during the course of testing. Still, I don't see a problem with doing it.

That's why I love grappling arts... you get to sprawl out on the mat between sets and watch from a cushy prone position

Just my views (and it's a great thread by the way)- It should obviously mark a very high level of skill in the movements of a given art. The student should understand the principles and goals of what he's doing and be able to apply them againt resistance. That means understanding the "why" as well as the "how". Also, I think it should mark somewhere between 4-6 years of commitment to what they are doing. I agree that a black belt should be able to teach to a certain level, that which he knows. This should not be the focus of the bb exam, but a part of it. I think too, that the bb candidate should be able to adaquately defend him/herself using the movements from the systems from a resonable attack series. I think this should be at a very high level of realism. As for the personal attributes, I don't focus much on them, simply becuause by the time someone is to that level you've probibly weeded out the guys that are going to be long term problems for the school. They tend to leave ealier rather than later. I'd also like to see a basic understanding of where the arts came from, how they developed and would like the student to have his own opinion of where they should go. I also think that a detailed study of anotther art is important here so he can begin to understand different outlooks on combat. This last one is mine and mine alone and dosn't account for the rest of the organization I'm part of. I want them to have a basic understanding of the care, use and safety of firearms. But I see things thru a combative lens and think that to ignore such a prevalent and effective weapon in the modern era is a mistake.

Looks like it's time to start inviting people over and moving the furniture...

Taking the concept and adapting should let you incorporate it really well in the Combat Hapkido. Take the tools you're using there and apply the concept. Remember to keep the idea of moving from one task to the next rather than getting bogged down in pounding on a target repeatedly. You should be able to do this successfully I'd say. It's certainly a worthy project.

Yup, core muscles and functional multi-joint lifts for weghts. Deadlifts, squats, cleans, and such. For overall conditioning check out crossfit.com It's a good site for this sort of thing. I use parts of it (3 days per week usually) in addition to trad weight training and my ma workouts. If I were still competing, I'd probibly do more of it. As for your ma training itself, if you're going to train for a specific comp train under only those rules for the time your prepping for it. Maybe 1.5-2 months out. Train by rounds, lots of them, use them even for drill and mitt work. Keep the intensity high. Lot's of mitts, bag routines, sparring drills. Spar often. Make sure you're training at very heavy contact at least every week or so. Use gear even then to prevent training injures. You have to approch fight training as a whole. Conditioning, skill and ring time all rolled together. It's hard to address one without the others.

Nice work!