tallgeese

Flashlights are good if you carry one of the larger mags around in your vehicle.

There's certainly nothing wrong with checking out other schools and seeing what they are doing. On the other hand, you could always try to make some ties with other guys training in other arts and train informally. This will also give you a feel for how you're doing. As for this place you went to check out...I'd be leery of anywhere that wouldn't let me even watch a class first. And wanted me to sign a contract, that's a fit fishy to me. You do have to ask if you're happy doing what you are at your school. If you are getting the skill set you want, then the rest shouldn't matter. Realistically evaluating your training goals is a good place to start for deciding this kind of thing. Next, see if it's being met.

It's generic for law enforcment officer. Covers offier, deputies, ect.

As for the statement that I made the comment about ealier... sure, I can see what they are getting at, I did have to read it a couple of times. But it's stuff like t his that's taking the simple and adding complexity for no reason. It's about fighting. Period. Either you're trainig to do it our not. Martial arts and sd should be synonomous. They aren't, but that's more the fault of practitoners and insturctiors (more heavy on the insturctors) than it is the art. There are arts that tend to lend themselves better to sd than others due to the choices made by the people either creating them, or those that re-vamped them for the modern age. Some have lost praticality through no fault of their own, or that of their insturctors, the tradional weapons arts fall into this catagory.

Don't know that I'll get the chance to get out with the kids or not. If I do, it's the Punisher this year.

Congrats!

The answer is that it depends. Some sytems have better training methods for teach self defense than others do. Some schools within those systems will have a more realistic approach to sd than others. The best bet is to go and check it out. Look for lots of "live" training at various levels. This means that rather than always training from a static position, both the attcker and defender are moving. Also look for a spontaneous componat to the training at all levels. It might be mminimal for beginners, but it should be there. Also see how often the schools you are looking at are sparring. A school that is good on defense will have the students working aginst full resisters fairly frequently at all levels. Look at how much everyone there, or the school as a whole, cross trains. A comprehensive system for sd will be big. There will be time spent on stand up, ground work, and weaopns training. Make sure that the weapons are those of common use today, guns, knives, clubs and the like. Each of these area will further be broken down to specific skill sets for each area. Finally, you should see an integration of all the skills used as a "toolbox" mentality. There should be movment trainig with all these things, then repetition work, followed by attack/defend drills, and culminating in armored opponants at each range and with each weapon resisting to various levels. There should also be the occassional discussion of use of froce laws in your area. That's kind of how the picuture of a sd school should look. Some will focus on one or more areas and that's fine, then just make sure that you're cross training for the rest. Good luck.

Free roll for 1 hour. 2 or 3 min rounds, with a three man rotation. In for two out for one. Then we started pulling a wall down in my basment workout space to expand. Got most of that done as well. MOre room, yeah!

Bushido man, that's the same thing that happens everytime I end up in that situation . I agree, start warming up and go.

Agreed, it's a really good idea to do things like that to get a feel for it.

I'm not sure if I posted this elsewhere, but that's a mission statement that's so convoluted I can barely follow it.

Yeah, it is an interesting article...but I've seen 'em work. I can't discount them as anything more or less than another tool.

crossfit (modified)- 5 rounds of: 1/4 mile run 30 GH sit ups 30 squats back and bis

Hello, and welcome to KF.

Congrats! Good luck on the next.

Yeah, I've seen stuff like that as well. Again, I can understand being caught up in the moment but there are boundries. Refs should have the punitive power to dq fighers if they go to far. It why sanctioning bodies were invented. There is a big difference in the accptable version of this, say that late shot while the other guy si still standing but the ref isn't quite in there yet, vs. the unacceptable version. In this case, a downed opponant, who obviously can't fight back and is out of bounds of striking per the rules of hte competition they are in. One would expectm ore contorl out of a fighter trainied under those rules. DQ is more than fair.

Yes, I am in law enforcement. My schedule isn't really flexable enough to ever count on being able to get two in per day. I suppose I could if I were dedicated enough, but I have family commitments too. If I get two in, it's usually on a day that I'm off. Now, because of the way my days off rotate, sometimes this falls on days when my wife works and the kids are at the sitters. Then I can sneak in two. Usually, however, I only do this if I've missed a workout ealier in the week or if I feel like I need to make up something. For instance, this week, I've been on the mat quite a bit, but because of that, I haven't got to hit the weights as much. So given the chance today, I got one in. It does help that I"m set up pretty well at home as far as equipment goes. So it does make it easier to sneak in the odd weight workout. I also use crossfit as a conditionng program and it has the benifit of being a shorter time span activity (just with higher intensity) so I get freed up a bit quicker. I think splits do work very well for the ma's. You just have to be smart about where you're putting your intensity on any give day. Time management also become critical. I used it quite a bit when I was competitive (but that was two childern ago). I'd typically do either a hard conditionng session in the am, then a lighter ma workout at night or vice versa. The conditioning would range from running, or weights, to some for of cals. Ma work would go from mits to grappling to any number sparring drills or bag work. You can mix and match to suit your needs. Of course, I was also 10 years younger and recovered quite a bit quicker too. Now, it'd be tought to go in a do that. So, I guess if you can manage the time I'd say go for it. Just be smart about pushing too hard and get loads of rest (something else that is harder to come by with a couple of kids in the house). If you're just training for sd purposes, it would probibly be overkill. Not a bad way to incerease skill quickly, but overkill just the same.

It's another weapon. One that excells at certain times against certain targets and is a horribly bad choice against others. I tend to use it more like a ramming motion rather than a snapping of the head forward. So if I'm in tight I will drop it and step in with a slight snap. The target I use is generally the orbital bones of the cheek or the thinner bones of the temple. I choose these because the orbits are easier to fracture than other bones, and hurt quite a bit. This is likely to cause a reaction from the individual that is greater than simply hitting him in the nose. The temple, again a thin bone, are a good target because strikes there tend to produce a better likelyhood of knockout. Now, I'm not saying that you're gonna knock someone out with a head butt, that's pretty unlikely, but you can produce a mental stun out of the shot which will allow you to advance your fight. Keeping a clear head during this kind of hting is important. To do that, mindset is critical. You've got to set your head (not literally, but that helps too) through the target. Focus past the stirke area and try to blast throu with full commital. You're actually less likely to get hurt or dizzied this way.

Yeah, this was kina weird. I think this was an excuse for tapping the guy in the head because he was frustrated. Did he actually intend to do it? Maybe, maybe not. I can see a fighter getting worked up because his frustration is mounting and letting go with one. It still dosn't make it right, of course and shouldn't be tolerated.

I've seen all sorts of tricky kind of stuff with using article of clothing and such as weapons. The problem is, you have to take time to access it. Time is something you usually don't have in abundance during confrontation. The big thing would be to occassionally use a heavy gi top to simulate using a jacket during a grapple. Things like that. As for fitting of clothes, I like them loose enough to hide whatever weapon I'm carrying. This can be easier to access and more reliable than anything that you ccould fabricate on the spot.

yeah, another two-a-day. chest/tris

Today- 6, 2 min rounds on mitts. progression from combos to sweeps 20 min of instruction and drill time on small joint manipulation 2, 3 min round of free roll form knees 5, 3 min rounds of free roll from standing

Jumping out of a working airplaine...pass.

If the rank represnts a certain skill level attained then there's no problem with it, as long as the rank is in line with the individuals skill level. Heck, most of the time we don't even formally "promote" until around a purple belt level. Till then it's pretty much "you're an orange belt", kind of ranking. This happens at more informal schools when not many tests are held. It can also occur when you get someone in who is skilled in another, similar art and is advaning in your art. In those cases, I really have no problem with it. If time in accounts for something, then there may be a problem with the format of this kind of promotion, but we even have an exception to this rule in our "handbook" for guys with extensinve experiance in similar systems. Again, what's more important is that the individuals skill level is commensurate with the rank he is given.

Can't wait!