tallgeese

Well, you ought to be done here pretty soon. Give us a run down on how it went.

crossfit (modified slightly) 5 rounds of: 95 lbs. power clean 6 push ups 9 squats 1 min rest between cycles leg day

Yes, move and counter. Dont' just stand flat with anything. I think that when done in the manner I describe it's more of a "hard redirection" than anything. I also have a tendency to start the movement with the back of my arm or with the arm slightly deviated so that the back/unlar aspect make first contact withe the appendage holding the weapon. This allows for a less damageing cut if a knife weilder retracts while you're halfway thru the block. The hand is usually open rather than closed. This allows for: 1) faster movement since the muscles aren't contracted and 2) a preloaded grab with which to follow up with on the offending arm. Again, I tend to think of most overhead attacks as weapon related. In this case, control of the weapon once it's distace gap is penetrated becomes highly desireable. Anything throw from the front, as said before, in an unarmed method, is more easily parried using another motion.

As I always do when this subject comes up, I'm gonna tell you to check out a site called crossfit.com It's an excellent protocol that revolves around total body training using cardio, olympic weights, gymnastics exercises and the like. It's really a great system and I've noticed marked improvements in my athletic perfomance since I started. It is not the be all and end all of training as some on that site would claim. However, for functional performance it is second to none.

As taught in most ma classes I don't have a ton of use for it. None at all actually. First off, it's not a good tactic agaisnt anything incoming from straight in front of you. Jabs, crosses, you name it. It's arc is too big to effectvely stop these strikes from a determined attacker at full go. It's much more efficient to step and parry or pivot and cover with elbows. As to its use from overhead attacks, again, as its usually taught I don't see it as very effective. Most classes I've seen teach it as a 90 degree bend or so in the elbow, which seems to be what you're describing. This will either a)buckle as you fail in the power vs power duel or b) you will stop the attack at the arm and have whatever weapon he's using continue on in an arc around your arm until it hits you in the head anyway. Let's face it. Most any attack coming directly from overhead is some sort of weapon attack. So even if the sheer speed dosen't carry the weapon into your head, a knife held in an icepick grip will stake you anyway, or the blunt force of a club will likely severly damage your arm and impede you efforts to fight further. I think that an overhead blocking movement is essintal in dealing with weapons attacks. However, I prefer the arm extended slightly from 90, actually, more out towards the 135 degree point (i'm guessing here). Additionally, I always teach this movement in conjunction with an off-line step. This configuration allows you to "shunt" off the force from the overhead attack. It lesses any impact from a blunt weapon and give you some distace in a knife situation. The step, of course, moves you out of the way of the attack somewhat. This way, your defense is revolving around displacing both his attack and the target that you are presenting. tenshinka is probibly right about the kata in reagards to the movement, it is likley that it could be utilized in other applications. These seem to always be open to interpertation so I prefer to simply work on those applications directly rather than in kata format. It's preference. As for the blocking usefulness of this movement, I have to vote in the no catagory.

It depends is really the best answer I can give you. If you are talking about learing or doing more punching and kicking to augment your kickboxing training then your probibly not going to get much out of it. You alreay do tons of reps with that sort of thing from a highly contact oriented worldview so to speak. Combativly, you're probibly not going to get much on that front, espically if you are doing a MT style of kickboxing. If it's a western version, you may be able to take away some extra weapons such as knees and elbows. Now, if it's an art that deals with some of the shortcomings (not a slam, I think we all hae shortcoming in what we do) in kickboxing, say takedowns, ground work, joint position tactics, then cross training will likely be of great value to you. If you have a desire to study wepons, then it could be a good thing. Depending on what weapons you want to learn and what weapons they teach. So on this front, it could be a very good option. A bonus could come from it if it is a school that emphsises self defense skills. This is almost as much mindset as physical in nature and some ma schools really shine here. It is a big difference between training for sd and competition. Neither is bad, it's just different. If that's the kind of thing you are looking for, like eye poking, hair pulling, throat grabbing stuff, then you might find the time well spent. Again, depending on the school. The best bet is to go check the ma school out and watch a few classes to see if your interested. If you are, then I'm usually the first to say cross train if you have the time and coin. This just makes you a more well rounded fighter.

Humm... big question. Ok, 4 basic principles at varying levels of understanding per rank 3 weapon control principles, usually introduced around green or so set of 4, quadrant based angle drills at- white, yellow, orange, green, and purple knowledge of tuite and small joint manipulation, beginning with basics and working up in complexity as ranks go. takedown series. usually beginning with sweeps and on to body contact throws we've imported ground fighting, ranging from basic escapes at low levels to a more complete expectation by bb level. trapping skills. again, starting with basic single traps and moving on in complexity weapons training that includes defenses from and use of knives, club, and gun. some of our schools also incoportate double stick drills to augment trapping work. a few do some traditional weaponry. Striking is expected to be demonstrated on mitts and during sparring from all ranges with all weapons at a level depended skill. Simulation training begining with preset attacks against a handful of optional responses and ending with fully spointaneous attacks and defenses at various levels of armor is a primary tool of training. Sparring of various contact levels and differnt sets of armor is ustilized throughout the training process to work on differnt aspects of fighting. Some of the schools in our organiztion also incorportate other things such as pressure point control, but I don't know exactly to what extent they utilize it as part of the teaching model. Probibly a few other things that slipped my mind, but that's a pretty good list.

It's much more fluid in application than most parrying/blocking systems and it lends itself well to getting ahold of the bad guy which in turn lends itself well to integration with small joint movements. I've seen the smother tactic used as well. There's noting wroing with it. This is just a more in depth tactic-at it's range. As will all things, it is range specific and not the magic bullet. Again though, a very useful tool. Well worth studying.

Nice on the ninja moves. Mush better than stanidng toe to toe . It does stink when one of your good training partners moves off. You'll just have to start breaking in another one. Easier said than done, i agree. For me today- 15 min of drills on the mat. Knee in belly to armbar, followed by working with one of the wrestlers with us on utilizing and defending the guittone. 6, 3 min rounds of escape drills from: mount side mount guard 3, 3 min rounds of free grappling from standing 3, 3 min rounds from knees

Yes. It's the temporary immobiliziation (or removal from your path of attack) of an arm for a counter strike. Much of it does come dirctly from chineese arts thru JKD. The are very useful tools. They can be used singly (which is them most comon and direct), or in combinations that can get very complex. Which again are useful to have exposure to. Again, the big thing to remember is not to trap for trappings sake, but to use the tactic to advance your fight strategy. In this they are excellent tools. They should be trainded to be integrated into continuity with the rest of your tools. There are a couple of good books out there on the subject. One is Jeet Kune Do: Entering to Trapping and Grappling by Harnstell and Jun Fan/Jeet Kune Do Textbook. The first is far more useful on the trapping from if memeory serves.

The "get what you give" concept works just as well with drill work as it does with sparring. Pop him a few and he'll get the idea- sparring or not.

Not that video specifically. One of my root arts did some pretty wild body conditioniong and breathing patterns for this. Groin shots, throat strikes, that sort of thing. I've seen stuff along that line. Now luckily, most of this was done a generation before me, speaking student-wise. My own limited exposure to conditioning of this sort is in the form of some rather painful and embarassing experiments . I don't have enough beer on board right now to share those. Needless to say, I don't need to have anything to do with it. Ever again. Even watching videos .

Wrap, tape, brace, whatever it takes- my advice is do it. Support for injures can make a world of difference between re-aggrivating them and keeping them at a low burn. Generally, wrapping works best for joint injuires wehre it can add a bit of propreoceptive feel for the joint support. In the case of taping certain injuries, you are actually placing physical limtations of the joint, preventing over extension or flexion and thereby limiting the chance of getting hurt. Make sure you're not dropping the circulation too much, but even if you do this the offended appendage will let you know soon enough to loosen it. Remember to be icing those naggers after training. I'm a huge fan of ibuprophen prior and post training as well. And, if things presist see a doc to get it cleared up on a more permenant basis.

Nice find

We all tend to repeat a bit here and there.. no prob. I think I had posted about the same thing a few months ago on a similar topic. It dosn't mean that it's still not sound advice. Bushido man, I do really like the book tactic you've been using lately. I'm gonna have to get to work on my library and try someing similar.

crossfit- 5 rounds of as many reps as possible of pull ups body weight bench press (170) squats back/bis

Nice . Well, that's what you get when you try to slam you tiny little hand bones into concrete.

Some sort of item for practicing striking is real nice for solo training. I prefer a good heavy bag but anything will do. Free standing bag, bob, whatever you either have access to or strikes your fancy. The heavy bag lets you hammer away without fear of knicking it over. I also really like a double ended striking bag. Not only is it a good workout, but it really works your head movement and reflexes. I really like having a couple of long makaiwari mounted to a stud. One from just above knee to shin height and one at head/throat height. This lets you work low line kicks and integrate them with hand strikes. Only your creativivity will limit what you can do with something as simple as this. I'd advocate trying to work in terms or rounds for solo training. This lets you incorporate some cardio into your training. Shadow boxing is an excellent tool as well. Take time to focus on each aspect of your game, ot just fighting in the air or pounding on the bag. Another useful tool is the punching bands that can be boughht throu boxing suppliers. These are harnesses with elastic tubing fixed to them so that when the tubing is held, you have constant resistnace while punching. You can also construct one rather easily with some surgical or exercise tubing. This can be a burner of a round in the middle of some bag work. Solo time can be useful for working weapons as well. As with unarmed solo training, visualization is the key. It's important to make the attacker as real as possible and to execute the movements as realistically as you are able. Asude from this, you can always focus on conditioning. Try and intergerate rounds of core exercise movements into you rounds of ma related training. Good luck.

We don't do kata much, so I really can't say one is indicitive of our practice. If I had to pick a single drill that summed up our system it would be spontaneous attack and defend drills with some level of armor.

Some sort of ancient conditioning program?

See my above post about the psycological resons behind this form of training.

Ok, after reading back a couple of post you comment that "brawling" is a horrible strategy. Sorry about the confustion. Brawling is just another word for a fight. It's not a style, regardless of what some people and commentators would have us think. Secondly, as to your above post. It's certainly true that littler guys can and have bested bigger opponants. I'm just talking in generalities here and too often I see the opinion that the bad guys size dosn't matter attitude amoung ma'ists. I think it's something that people need to address realistically.

There is something to working without armor. Usually, it gives you a feel for executing more precision movements. For instance, using goggles to simulate eye strikes, which by necessity are precision. However, this is best done with limited contact and still usually with some sort of gear. The big suits are for an entirely differnet training protocol. These are utilized for powerful gross motot motions that allow women (or anyone else for that matter) to really cut loose and smash something. This is espically helpful in womenas sd classes because many times, women have a hard time cutting loose on a target. This lets them get the feel without having to worry about harming a trainer. It's more helpful in these cases to have some sort of armor for the trainees than to not. As for taking punishment. That's easy, spar one of your classmates, who should be far more skilled at hand to hand than the participants in a womens sd course. Limit the gear and go to town. It's a much better gauge.

"Size is only a problem if you let it be in your mind" I agree that mindset is crucial. I also agree that skill can work as an asset to overcome size. However, to state that it matters little means I have to disagree. There are a reason that weight classes are the rule of thumb in boxing, wrestling, and mma. Granted these are sport applications, but given that the goal is to determine the best fighters out there, we should take note that every governing body acknowledges that weight classes are needed to fairly judge this across the board. Again, it is another assest. But one that can't be overlooked. There's nothing to say that you pop this guy in the eye and he bulls you to the ground anyway. Now you're fighting your skill against his bulk. Yup, you can do it, but it's certainly not as easy as working someone your own weight. You are right, I feel in stating that practice more and more. More skill equals more of an off setting advantage agaist sheer bulk. I also tend to see hip thorws as a bad idea given the above situation. Regardless of your leverege, you're now pulling him onto you center. That's more opportunity for him to tie up with you, maybe even pull you to the ground with him. In all likelyhood this is a less than advantagous position. Not to say they shouldn't be in your arsenal in case he forces the position. I'm just saying that it wouldn't be a primary tactic for me...that's all.

There you go, Zanshin. Translations, that's what I'm talking about .