tallgeese

Ok, here I go seemin dumb agian.. is kihon translated "basics"? That was my understaning. And like I said, I think that hands up is a basic punch. However, if it means something else it could change the discussion quite a bit.

I should additionally say, this isn't training you should do every night you train. It can take a toll and should be used judiciously.

You have to use the term "complete" with some latitute . Still, the effort is defintly worth the payoff in terms of realitic training. The other very worthwhile expenditure is good protective gear. A good heavy duty boxing groin protector is a must. And depending on the drill, some sort of head protection is advisable. Caged headgear works well for some things, as i said, goggles can be excellet training tools. Obviously, now you're going to have to cut back of the contact levels to the head. It's all about dressing to train particular facets of your game. Defenders (and preferably attackers) should wear knee and elbow protection for this type of thing as well as contact does happen.

Yeah, I'd be fine with it. I mean, anything that you're doing wrong is going to be obvious in class and therefore correctable before one establishes any incorrect neuromuscular patterns signifigantly.

Depends on what rule sets you are using to spar. I'm a fan of utilizing different types of training for different purpses. Now, for simulatin sparring, you should be using very few "off limits" movements. Groin kicks, controled kicks to the outside of the knee joints, ect. They should all be on. The use of racketball goggles can even let you work eye gouges under specific conditions. This can be an incredably useful tool for learning sd skills. Again, anything that lets you deal with a resisting opponant is very useful in the big picture.

This is true I think Throwdown. Your blending and flowing evasions will certainly improve dramatically.

I think both of you are right. It just depends on how the sparring is done. If you are trying to mimic the effects of real world combat and are training fairly realistically, then yes- it is closer to the real thing. If your not taking it seriously and/or using movements that you'd never really run into on the street, then no- it has very little to do with it. I agree that the fully resisting opponant is key to realistic training. I like to do a hybrid drill where an attacker get armored up and really attacks, not spars with, his opponant. I mean really try to get him.. then have the trainee defend. It's very useful.

I think either method can be considred "basics". As for throwing a punch correctly, I agree that proper body mechanics is key. I just feel that they can be taught that whith thier hands up. As for things attacking the body, you can still cover that while the hands are raised. That's what elbows are for in this position, coveing the midsection. Again, just a variation.

I agree, you'd use the movement full tilt as a damaging tactic. There's nothing wrong with working flowing from lock to lock, in fact, it's good training. However, for simulated self defense I try to always stress the importance of applying joint position as a destruction. They can be used to set up strikes, but I'd rather use strikes to set upjoint position. Get a break, then move on. I'm always carful about actually trying to control someone with a small joint lock. Primarily, they were designed to destroy a joint (particularly wrists). They functino best in that manner.

Nice with the lawn. I hate doing yard work. Today I had some extra time during the morning so- Circuit: 2 min rounds, 30 sec rest -rings -double ended bag -power cleans, 95 lbs -sparring, light contact -rings -double ended bag -power cleans -rings -sparring -sparring --heavy bag brief rest 6, 2 min rounds of free grappling

Nice

You are correct, I have done a few. Probibly less than most, and I have been at this a while. Even when doing stepping punches early in my career I was taught with my hands at my head, which was the original aspect in question. It really is a "to each their own" kind of thing and what it is that you are looking to do with your training. Time is often the limiting factor in training. Therefore, I like to make the most of it. Therefore, by cutting out steps that aren't critical to fight application, you effectively increase you time of training. Cutting or modifying them to their most streamlined fashion and practicing the final objective rather than older training steps can do the same thing. Not that those steps are bad, just that we've advanced training methods in the last several years. It gives us more than one way advance our practice of the arts. Thats all.

I agree about the limited fighting application of akido, although I have no idea what attacks you're refering to in Japaneese. Seriously, no idea . Still, I get the gist of the post and concur. I think joint manipulation can be a very effective tool, however, I think that there are many systems better designed to make use of them more quickly. Small circle stuff tends to lend itself to combative application better as well. Cutting angles can be learned as well from aikido, still, there are other joint heavy arts that can and should accomplish the same. Not saying that it's a bad art to study, but looking at an time to efficiency equation it does come out on the "too l ng" end for my taste. But I am the guy that thinks you should be able to radically increase your capability to take care of yourself in 6 months or so. I do think that there is a ton of beauty in aikido, and that after years of training the movements therein can be useful. It's just a different aspect that some people are looking for.

It that "tricky bit" part of this that makes me train almost exclusively from a hands up position. Everything else is just confusing. I've heard the argument that the hand being low is actually a kata movement for pulling you adversary into a strike or joint manipulation. I think that this may very well be true, and as I've seen it demonstrated, makes the most sense. However, in todays world, I don't see the need to hide the fact in kata. Just work that particular application with your training partner. If training on your own, which I do a fair amount of, either focus on other skills or physically rehearse the movement in total. Just my two cents on why I keep the hands up both in training and application. It cuts the transition falability out of the equation.

Ideally, from a high guard position with both hands covering the head/face area. Never, intentionally, from anywhere lower than a high coverage position.

It's a very telling drill. Toss a knife in at random at times. Club and gun too. It's a good drill to work on weapon retention. I like tossinghtem in at randome once the roll has started to make everyone switch gears.

My rule of thumb in regards to my kids is that when we're out in a crowded or populated area, they get no furter from me than I can reliabley place center mass shots on a would-be abductor.

Good point about most people knowing their attacker. This is overwhealiminly the case in all assults, not just sex offenses. And, as my friend points out, it makes it harder to employ the high damage tactics we think of in these situations with the type of mindset we try to instill. Intamacy with what needs to become just another set of targets has got to be difficult. However, I still think the most damage in the least amount of time to effect escape theory is the best we currently have going for us once you pass into the physical skill set of this. I do think it's issues like this that make the involvement of other groups designed to deal with the emotional issues of this issue is important.

That happens to all of us from time to time. Best to just jump back in at the first chance. Had another good garage day today- 2 mile run 8, 2 min rounds (30 sec rest between roundss) of: heavy bag double ended bag maki's rings rope climb heavy bag climbing wall circuit double ended bag

Don't discount your instincts on this one. The best movement to utilize is the one where your targets match the weapons that you are about to throw. If a different movemnt will be thrown more easily then that is probibly the more appropriate one to use. Regardless of the penertration or strength of other weapons you have at your disposal. This applies for range as well as specific movements. If you are too close to comfortably throw a side kick, then another is probibly more appropriate. Or even hand movements may be better still based on the range. Go with your gut on this one in all likelyhood.

I see what you're saying. Actually, I've lived it . I see all those injuries as part of the price you pay for having first hand knowledge that what you're doing works in a high pressure situation. Yeah, it's a steep price. There are days on the mat that I feel like the tape is the only thing holding me in one peice. But, I've seen what I can do when the intensity is high and the adreniline is flowing and things aren't going as planned. It's a trade off. You can still be effective despite the years of abuse. Adriniline is a wonderful tool . You also tend to get smarter. On that note, there are plenty of things you can do along the way to minimize those injuries that your paying the piper with. 1) use gear- invest in good armor and use it. 2) know when your body is say that it's time to stop- onemore round always gets you hurt at the end of the night. 3) take time off when injured- don't continue hurting yourself to train- it's a marathon, not a sprint. 4) use ibuprophen wisely- in other words, if your taking 8-12 just to get thru the day, it's time to see the MD not schedule another training time. 5) not everything has to be a contact drill- no really, I mean that. Just not everything should be a no contact drill. It's a small list, but one that I wish I had been armed with at the onset of my ma career. Now on the more art-influced classes, I agree totally. If you are, at the outset of your training, more interested in cultual and philospohical concerns than actual fighting, no contact classes should be just fine. And no harm for wanting to study that side of the ma's. It's another avanue one can go down. However, for wanting to learn to fight, you're going to have to have some amount of contact from time to time.

Suprisingly, I'm not a big fan of the idea. Kids are too young, from a development standpoint, to be competing like that at that age. Physically they are not mature enough and mentally and emotionally they can't even begin to be prepared for that. Grappling, fine compete away. My 5 year old can do pretty good on the mitts. That's all good, those are skills that you can build on later to make a competent ma-ist. I don't even mind sparring at a young age. But it has to be contact appropriate and more importantly, mindset appropriate. Kids get exposed to too much violence already. We don't need to speed the process along. I sure don't want my 5 year old thinking the way I do. This is just another step along the path to making them grow up too early. Now for adults, the mma guy is right- there's no reason to wait much past the second lesson to start sparring. But these are kids, it's a different ball game.

The bottom line is that you don't. Yeah, it's a bummer, but that's pretty much the case. Now I am not advocating just putting on kempo gloves and whaling on one another with no focus on learning, not at all. In fact, I think a fair amount of controlled contat is needed to learn the basic patterns of movements. That being said, and perhaps this is done at haigher ranks in your school, there is no subsititute for occassionally armoring up and really putting an attacker into attack mode. Even this is only an approximation of actual combat. Still, it is more indicitive of what it is actually like than only training with limited to no contact levels. Full contact competition can really help prepare you mentally for a street brawl but even that dosen't compare to the intensity and adriline dump that goes along with rolling around with some idot in the ditch. The other thing to do is look at the success rate that other students in the school have had if they have indeed been involved in a conflict situation. See how they've done and how prepared they felt. As for training, make sure that you are doinng enough mit and pad work to really get a feel for making contact and driving through your target. Heavy bag sork can help here as well. While doing sd work, make sure that you set your mind at least to a combat speed. Focus of the feeling associated with generateing enough power to drive completely thru your target. Just don't extend the movement into you partner. Also, and this is a biggie for me, don't assume that any move, and I mean any movement, will work at any give point. If you are practicing a joint postion drill and miss the lock, don't just stop and start over. (Unless of course you are learning it for the first time-this is more of a drill situation) Instead, flow into something else, even it it's only a single strike. Anything to keep you from getting used to relying on one single movment to end aggression. Just some of my thoughts on your very legitimite concern.

No doubt about it....rest time makes you better. Recovery is important to performance and sleep for recovery is way underrated. Now, as to the junk food on off days, as long as you control the intake, it's really not a bad idea to let your body enjoy something now and again. Not only does it let you take in some calories you might need, it also keep sthe body from from having craving for the stuff all the time. I too will enjoy an off day on wathcing what I eat and I too usually feel pretty good training the next day.

Welcome aboard!