tallgeese

'03? Hech, I still miss '98 .

Aikido is a softer art that attempts to utilize an attackers own energy againt him. It's charaterized by standing joint manipulations and throws. These tend to be longer in nature than you'll see from small circle systems and the throws usually depend on the joint positions for leverege, not to many body contact ones that I've seen. It differs from other Japaneese systems considerably when you look at striking. You certainly won't focus as much on an offensive game plan. On the other hand, you'll do a lot of weapon defenses. Joint manipulation lends itself well to controlling weapons. SOme classes I've see also train with the boken considerably. Although that probibly depends on the organization and school. As always, check the school out and see if you like it. Also check out other gyms in your area and see if what they are doing matches what you want out of training better. Remember, really define what it is that you want out of training before you even start to nail down what art you want to study. Good luck.

I concur, it would be an interesting discussion to set in on. During hte course of this thread, I've also wondered if similar debates were being had at the time of Goju's founding and Funikoshi's overhaul of karate for the mainland. Probibly I would guess. I bet there were similar events taking place during the time span in which Bruce Lee was demonstraing his development of JKD around the circuit in the 70's. Probibly even when the Gracies even first took JJ to the ground. Anytime there is a major evolutionary development in the arts you're probibly going to have talks like this. They probibily do have their place in everyone coming to terms with new developments, regardless of the era.

If I'm not mistaken, Goju has some roots in Chineese arts as well and some of it's movements are taken from a kung fu branch, Pau Kau I think. You can definatly see the softer influence in it, but I don't know how much it actually mimicks the movements out of that system. If nothing else, it's certainly softer than other Japaneese karate arts.

Interesting that you palm to the body. I've always felt, and this is just personal opinion nothing more, that one had more penetration with a closed fist to the body. It's smaller striking surface and harder contact points. I find it hard enough to damage someone signifigantly in the body with a closed fist, let alone an open hand.

It's difficult. I teach my kid as well and it's not easy. More for them than us I think. I easily seperate the two. My daughter has a harder time. I try to make sure that any diciplie I have to give out during class time dosen't spill over into the home. THis keeps it seperate better. Also, don't expect them to get it as fast as you think they should. I have to constantly check myself with wodering why she can't comprehend a certain movement. Even so, it's been a very rewarding process for myself and she seems to enjoy it as well.

For defensive movement I think the double ended striking bag has no peer for solo training. With the right tensions, it will bounce pretty well and force you to react. You can cover and move real with with this thing. I have one and I don't use it nearly enough. Mainly because I don't have it permantly affixed. But I should. Shadow boxing workks real well too. Make certain that you are visualizing your attacker as best you can. This will add to the effects of the training. Practice the basics a bit, then move into free form work. It will serve you better with limited training options. I agree with bushido man, one steps are limited in their usefulness as taught in most school. Focus more on sponaneous response to threats, even in your shadow boxing. Break this down and work on different aspects of your fight game each round. Then throw a few in to integrate you skills. This advice applies to your time on the heavy bag as well. I also think that a couple of longish makawari are useful drilled into a stud. Mine are a couple of feet long and positioned at shin/knee height and then again a head height. They are simply 2 by 4's padded wiht about three layers of the camping foam you can by at wal-Mart, they duct taped down. These let you thowo good kicks to the shin and work knees as well as strikes flowing to elbows and such up top. I often use them while integrating trapping during "class time" at my house. They work pretty well. Just some thoughts. I too spend alot of time solo training. It's useful to try and develop some partners, even if you have to train them youself to serve as sparring partners.

Ah, burpiees, the most underrated bodyweight exercise in exsistance. As for the leg workout, it sounds great. Stuff with jumping and lunges tends to tear my knee up however. I'll have to be careful if I try this one. Nice idea though. Glad you posted it.

crossfit- 21-15-9 reps of 95 lbs thrusters pullups, broken into sets short chest and tris

Typically, I think that the answer would be no, it's not true. Most of the time when shoulders slump forward, it's due to a more prominant focus on the development of the anterior musculature or the trunk, not the back. In fact, usuallly people with this particualr issue are told to concentrate more on working on the muscles of the upper back. Obviously, you already have done this to a very high degree. Perhaps exercises specifically focused on the posterior shoulder muscles and rhomboids would be helpful. Beyond that, it may be just a matter of taking the time to really focus on posture training rather than weight work. This is probibly more than likely what will solve the problem. As for chest work, it's hard to work the pecs without at least tapping the arms a little. Almost any motion you use will utilize the triceps as well. If you're doing pushups, the grand-daddy of non-weighted chest work, try to keep the elbows at 90 degrees from you body, this will help to minimize, but not eliminate the invovement of the triceps. Beyond that, if you're really concerned about the issue, I'd consult with a PT in your neck of the woods for an evaluation. This may mean a trip to the MD to get a referall. They are really good with posuture evaluation and will be able to actually see what's going on.

First off, I think that they both have their place. Espically if y ou consider that an eye gouge is technically an open handed attack. Additionally, it can be easier to grab an opponant subsequent to an open handed attack. (ex.- thumb gouge to the eye, hair pull). That being said, I'm going with closed hand attacks. They give you the advantage of being lined up in an anatomically stronger position to transfer force and they are typically much better at delervering jarring strikes. This is probibly due to the harder striking surface of the knuckes compared to the palm. Also, they are more likely to cause cuts to the face over the bony structure. This can be a huge psycological advantage over an opponant, most people really don't like to bleed. If he has buddies, it's another way to get into their head before they decide to join in the festivities. Give a choice of one, it's closed hand for me.

Luckily, I'm not. The school I help at dosen't charge me since I'm instructing and the other night or nights a week we're in my basement.

Today- 5k run legs (yeah, that hurt. so much for the order I did that in) 4, 2 min rounds of shadowboxing drillls: round 1- unarmed round 2-knife work round 3-single stick round 4 double stick

Thanks to Patrick for finding that great zombie dating site. I think I'm still wiping tears away on that one. On the subject, I've alway kind of liked the zombie flicks from Romero. The original Dawn of the Dead being the best of them. Just creepy. However, I have to say that this new generation of zombie films are actually more frightening. Like the 28 days movies or I Am Legend. I think it's the speed. I mean, with the old flicks you could see one coming, stop and have a bite to eat, scare up some ammo, load your pistol, clear it, clean it, reload it, take all day to find your front sight and then put one in the noggin. That's all while fielding a call on your cell. In retrospect, they were just that slow. Now, they're screaming around and mach 1 like olympic sprinters. Much scarier in my way of thinking. Not to mention climbing the walls and such. Anyone else agree, disagree, even care?

LOL

Today- 3 rounds of 1/4 mile run 50 back extensions 50 sit ups

I was a big fan, if you ignore everything after the first film. Everything just starts to decline (fast) after that. It even holds up pretty well after all this time. Checking out a remake would be really cool. Espically with a budget like that. I just hope that the script dosent get lost in the middle of all the CGI and explosions that money like that can buy.

Hello, and welcome aboard Elliot. As to your question, you level of activity will depend on what your body will allow you to train and still recover everyday. At your age, what you're talking about might not be too much. Just make certain that you're getting plenty of rest and eating pretty good. Also, be sure that you're giving your body a couple of days of rest during the week. It might be helpful to plan a day or to to do longer runs and then do some shorter ones the rest of the week. This might help you avoid shin splints. Some people don't get these at all, no matter how much they run. Otheres, can walk to the mailbox and get them. You'll have to see where you fall and what you're tolerances are. For stretching, hit your hamstrings pretty good but don't forget your quads as well. do some tourqing back movements and hit the calves as well. You can get the inner legs with a good butterfly stretch too. That should hit about everything you just blasted during your run. Take you time, hold each position for 20-30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times. There are so may workout philosophys out there, you really have to feel what you're body's telling you and experiment till you get it dial in for you.

Yeah, I really like seeing stuff I taught get used agaist me on the mat. It's a pretty neat feeling to see someone benifiting from the time you're putting in. Today- crossfit 21-15-9 reps of 95 lbs. Overhead Squat Burpees Back and Bi's 3- 3min rounds on the heavy bag

Ok, those are pretty good .

Any of the toy commercial cartoons- Transformers, GI Joe, He-man, the works. I also picked up a habit for Doctor Who on PBS. That one actually persists to this day.

I'd seriously look for a second opinion for starters. Stuff like you're describing can easily flair up and interfear with activities of daily living as well, and now you're talking about it interfearing with work as well. I'd keep looking to see if any one could help. That being said, I'm a big fan of reqular use of anti-inflammatorys. When things really flair up, or I'm on a training day, I will take 2-3 advil pre and post work out. Just don't take so much that it bothers your stomach. Wrappling can be benificial, espically with the ankle, just don't count on it to erase the pain entirely or deal with the underlying issue. It will just help with the support of the joint, nothing more. Still, they can make an injury feel better. In respect to the ankle specifically, try either having a partner tape it, or use a lace up brace with hard plastic stays on each side. This may serve to support the ankle better than mere wrapping. Over-compression is a concern so make certain that you still have good circulation after it's applied. Give it a function test or two just so you can ensrure that the joint is moing properly. Tingling is a bad sign. The home remedy treatment itself won't lead to conditions later in all likelyhood. However, whatever is going on with you joints may indeed lead to larger problems later. Which is part of the reason I'd get things looked at by a second doctor if possible. You certainly can't discout as well that any atheles in general, and combat athletes specifically, put a treamendous amount of stress on their body. This does pre-dispose us to certain conditions later in life as a reslut of the continous trauma we put on it. Better to limit it's effects as much as possible.

Soccer shin gear works well. Also, you can use catchers shin gear. It's a bit harder but allows full contact. Make sure you wear shoes of some sort.

Yeah, Spawn could certainly use a decent movie look. The effort back in the 90's was awful. Marvel has turned out it's share of duds, however, you have a successful X-men and Spiderman franchise going. The avengers flices have been good to date so they by and large are turning out pretty good stuff. Granted, there is Daredevil and Elctra out there, two awful movies that really deserved better treatments. I had heard about the Watchmen and can't wait. I didn't get the trailer in front of Dark Knight that some people did. Hopefully, they're relitively true to the source material. Has good potential, that's for sure.

Wonder Woman is DC, depending on the script and crew, it'd be a maybe. DC does have some heros that could potentially hold their own. A Green Lantern Movie could be very good. Also, a Green Arrow movie has tons of potential. Maybe a Martain Mahunter as well. There are a few possibilites, but yes, Marvel is running away with the show right now.