tallgeese

Welcome to KF!

I agree. I don't see any long term harm coming from it. I'd also agree that it will probably just amount to publicity in the short term. Every sport will have traumatic injuries that are exceptionally violent from time to time, this is one of those.

12/28 Knife pattern review, disarm work. arm wrenching and flow. various ground concepts and positional work .

Great question! I'm going with Silva regaining the title. He's fired up, sounds like he's actually been bothering to train, and he might actually try for the first time in forever tonight. I'd like to see Tate win the women's title due to the horrible representative for women's mma Rousey was during the Ultimate Fighter. However, I think Rousey will win. I'd like to be wrong on that one.

12/27 Drilled guard passing. 90 min off and on rolling.

Eat clean, work out. That's just about it. Of course, everyone will have a different view of what "clean" means. And the b est way to work out, so maybe that's not the best advice But really it is that simple. Eat clean, not too much and work out consistent with your goals. Even just doing that will show amazing improvement and keep you pretty healthy. For specifics, I really like a lot of the Dolce method. I've used his plan to cut weight a couple of times now for tournaments and it's by far the best program I've ever used. He also has a day to day method that I haven't looked into a lot but it might be worth your time.

12/26 FINALLY! Back to the mat after a holiday break! Drilled pressure work from half guard passing. Top Guard work. 15 min free roll. Yeah!

Merry Christmas as well all!

I agree and that's a great point, ps1. I think that probably extends all the way down the belt ranks to a degree as well. You're elite athletes that are winning gold at the Pans and Worlds every year are likly better for their rank than your average participant. To judge every purple belt by the standard of the guy who won the worlds the last two years running is probably just as unfair as expecting every black belt to be Galvao.

Well,m you couldn't have summed up the political climate of JKD any better! There's controversy galore about the directions the art (or training method depending on your view ) should go. To stay on point, I'll focus on your question without devolving into the great debate of it all. First up, taking time to get more depth to what you're wanting to teach is never a bad idea. Time spent cementing the knowledge you have along the lines you're looking for is really time well spent. That said, one of the greatest ways to solidify knowledge learned is to teach it. So only you're the person to make the call about which route is best for you right now. Some drills out of the more "traditional" lines of training to think about. One of the aspects of combat that people associate with JKD is trapping. Good or bad, it's become permanently affixed as a major component of the art. Before I go further, I have to say (for my own conscious) is that it's a tool. No more or less, and one that needs time to develop. That said, traditional trapping drills are a good way to do this. I'm a big fan of trapping as a tool and not a range, however, drilling at traditional trapping range will pay off when you start deploying it against boxer types with snappier punches. It's hard to develop a reference point with these individuals and it will take some good attribute development out of other arts, or some time spent in traditional trapping range to develop it into a working tool. Just never, ever, let people forget that THEY ARE DRILLS, NOT TACTICS. So, what to do. start with reference point drills, we'll use Pak Sao as a basic reference. And we will build from there. So, a training progression might look like 1) a static Pak Sao 2) Pak at ranges from a trap at the wrist to elbow to simulate ranging created by footwork 3) Utilize a Pak drill while moving, start linear, move to circular, then all on the call of the training partner. 4) Move away from static reference and initiate a reference by DA. Use this to set up your HIA. 5) Now, gear up. Start limited engagement sparring until the student can develop a reference point to Pak from. 6)Now back up and add follow on control to static Pak's. Build back up thru the series. 7) Finally, do away with the reference point altogether. This is reality. By now (and it's not a short trip, especially for new people with no other art background) the student will have an idea of timing and the function of the trap to conduct it without first establishing the reference. This is where you start to move into the functional aspects of trapping. Bear in mind, this is only Pak. While you're working on this, think about using the same type of progression for lop sao, chi sao, jut sao, huen sao, ect. Once you start getting your people good at them start chaining them together. Spend time making them feel energy, but (for my money) spend just as much time teaching them to control after they successfully trap. Remember, they are trapping for a reason, not just to trap. I work this the same way when I'm working the lower hubud variant. I spend part of the time working the pattern and part of the time controlling from various positions. This type of progression really stresses the functional portion of your request. Also, consider working trapping sensitivity drills from a reference point. From my experience (limited as it is) these work really well for training to perform live against people really trying to hit you due to the points of contact often formed during sparring. 1) tan sao from a reference point (very useful) 2) reference point to low line of attack by breaking reference (a counter fighters best friend) 3)swinging gate drill (largely a sensitivity measure but useful training points for navigating the in fight) 4)Low line Pak sao when your training partner breaks reference and drives on a low line. I hope this gives you some ideas for working in what has been a "traditional" aspect of JKD. Full disclosure, I too come out of other backgrounds into JKD and it's a methodology I'm still wrapping my head around. I too just recently got awarded an apprentice instructor license so I feel your pain. Also, and you've probably already noted, I'm from the more "training method" school of thought for JKD rather than the art as it was with Bruce group. This colors how everyone looks at what they are doing. I'm not sure anyone is actually wrong or right, I just wanted to let you know where I'm coming from so there's no confusion of background. The hubud is a great drill and I've been exposed to it mainly through the short blade. For me, it's strength is the ability to work so many things out of it. Disarms, controls, unarmed joint position, and all flowing one into the other. It allows so many repetitions of a given flow it's amazing. Just make sure you're setting up different controls and follow up from it. That's where you can really spend time. Student can work the pattern for ever if they are learning a different controlling position or takedown from each position within the pattern. Once they've gotten a handful everywhere (again, longer than it sounds) then start letting the free form put them together. Once you're seeing them knock it out of the part blindfolded (only kind of kidding, that's a good addition to any sensitivity training but I'd keep it to reference based trapping) then start them into limited engagement sparring work followed by live sparring using those tactics. That's enough material to run for a while. Not to mention, this stuff isn't (again, only in my opinion) worth doing AFTER a student can maintain structure in stance and movement AND has a basic function understanding of attacks. Those drills can fill volumes and can probably come largely from your boxing background. Anyway, just some thoughts. Let us know how it works out and what you decide about teaching. Also, if you've got any questions let me know. The written word is hard to tell if you've been clear or not. Good luck.

Define "traditional" as you're using it. Are you referring to traditional as per using trad art techniques and tactics in your JKD, or are you talking about techniques and tactics normally associated with JKD thru a specific (or non-specific) lineage? Once we determine that I might be able to be more helpful.

Every style of sparring is a bit different based on what the goal is for the sparring. None of it is outright wrong, it's just situational and goal dependent. I see you're talking about seeing what people do outside your system, so I'll offer the following couple of suggestions. By the way, I applaud your desire to see what others are thinking. There are a couple of JKD based sparring books out there. JKD Kickboxing is a bit dated, but has some interesting thoughts about engaging with JKD concepts at range. If memory serves, The JKD/Jun Fan Textbook also has some sparring drill material in it. On an entirely different vein, BJ Penn's Striking for MMA book has some excellent drills that could easily be adapted to drill work. I'm sure there are several others, but these jump to mind. As always, Harkon is correct, the only way to experience it is to try it. So, no matter what you come up with, play with integrating it into your game. Good luck and keep us posted.

I'd agree. Standardization of what you see on the mat tends to be the same from gym to gym. By and large, the ranks will line up well with one another with the greatest variation usually around the blue belt level. What constitutes the end of the white and beginning of blue and then again blue to purple is a bit more of a sliding standard than any other rank. However, the skills are largely similar. Now, the traditions outside of those are the ones that are more suspect to be normalized.

Nicely done! Congrats!

Welcome to the forums! Traditional karate isn't really my thing, but there's plenty of authentic dojo's around the Chicago land area. Also, check cultural centers. We have some very authentic aikido and iaido at a Japanese cultural center in our far northwest suburbs here that was surprising to me. So, don't forget to check in at cultural centers in your area. They might have exactly the sort of thing you're looking for.

Congrats! very well done. Way to hang with it.

'Grats! Excellent job!

12/20 Drilled side control to paper cutter series. Choke to armbar. 15 min free roll.

12/18 3 hour seminar covering trapping from extended, non-reference point ranges. "Functional Trapping" as it was called. Excellent time well spent that will fit really well into my response pattern.

Congrats! Nice work!

12/17 45 min free roll. No gi

12/16 Drilled guard passing via bully pass followed by stacking double under. Higher ranks worked arm bar out of double under stack. 30 min free roll.

I've only recently had some exposure through some JKD contacts. There are groups of JKD that have embraced it quite a bit. It is a shoe based art, so when you look at foot position keep in mind that it's designed to be used while wearing footware, not like many arts where your toes or bare feet are making contact. So, when there is worry about the toe contact it's not the issue one might think. That's where some issues come from. Bear in mind it is a kicking based art so of course the sport system is weighted towards kicks. It differs from point karate in a couple areas, one is contact, which can be heavy. Also, power generation and target areas are different. Just for example, the back including kidneys is fair game. Because of this, there are certain strategic elements are fairly unique. A high percentage of the system is designed around the feint. So there are some really useful lessons to come out of its application.

12/15 60 min free roll. No gi.

It's been touched on but it bears saying again. It's a sporting event. The weight classes make it fair. Athletes training to fight MMA, at least for the duration of the training camp run up, are not training to defend themselves if attacked. They are training to step into a combat sporting event. It's different. Are there crossover factors? Yes, a lot actually. Bear in mind as well, stepping into the cage means that you WILL face someone with the same skill set as yours if the match making has been done properly. This ensures a good fight, not blowouts. It's not a random attacker that has not formal training, drill time, or sparring under his belt. It's someone who is essentially in the same boat as you. I'll take my chances against a bigger, untrained aggressor (the early UFCs showed us how this can work for us) but when skill sets are equal adding the disparity of weight does become a MAJOR factor in a fights outcome. So, by accounting for weight the sport gets more even bouts. No one wants to see a skilled 135 pounder face off with an equally skilled 215 pounder. With the same technical abilities there is really easy money on this one. It's not a fun sport to watch then, and people would die far more frequently. The above situation doesn't even really simulate reality all that well. Equally trained fighters? Both athletic specimens? Both with an extra set of eyes nearby to coach them? See what I mean? The lessons we can learn from MMA are more about cross training, adapting arts to deal with threats from outside that arts core, ect.