tallgeese

Happy birthday!

Nice work! 'Grats!

10/25 Drilled rolling counter to single leg to triangle. Moved into two other triangle set ups. One hip to triangle from earlier in the week and an alternate entry from punch block sequence. 30 min free roll.

I'm glad to hear that you've been more proactive with sharing since coming on staff. The great thing about this community is that everyone's opinion matters. Fresh perspective is important no matter how long you've been in. That perspective can come from anywhere. Keep at it.

It's funny that you should mention this. To fill in the blanks, as virtually all members will be unaware of this story, there was a member who joined the community in January of 2003, named Mr. Clark. He violated our guidelines in nearly every post and was what some would consider to be the traditional definition of a "troll," which is someone who posts things with the explicit purpose of angering people. So, he posted a lot of random nonsense aimed at angering people. I happened to be traveling at the moment, spending time with family, so I wasn't around to cut him off as I normally would be. A couple of days later, it was taken care of. But for the staff members at the time, primarily Doug (SBN Doug) and Pat, the 33 posts definitely seemed like a barrage. But they did a solid job taking care of the issue until I could step in more firmly. In hindsight, we have had situations that were much, much more challenging, but it is a funny story to look back on. Privately, as one might expect, we have forums for staff members that help us to get things done more efficiently. This includes a trash bin type forum where removed content goes. As a joke, after this occurred, I renamed that forum to Mr. Clark's Room, which is what it remains to this day. Patrick This is a great piece of the forum history! Lol! I've always wondered about the Mr. Clark name. Now we know. Thanks for bringing this up.

I have to concur with bushidoman, it's always excellent to see your input as well.

10/24 Warmed up with footwork drills. Chest/bis Abs Treadmill Cool down with knife review and structured stance work.

10/23 Drilled hip bump to triangle transition. 30 min free roll.

Again, congratulations on the milestone, Patrick!

For those of us who don't do Japanese names what would that translate to? Just curious.

10/22 45 min free roll.

Awesome job! 'Grats!

10/21 Drilled set up and finish variants to omo palata. 35 min free roll.

Cool deal, Brian. Glad to see you're putting your time with the Gracies to good use at the department. 10/17 45 min free roll.

10/14 Drilled breaking posture in guard. Cross collar chokes.

Sure. I think this a normal and healthy thing. My feeling on it are summed up in my post on this thread: http://www.karateforums.com/doubt-vt45624.html As martial artists, especially if we are involved in a combat art, we have to doubt. That leads us to testing. Testing is what validates what we do, refines what is not quite right, and leads to evolving our arts forward. We can do this a variety of ways. We can construct smart, realistic scenario based training or experiments (see the link in the above article for an example of pressure testing tactics) to see how they function. The other way is looking at how that art or it's tactics function when deployed by other artists in combat situations. The data isn't good on this stuff, but it's out there. Experience can provide good feedback on effectiveness. This can be yours or others. The big question that comes out of doubt is what you do about it when you get your answers to the questions that it brings. If things work as expected, then it's easy. You're on the right path. What if things don't work? Now you have a couple of options. If you're not in the art for fighting tactics to start with, this might not be a bad idea. Chances are; however, if you're asking the question at all then there is at least a part of you that wants this stuff to work. So, based on how your stuff is working in simulations, or didn't work as the case might be, you'll need to figure what to do. That might mean something as simple (term used loosely) as a mindset shift. Or as moderate at how you deploy the tactics you're using (ranging, targeting, angles, ect.) but the core of the art is solid. Or you might have to look for something different altogether. There's not right or wrong answer on this one when it comes to where doubt leads you. Only you and your specific reasons can decide how important each facet of training is to you.

10/13 1 mile run abs shoulders bis

10/11 Reviewed weeks material. 40 min free roll 2 rounds of no gi

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to KF! Keep us posted on your progress.

There is also the slow degradation of the combative side of the arts across the board in the US. Some of that is due to the increasing focus on the sportive aspect and the self-development side of things. Another part of it is traditional martial arts that refuse to acknowledge modern learning methods and training technology that could increase efficiency of fighting. The lack of a dedicated, and different, children's program is also a factor. If people see kids doing the exact same things as children's classes, and those classes are taught with the same focuses, why would they assume that there is an adequate reason for adults to do them? People see this and it affects their perception. The greater this perception shift occurs, the more children focused things could become.

10/10 Drilled maintaining side mount no gi and moving into striking/ sub finish. 2 rounds of escaping from bottom under strikes. 30 min free roll. No strikes w/ mma gloves.

10/9 Drilled lapel choke variants via gi wrap. 30 min free roll 1 round sparring.

Off the top of my head, swiss balls make great balance tools. Kneeling position and hold, supermans from kneeling, sit out drills, ect. all make great general balance drills. I've never gotten there, but eventually squatting and standing on them are excellent. For more martial types of drills, consider using a heavy kettle bell in the rear hand while doing stance work. While the student is moving, occasionally hit them in the shoulder with a hook. The weight in a hand will mandate that they maintain good foot posture and stance (hence the balance aspect) For movement, one of the best drills is jab sparring vs. defense only. Sure your arms will deflect a lot, but you'll be forced to work your stance and body mechanics (movement) to defend with primarily. Now once you're comfortable, remove one hand from the defense. This makes you move your body more. Keep the pace down so that structure remains solid. Now move on to both hands down and make the student use movement and distance to defend. Once they've gotten there, put the kettlebell back in their back hand. This will make certain that student's structure will not suffer in their efforts to not get hit. Agility and balance and movement are excellent attributes, but make sure that the student does not sacrifice structure to advance them.

10/8 Abs Chest/ arms 15 min of stance and footwork. Trapping. Worked over some problems from last nights sparring. 10 min knife disarms.