tallgeese

Sparring is only unimportant if it used improperly as a training tool. It's one of the best tools you have at your disposal if it's done properly. It's that last sentence that's a problem usually and it hinges on looking at your martial goals and realistically assessing how best to integrate sparring into your training pattern to achieve those goals. This will be a radically different tool if your in for sport vs. self defense, ect. In my more stand up oriented days, I probably sparred 1/4 to 1/3 of the time spent on the mat. Now that I'm doing BJJ, I'd say that at least 1/2 of the time I spend on the mat is "sparring" in the form of free roll. Maybe more. It's one of the advantages of a grappling art, it's WAY easier to spar for a much larger percent of your training time, at a high level of intensity with out the risk of injury.

This! It's the best advice in regard to matters such as this. In specific reference to the attributes you mention, one is useless without the other. However, everything has to be driven by smooth action. Forced speed leads to sloppy technique which lends itself to a huge lack of accuracy. However, if one never strives to drive those skills further, you'll never actually make this effective in live combat.

I guess it depends on how much you want to assimilate to the class. If you really want to get the feel of what they are doing, I'd continue to give it a go at learning the alternate that they use. I'd be very partner selective while in the phase;however, and might explain my concerns to the coach there. You're not a newbie to the combat arts scene, you're concerns should be taken with consideration. Maybe he can see that you're with someone who can also compensate while you're getting the hang of it. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

It's about what the market will bear. Prices, of course, fluctuate based on local. The rural area where I grew up had prices so low a commercial club couldn't even make lease where I live now, let alone pay for lights, advertising, insurance, ect. Let alone let the operator make money. Not every place is, or should be, a not-for-profit operation. There's no reason that someone shouldering the risk of running a school shouldn't be compensated. There's no real "letting" anyone get away with it. It's just what people will pay.

I'd give a call and ask. If you're just trying out, I can't imagine someone would mind. Still, you never know. If you show up and ask, you can't go wrong. Your odds are probably better since it's just writing and not association patches, ect.

6/13 8 hour block of CT work.

6/12 Drilled umpa mount escape followed by knee push escape and variant. 35 min free roll. Now off to an afternoon of force on force.

6/11 pm: Yeah, I don't know how I got talked into this one. Drilled single side weave. Moved to arm-in guillotine. Finished with 10 finger choke. 45 min free roll.

Are you kidding? I can barely set still for 5 min . The beer helps though . Yes, by and large no one really fishes for carp on purpose. Although I'm told they are more popular in the south east as an actual fish to hunt. In central Illinois, they are fished just to thin the numbers which are growing obnoxious. Lures or live are largely the pick of the angler. However, I don't think you can argue the heavy bent towards lures for most people. For stuff like bass it's nearly unheard of to sport anything but lures. Cats get more live bait treatment. It's spawned that popular catch phrase of "a lure doesn't have to catch a single fish, it only has to catch one fisherman". I've never done much with pike or the other large game fish so I'm not certain how that plays out.

6/11 Drilled over kimura from guard and really teased out some of the specific, technical aspects of it. Proof again that even the most fundamental of movements is deeper than one would think. Even someone who's grappled awhile. Also used the motion from bottom of side mount to sweep, a new idea for me. I was able to make this work in free roll later. 45 min free roll.

The answer really depends on how well you want to do and what your goals are. If you're referring to kata competition, then Wastelander seems to have good advice; I can't really help you there. If you're looking at sparring or free fighting I have a bit more insight. Any time I lead up to a tourney of any kind, I go from 3ish times per week to 5ish. This should ALL be tournament specific training. That means no sd stuff, no weapons (unless that's involved of course) Make sure you adjust your diet accordingly to both make weight (if this is a concern) and fuel your increase in training. For me, this means an increase in protean while I'm more diligent with my lifting during this time frame. As to how long this goes on, again, it depends. I used to go a full 8 weeks at that pace. 5 times plus on the mat, plus extra cardio to make weight, plus weights. It's too much now. I can't recover and you HAVE to budget that in. Now, I've moved the plan for the next run up for six weeks. I'd suggest start with a 4 week camp for your first tournament. You're at the rank level where that will be okay. You'll start to have a better feel about how your body learns and adapts for comps after you get this one out of the way. Then you can ramp up longer as you rank up. The biggest thing to do, especially at your level and at your first tournament, is to have fun. Don't stress about the outcome, you'll be surprised how liberating it is. There are about two tournaments I do each year that I really want to do well in. I prioritize training for comps around those. Then I'll do one or two others. These I'm not even worried about. I walk on the mat at whatever weight I happen to be at on that day, I don't alter my training in the run up, ect. I just go to have fun, hang out with the team and work on relaxing during the fight. That's it. This leads to that liberated spot where you're not concerned about the outcome. Good luck, and keep us posted on your train up and tournament.

Welcome to KF! Looking forward to hearing your take on things.

I absolutely love it. There is not much of a better way to spend a summer afternoon. The past couple of years have largely been spent teaching my kids and hunting panfish more than anything else, but this has been rewarding in it's own right. And quite frankly far easier than chasing sports fish What is the fishing scene like where you're at in the UK? I've never fished out of the midwest US really.

6/10 back/bis abs

Welcome aboard KF! You'll find a wide variation in the arts studied by everyone here. It's a great, friendly place to see different perspectives.

True, there is some variation in ranking in BJJ. Most gyms however do tend towards the informal. It is pretty nice actually, I'll always trend more towards those informal gyms. I have seen the gauntlet thing. It's not standard, but there is a certain amount of clubs that do it.

6/9 2 mile run abs

Welcome aboard KF! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

6/8 Drilled arm triangle from top, transition to armbar. Moved to partner defending arm bar via roll and take back to choke. 30 min free roll 30 min free roll no-gi w/ one of the fighters prepping for bout.

No hulk smash qoute, GS. But I did get to pepper a role player with sims. 6/7 Off vacation and back on the wagon. 1.5 mile run abs chest/ tris

You'll do great. A little Tackleberry never hurt anyone. At one point during my time in academy, the lead tactical guy looked around the exercise that I had been part of and said: "You've killed everyone on the street but the shooter!" Yup, two other students walking back from their concluded exercise and a class photographer. I would later get the tag of "Justice League" after accelerating an exercise by shouldering thru a "wall" during an exercise than walking around the corner to find a door. All this and they let me be on our tac team now. Go figure. Certain personality types you have to push "forward" into tactics. Others, and you'll be one of them, will have to be pulled back a bit. Tackleberry will get tossed out occasionally Don't worry about it, shake it off, reload (cause you'll likely have blazed thru a couple of mags- just make sure your re-load was solid) and move on to the next one.

I'm not certain that he's being taken advantage of. However, the idea of testing fees and paying for belts and such is, to me, a bit odd. That said, Terror indicated that he could get six months for training for less than 400 dollars. That's not bad. Realistically, in most suburban areas, 100 per month isn't out of line. Even if you add in more money for tournament training, it can't come out to much more than that. Start up fees are very common in clubs where a third party does the billing, largely due to the fact that the third party company charges something to activate the collection account. If one's not being used, it's a bit of the rub the wrong way, but not out of line if a uniform of such is handed out. So, while I'd wonder about some of the nickle and dime stuff (and even this isn't bad if your not testing every few months), the overall cost doesn't strike me as outrageous. Bear in mind, cost is just one factor in why one picks a school.

This is one of those issues that the older I get, the more I mellow on. Coming out of a stand up style that was pretty heavy contact at times, I used to have a zero level of respect for people who knowingly trained in no or minimal contact training. My point of view was that karate was for combat and if you weren't training maximally for that you were a dancer. Here's the thing, I've gotten older and wiser. A bit. Martial arts has grown into an entity that is large enough to encompass all sorts of goals of individual participants. If someone is looking for a safe, athletic outlet centered aesthetically around older combat arts, it's there for people. For people interested in cultural preservation by practicing an art unchanged since it's founding on roots of old combat arts, it's out there. There are, few and far between, even those old arts out there for people, that haven't evolved along and thus they can practice just like combatants did at the turn of the last century. For people wanting combatives and self defense, there are camps aplenty. Weapons, sure, which ones are you interested in? The catch is to realize what you really want to do and find a match. All of them are okay. Just find the right one. In fact, the practitioner that fits his (or her) desire to the right art, regardless of what those goals are, probably deserves more respect than the artist that accepts a poor fit due to labels. What really works me up, still, is arts that make a claim to one or more of those goal areas and really can't or don't live up to them. There's nothing wrong with being a sport school. Just don't claim that you're teaching self defense. There's nothing wrong with integrating weapons or grappling to your skill set, just don't sell it as a long forgotten aspect of your art. Go out and learn those things, bring them back, integrate them, and give credit where it's due.

I'm in 3-4 times per week formally. I'll move towards 4-5 during the run up to a tournament. That's on the mat. I'll usually and another 1-2 days either running or lifting to supplement.

First up, sorry for the tardiness of my replies here, I've had the family on vacation for the past week or so. LP, the new school is a Renato Tavares affiliate. The coach here got his black belt under Renato. ps1, as I've been away, I've only gotten a couple of group classes under my belt to date. However, it was a good vibe on both occasions and since I've trained with so many of the guys here off and on it's going smoothly so far. Thanks for asking.