Ozpunker

One of my mates who is a body builder got attacked at the train station just before Christmas. A bunch of guys jumped him, they didn't take his phone or wallet, just wanted to beat him up. At least one of the guys was punching him in the stomach and he thought to himself that this guy can keep going all day, It's not hurting me at all. He defended himself the best he could and when he got the opportunity, he attempted his escape. When he got to a large set of stairs on of the attackers caught up and kicked him in the back of the knee. he fell all the way down dislocating and tearing up his knee. I think this was on Xmas Eve because he didn't end up getting stitched up for about 30 hours after it happened. He's very lucky, if he had inured an inch or two higher he would have had permanent damage to his quad and wouldn't have been able to lift alot of weights meaning he wouldn't be able to compete anymore.

A few years ago when I joined up to a gym I got a free session with a personal trainer. I told him what I wanted and he made a program to suit me. Does your gym offer a similar service? Either way, the best advice I can give is that once you have worked out a program keep a record of your progress. I used to take a folder with me to keep track of how much time/distance I traveled on tredmills/bikes/rowing machines etc aswell was kept track of what weights and reps I lifted. You can easily make up an excel spreadsheet with columns for Name of exercise, difficultly setting, time, distance, date and how you felt afterwards. Similarly, if you use weights show what exercise/machine used, what weight, date, reps and how you felt afterwards. The last column lets you know whether you should stick with the same settings next time or go harder. The best thing about this system is that you have an excellent record of your progress. I used to love looking at the current page and see what weights I was lifting and then flipping back to the first page and seeing how much I had improved. It really keeps you motivated when you see results.

I know what you mean about the gymnastics and stuff. In the ISKA tournaments I've been in, they have the categories of Traditional Forms and Extreme/Musical Forms as well as Trad Weapons and Extreme/musical weapons. They introduced the new categories to keep traditional stuff true to what it should be. The Extreme forms do produce some pretty cool looking stuff. One of the criteria for extreme categories is that they must contain at least 50% martial arts content and not just dancing or flips etc.

If I had more free time, I'd love to do Jujitsu.

Personally. I'd eat a massive meal the night before, probably pasta or something similar. If I was competing in the morning I'd eat a light breakfast with not too much milk (Maybe toast and fruit). I'd take some musli bars or fruit in case I get hungry before the event. If I was competing in the afternoon, I'd eat a big breakfast and eat some healthy snacks during the day.

Part of our grading at Kaizen Ryu requires us to do a set number of push ups (20 for yellow up to 80 for black). We also do push ups in just about every class. I usually struggle to do mare than the bare minimum so I was happy when someone showed me this site onehundred push ups I'm currently up to week three and keen to make it to the 100. If you guys give it a go, let us know how well you progress. It'd be cool to see us all trying to get the same results together.

Hey! I do that. lol We only wear them when we spar, and also depends on the type of sparring we do aswell. If I'm in class I'll just throw it on the outside to save going to the change rooms and putting it on properly but at tournys and some training sessions where the contact is a bit harder I'll wear it on the inside.

I am far from an expert in this field but I'd think it's be best to use as much force as possible as soon as possible. Instead of overpowering, disabling or killing an attacker make them think that it isn't going to be worth the hassle or risk to go through with the assault. A few months ago I was at a friend's house and he was playing with his 3 year old daughter. He was playfully pinching her chasing her around the house. He pinched her on the bottom and she didn't like it, she turned around and said "My body, don't touch". My friend was very proud of her because that was exactly what they had taught her to say if she didn't like how someone touched her. I like this approach, If a sick person (If they even qualify as people) was to try to touch her in an inappropriate way and they were met with the attitude of "DON'T TOUCH", there would be a high chance that they could see themselves getting busted and think that it's not worth the risk. Although different cases, I believe that the same principles can be applied. If a man sees the opportunity to rape someone and is met with great resistance from the start he might think twice. Obviously this cannot work in every case but I sure think it could save a few people.

I haven't used any flexible weapons but recently in training we learned how to use our belt to defend ourselves and capture an attacked (maybe similar to ps1). In the same training session we used tea towels and plastic shopping bags to do the same thing. It just goes to show that just about anything can be used in defense.

Even though I do a form of freestyle karate my girlfriend still calls it Kung Foo. (Spells it like that too! lol) I may have said this once before. But sometimes when I've been asked to show "one of my moves" I say ok, it's a really quick head kick. I get into a fighting stance, hold it for a second or two and then say... "Pretty fast eh?"

Very good question! I was going to say it is absolutely any type of defense or attack (punches, kicks, locks, throws, disarming techniques etc). But if a regular guy from the street was to get into a fight and used punches and kicks I don't think that he is using 'martial arts techniques', even though technically speaking they may be very close to the kinds of things we practice. I guess this means that it's the difference between a traditional or sporting style of fighting compared to a natural instinctual perhaps brawling style.

I love my double roundhouse. Low one than high one straight away trying to catch them if they have dropped their guard. In point sparring just a regular jab cross combo seems to work for me best. Actually, another one I've only just started using is a roundhouse then sidekick.

Get the cheaper stuff. I buy most of my gear through the club because Shihan buys in bulk and gets discounts anyways. I think he makes a small profit from it but the convenience of it is worth it.

I hear ya on that one. As much as I LOVE competing, and I do it for the sheer FUN of it, there are things I've seen go on that make my blood boil. Now, I don't care if I come home with a trophy or not, if I do, then it's an added bonus, but like I said, it's for the fun of competition. What DOES tick me off is when I see judges being biased or unfair. Come to think of it, I didn't start seeing any of this going on until I became a black belt. It doesn't ALWAYS happen, but it DID happen at the last two I went to and it soured my urge to attend more. I haven't seen a lot of bias in competitions... I think the biggest case the come to mind is a few weeks ago at my last tourny I was watching children do point sparring. There was a strike, Ref called for points, himself and one judge awarded points to competetor "A" and the other judge awarded the point to "B" (A child from his same school). The point got scored to "A" (2 votes to 1) and the judge who awarded the point to "B" scrunched his face in disgust/protest. I believe that the point was awarded to the child who earned it and saw no need for the judge to act like that. I think that I can say that I haven't been seen favorably amongst judges that I know. Just about every fight I've been in that has had judges or refs that I know from class, I have lost. lol.

we had a presentation night last week where were were given certificate from the previous week's grading as well as awarded some other stuff aswell. The class before the presentation night we all had to vote for the 'best and fairest' student who get a special award. I got a medal for most improved and there are other medals for "sparring" "sportsmanship" "discipline" "kata" etc. The presentation was held at a local bowling club where we had dinner and some people had a few drinks. As far as training during the 2 weeks between our grading and christmas we just have fun doing stuff we don't normally get to do. We take suggestions before each class and go with whatever sound good.

Why wouldn't you award a point, Beast, even if it's the safer round kick? People like me just can't kick high enough to be above the waist, due not only to flexibility but height (I'm 5'6"). When I spar in class, the side and back kicks I throw are always at thigh level; the roundhouses are sometimes at thigh level, other times (if at an angle) just reach the ribs. It's just the front kick that I can use to reach the lower abdomen of my opponent. By such rules, I'm a lousy kicker who can't score a point, even if they're non-contact (greater safety for my opponent), and even if my opponent isn't good at blocking/protecting against shots to his thighs. In a real-life situation (which I understand a tournament isn't), I'm chopping my opponent-tree right down. I've been reminded (after class) that leg checks and MT-style roundhouses are not in the style, but I think that my instructor isn't pressing about them as I'm not entering tournaments. There are all kinds of rules I've heard of, such as Beast's reference to groin shots permitted but simple leg checks being illegal; one that I've heard of is that punches to the face aren't permitted, but kicks to the head are. That's a rule that I have to follow in full contact. The simple answer is that it's easier to avoid a kick to the head rather than a punch. My opinion of this rules changes from time to time, sometimes I dislike it because it's too unrealistic and people often have fouls against them for punching to the head (It's such a natural reaction) but in some ways, I think it forces people to use MA techniques more. If a full contact event allowed punches to the head I don't see anything stopping boxers from entering and totally winning.

In my first tournament I competed in full contact sparring, if anyone remembers the video I posted a few months ago you will know that I didn't go that well. lol. I went in without proper training and didn't really know what I was in for. I've decided that I want to give it another go... maybe 2009 or 2010. I want to start training for it now, working out good techniques/ conditioning. Do you guys have any good advice?

I'd have to say that I'm against leg kicks in tournys. In the tournaments that I compete in they are illegal (you can't even fake to the legs). In my opinion if legs kicks are permitted, people will get lazy and will start going for the easy leg kicks. Also I could see some trouble in determining a point if someone uses a leg check. As far as full contact goes, I'm still not a fan. As BM96 said, it could end up in someone's knee.

Absolutely nothing. This year I have decided not to participate in Christmas. I think alot of things in this holiday seem forced and I'm not going to add to the stress and over-consumption of everything.

I competed on the weekend. I was disappointed with the turn out. I was the only one in my division so I had to spar against the only competitor in the division above me (I'm orange belt he was brown). I started to get nervous but I struck up a conversation with my opponent before the round and the nerves mostly went away. The actual fight was over in a minute, I tried my hardest but he was just way too quick for me. This is a good thing, now when I go back to training I know I have to work on my speed. Because we were the only 2 who competed in our category I was awarded 2nd place. I'm happy about that but in some respects a small part of me feels that I don't deserve the trophy or that it was a hollow victory, because I didn't actually win a fight.

I think that this goes a long way for a lot of instructors. After all, testing usually ends up being a formality more than anything. Sure, they may work your butt of at testing, and push you physically and mentally, but the preparation happens in class, and he knows if you were ready or not. Just out of curiosity, are the awarding of the "tips" something that is going to show up on an official certificate? Yes it is. We had our presentation night last night where we were presented with our belt certificates as well as other awards and such. I didn't end up addressing Shihan about this matter but last night I was officially awarded with tips along with a few others who missed out on the day of the grading. He also said that from now on, no tips will be awarded at gradings, He (or the head instructor at each dojo) is the only one to award them from now on. I was also pleasantly surprised to be awarded with a 'most improved' medal. I can't remember if I have said this already but thanks for your advice everyone.

Our coloured belts have white gi tops, BBs have black trim on their gi tops with their full name embroidered on their belts. All dan ranks have full black gis with coloured trim corresponding with their rank as well as the same coloured stripes on the belt. 1st dan - yellow 2nd dan - blue 3rd dan - red 4th dan - grey Our highest rank is 5th dan and he was a red and black gi.

I competed in a tournament on the weekend. It was national titles and I have never seen so many injuries and disqualifications in a single tournament. I watched some children (maybe about 10 yo) compete in point sparring which is strictly non contact for children, and those little dudes were vicious. In one particular fight one kid kept doing some sort of flying kick into the other kid's face. Those sorts of moves are illegal because you can't control the amount of contact once you leave the ground.... That particular round ended up with one kid on the floor holding his side in pain and the other crying on the side of the mat nursing a sore mouth. When my fight finished (The last round of the entire day) the referee thanked us because he hadn't seen too many nice clean fights that day. It was rather disappointing to see how some people have no concept of sportsmanship. -One guy from my club won his 2 rounds in full contact because in the first fight the opponent struck him 3 times in the head (Illegal move in full contact) and in the second fight his opponent spent more time trying to shove him out of the ring rather than trying to use decent martial arts techniques. -Before my fight there was a hold up because parents were arguing with the judges from my ring about trophies and such (Everyone was told before the day started that absolutely no one under any circumstances were allowed to approach the judge's table) -Also when I was leaving there was a family in the carpark who were having a big argument on the phone about some sort of result that day. We overheard some racist comments and other abusive language. Maybe I was being naive but I thought that if there was any sort where everyone would have complete respect for each other it would be Martial Arts.

One thing that I forgot to mention is that although I think Martial arts should be made available in schools, it should never be made compulsory. If that was the case I think it'd have quite a negative effect.

knees knees knees are a good idea with big guys... especially if they're not expecting and kicks. As was pointed out to me a few weeks ago, be careful of attacking his face if you don't have a good strong punch(es) behind it.... you could just end up making him more angry without doing any damage. If you want to try and use that option, go for the throat instead.