joesteph

Mine avoids punching range like the plague, because hanging out in punching range, in the context of where it was developed, is an open invitation to be stabbed by a blade you never knew they had . . . Dodging to the side, and using the momentum to power a spin kick might be a more probable response. If the attacker were to move in a way that put their head into such a kick, a knockout is actually not unlikely. We have a couple of takedown/throws, too. Ours tend to have a very high probability of slamming the attacker down in such a way that the back of their skull takes the brunt of the impact with the ground. . . . This sounds more like the student isn't being attacked on school grounds, Justice, so I would put this in with being attacked in a bar, parking lot, or some other place where Neanderthals prey on Homo Sapiens. I'm not against it if it's against that kind of creature, but it doesn't fit the 13-yr-olds presented for discussion, the bully resorting to words and pushing. I was thinking of it much more literally, Justice, as that the bully's knocked unconscious. If someone does hit his head in the snapping motion you're referring to, hopefully in a bullying situation between kids there's no concussion. Tossing him on his rear end and having him whack his head aren't going to be interpreted equally.

I'm assuming that the bully put your student in a situation in which it's self-defense, even thought the OP says "finally cracks." I'm making that assumption b/c my children have been bullied and have responded with self-defense protection, rather than be punching bags. Knocking someone out is dangerous. It likely means that your student has gone too far. The bully came at your student, who kicked him in the solar plexus? Knocked the wind right out of him, and he might have lost his lunch where he went down. The bully threw--or telegraphed--a punch, and your student popped him right in the nose? Might be bloodied, might even be broken, but I doubt there's a concussion. The age of the persons involved might be a factor, such as still being in school. There may be instances of adult bullying, but if it's at work, then use the laws that protect you in the workplace to have the bully dealt with. Even jerks don't want to lose their jobs.

Danielle referred to Tai-Chi, which I once studied. When doing Single Whip, one hand was in a certain position that resembles both Kakuto/crane-head and Washide/eagle-hand to me. I was taught that it can be used to block with, but it's also a fingers strike to one eye of the opponent. (I even remember an old VHS of Peyton Quinn, which included him saying that an opponent in a sparring match used this [illegal for the match] strike to poke him in the eye.) When I used to practice knifehands against the higher end of a makiwara board I had at home, I'd use what's called Seiryuto/ox-jaw, but just thought I was using the strike in what was the most comfortable way to me. I didn't realize it was a separate strike. Kumade/bear-hand is called "the Lion's claw" at a dojang I studied sparring in last year, and is used against the face, just as I'd learned the bear-hand is used by Googling it. A really interesting post, Bob.

Since it's your hip, I'm guessing it's where the leg (thigh/femur bone) inserts into the hip joint. The pressure is likely great on the neck of the femur, which is buried within the hip. It means you have to turn your hip more, so that the pressure leverage isn't on this insertion. When my father was younger, he had a fall that to all appearances would seem to be a broken hip, but he actually broke his thigh bone. He needed an operation, not a cast, and a pin put in, because he broke the neck of the femur.

When you say that it hurts if you point your knee up, Liam, are you saying that it hurts your hip or knee? The knee up, to me, is doing a roundhouse that, when sparring, slips under the opponent's arm/elbow and strikes his ribs. (But watch out for that elbow!) I agree with JusticeZero that you should do the kick slowly in order to pinpoint where the problem lies. If your form is off, where is it off? A slow, controlled speed can tell you. The downward knee Liver Punch is referring to is also used in Jeet Kune Do. If you do a downward roundhouse whack against someone's knee with your shin, you've used the body's "baseball bat" for impact.

Picking up bunkai from DVDs and YouTube can be interesting and fun. It also helps you understand kata better. They don't take the place of an instructor, and they just satisfy curiosity if they're not practiced, but I think DVDs and YouTube have their supplementary place.

In Duk Sung Son's Korean Karate, there are photos (p. 50) of GM Son performing a side stretch kick, not a side kick with step. I consider it an exercise from reading the text. The book was published in 1968, and when I took his style of karate in the late 80s, it was taught as the way to do the side kick with step. A friend who knew Isshinryu taught me to do that kick with the stepping leg behind. When I studied Soo Bahk Do, the kick is executed with the stepping leg behind. The only problem I can see with the stepping leg being behind the kicking leg is that someone might turn it into more of a back kick than a side kick. That's why we have instructors and lots of practice.

I applaud that you do this. When I spoke with my teacher in the past that I did not want promotions but applications, that I was concerned with taking the kata/forms I did know and learning the bunkai, I was informed that that wasn't the curriculum of the organization. Such information is taught once one reaches chodan/shodan. I respect my teacher who, though I no longer study under her, I will always consider my teacher. She is a certified instructor, and is expected to follow the curriculum of the organization. I took time off, studied now-and-then at the dojang, attended a fighting school for a couple of months to do something more tangible, and eventually stopped training at red belt (3rd gup). I remember entering a topic for discussion on this and another martial arts web forum, knowledge-based training. I wonder if I'd still be studying at the dojang if this request had been offered.

Just tonight there was a small incident that my girlfriend and I were involved in. When she drove us back to my place, there was a car double-parked in front of the driveway. I recognized it as belonging to a couple moving into an apartment next door. As it had no one in it to move it, my girlfriend beeped the horn. No response, so she beeped again as cars stopped behind us. The man called out that he'd be down in a minute, to which she called back to hurry up. He then announced that since she'd said that, he was going to take his time. Cars beeped immediately upon this, and he yelled out an obscenity. I got out of my girlfriend's car, leaned on it, and called up to him that I was his next-door neighbor, that we wanted to pull into my driveway. I didn't yell a profanity in return, but I did take note of his license plate, writing it on my hand. The woman came down, and as she got into the passenger side of that blocking vehicle, said they'd move in just a minute. I responded with a thank you. When he came down, he looked right at me; but before an argument ensued, I said again that I was his next-door neighbor and then gave him a thank you. I got back into my girlfriend's car, where I heard him call back "Sorry" and drive away. All too often, there are altercations due to traffic situations, either b/c of an accident, someone's discourteous driving, or what-have-you. In this case (my girlfriend doesn't read KarateForums, so here goes), I question my girlfriend having yelled out to him to hurry up. I believe it would have been better to "keep cool" and have the least amount of communication with one another. She wasn't trying to goad him, she was irritated and to tell him to hurry up just came out, but I feel that's exactly what happened. I find it interesting that this incident actually ended with him calling out "Sorry," rather than another obscenity or saying nothing.

I like this advice, but ask: Do you do contact at all? I have a red belt (3rd gup) in Soo Bahk Do, but it's all non-contact. Good for cardio and just to have an activity. It's perfect for my children till they grow older (they're age 9) and adults who don't want contact, but not conducive to actual fighting. When I took a break from Soo Bahk Do and trained at a fighting school, I wore gear and fought with moderate ("controlled") contact, and what I'd been doing non-contact got me whacked around. Don't misunderstand; no one at the second school was trying to use me for target practice. At the second school, having moderate contact, I got pointers and fought rather well for my age (last year, when I was fifty-eight) against teens and guys in their 20s. Whenever I could, I've tried to pick up what's truly self-defense oriented. I've found YouTube and Iain Abernethy videos that opened up what self-defense is about. It's very hard to do self-defense moves properly if not practiced, but just a few (a fence, to parry/block, punch to the nose, kick to the knee) that are practiced with a partner till you feel proficient are all you need.

It's excellent for conventional points of reference above the waist if it's the regular BOB, and below the waist as well, to a certain point, if it's the BOB XL.

This fellow names the fight and calls that shot a front jump kick.

I know this is going to sound oversimplified, but it looks like the jump front kick I learned in Soo Bahk Do, but going for distance rather than altitude. The announcer did call it a crane kick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngwUFxwQxfA

I was thinking this myself. And then slam away. Or maybe the other guy's so shocked he pulls back, and you can, too, ending the fight there--if you're lucky.

I think they were on the set filming one of the Undisputed sequels, which are based on a prison fighting circuit or something like that. I am SO glad you knew this, Brian. My first impression wasn't very positive!