joesteph

Home Leg stretches Class with my instructor's teacher Self-defense techniques; a lot of emphasis on one-step sparring and all hyungs depending on belt level; some good tips for better performance

It's funny, but if I'm doing a self-defense technique and "think" what the next step is, I'm not doing it as a learned reflex, and so I'm performing more slowly, even awkwardly. Sometimes I wonder if "No Mind" is being in a state of "instant thought-reflex action." It's amazing how they are able to do this. The focus; the self-discipline of focus; as though there is only the dive, only the bar overhead. This is the mark of a champion. Agreed!

It looks like Lewis was champ three times. First he won the title by TKO, then he reclaimed his lost title by another TKO, and finally he regained the title he had again lost by knocking out his opponent. A fighter's fighter.

Thanks, Patrick! Happy Holidays to you and all at KarateForums. We come from all around the world, and yet we share so much. May 2009 be a great one!

Clothes that are "casual but neat," so I can wear them when I teach as well as when I'm going out.

I've never run a martial arts school, Wolf Girl, but I do remember when, as an adult twenty years ago, I took adult Tae Kwon Do classes. The instructors were addressed by first names. I'd previously been tutored in Isshinryu by a friend, so I hadn't the background in an adult martial arts school setting in which Sir or Ma'am would be used. I did take adult Taiji classes after TKD, and our Sifu preferred to be called "Mr. __" rather than by first name or Sifu (and Sir never came up). I adjusted. When I started my children in Soo Bahk Do, I not only discovered that they were to call their instructor Master ___, but the children's class before theirs has everyone calling her Master, Ms., Miss, and Ma'am. Her age? She was twenty-four when they started with her, turned twenty-five . . . and though she had introduced herself to me by first and last name (w/o a title), I have always made sure to call her Master ___ when anyone is around, kids or adults. That's another thing; there are parents present when the kids have class, and they address her as Master or Ms. (I've heard her "threaten" a student with a "time out"; I've even heard her ask a student if s/he wants to "go sit down" [which would mean with the parent].) In the adult classes, the age can go down as low as twelve, and I admit she's given corporal punishment (pushups) to twelve-to-fourteen year olds, but this is not a regular procedure as students are regularly cooperative. When I began to start studying under her, I had no problem addressing her as Master or Ma'am; other adults call her Ms. or Ma'am. During the time that you were not instructing, Wolf Girl, were you occasionally visiting during classes? Did you discover during this past decade that the instructors had become lax with the formalities, even with expecting the focus students of all ages must maintain (e.g., this is not "let's chat" time)? I'm suggesting, with my background not as a teacher of martial arts but as a teacher in a secondary school, that this developed slowly over time, and that now it's an issue to be addressed. I hope this will not sound improper, but I'm afraid that the tight ship you left others to run has not been governed up to expectations. These are good people you entrusted it to, I am certain, but the path of least resistance may have been the one that they have been taking during this time period. And it is very difficult to regain that discipline.

Home Leg stretches Class Quite a number of different calisthetic and stretching exercises; kicking against the kick shield; concentration on strong, through-the-target punches; hyungs; self-defense techniques

Sounds like you know what you're doing, Ranpu. I hope your friends do the same. Everybody working to stay in shape together is a bond.

If we take "one punch one kill" less literally, it follows Jim's second paragraph, quoted above. It can be "one punch one kill the situation." If you can do this, choose it.

This is a good point; I feel the same way. I'd add a light contact sparring day that would be at least once a month, which would be voluntary and follow the non-contact wishes of those who take Soo Bahk Do because it is non-contact. I'd increase the joint locks emphasis.

Class tonight with my sons. I was permitted to do the warm-up with them, then the boys took turns between our instructor and me, doing self-defense against strangers (ear slaps, palmheels to the nose, and tonight elbows to the face were added), defense against wrist grabs, and Pyung Ahn Cho Dan. In recognition, they received a green stripe to add to their two orange stripes, so we celebrated afterwards at McDonald's with extra oatmeal cookies.

When I studied TKD in the past, the Senseis (husband and wife) did not permit contact sparring. However, the husband had apparently been in a few fights--and I don't think they were in tournaments--on which he based his advice to me about striking the face. He felt that, no matter how large the opponent, shots to the face in his experience can shut someone down, even if the blows aren't necessarily powerful ones. He discovered that there are people who, if hit in the face, no matter what their size, are affected more by having been hit there than the force of the punch. I realize you're focusing on the fact that there's no "bodybuilding muscle" in the face, fallenyuyu, and that that's why you think of it as a prime target, but a sensitivity to facial strikes, even if the guy's much larger than you are, seems to fit in.

From the New York Times, today, Wednesday, 12.10.08, p. C9: 9 PM (Spike) UFC Fight for the Troops Ultimate Fighting champions . . . take to the ring . . . to benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. . . . Viewers will be able to call in donations and bid on items like the chance to work as a cornerman at a UFC event to benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. . . . Proceeds will go toward the design and building of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, dedicated to the research, diagnosis, and treatment of traumatic brain injury in military personnel and veterans. Sorry I couldn't post this earlier, but I just saw the humanitarian cause in the paper under "What's on Today." Clicking on the link in the quoted text will let you know more about it.

Ki Cho Hyungs (Il, E, Sam Bu) Pyung Ahn Cho Dan Chil Sung E Ro Hyung

If I could, I'd add JuJitsu (or JuJutsu). My main interest is in joint locks, seconded by takedowns. I recall one posting that said something to the effect of "JuJitsu can be brutal" when talking about a joint technique. I'm not into grappling, though I appreciate my instructor's inclusion of it into some of our Soo Bahk Do class sessions, but into the takedown itself, and I'm glad my art contains some joint locks, though I've already practiced a "customized" version of two of them. What stops me is time, and the commitments I have take up a lot of time--and energy. I know I'm not alone. I'll bet a number of forum members would love to study all or part of this or that art as well as their own, but adults and many teens have a time crunch due to commitments. That's life!

My money's on Jack Dempsey's "Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense" (1950). Don't let the copyright date fool you, ShoriKid. He demolished men who had twenty, thirty, forty pounds over him--at 6' and 180lbs. You can't get the out-of-print book for less than $200, but it's available online for free at Scribd: http://www.scribd.com In the yellow & white Search at the top, type in Jack Dempsey and you'll see his book come up available for free viewing, with downloading at no charge as an option when viewed. There's a second book, a biography of his fighting days, also available on the same Jack Dempsey selection page. Download it/them and read on screen; you don't have to print it out, unless you do as I did, just sections I especially wanted to study.

I guess any instructor or school doing RBSD regularly would find this really useful. Workshops in RBSD at different locations? Might be just the thing to bring.

I remember first finding out about this one New Year's Eve during the 1990s. It's sort of "science trivia" that the extra second is added on every so often, probably not with the same regularity as Leap Year; supposedly, the Earth had less than twenty-four hours in a day over the millions of years, but to be noticed, I think you really do need that atomic clock the article mentioned. One more second to watch the ball drop at Times Square.

I was thinking about this one, because when I practiced seizing the throat/neck with one hand in the past, we experimented with different grasps. It was one thing to simply grasp straight forward with the thumb and index finger wide apart, another to grasp similarly, but with a tilting up of the opponent's head, and, lastly, to grasp with a digging in of the thumb into the throat. All three could be used to drive the opponent back, but we practiced just with the first one, staight back, as the practice session would often be to a wall, and the chances of banging the back of one another's heads went up with the tilt, while the thumb into the throat was simply seen as too uncomfortable--and hazardous--for us to practice.

What are your roundhouse kick preferences? Do you strike with the instep or the ball of the foot? Do you spar in class and/or tournaments with high kicks to the head? Do you go straight for the ribs, or try an "angle" for the roundhouse to get under the elbow and to the ribs? Do you work the heavy bag or a kick shield the same way you fight? Do you use the Muay Thai-style kick, hitting with the lower shin? Do you strike to the thighs of your opponent? Do you throw the kick from the lead leg, the rear leg, or with a hop or step--or even a jump--and then the kick? Do you multi-kick with the roundhouse, such as kicking two or three times with that same leg? Anything I missed?

This reminds me of that TKD participant in the Olympics, the one who struck an official. I don't know if the two referred to in the OP had "bad blood" between them, but the public arena is no place to settle a quarrel. With the dan ranking, special honor is given; to accept the belt is to accept the responsibilities that go with it.

Home Leg stretches Ki Cho Hyungs (Il, E, Sam Bu) Pyung Ahn Cho Dan Chil Sung E Ro Hyung Class with my sons. Concentration on self-defense techniques and Pyung Ahn Cho Dan. Slow but sure advancement.

This concern caused me to say in my second posting, when I found out that it was warm-ups (not a class, but still important): It's not to make the youngster feel bad, but to steer her in the right direction. As for the class, theirs is the responsibility of cooperation.

The "fight or flight" reaction of the sympathetic nervous system does utilize a flood of adrenaline and noradrenaline (an odd-sounding hormone, but it's released), meaning that the body is immediately ready to act. You're burning up the body's resources faster in order to act, so it's not a good state to maintain. The hard part is for the parasympathetic nervous system to get you back to normal, flushing out that "high octane fuel" from the bloodstream.

I agree but I may not have been clear. With my height at 5'6", and the fact that fairly heavy weight-training did not help my flexibility, sparring with others and even doing non-contact above my opponent's belt was and remains a challenge. Past and present, I could/can really only do it with a front kick; roundhouses and side kicks remain below the belt, higher now because of stretching exercises, but still below it, and yet acceptable in sparring nowadays if to the thigh. Striking a WaveMaster set for my own height, or against a kick shield, the power kicks I can give when doing roundhouses and side kicks are low ones. Forcing myself to go higher really does result in mere taps. When I experiment at home with a Muay Thai-type 45 degree angle roundhouse, I can strike the same height as my ribs with a lot of power. Again, though, how tall is my opponent?