joesteph

I remember an old Peyton Quinn video (VHS days), in which he explained that when in an actual situation, form will break down, that it won't be exactly as you'd practiced. He then pointed out that if there's no form to begin with, it breaks down into nothing.

In sparring, aren't many roundhouses to the ribs at a diagonal, to get under the opponent's protective elbow? Would that fall under mawashi geri, traditional, or hybrid?

I teach US history, and August is the 65th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs to end WWII. But in many ways the bomb was a mystery to the American people, and so the story of the bomb was made into a motion picture in 1947, The Beginning or the End? This is the trailer with an "inquiring reporter" that was made by MGM to encourage people to see the movie that, I think, reflects American life after the war. It's all actors; one of the people giving a quick response later played June Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver. Could you make a trailer like this today? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvmQWzGyVWs

I've seen both these videos, the first one just today to understand what tufrthanu was referring to with mawashi geri, but the second is not what I'd call a traditional roundhouse, so I'm not debating what someone else calls a "traditional" one. The woman in the second video is demonstrating the martial art her father developed, and I've done it that way when taking classes in Jeet Kune Do, plus there's a YouTube video called the "Screwdriver" that does it that way as well. Here's the traditional roundhouse as I know it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfSfiOxsfTo The traditional video's good, because it explains the right and wrong of performance for power.

I received a newsletter from Iain Abernethy about Extreme Impact training, and there was a YouTube link. What's interesting is that his partner is holding a kick shield, and Iain first presses hard against it, but then drops facedown (as though he fell?), hops up, and delivers punches and kicks to the shield. Then he does it again and again. There's an explanation of the why of Extreme Impact at 2:00, then of the drill at 3:00. The drill is demonstrated and it's one I'd like to do when I return to training in September.

Milo, the name of the book is: Karate: The Art of Empty-Hand Fighting by Hidetaka Nishiyama and Richard C. Brown. It's available from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Karate-Empty-Hand-Fighting-Hidetaka-Nishiyama/dp/0804816689

Dave Lowry's Black Belt article, Karate Way: How to Follow up Your Martial Arts Attacks isn't actually about Tai Chi, but about stability when striking. But in the article, he says: Broadly speaking, internal Chinese arts like tai chi are categorized as “single-footed.” That means the balance is never centered on both feet. Rather, it constantly shifts from one to the other. Balance and stability never depend on both; either foot should be able to do that job. He explains within the article the need to be able to strike well even if both feet are not used for stability. It's an interesting read, and helps me better follow the first punch in what Soo Bahk Do calls Pyung Ahn Cho Dan, as I saw it in a YouTube video demo. I didn't expect a Tai Chi reference to be a karate aid.

Catalogs usually just call it a Tai Chi sword; I didn't know its actual name till you mentioned it, Brian. In Wikipedia it says: The jian is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. . . . Contemporary jian versions are often forged . . . and assembled by mostly traditional methods for training of practitioners of Chinese martial arts around the world. Now that's a track record for any weapon!

On Facebook, there was a discussion that got into weighted vests, as one of my FB friends saw a man exercising by running with one. When she gave where the vest can be bought (Fitness Equipment Guide), the site gave hints about posture. One of them showed a person seated in front of a desk with a monitor. The monitor was high enough to allow the person to look straight ahead, so I lowered my seat to do the same at home. It works! This came from the site, standing in front of a full-length mirror: 1) Your shoulders are level. . . . 3) The spaces between your arms and your sides seem equal on both sides. 4) Your hips are level, not sloped to one side. #s 3 & 4 are related, even though it doesn't say so on the site. I have one hip higher than the other (not the same as one leg longer than the other), which a doctor did tell me is within normal range (about 1/4"), but which can be picked up by standing behind me. My left arm swings out a bit more from my body than my right arm. Slightly lifting my left heel evens it out. I was told I was lucky that I had no back pain from it; my spine was never affected, like Pres. Kennedy, who had one leg a 1/2" longer than the other. He was not actually 6' but 6' 1/2". The side/profile observation was brought up, and I found some of the concerns to be interesting: 3) Shoulders are in line with ears, not drooping forward or pulled back too far 4) Your hands are in line with hips, not [swaying] forward . . . 6) Your lower back is slightly curved forward, not too flat or curved too much, (creating a swayback). #s 3 & 4 are directly related. If I let myself droop forward, which is easy to do and like the bad posture photo in Jissen that I've caught myself doing, the hands will also sway forward. I think drooping forward has that "rounded back" look, and probably leads towards it; swayback, to me, gives the appearance of a larger midsection.

In my classroom, one of the benefits of my students being in the high school years is that they're so "antsy" that they don't stay in one position for a long time. However, if they do stay in one position, it's a forward lean, a slump forward as they write notes. That's history. In my electives, because they've had to take their own notes and refer to the textbook's examples and definitions, they tend to sit straighter. However, when they're in the library media center, meaning they're at the computers, the actual desks the students sit at have a see-through plastic top, and the monitor is seen by looking down "within" the desk, at an angle. The hunching over is automatic--and sustained for as long as they're hitting that keyboard or mouse. Those desks were put in in the past, when monitors all had a great deal of depth and took up a load of space, so it made sense at the time. Although now we can use slim monitors, giving plenty of space, who wants to remove and a fortune in specially-ordered desks? And they'd have to be replaced. My problem as a classroom teacher is where to draw the line. Would I be going beyond my position as a teacher to correct teenagers' postures at their desks?

They're excellent rules, and may be interpreted--just as "no first strike"--that you are practicing self-defense, not bullying others and starting fights to feed your ego.

Twenty-three is a great age, Noper, and you seem to be the right weight to choose. Do you think you'd like a striking art? There are the Japanese arts, but for high-kicking, there are the Korean ones. Do you feel you'd like to grapple and do takedowns? That has weight classes, and both judo and jujitsu incorporate them. What's offered in your area? What's nearby that you'll have no trouble with the commute to attend classes? Whatever the art, make sure you've observed a class, perhaps been invited to join in. You should also be looking for how strongly the art brings in self-defense. Soo Bahk Do, which my grade-school children study, is a non-contact martial art, meaning that sparring does not permit striking one another. Ir's also for adults, but at age 23, I'd recommend one that does have contact--controlled contact, which means wearing some gear. Other Karate Forums members might be able to suggest particular martial arts, but first see what's in your area that you can re-post and say that this one or that one is available.

It's constantly correct posture or else balance is off, especially with slower motions. You can't shoot through from one stance to another as quickly as in karate; you have to stand there and be in proper alignment--or fall over! I wish Tai Chi were offered in my hometown again, but its nearest locations are a distance away. You mentioned that you feel your posture isn't what it ought to be, Danielle, and yet you're just a day shy of 20. At least you're catching it now, before it becomes so ingrained a habit that it's a losing battle. When I worked out with free weights and cables, I feel that my posture was better, and I did these workouts till age 52. I can say this b/c in profle photos, I could see that I was standing correctly. Six years have gone by, and though martial arts can be of help, when I saw the bad posture photo in Jissen, I thought of a profile photo I'd recently seen of myself; it's like a wakeup call. It's interesting what you've written, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar with what you're saying. Is there a certain Wii program that is particularly for the back/posture?

Great! Congratulations JiuJitsunation!

actually thats not a myth we do it at my dojo. because its true. even now i've been told at white belt w/ black tip level i could put someone in a coma so what will i be like when i get to black belt...just with a kizami i could kill someone. and so could half the BB at my dojo. in australia its a legal thing I'm assuming this is nationwide in Australia, and frankly that's one of the problems for the US. So much is based on the state you live in, that what might be forbidden in one state is freely permitted or permitted with minimal restrictions in another. If you want to order a martial arts weapon from a catalog, there's bound to be a list of states with the weapon on the no-sale list. In another forum, one of the members, a certified instructor and school owner, is from Massachusetts. He said that in a self-defense situation, kicking is not permitted unless under certain circumstances. (If a KF member is from MA, would you know about this?) It can be that it's linked to being shod, but I don't know if that's the origin of the law or just one of them. I wonder if the area of the US you live in, and therefore the states in that area, reflect stricter--even restrictive--laws about self-defense, while others give more freedom regarding it?

In posed photos, I've noticed I stand with correct posture, but I've seen myself from the side in candids, and that's where I've caught my posture being off--too late! Photo taken! I posted about posture yesterday, and I can see that it's essential to martial arts or else your stance--and therefore balance--will be off, but when I was waiting in the eye doctor's office, I kept having to remind myself to do the simplest thing: stop slumping in the waiting room seat! It's a matter of habit, and as I'm typing this, I'm acutely aware of how I'm sitting. Many times we speak of people "shrinking" as they get older. I wonder if, other than the pressure of bodyweight on the spine over the years, poor posture contributes to it.

My best friend returned from a tour of China, and he couldn't get over how, very early in the morning, he saw so many people doing Tai Chi, even hearing the music played. They tended to be middle-aged, but something told him that these were people who were not only doing Tai Chi as exercise, but even socially, that they met each morning. At one place he visited, he saw two men doing a sword form, and when I asked him to describe the sword, it was a straight one, so it had to be Tai Chi as opposed to a broader Kung Fu weapon. I did find out a while ago that GM Hwang Kee studied Tai Chi, and that the present Kwan Jang Nim, H.C. Hwang, looks upon it as a nice complement to Soo Bahk Do (if you're going to study another art at the same time). I can swear that in the Chil Sung (Seven Stars) forms of Soo Bahk Do, there are moves that are definitely influenced by Tai Chi.

Tony, I did read that this was introduced by a sentence on sparring, but would you say that 1) is more applicable to actual altercations, and 2) more towards sparring in class or in a tournament?

The latest issue of Iain Abernethy's Jissen magazine, Issue 7, has an article by Andrew Adams, "Core training and its relevance for sport," on p. 12+. I didn't realize that much of the article focused on posture, and when I did, I automatically sat up straighter in my chair! If we do a job that requires us to spend long hours at a desk or driving a car it becomes more important to give our bodies positive neural feedback in the form of stretching and/or quality movement whenever the chance presents itself. . . . It is . . . probable to assume that if you spend the bulk of your week in a seated position, your muscles will adapt to that position and ultimately shorten accordingly. There are two photos of the same individual on p. 14, good and poor posture, a thin vertical line helping to identify. I hate to admit that I'm closer to bad than good. As a matter of fact, when I studied at Universal Warrior, Shihan made a comment about my posture, first noticing it in the basic front stance. It wasn't that I was just doing the front stance too far forward, but that my posture when not in front stance was off. I spend a great deal of time at a desk, whether I'm correcting papers or at the computer, as part of my work as a teacher. But I'm also seated at the computer for leisure, such as for participating in Karate Forums and Facebook. When I teach, I do stand, but many times I'm focusing in a "looking down" position, such as at notes on the podium or making eye contact with my students (who are, of course, seated), which I feel makes my body posture lean slightly forward. I'll bet there are lots of jobs we don't even think about which involve focusing down, therefore looking down, and possibly causing a leaning forward effect. And truck drivers, bus drivers, cab drivers, etc. are in the same "seated" boat as the clerk or secretary. This isn't the first time I've thought about posture, but good posture is something that has to be remembered repeatedly. It's far too easy to slip into bad.

Thanks for the clarification!

I have great respect for someone who's out there thinking, examining, and sharing. The latest issue of Jissen magazine is available for a free download at Iain Abernethy's website: http://www.iainabernethy.com/Jissen_Magazine.asp

Would you consider asking her, Danielle? Even tell her your perception? It might be interesting to kick this around with her.

That's really what I want the psychology students to do, Bob, to understand where the person, and it may be a "client" (psychiatrists, as MDs, have patients; psychologists usually refer to people they counsel as clients) is coming from. I make certain they feel free to express themselves in class, voice their perceptions, and still find out what a person, possibly a client, who in this case is their teacher, perceives about himself. This KF discussion is being done by postings. Imagine it in person, two classes, and I'm not telling them their thinking is "wrong," but that this is my perception about myself.

In an earlier post, you referred to one's perception, and I feel that that is on the mark if seen psychologically. I feel that GeoGiant was on the mark. I am not referring to someone's philosophical idea of reality; I am examining a psychological perception. I am pointing out that I believe and maintained in class that this is my face, the beard as an integral part of it, while most of my students in the psychology classes thought the face and beard are actually separate. I said and say no, that this is my face, that as it is, it is complete. The discussion is of identification and recognition of myself, whether it is sound, mentally sound, that I say "This is my face," with the beard as part of the completeness of my face, or that the many students who disagreed are right that my face is beneath the beard, and the beard a kind of accessory, one that might even evoke the question "Why are you hiding your face?"--to which I'd reply that I do not hide it; this is my face.

I've given some thought to what you've posted, Rhi, and wondered if you're fortunate in that your teacher breaks kata down into bunkai, so that you understand the applications. If envisioning fighting 4 on 1 helps you perform, that's great, but wouldn't this mean that you know what the different movements mean (applications; bunkai) in order to "fight" 4 on 1 or even 1 on 1? This is great for demos and, I imagine, tournaments, but do the members of Team Kata know what the bunkai of the kata they perform are?