Toptomcat

Okay, just to be certain- we're talking athletic tape on the wrist and nowhere else here? Not boxers' handwraps or MMA-style short wraps? That's unusual, I've never heard of it- but then I've never been heavily into tameshiwari. A failed palm-strike break can put a lot of strain on the wrist- particularly if you hit higher than you intended to on the hand and end up flexing the palm back into the arm- and I suppose it might make sense to tape it up beforehand.

What are you quoting?

Are there explanations that you'd accept?

I don't like Wii Boxing at all because the motion controls won't punch as fast as I do As for using Wii Balance Board-like technology to refine weight ratios in stances: I don't know about that. The weight ratios we're quoted by those who teach the stances to us have never been so perfectly defined- they're approximations at best. I think that there's a definite risk of making mechanistic perfection an end goal rather than attempting to adapt the stances for your own needs.

Martial arts may be about more than fighting, but if they don't include fighting as a hugely important part of what they teach then they're just a bizzare combination of modern dance and amateur philosophy. Martial arts are methodologies about how to train for a lifetime to fight. Why would the mere fact that UFC fighters train a lot to hit and take a hit make it impossible for it to be a test of fighting styles?

I disagree here. I don't think that psychological maturity in the MAs necessarily comes along with rank, or vise versa. I think it is something that can be developed independently of physical training, if one seeks to do that. I think Chitsu was talking more about depth of knowledge than psychological maturity per se: he did mention psychology, but not explicitly maturity, and looking at the context it doesn't seem that's what he meant.

There are a number of countries in which is is illegal even to ask, actually.

Have you tried something resembling it in a resistant drill, or just in one-step situations? Because in my experience timing a thrust to act as a parry and counterblow at once is possible, but extremely difficult.

Buh. So a spearhand thrust functions as a block against a linear attack? Whatever that is, it doesn't sound like a 'basic' anything...what do the 'advanced' self-defense techniques look like in your school?

An inspiring philosophy, but not a particularly healthy one. One should ignore the little pains, the habitual complaints of your body when its limits are tested and expanded or when it's subjected to a bit of punishment. But there are BIG pains too- your body will let you know when you've reached too far beyond its limits, and ignoring *that* signal is a sure way to aggravate an injury to the point of permanent disability. True, there's a price in pain to pay for every worthwhile training session. But sometimes it isn't worth what you get back. Pain is like any other currency: spend it foolishly and you'll only ruin yourself. Only if you learn to invest your pain intelligently can you expect returns on it over the long run.

Ask the person who gave you the form what the information is needed for. If you don't get a satisfactory answer, don't fill it out.

Are you looking for something functional or decorative?

That's pretty silly. The only time punches to the head are 'too easy to score with' is when you've told your students not to throw punches to the head, and nobody learns how to defend against them. If someone told me that I'd be tempted up and leave right there, and I have a taekwondo background. Emphasizing kicks is one thing, but telling your students that head punches are frowned on risks crippling their ability to deal with them.

In the meantime, avoiding overambition and setting your mind on incremental goals will help you get there. Right now it seems to me that you're jumping from one grand castle in the air to another: are martial artists noble? Why do people learn martial arts? Should I found my own style of martial arts? Try thinking about, say, how to improve your roundhouse kick and I suspect it will bear more fruit

Reaching black belt level is where 'advanced training' is typically understood to start.