JohnC

Sounds like an appropriate approach to me

On the mark Tg. B96 if you focus on how things feel, especially complete encounters / a complete sparring, rather than trying to visualize / look for separate moves you'll get to mushin. As Tg points out, within mushin you really won't recollect what you did very well. More the action intiates and the other fellow hits the ground. If you're still picking out specific bits of the fight, then odds are good you're still in the 'combinations' stage of things. No dis-respect intended, no mysticism implied, just an observation. Glad to hear you emerged safe from the altercation Be careful out there, my friend.

One of the things it does have is a general statistical breakdown of what throws win in competition. As to the technical section, imo, there are better books available. It does have a small section on Sambo which is interesting to contrast. The self-defense section I was not impressed by. Bottom line - Putin didn't write it, more he put his name on it for marketing reasons (something he has said in print). In general it's a fun read of the basics but, imo, not worth paying retail for. My two cents.

B96, When you are contemplating (as opposed to doing) your techniques / fighting do you visualize the moves or 'feel' them?

Yep, prone is a position just like round is a shape

In general I'd offer you get the behavior you tolerate. For people to act in these ways there must be at least tacit approval by the group (i.e. why aren't these types of folks banned for life ?). To pick on B96 , the idea of 'excitement', 'adrenal rush' or 'competitive strategy' to excuse lack of consideration, lack of control and / or self-discipline (there's that word again ) is an example of tacit approval, imo. The nibble effect of the excusing of these behaviors is what has led us to the current environment. If that's what folks want, fine, as I am only one of many. If that's what folks want, then I've voted with my feet. I don't compete and I don't go to watch (except when doing research on current state of things (i.e. once every couple of years)). I see the behavior. Regardless of how wide spread, I don't have to like it..... and I don't.

I think it's critical to understand terms here and training objectives. First off there's a difference between 'strength' training and the broader term 'resistance' training. A real problem is that folks try to make a one answer fits all do the work ..... and it won't. The purpose of strength training is to build "strength" not endurance, not aerobic capacity, etc. There are other forms of training that do a much better job building those things. If your objective is to build strength, the adaptation response must be triggered or you will not adapt to the newer / heavier work load. To trigger the adapation response, you must work above 80% of your maximum. In weight training this translates to roughly 4 - 6 reps. If you can do more than 8 reps with the weight, feel free, you may sweat a lot, feel tired, etc. but the odds are great that you won't get much stronger. For general strength training (i.e. weight lifting) lift until you can do 8 reps in a set then increase weight until you can do no less than 3 reps and repeat the cycle. NO sports science research supports the need to do more than one set per exercise (which is why circuit training was developed). Once the adapatation response has been triggered then it is triggered, no extra sets will change that or do more. If you feel the uncontrollable urge to do mulitple sets then I'd suggest you do multiple circuits all the way through not multiple sets at each exercise. Within periodization, you should do a serious strength training segment for roughly 6 - 9 weeks and give your muscles at least 48 hours to recover between sessions (that is a maximum of 3 workouts per week and a minimum of 2. This is dependant upon factors such as age, maturity of the athlete (with regards athletic training), baseline, etc. The secret is intensity not reps. Most folks do not ever work at the necessary intensity to make serious gains happen. Take a week or two to baseline, then make sure you work with intensity (although this may vary at each workout, the idea is work hard, regardless of the poundage you happen to be pushing that day) in each workout. At the end of 9 weeks you should show gains of around 1/4 to 1/3 of baseline (e.g. if you start at 100 lbs, at the end of the cycle you should be pushing 125 - 135 lbs). At the end of a cycle then move to a maintenance routine for 6 - 9 weeks, don't keep trying to build, and let your body fully recover from the demands of the segment. In addition when working at these intensities injury probability goes up significantly, so attention to correct form and full range of motion is critical (that means don't macho, cut the weight until you can do a full range of motion with control. Make sure you are also doing exercises to strengthen the stablizer muscles as well as the big mover groups.) Try to make sure you do good bio-mechanics and don't put your body in 'twisted' positions. For example, when doing a lat pull down use the thumb over instead of thumb under grip, as the over grip doesn't force your wrists into awkward positions as you pull the bar down. A qualified coach (not 'personal trainer') should help you if possible until you learn how to exercise correctly. Lastly, in general, work big muscles first and then small muscles. Focus on building core strength and then move to limb strength. For sport specific training (i.e. what muscles are used for Karate), you can weight train using a cable machine or resistance bands, so that you can do specific punching / kicking motions against resistance. Start REALLY low on the weight and work up. Due to the biomechanics of these moves, the muscles pushing the work loads range from tiny to massive. Be sure to do strict technique and full range of motion. The limiter is the tiny muscles. If you push too much resistance (even if it's easy for the massive ones) you'll tear muscles and be out of training til they heal. Listen to your body, if you feel specific pain, STOP. Additionally, if you feel soreness past 24 hours of recovery, pay attention, as you may be pushing too much weight and/or overtraining. If you want to build endurance then doing training using resistance bands is more appropriate. Simply do your moves using the bands, the extra resistance will help you build endurance. If you use wrist / ankle weights do the moves slowly so that you don't hyper extend joints. This tool is really more strength oriented than endurance oriented. Make sure you keep a log of your progress. If you don't see significant progress from baseline, week by week, then the training plan isn't working and needs to be modified. Contrary to what most folks do, the objective of a training plan is to get serious improvement over a relatively short time frame. Then build on that to get radical improvement over a long time frame. Most folks don't measure progess and so settle for much less than is possible and, in some cases, no real progress at all. Bottom line is each training objective has an appropriate tool that optimizes the training. A coach adds value by knowing all the stuff that's available and being able to customize the training plan to the individual and to the sport. The one size fits all approach usually involves a lot of sweat and energy but shows little results. The above is results oriented. Hope it helps.

Bottom line, go with boxing style workouts (i.e. physcial training, sparring, etc). Biggest problem for most full contact guys is they don't come to the ring in anywhere near good enough condition. "Complete Kickboxing" by Martina Sprague and Keith Livingston is a good all around fighters guide (in addition to the usual stuff, it covers things like fight / competition strategies, ring generalship, dealing with nerves, etc). Coupled with one of the 'get fit to fight' kind of books (e.g. Complete Conditioning for Martial Arts by Sean Cochran), you should have a pretty good platform to begin training. Customize as you see fit. Hope this helps

Without getting all mystical here, mushin is not simply having internalized combinations. It's a completely different approach and takes your game to a whole nother level. And there are some things that cannot be taught, they can only be learned. All the teacher can do is point the way. (Glad to get my metaphysics done for the day but I'm not being facetious with the above guys, believe me )

I'd offer that mushin, mind like the moon in water, etc doesn't come from knowing a lot of moves or combinations or from being able to more quickly do threat analysis (essentially left brain approaches) but from being able to stay in the moment / flow / rhythmn of the dance (essentially a right brain approach). In fact many of the traditional ways used to build mushin operationally are techniques to move thinking from the left brain to the right. Also one of the reasons westerners (whose current culture is so heavily left brained focused) have so hard a time with achieving this state, imo.

Had written a really thoughtful reply only to have the forum trash it due to its silly timeout rules. So, please forgive the terseness below, as I'm not going to take the time to rewrite all of it. WNM, Playing at sparring, imo, is one of the attributes of a McD. Another is lack of discipline amongst its students. Inattention to detail in personal appearance and not observing common courtesy (not to say formal protocols), to me, are outward signs of lack of self-discipline. I wrote 'majority' not 'all'. As to "quality of training", I partially agree if the only objective is to train technique (jitsu). However, traditional MA always had a larger scope than jitsu in that it also was supposed to address development of character (do). Are you saying that the study of the way is no longer appropriate in the dojo? Tiger, I agree. I started training back in the early 60's. I didn't encounter these kinds of 'dojos' until the late 80's / early 90's. WNM, I think the point is that traditionally discipline / protocol was expected, however enforced, and I agree that its intensity is typically Japanese and that Americans usually have trouble with it , even when encountered in the American military, as Tallgeese brought up. Standing in for Joe for a moment, both when I was teaching children and now when I talk with parents, parents continually bring up that a main driver for putting their kids in MA (instead of soccer or tennis) is so that they will learn discipline and values. This expectation is being met less and less as instructors basically say "it's not my job". Back in the day, traditional MA didn't promote past shodan (1st degree black belt) based upon technical prowess alone. Character, citizenship, moral behavior, etc were also considered, even if one had a wonderful spinning back kick. This operational requirement of DO in addition to JITSU is one thing that made MA study different from doing boxing, wrestling, etc. and one of the reasons I started and have continued to study MA almost all my life. To echo Tiger, have we come to the point that the only reason to study MA and the only thing taught in MA is the HOW to beat up your neighbor and never the WHY you should refrain from doing so? Your thoughts?

Full employment and world peace Failing that, honestly as an old man I can't think of a better gift then to be with my family and share happiness and love. Perhaps I'm being egotistical but in our house there is consistently much laughter, singing and shared good feeling. This is a joy I wouldn't trade for gold. I offer this sentiment to all: May your world be a place of casual kindness, Of people nice to know. May there be a warmth of spirit, Like coals of a fire aglow. And on a frosty morning, As a bright sun rises in the east, May joy and love surround you and your world be filled with peace. Best wishes to all.

Tallgeese, In principle I agree, however I think you assume a rigorous training environment. Does your idea still hold if the student is in a dojo that never requires mastery to be promoted and plays at sparring or doesn't spar at all (e.g. the McDojo approach, which I'd argue is now the majority approach (unfortunately))?

Perhaps this can be generalized a bit by asking a slightly different question: An aspect of MA training is the development of self-discipline in the student. Many of the protocols in traditional MA have this as an operational goal. Now that such approaches are considered passe or politically incorrect, how do you teach self-discipline to your students? Or, have you simply removed it as an operational goal putting the development burden fully on the student instead?

Try Harbor Freight Tools instead. Price is roughly 1/2 of Sports Authority, etc when on special (i.e. $6 vs. $12 per pack). I use them on my weight floor and as a little extra padding under my folding mats. As Tallgeese says they aren't real strong but do provide at least some cushion. As they're relatively cheap, they're fairly easy to replace if torn, smushed (a technical term that ), or wear out. Hope this helps.

I'm far more cynical. The best way to prepare to win a martial arts competition is to understand the rules and what must be done within those rules to win. One only need look at Olympic TKD competition or modern tournament kata to see this approach in action.

Short answer is, in my opinion, yes, things have changed that much. Unfortunately.

B96, To echo Beast's comment, I think that brings up a more general point, most folks think of these attacks as being spur-of-the-moment or random. This is not borne out by studies. Instead, studies show that victims are targetted, even if it is as a target of opportunity and, in many cases, the perp will engage in one or more "testing" behaviors to see how good a target you are. If you 'pass' then he attacks. If you 'fail' he moves on to find a better potential victim. The attacker is not in the game to get his head handed to him but to hand you your's. Hence, the signalling " I AM NOT PREY " approach to SD.

You might take a look at: "Aikido, Exercises for Teaching and Training" by CM Shifflett.

At least you're an honest man

Too funny

Traymond, Out of curiousity why would you want to lift 'minor' weights for an hour?

Interesting wording. I'd observe tbat, by definition, a self defense situation presumes the OTHER fellow is the attacker and what you would like / dislike hasn't been considered in the decision. Thus, whether YOU don't want to hurt someone else, deal with aftermath issues, etc is somewhat irrelevant. Long-winded way of saying "You don't argue philosophy with a man who has a .45 pointed at your head. You take him out and, if he survives, then you discuss the motivations of his improper behavior." Thus, striving for one punch one kill capability makes operational sense, even if unachievable in all cases, as it limits the operational risk one has in the defense situation. This doesn't imply that one must always use this capability, just that one should strive to have the capability. My two cents.

For something prepackaged, you might want to go to Menshealth.com and do a search on "the tar heels workout". It's a pretty good all-around core workout using a medicine ball (if you don't have one, a thick phone book will work or a sturdy jug of water or .....). The workout is actually more difficult than it looks at first pass. As comment, if you think about training motion not muscle, you can usually come up with some way to do resistance training. For example, a pushup is really training the push away from you motion, a chin up the pull myself up motion, a dip the push myself up motion, a squat lift the push something up motion and so on. Simply be creative in adding any kind of resistance (body, bands, balls, bars, bells, books, etc ) to the motion and you're training Hope this helps.

That's the approach I use also. I teach a particular technique using a simple application and then continue with the technique but change applications or add combinations to keep things interesting. Thus, the student keeps 80% of the movements the same (the technique) and only has to change 20% (the lead in).