Kuma

You can tell by observing a lot of individuals whether they're actually serious or not. The majority just want to squawk like a rooster and act as if they want to fight but their body language says otherwise. If I'm speaking with someone though and you can see them almost reaching that "fight or flight" mentality (clenching their fists, posturing up, breathing heavily, pupils dilating, trembling a bit) I personally think it's better to be PROactive than REactive in that situation. I've seen people get like that only to be snatched up by the lapels by someone I work with and shaken a bit then you see them suddenly lose their courage. Whereas if we kept with our normal ways, he/she would be fighting us by then.

While I'm no Bruce Lee worshipper, I do have to give him credit. When he had that fight with Wong Jack Man, he had only his Wing Chun training up to that point. I think during that fight he realized there was something missing from his training (what we know now as "aliveness"). Also there was probably an instance or two where he got himself into a situation and realized he didn't know what to do from there. You can tell that fight had a big influence on him, because that's when his whole mindset changes and he begins his construction of Jeet Kune Do.

Press up is a push up, just a different term in the UK.

Best way to really get used to them is once you roll out of bed, crank em out. Eventually it's a good part of your morning routine. I do seiken pushups every day now thanks to doing that.

I always thought I knew about koshi too until I ended up training with one of my sempais who had a godan in Shorin Ryu under Shinzato Sensei. Learning under my sempai really opened up the world for me once I realized how much you could really do with hip power alone.

Kihon workout as soon as I got out of work (similar to the above one, but more abbreviated) then hit up the gym. Bottom position squats, quarter squats, trap bar deadlifts, glute ham raises, and finished it all off by carrying a 120ish # sandbag for a 1/8 mile.

Same. I also learned how invaluable Sanchin kata really is for every karateka.

Bastich - The nice thing about that kick too is it doesn't take a lot of flexibility and warming up to use, and it's effective. bushido_man - We're taught the knee as well, but PPCT allows low kicks so we can use them if able. That was the first time I ever got to use a low kick, but I've knee striked my fair share of thighs. Guess I get lucky on occasion working the night shift in the projects

You can't get much cooler than this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi7OPs16Njk&feature=player_embedded

Not at all WNM. He was posturing and threatening to " us up" and since our physical presence and verbal commands weren't working, we were then allowed to go to the next stage on the force continuum. Technically the low kick to the thigh is considered a "nerve strike" since it doesn't cause any lasting damage and can incapacitate them if you hit the peroneal nerve just right. The report was accepted and they had no problem with it.

Kicks and knees can be pretty devastating weapons, but outside the ring they tend to be below the waist. Basic law enforcement defensive tactics teaches us cops the low kick (roundhouse kick to the outer thigh). Most guys don't train it much beyond that, but being an "in your face" kind of sparrer I like it a lot. Last Saturday I actually got to use it for the first time on the job. We had a guy get chased out of a local bar for being drunk and belligerent, we sent him home, and he ended up popping back up in our territory causing trouble again. He was a pretty decent sized guy (around 240), overweight but still willing to put up a fight. My partner on the wagon kept him distracted, I got into range, and WHAM dropped a hard one right on his thigh. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. A half-minute of scuffling on the ground and he was handcuffed. Only downside of using that kick that night was when we got him to the jail his leg was so cramped up he couldn't walk so we had to drag the guy inside. All dead weight too, so not a lot of fun. But yes, kicks can be very useful. A good scoop kick to the shin, a low side kick to the outside of the knee, a hard knee to the thigh, a crushing stomp to the fragile bones of the foot, and even your good ole snap kick to the buddies are all good, effective techniques.

Last night was my night off (I work midnights, so usually my "evening" is 8am in the morning) so usually I stay up so it doesn't affect my sleep schedule. It's technically a day off for me right now, but since I've missed a few workouts due to court and overtime I decided what the heck, let's do this. So while I watched TV, I did the following: **Warm-up (alternating jumping jacks, running in place, seiken pushups) **Joint rotations and stretching **Tsuki waza and uke waza from Sanchin stance (10 slow, 30 fast, many different techniques) **Geri waza from zenkutsu or kiba (10 slow, 20 fast, again many different kicks) **Renraku waza (from the simple oi tsuki to a few different techniques in each set, each about 10-20 times) **Sanchin kata - 5 repetitions **Elevated seiken pushups, situps, squats **Neko ashi dachi hold for time, left and right **Stretching

I picked up boxing when I was younger as I'm more of a solo sport kind of guy. They didn't have too many boxing tournaments around, but they did have a kickboxing club that fought often. So I went there, learned a basic front, side, and roundhouse kick, learned how to clinch and knee, and learned how to check a kick all within about 20 minutes. I went in, fought, beat the guy, and thought "hey that was fun." I realized I needed some kicking though so I looked around where I was at and found some karate (Goju Ryu). I then caught the MMA bug (though not quite as bad in 2000 as it is now) and wanted to try some NHB matches. Eventually decided it wasn't for me, dabbled around a bit, and eventually got back to karate (Kyokushin). I used to be a "let's spar all the time, only losers do kata" kind of guy, much like a lot of the younger generation is now (where if you don't study the standard cocktail of BJJ+Muay Thai that's fashionable then you're not really a martial artist). I got to a point where I did an entire 180 and now I'm a very traditional minded guy. I still love to spar and get it on (good thing too, cause in Kyokushin, we love that stuff) but I enjoy doing kata frequently now, work on my kihon, like ippon/sanbon kumite, and even meditate. Go figure.

The Texas Rangers always go for the leader. Can't hurt to do the same "One riot, one Ranger!"

I'm ticked I missed the Viking vs. Samurai one. I need to find it now.

It's required for belt testing once you start hitting around 5th kyu as well for us. There's a big emphasis on it test-wise, and also in knockdown tournaments you'll usually be expected to do some breaking as well in the big ones. I think the Japanese Kyokushin karateka are the biggest into it, with the others being so-so to little if any for the majority.

I'd say right. Here's my reasoning: (1) Definitely the oldest of all the martial arts. (2) Virtually every culture has some form of wrestling in one way, shape, or form. (3) It's been used throughout the ages (and still in this day and age) as training for military members.

Very cool! It has two of my favorite karateka in there too: Morio Higaonna and Shinyu Gushi.

I was Meibukan Goju Ryu, but not anymore as it's virtually impossible to find anywhere around where I live. Unfortunate, as I truly enjoyed it.

I kick with both, as I feel the shin is more powerful for gedan and chudan roundhouse kicks. However, I still prefer the instep for high kicks, but that's more personal preference than anything. I like to crush through the legs and torso, but I want to snap at the head.

No problem at all doing it. However, and this might be just me, I wouldn't really consider it to be "supplementing" Goju Ryu. It's very different so in essence you're not really supplementing so much as studying another art to compensate for a weakness. Supplementing to me would be training in something that you can directly transfer into your current training (such as another hard style karate or even aikijutsu/jujutsu for joint locks and the like that you're more likely to find in Goju). Still, it's good to do. It's a bit early for you to do so IMO but if you want to, by all means.

It's definitely best to have just one universal stance. I tend to kick and punch from the same stance, although if my opponent's defense is poor or if they're just lacking in power I will square more up on them for more power.

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Mostly I think just specific tournaments and the like are outlawed, not the actual martial art itself. In a country where you can own a bazooka but not use it, I don't foresee any MA being illegal.

Interesting to see all those differences in Capoeira. I know I attended a few classes in SoCal with a friend of mine who was very good with it and I remember learning a side kick called "chappa" or something like it. I guess it has many of its own variations just like karate.