GeoGiant

Hmmmm, maybe someone can tell me if they think what I'm intending to is cross-training or may be frown upon. I'm a 2nd Gup brown belt 6 months from 1st Gup brown. I love my dojo but over the past 2 years we went from once or twice a week semi to heavy contact sparring to light sparring, maybe, once a month. Right now the dojo is in a cycle where many of students don't want to train to fight and pushing them to fight, pushes them out the door so I get why my instructor has toned it down. Usually I train 4 times a week. I'm thinking about joining a kick boxing or mma gym so i can get involved in some contact. I'd drop one or two training sessions at my dojo and train to fight. Both places I'm looking into are gyms, not dojos. I'm very nervous about how my instructor will take this. I don't think he would make me choose but it may him feel..... bad. Im not sure bad is the right word. First, by joining a fighting gym is that the same as joining another dojo? How would you react if your student did what I'm thinking about doing?

I think i would report the incidents to the police. In the event that you must use force you will have established a background for any potential court case.

Sounds like your on the right track! I like the P-90X workouts. As for advice... don't over do it! Most of weight based training (chest & back or back & shoulders) run you through a series of exercises and then the exercises repeat. It will take you a few times but you will eventually figure out the number of reps that works for you. Example - chest and back workout is standard push-ups, over hand wide grip pull ups, military push ups, underhand wide pull ups, wide push ups, close grip overhand pull ups, diamond push ups, close grip underhand pull up... go back to the second exercise then first, then fourth, then third... You want to work but you really need to pace yourself or your burnt out by the second round.

Stuff happens, don't sweat it.

Ouch!!! That is all i can say.... ouch!!!

I hurt myself AGAIN and thought I'd share. Last few months I've really worked on conditioning and tracking what I'm eating. Well, push-ups have always been tough for me so I decided I was going to do push-ups everyday until I could do 100 without stopping. When I started it took me 5 sets to get to 100. After a several weeks I was getting close to knocking out 100 with 2 sets. My first set was 55 to 65, then 45 sec rest and I'd knockout the rest and continue if possible after 100. It happened last week... sore elbow. It looks like I aggravated a tendon in my elbow, sigh.

Wow that is horrible. I wish I could offer more but I keep thinking medication. I'm the type of person that doesn't take aspirin when I get a headache but meds sound like the only option.

Nice! Look at you!

Well said.

I don't see a problem with telling a student that they failed. I understand Harlan's point of view but I think, at least athletically, we've moved to an everyone gets a trophy mentality. I don't want to sound like a drill instructor but trying hard shouldn't automatically equate to achievement. Some people / kids are athletically superior and some people / kids are academically superior. For some reason society seems to allow everyone gets a ribbon for athletic based activities but we don't have a problem sorting kids according to academics.

Some excellent food for thought. Thanks everyone. I think I will try kicking faster while using some of your suggestions if I get caught.

Better option. Third option: shift your torso such that you're squared up to your opponent (that is to say, both of your shoulders are facing him/her). Then, commit all of your weight forward towards the grabbed leg. You'll break the grab and be pretty close to your opponent, which can catch them off guard. Good advice!

Nice! I'm glad you enjoy the training. I have been at my dojo for a few years now and I've noticed that my instructor loses a lot of students because we train hard. I had been working with one person for 6 months to increase their endurance and strength. One day this person quit showing up. When I asked my instructor where they were, he told me they got hit and didn't like it...... its a Karate class!$%@&!

Ok, long story short. I'm tall with long legs and limber hip joints so it is very easy for me to generate a lot of power when I throw a roundhouse kick. We have a second degree BB at my dojo that insists on trying to grab my leg when we spar... again we are sparring, not fighting in a ring. Option 1, which I'm not even considering, I could kick hard enough that grabbing my leg isn't an option (keep in mind my foot has already toughed his ribs or head before he grabs my leg). Option 2, grab his gi, pull him close and punch him. What do you guys/gals think? Does anybody else do anything different to combat leg grabs without hurting the other person? For the record, bringing my other foot up to kick him in the chest is not an option... I'm 39 years old!

Good idea. Push ups are the main reason i wanted to ditch the boxing gloves. Even with strong wrists its hard to do a good push up wearing boxing gloves.

I'm not shy. At times I'm sure people wished I'd shut up. Seriously, I wouldn't have a problem with a shy instructor was long as they weren't shy about instructing.

I think this may be the way to go for me at least until i see how my hands and wrists react. The last thing i need is a jammed wrist or other injury that will slow me down.

I get together with another guy twice a week and do a cardio type class. Push ups, sit ups, squats, running, etc. I usually wear heavy boxing gloves when we work out but the gloves are hard to get off and on when I'm sweaty so this week I decided to ditch the gloves and wraps when we worked punching drills on the mitts. I loved it! It felt so odd to punch without at least wraps. We do a lot of knuckle push ups and similar exercises so my wrists are fairly strong. So I'm thinking about ditching the gloves and wraps for mitt / bag work. Any thoughts? I will have to wear something to protect my knuckles... maybe a work glove?

Way to go still kicking!

The Deer Hunter or Goodfellas.

Everything I've read in this thread sounds... ummm not so appetizing but I'm not much of a food guy. I don't like shopping for food, cooking it, or cleaning up after. To be honest I could take pills not eat and I'd be fine with that.

Eeeeck! I was 36 when I started. If I was too old nobody told me

Congratulations!

For me, this statement sums it up. I would have been very receptive to hearing why my art would aid my training at his dojo. Why would he think that it would turn me on to hear that I've been wasting my time training? What was even more annoying was that I was talking to the instructor who is a guy in his late 30s early 40s and he was indirectly insulting my instructor who is a Grandmaster... has operated his dojo since the 70's. Right now, I train with guys that have worked out with my instructor for almost 20 years, some local cops and security guys. I was personally offended on many levels. I would never tell anyone not to train with this person nor I have/would I share my experience with others. If someone approached me with a MA interest I would tell them positives of my dojo. Trashing others is never a good idea.

I wish I could say that I was shocked. I wanted to cross train in another style and there is a MA studio not far from my house so I thought I'd check it out. This MA studio offered a few different styles that I was interested in. I emailed the instructor and asked if i could come in and check out a class. The instructor offered me a free class. I went to the class and enjoyed it. I met with the instructor after the class and he proceeded to tell my current style (Tang Soo Do) was a waste of time, blah, blah, blah. I was shocked and offended. I thanked him for letting me take a class and I never went back.