Synaesthesia

It's funny how so many guys kick themselves when the girls who were relatively plain in grade nine turn out to be foxes when they grow older. Look for the beauty within.

One of the reasons that humans aren't bruisers is because we weigh in with sharp weapons and projectiles. Speed and agility in war. Brute strength in dominance brawls. Just a thought. I'm not voting for the reasons White Warlock put so well.

I'm curious as to whether hitting the bag in the evening would negate the gains I get from Benching in the morning.

This reminds me of another point that merits mention. For those of us who specialize in run-fu, it is very possible that you will get tackled as you run away. It's something you want to avoid, but very possible. All the more reason to know how to fight on the ground if you have to.

Although grappling can be very unwise in certain circumstances, it stands to reason that controlling weapons, for instance, is easier if you practice manipulating balance and joints. It also seems to me that in drunken fights, KO's might be more likely because the neck muscles don't have such fast reaction. (Not to mention that the average brawler is nowhere near the physical condition of the average MMA competitor.) Just a thought.

I'm almost 100% sure chain whips are prohibited weapons. I've never heard anything about this law that you can't move around with a katana if it's sharpened. That's a new one on me, especially since so many swords are sharpened when you buy them.

Exercise, exercise, exercise. Forget all that about finding the exact right diet. The key is variety and lots of exercise. Trust me, you'll feel better if you're big and muscular than if you're of average size and weak as a veal calf. By the by I'd take a solid woman in good shape over a flabby anorexic any day.

If you can't push UP, practice static resistance as orion said. Don't flop down to the ground. Always let yourself slowly down. I found 4 points very helpful: 1) Regularity. You'll get fewer injuries, make faster gains and keep them if you have a regular routine. The more you cheat yourself (or I myself! ) the more painful it will be to exercise. 2) Technique: Get somebody ELSE to watch you. Are you straight as a board? (troso doesn't dip or arch up.) Are your shoulders level with your torso? Are you breathing?(!) 3) Intensity: Push through the entire length of the pushup. Control the entire way down. Breath. When you can't do any more, it's not necessarily time to call it a day. Your muscles need to replenish resources. 4) Counter balance your front strength. At first it's not a big deal, but as you build power, it your shoulder is increasing danger of being pulled forward out of it's socket.

Not too many variables for me to answer: No. I'd get DESTROYED. Thanks for playing.

And come on, haven't any of you seen the way young teenagers train themselves with knives? Their older peers who've been to jail show them a lot more deadly information than those stoned kids are going to get from here. Yea, some kid might learn how to break somebody's neck, but they already know how to curb stomp somebody to death. Think about it.

Learn from your near misses. They're the easiest lessons in emotional control you can get. Remember then and use the cogntive state as a mental model around which to train your self-control.

That's a good metaphor. People can pick up the subtle hints that the person they're facing may be "huge", or at least a damn sight bigger than they expected.

Not necessarily. There are steep experience differentials. I do however recognize your point, that merely being desperate does not mean you've optimized your fighting style. Fighting to the death, or the focus on mortal combat, fosters the understanding of what that actually means. It means you don't lead with a left hook, but a sword slash. You don't touch gloves, you emerge from darkness to stick the spear in their back.

Dude, those guys go out of their way to be dangerous. Those are cyborgs; TRAINING, ELECTRONIC PERCEPTUAL ENHANCEMENT, MODERN PROTECTIVE GEAR, and GUNS. Ninja vs UFC warrior is a different matter. UFC fighters are athletic warriors, but they are not assasins. He who fights most unfairly, wins. The modern Special ops warrior is so unfair it just isn't any fun.

That's exactly what it's all about. I found my greatest strength gains occur when I really focus my mind on the technique. It allows you to apply greater power when you are really tired.

Although the most pushups I have done in a row is 70, I'm pretty confident I could do more. Let me try right now[, starting off with a fairly wide stance pushup]... Eh, not absolutely perfect form, but close. 73. This is after a workout, so I might be able to beat this by ten or fifteen come sunday. There are other measures, for instance, how to do pyramid endurance pushups. It's an idea I got from Benny "The Jet" Urquadez' book. You do one pushup, stand up, turn around, one pushup, standup turn around and do two and so on up to ten, And so on down to one again. All told it's 200 pushups. The question is how fast you can do them and how much spring you put into pushing into a standing position. As of now, I can't do it too fast, but have never measured myself. It's too late to do them tonight, but I'll give that a shot come sunday evening. Frankly, I don't know how I compare statistically with the general population. But my main concern is "If I had to, could I use that strength in the seconds or moments when I really need it!!?"

GojuRyu Shawn, "None, it's illegal to carry anything in Canada!" Frankly, if this is true, this deserves it's own thread. I have my doubts though. ] I'm aware that self-defense knives are illegal. Fortunately, I don't carry one. I have my utility knife clipped to my pocket, my purely-to-prevent-loss-of-keys kubotan keychain in my other pocket and a bag containing weights that I carry around to strengthen my legs. The sword is just for show, not sd.

But seriously, in the interests of your safety, be very very very very sure that his friends won't jump in. I have a buddy who was knocked out with a baseball bat and stabbed four times while he was unconscious. It was supposed to be just a one on one, but turned into a one on thirty. But like I said: don't be confident, don't be loose and nimble and don't EVER train yourself to be ready to hit back when you get hit. Rather, when you get hurt, cry and fall down sobbing and begging for mercy.

Remember this: When you feel that fear in your stomach, and the heart beats quickly, it means your limbs will be weak, and you'll get easily knocked out. I highly recommend you are really tense going into the fight, when you face your opponent, go into your stance, keep every muscle in your body rigid and squeal like a dolphin. Remember to lock your legs out so that your opponent can use his superior strength and skill to break your legs. You will never run properly again. All in all, don't believe in yourself, and make sure to give us a blow by blow account of your ignominious defeat.

They aren't the finishers people think they are, correct. But how you hit them (steel toed boots? Angle? Power?) how many times you hit them and what other targets you're attacking makes a difference. I agree that just attacking the groin can be a bad idea, just like only attacking the eyes can be a bad move. That doesn't mean that gouging at somebody's eyes while repeatedly kneeing their groin will merely amount to two ineffective techniques. Rember, the groin isn't just the testacles, but the bony part just above. It hurts a lot to get hit there, and is not so well covered by the legs. Groin shots can be made to work. I think they're a good idea for every self defense program because openings do happen, and they don't require a huge amount of physical strength. *one more edit* There is the added benefit of the small but non-negligible chance that you'll prevent a bad person from having kids. As martha Stewart might say "It's a good thing."

Been there. Done that. Many times.............. Hey hey. We are getting accouts of all the violence, but what about those of us who have bad people skills!? Could you give us some tips on how to talk your way out of a fight? When I get nervous, wolves smell sheep's blood. I have very little confidence in my ability to talk my way out of a situation.

I've gotta agree with Muaythaiboxer. Five people who are reasonable accustomed to violence (as many people who will deal out curb stompings are.) are extremely difficult to take down. Unless you are very light on your feet and quick with a blade, I'm betting that you're going to loose if you stick around to fight. (heck, even running's tough, since you're running against the fastest of the group!!) Let's also imagine that the odds of any given person carrying a knife are ten to one, the chances that none of them have a knife are only 60%. With 20 opponents, it's virtually certain that somebody is carrying. Yikes. Multiple determined opponents with weapons are something that very few people could take on, and even then not all the time. There are lots of incidents where one person beats off 5 guys, but I bet I could choose a team of five people off the street who could beat even those very tough individuals.

lol, as I've been taught it, that would all depend on the sort of knife it is. You can be sure that a Canadian Paratrooper's dagger is a stabbing weapon. In my martial art, knife combat heavily involves stabbing and slashing in combination. A kukri is a cutting weapon. Although I wouldn't disqualify it's thick profile's stabbing potential, the angle of the tip isn't optimized for the pupose.

Ok, but I like gimmicks. Ain't nothing wrong with a gimmick. I have a kubotan, and it has substantially more gripping surface area than most pens. I can hit it repeatedly into a wooden post and not loose my grip. Even better, I can't loose the ability to write with it. Granted, the pen has certain a priori legal advantages over a kubotan, so I think it'd be the overall superior choice. (provided the pen was of sufficiently solid construction and appropriate ergonimics) Of course, with the pen, one can also write in the first place. But you knew I was being facetious.

Angela, Although it appears that some doubt has been cast on the thesis that impact conditioning can build stronger bones, impact conditioning remains an important part of many fighter's preperations. Fights often end quickly because we have a natural tendency to want to stop fighting if we aren't used to the pain of being punched in the stomach or kidney, kicked in the leg or solar plexus. It is well known that getting hit, as a part of your training, can toughen you up and better prepare your body for combat. Moderate and regular conditioning is an enormous advantage. Those who condition their body may be regarded as crazy, but only by us softies who fail to see the advantages.