Synaesthesia

The other day I seriously reinjurerd my shoulder. If I threw a full power punch, I would probably throw my shoulder out. So as for the topical question, I'd have to, in this case, kick.

I remember a long time agowhen I was a wee little whelp visiting new york, being sternly warned by one of my father's senior students about the martial arts shirt that I was wearing in public. It could, he said, attract unwanted attention. If anything, my main problem is not projecting a sufficiently tough attitude. That's ok as far as I'm concerned, because I go under the radar of most genuinely tough individuals.

Two issues I find very relevant to the impact of running on my (very bad) knees are technique and stretching. Running is a painful activity, and when you get tired, there's a strong tendency to let your legs flop around. It's very important to attend closely to the way that your legs are moving. Make sure your toes aren't pointing out or in and so on. Stretching is closely related, and equally important. Not only will it help you recover more quickly from strenuous runs, it will prevent things like having your kneecaps pulled out of place. I personally find running quite hard on my knees unless I am very careful, so I tend to run up stairs and hills to shorten my running distances.

Is it really so terribly impractical to furiously attack the throat? Maybe it is, I'm no expert. I'll take your word on it I suppose.

*lol*, there's a lot of prominent wushu practitioners who readily employ a very common wushu move to that effect. The chinese military does employ such moves to the best of my knowledge. I saw a training video of a guy who trains chinese military units and that's one of his main attacks. (Body armour and helmets impede the use of many other attacks, so it's a very desirable one.) Wushu is a very diverse group of arts. I don't think it's very... sage to prejudge them all on such terribly tenuous grounds. Don't you agree?

Just a quick note for clarity; I too have a problem with the statement I made. It seems right and it seems wrong to me. In defense of it, I would point out that the legal ramifications are very important. If I panic and over-react, my life could be ruined if I maim or kill somebody with a utility knife. If the perception of the judge has it, I'll get nailed with a criminal record for having a self-defense weapon. The chance that I'll ruin my own life is in many many cases greater than saving my life in the case that no possible alternative to a knife exists in that situation! Basic legal considerations prevent me from carrying a self defense knife, so this is all academic. Percepjitsu and Runfu are my primary modes self-defense. [When Canadians get cornered by physically superior attackers, we have but to wonder about the chances that a police car will happen by.] delta1, John Stuart Mill... *grabs an unread anthology of Mill*

My point is that I am consistently astounded by the lazy and ignorant attitude of school administration with regards to the buildup of violent trends. (Fights, aggressive bullying as opposed to harassing bullying, naescent gang affiliation.) I think it's more properly called Honan Shaolin Wushu. http://www.shaolinwushu.com/

umfamous

In general, so I'm told, people don't have the level of judgement it takes to know when it's necessary to use a knife. The only people who should carry knives are those who have the least defensive need for them (being the most highly trained and physically fit). Those who could most benefit from them are most likely to get into trouble with them and therefore shouldn't bother carrying them. Have I got it right?[/b]

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong." Oscar Wilde

The western personal fighting arts have not contributed at much in the form of direct traditions. This has lead to the misconception that they were somehow less advanced. That's not true, they were very well adapted for their time and place. The only problem is that they didn't maintain a lineage of personal combat as much as warfighting. That being said, the western martial arts are vastly the predominant fighting arts of our world. (The modern assault rifle, the smart bomb, the fission bomb, the hydrogen bomb etc etc etc.)

I'm wondering why the teachers don't think to step in decisively in cases like this. I mean, what kind of idiots wouldn't see a fight coming here? This is not the first time I've seen such incompetence is displayed. A friend of mine was stabbed severely and no action was taken to avoid pointing fingers at racially identifiable groups. Oh yea, I kid you not.

I have heard that tennis players have significantly denser bone in their racket arm. I suspect that the bone itself may be affected by conditioning. Moral: Don't trade shin-to-shin kicks with a professional Muay Thai athlete. But you knew that, right?

I'm not a martial arts expert, nor have I ever been in a fight. That being said I have reservations about the unequivocality of your statement. Professional western soliders who have never been in a gun battle can annihilate hardened gurrillas who have been raised on bloodshed. Colonol Grossman calls this something to the effect of "de-facto vetrans". Psychological preperation can occur without actual fighting. Yes, stress training is important, and yes, there is no real substitute for experience with violence. The realism of modern training methods can, however, provide many of the benefits of such experience without the accompanying danger. I can't pretend to judge the degree to which various factors go into making one person or group better fighters than another. I will say that the contrast between the degree of formal training and combat effectiveness does not necessarily entail that it can't go both ways.

I don't generally listen to music, but I like to open mikemiles.com and watch one of their fight clips between each round of sets. Few things motivate me so well as watching an awesome fighter do their work!

One important fact my brother taught me is that stretching can actually help you generate a lot more power. New muscle cells develop because of microtears in the muscle. Apparently, an effective stretching regimen can produce microtears, and consequently muscle growth. The muscles produced will bulge less and be longer, thus allowing power to be delivered over a long range of joint movement.

You're allowed to kick to the knees? I didn't know that. Thanks for the correction. I'm just suprised they don't try to take out the kneecaps and joints more often! (Maybe they do and I better start renting more fight videos.) Absolutely. Every predatory approach on me (and I come off like a mark all too often..) has been when I'm off my game. I'm tired, sleep-deprived or depressed. Well I'm sure a lot of people don't underestimate them. More to the point, I don't stay in places where people get into fights, so I have a very small sample of experience to speak from. But it does seem to me that bodyshots are underused. That fact alone makes them worth training. And you're absolutely right about the use of combinations. The cool thing about martial arts is that constant practice open a wider reflexive "vocabulary of motion" and so you can predict, open up and abuse more vulnerabilities.

The best way to deal with a streetfight is to be a six-legged cyborg with the ability to rip cars into shreds, run fifty miles an hour and shoot lasers from your eyes.

The jacket + knife, (or my own preference, backpack with a few books in it and a knife) combination has got to rank as my personal favorite. The jacket or back pack can help absorb the force from knives and long, blunt weapons while the knife snakes around offensively. More simply, the bag or jacket can be used to screen and distract the opponent. Since the knife's key strength is that it requires only a very small opening to inflict devastating wounds, this can be made very useful with some practice. The use of skateboards as a weapon is fairly common here, as are knives. I suspect that it is important to be able to block heavy blows at the same time as countering. That's considerably more difficult if you don't have a shield.

I second the comment about starting young. I highly reccomend that you start training hard now and continue all your life. It's more than just being able to fight, (Though if you are in a good gym and work hard, you will rapidly increase in fighting ability.) such a regimine will help all aspects of your life, including measurable increases in intelligence.

The advantages offered by kicks are not fully encapsulated by looking at what goes on in the ring. Hitting at or above the groin, hip joints, knees and stomping feet can be very effective in reducing mobility. Such strikes are not availible in the vast majority competetive fighting. Secondly, on the street you can have steel toed boots which may add some effectiveness. Medieval knights had those long 'elf' spikes on the end of their foot armour. Such embellishments could surely penetrate the heads of unfortunate footmen. I think that body shots are often underestimated, or at least underused. Particularly when hit with a dowel or similar weapon, ribs are far more vulnerable to bare fists than gloved hands.

I was wondering what the definition of "public place" is under Canadian law. I am given to understand that carrying knives is not permitted. Does this mean that those of us who, for instance, ride the bus are not allowed to use knives to defend ourselves? (I have to walk home through areas frequented by robbers.) I've read members of parliment arguing that if you expect a fight, you should call the cops and not carry a knife. I'm sure Canada's social programs will do do a reeeal good job of protecting me should my knee be act up and I can't run...

I don't agree. They at least give you A measure: dealing with adrenaline, pain, faking, blocking, advancing, delivering blows.

I run as a practical matter. Waiting for the bus coming in 15 minutes to take you two miles? Run and be there before the bus. On the sidewalk leading to your house? Run to the front door? Walking three blocks to the video store? Run. This requires remarkably little disclipline and can lay the groundwork for a more rigourous program. The secret of running is that once you are at a certain level, it becomes subjectively easier to sustain long rungs.

No, no, you've got it totally wrong. Martial arts is one area where there is often no right answer, but I can tell you with assurance, that attacking the groin is a damn good tactic. The mistake is stopping there. As for the difficulty of kicking the groin, I have to agree that it can be very tough, especially if the attacker keeps some distance, but in the midst of a struggle, when the attecker tries to overwhelm you, using your hands to attack the testacles can be highly effective at opening other targets or giving yourself room to Evade and Escape.