Synaesthesia

Oh dude, I saw an amazing fight with gatti against another fellow. (It was three fights at the end of which his opponent retired) Unbelievable, I could never have thought that somebody could take so many strong hits to the head and go on eagerly! Those guys would be a nightmare to fight.

As far as I know, the best method to toughen the hands is to punch the heavy sand bag. My fists can take WAY more punishment than when I started.

We use 100% of our brain. Any neurons not in use die. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html While it may be true that we don't reach our full mental potential, the way mental energies go to work to crush cars, shoot lasers is the hard way: scientific progress and technological development. Sorry people, there is no chi shortcut. Only persistence, organzization, hard work and discipline can do it.

Telsun, I have no idea. Perhaps an increase in testosterone levels? Perhaps people trying to rob me one too many times? At any rate, I still have a very nonaggressive personality, perhaps a bit too much so. I still need to work on appearing like too easy a mark. nathanjusko, Although confidence and aggression are indeed totally different, I suspect there is something of a feedback look between both lack of confidence and agression and lack of confidence and non-aggression.

I 100% support building an appropriate degree of aggression. I am both shy, nervous and respectful. Rightfully, the combination is taken by thugs as a sign of weakness. I've paid the price for my own lack of agression. Let the calm, experiences masters say what they will, it's a good thing to be instantly ready to jam that thumb into their eyesocket during the one brief moment when you can.

I know muay thai fighters who take particular pleasure at destroying people who do fancy stuff like guards involving putting hands at useless positions like behind the head.

Shotokanwarrior, It was in a fight against a much smaller S. American or hispanic opponent wasn't it? I think I saw that fight, and I must say, I was impressed. M Coleman is HUGE and was probably a lot more powerful, but he simply could not deal with the powerful leg kicks his opponent threw at him.

I know two people (including my mother) who used to be instructors there. To be totally honest, I don't even want to begin discussing them. I don't want to disrespect them because I haven't heard much about them for years and they might have changed.

There is no god who's going to punish uncaught thieves, expose unseen liars or give compensation to those who played fair. Thus, it should be up to society to elevate those who won't bend to personal whims at the expense of others. The notion that being honorable lowers you is insulting to the selfless price payed by those who live honourably.

But if he had muscles your kicks wouldn't phase him. If you have worked on your kick power and accuracy, you have a tremendous amount of power to deliver with your torso and legs and arms. If you are cool headed and defensively skilled, a couple of solid roundhouses to the syatic nerve can make a very huge guy seriously limp. More to the point, such kicks offer a good tactical way of slowing his charge so you can control the distance. If he's a big guy, you don't want him bearing down on you and entangling you with superior strength. Obviously you can't assume that one kick will take him down, or that he won't try to grab your leg. Low kicks are, however, hard to grab if timed and delivered well. If you can land a strong punch just above the crotch. It can hurt almost as much as a hit to the testacles (also, obviously targest if you can reach them), and the pain really lasts. Also, a small 3/4 inch dowel can be used to poke the ribs. A reasonably strong man who struck a rib could certainly break it. For example, the rib just over the heart under the arm.

It's not the only thing, but I totally disagree. I have not significantly changed my calisthetic routine, but I've done a lot of bagwork. While weights might build up more muscle, the ability to really deliver a clean strike with a lot of power is vastly improved by bags. My punch could be easily 50-80% more powerful now. I'm not significantly stronger, I can't do many more pushups, can't lift much more weight, but I know how to coordinate my muscles much more efficiently. I use both the big bags and the small ones; maybe 15 inches in diameterand a bit taller filled with sand. Those are highly effective, provided the right sort of sand, at toughening the hands, knuckles, wrists and practicing technique.

Learn to cook!

Today I had the not terribly pleasent time of training while my intestines were full. Taking hits hurts more and, exertion with a full stomach caused a hernia not long ago. I am wondering what sort timing I should aim my meals for to avoid this problem.

...from a potato gun?

AndrewGreen, Good god, no need to tell me that. Back in my "totally lazy except for pushups" days, I got swarmed. In the midst of my frantic punches, my shoulder got nicely dislocated to my great chagrin. No sir, I shall not neglect the bag again.

From the ground up, Ah, the nine section chain whip. Difficult weapon, unexpectedly complicated, but very, very dangerous in the hands of a trained person.

I would rather sit around thinking about exercising than exercise and try not to think about the agony of exercising. If you can pay the regular fee, I'll tell you how to get superior results by just sitting around eating nachos.

*ACK* I was in bad form the other day and I really hurt my back with pushups and situps. Where's that tylenol? I'll definitely increase the number of polymetric style pushups I do. I'm not going to try at this point to push past 6x 50, but try to vary up the style of pushups and wear a backpack with maybe 30-50 pounts on calisthetic days. Thanks for the advice. My arms are tingling in anticipatory agony. Hopefully in a few months I'll have some nice punching power to add to my arsenal.

I would in many cases allow people to disrespect me or what I stand for. I do it all the time, sometimes I find they're right! I also allow people to hit me... by not blocking fast enough.

My suggestion: Talk to an administrator. You are under no moral or legal obligation to say who is bothering you, but it might be helpful to make it clear who is causing problems in school. Your choice. But at least make them aware of it, and ask what courses of action are avaible to you. You can be almost certain that they will provide reasources to help peacefully deal with the problem. If you make it clear to the administrators that your intentions are pure, and this kid subsequently puts you in physical danger, obviously you would have to evade or engage as the situation dictates. This kid is probably soft, yes, you could probably knock him down with one of your own slaps, indeed. But bullies are the kind of kid most likely to seek retribution. I don't know how common it is where you live, but I live in Canada, and here swarm beatings are commonplace amongst young people. (Not uncommonly lethal) Almost always it is revenge (over a girl, some previous physical or verbal confrontation), and typically the revenge of a real asshole. Remember, you are not protected by the legal system. There is a very real diffusion of responsibility in such cases. If you decide to teach him a lesson, I'm behind you. If you decide to go to the administration, I'm behind you. The world has neither the energy nor monentary resources to support such scum.

Hooks give you access to targets like behing the jaw, the temple and the ribs. Even if they are slightly less powerful, slightly slower, some circumstances make them the right tool for the getting around the defenses.

I think conditioning in classes is great. I find the that the instructors push me a lot harder, and drive me to push myself harder when I train alone.

Ironberg, "In theory this MIGHT be of some use to the question being posed." As, I think Popper said, humans have evolved to the point where our theories can die in our stead. Imagining scenarios as realistically as possible is perhaps one of the most powerful weapons availible to the human being. If you fail to imagine, the experience of being in a fight will be utterly novel in every way.

I really like the headbutt. My Dad, who's been teaching MA for quite some time, has some very good head work. I should practice head/elbow attacks. That sounds fun.

I have a serious problem with dealing with potential confrontations. I have a definite tendency to be submissive, I don't assert myself, I look away. It's pretty bad and has attracted a lot of attempted robberies. In every case, I either gave them what they wanted or ran. Good idea considering that I only started serious martial arts training under three months ago. Now I am in the classic situation of being half-trained. I had been specifically warned about it, but it still happened. I still act in a very reserved, shy manner. I still avoid being seen looking at potential trouble. I still look like every mugger's dream. So I am left a person with too much internal aggression, and an outward manner that cries "victim" I'd just hate to be caught with my heavy laptop bag. So do I drop the bag and escape, loosing thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of work, or do I hold my ground and risk my life and freedom?