brickshooter

I wonder if he can do the motions without weights. He's already 345 lbs. Slow and low reps can help rebuild the muscle mass around the joints. The only other thing I can think of is that he not lock his joints when executing kicks. Fully extended kicks can wear out his knee caps.

I do squats and deadlifts. Plus both interior and exterior hip flexor machines. Suzanne Summers would be proud. Anyways I try to work 360 degrees around my legs. From my experience, an overall leg workout is better for me at preventing injuries as I age.

This excercise will explain it better than any written explanation from any of us.

IMO, until one is in the brown belt area, it's probably not a good idea to train in different schools of Karate. But there's no etiquette even though most seasoned Karate instructors can recognize not only that youve trained in another style, but he or she can also identify the style. If you insist on continuing in two styles, better to tell the instructor so that he can explain the difference so you won't be confused.

I hope that Wrestling never gets cut. Other than tradition, it's one of the few sports where any country from any parts of the world, regardless of climate/wealth can participate in. It's one of the purest sport of all, requiring almost no equipment. And due to weight classes, size is no importance leaving athleticism and strategy to win.

I was 11 and 3/4 years old. For some odd reasons, the grading instructors asked me to spar for the first time during my yellow to green belt grading. And we weren't allowed to do free sparing until after we get our greens. But I was matched up with my cousin. So we ended up bouncing in circles for 10 minutes straight. Apparently we were being specially graded to see if we can skip a grade and go directly to blue. Suffice to say, we were not.

Karate is just another form of exercise. A reasonable amount is good. Excessive exercise is bad. The benefits and detriment is comparable to any other form of exercise. If you spar excessively, I could see joint issues. If you train at the professional level, I could see heart problems. Like many sports, these are common results of excessive training.

Until TKD gets tossed, I don't ever expect Karate to be added. Imagine trying to explain the difference to a casual spectator. But squash made it? How popular is squash?

I believe that JKD was designed as an MMA. Lee may taught it as a style, but he never said that his was the best way for everyone. And he welcomed different ideas and styles, anticipating changes in JKD to meet individual needs. I recalled that he was so frustrated with people's obsession with JKD as a "style" that he voluntarily close his school down for a while to force his students to go out on their own to open their minds to other martial arts. JKD was supposed to be continuously evolving. Therefore I think that it's ok if the OP wants to look at his style as JKA... or MMA.

Attack: front stance. Defend: all other stance. On guard: no stance. Stay mobile. There is more to this of course. But you're in your beginning stage. So you want to keep it as simple as possible.

In a self-defense situation, there is no one there to tell you to get ready. Very often it starts with the attacker putting his hand on you, whether he's about to throw you to the ground or grabbing you with one hand while he cocks his punching fist. It is at this moment that a well time and painful "chopping" block is useful. One can break the arms at the elbows, apply an armbar, or deliver a rising elbow strike to the throat. And of course, one can also prevent the attacker from innitially laying his hands on you with a "block." We often equate sparring with fighting. And we often make the mistake that a technique that doesn't work in sparing has no place in a real fight.

But, why do we pull our hand behind our ear and THEN start the block when doing a shuto uke? Wouldn't we be hit square in the face by the time the hand retreats to behind our ear? Why do we pull our closed fist towards our ear before performing an ude uke? I have never understood that. It doubles the time it take too do the block. Plus it opens up the guard. That can't be good... Reason 1: You're learning muscle memory. Whenever you perform Shuto Uke (or any other technique) during kihon training, it requires maximum contraction and extension so that your body can "feel" the technique and recall the motion. In application in a real fight, your body will automatically adjust to the timing of the attack. Reacting to a quick strike, you hand will move little but your body will still remember to turn to apply the force. Reason 2: Then there's the attack version of Shuto Uke.

On top of what was said about Karate blocks doubling as arm breaking techniques, etc... The more strong an attack, the less effective a deflection becomes. And at a certain point, one has to get the forearms out there and "block." Get one of those TKD guys and have them throw a head high kick at full power. If you try to deflect it, they'll often go right through your deflections. Anyone see the latest trend in MMA? They're starting to use the spinning wheel kick. Good luck deflecting that monster. It's like trying to deflect a baseball bat. Speaking of which, if your attacker pulls out a baseball bat, you better have either strong forearms or lightning feet.

I'd get some personal training with some of the old guards before they pass away. Gracie, Kanazawa, etc.

You're also likely to face multiple attackers. So it's a good idea to learn to force the issue and drop attacker as soon as possible. BTW, I like sweeping retreating people. It's like a big invitation as people tend to "lean" backwards and leave their leading foot in my path. It's almost as inviting as people dropping their hands.

I hated sparing with my instructor. Always felt that he had an unfair scouting report on me.

Yes. Get your phone. Film the guy. You and him. Then him with others. Then break the film down to a scouting report. List his weakness and habbits. Then drill how you would exploit those weaknesses.

Sure you're doing the kick correctly? Often we think we're doing it right. But our techniques can be pretty awkward performed with our weak side. In other words, have your instructors watch and get their inputs to see if you're not doing something weird that you can't see it.

I prefer the traditional first two knuckle punch & knifehand. This is what I train with daily. I'm sure I won't be able to change my mind in a self-defense situation even though I think that a palm heel & hammer fist may be better.

I know that it's heresy. But I generally don't stretch. During training, I generally do 50-100 low level kicks, then progress to 50-100 midlevel kicks, then to high level kicks. By the time I'm well over 100 kicks, my hips and legs are flexible and warm enough to do high level kicks.

Bunkai is a broad word and have different meanings to different people. They range from basic applications to lethal techniques. Personally I would share the lethal applications to only people I know extremely well regardless of rank. Lets be honest, we don't do comprehensive background checks on students. They can be paroles or wanted criminals or psychotics for all we know. BTW there was an infamous American Mobster hitman in the 60-70s who did study Karate in Japan, and frequently put it to use when he returned to the states. And in Japan, it's well rumored that the Japanese Mob has a high number of Karate practitioners. So that may be how the term Ganster and Karate is associated.

Here is what you do... Get into your defensive stance. Now creep towards your opponent and force him to attack. You benefit because you KNOW he's going to attack. And you force him to attack earlier than he really wants. So go ahead, get into your best defensive stance, and stalk your opponent.

IMO, one of the best ways to unlock throwing techniques in Kata is to perform Kata for an experienced Judoka with no striking experience. Then ask them explain what throws they see. Then ask them to apply such throw. It's a real eye-opener.

Either that or jump over a samurai sword.

IMHO, every single turn in Kata can be use as a throw, whether it is a 90 degree or 180 degree turn. You don't have to wait for the attacker to grab your wrist after an oi zuki. After you punch, grab his collar and execute the throw. (Even if your punch misses). But I wish that an instructor would actually teach it by breaking it down for two-men drills rather than rely solely on the imagination of the student.