Kirves

I got my black belt certificate in Mugei Mumei No Jitsu from Ashida Kim by mail order.

The traditional karateka would win, because he owns a McDojo and is filthy rich, thus he had more money to bribe the judges with.

We weren't being hard on you personally (at least I wasn't). Just saying that "American Karate" can be just about anything. There are lots of frauds in the martial arts business. If a teacher is authorized by some commonly recognized organization or style it is usually safe to bet he knows what he is doing. But sadly, some people go the other way, they fake a history so they don't have to wait a few more years to be the respected teacher he so much wants to be. There are many stories of people who have forged certificates from people long since dead or who never existed, the world is full of "International Organizations" founded by these people, just so they can say to inquiries that "we are authorized by organization Z".

Well, usually the belt isn't getting that dirty, or I'll have to ask what are you doing with it! How long do you wear the same belt anyway? I had my white belt for two months...

Sorry, no it wasn't at you. I begun as mostly agreeing with you, then I went off on a tangent.

If you are interested in seeing some short video clips from the Finnish Hapkido Championship tournament held by the Finnish Tolkido Federation, here are some: http://www.tkalcan.com/tolkido/kuvia/mm/videot/ PS. These are not my clips, I don't have anything to do with them, I just found them and thought someone else might like them too.

Traditionally, the belt isn't supposed to be washed. Even if it gets stains from training, like blood, it's not supposed to be washed. I don't know anyone who washes the belt.

I think the single biggest issue is time and commitment. If you want to win the UFC you have to become a pro. Or train like one anyway! This means 4-8 hours training every day. You can't do this with 8-10 hour career, three children, building/fixing the house, keeping your wife happy and going to see an occasional Seagal movie once in a while. Just not possible. You have to drop school or quit your job to give the dedication needed for UFC stuff. And you have to do it for years before you're better than the Gracies. And if you're 45 before you figure this all out, it's already too late: all the Gracies begun daily training when they were children! How on Earth can you compare a 45 yrs old family man who begun training at 20 and has trained 8 hours a week to a man who is now 35, started at age of 5, trains 8 hours A DAY and was born to a family of handful of training partners and a father and grandfather who were black belt masters to begin with. There never can be a comparison and there even shouldn't be if you see the facts. Now if you say to the 45 years old man who trains 8 hours a week that unless he goes to the ring with the 35 years old, risk his health and livelihood to show that he might beat him, or you think he is a coward - what do you think he thinks? NOT INTERESTED. Period. I just keep wondering why so many people can't see the reason why they won't fight in a cage. Gsus.

On Okinawa, the title 'bushi' didn't have the same meaning it had in Japan. An Okinawan bushi was a respected gentleman, a man people looked up to. He was as known for his scholar work and helping the village as he was for being a fighter. He didn't follow a 'bushido' code, nor did he walk around with swords thinking he's somehow a higher being than the common folk. An excellent book to read is this: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0804820899/ref=pd_sim_books_2/103-7913715-9529456?v=glance&s=books

When you start training, the instructor will include applicaple exercises to the classes. Just make mental notes and do the same stuff at home too. You don't need to train them before you go to the beginners' class.

Usually if you go to a beginners' course, you'll get fit there. If you are really out of shape (like you just woke up from coma or something), basic jogging will do, add some pushups, situps etc.

He'll wake up and smell the coffee when you go to a real dojo for six months and then kick his sweet aft.

C'mon he's no Seagal, he's just an actor. Damon beats Seagal in acting hands down, but then again Damon isn't a 7th dan in anything flashier than washing his hands.

Don't get fixed upon a certain stance. The deep stances are best used when you need their extra power, for example, when you throw or sweep him, or with the finishing technique. When you start up, you should be as mobile as possible, without sacrificing balance.

I tend to disagree. If your instructor truly made everything up last year, he should at least say so on the brochure. Anything else would be misleading - in my opinion anyway. The term 'karate' signifies a long tradition and if you have no ties whatsoever to any karate, you should at least say so if you are teaching karate - even if you call it "american", "mexican" or 'french' for that matter.

When studying in these modern styles with "no roots" you should at least check what are the instructor's credentials. At best, he's a good black belt in a traditional style but wanted to do it differently. At worst, he's a failed blue belt in a traditional style and wanted to boost his ego by starting his own modern style and awarding himself a black belt.

i.e. just as I said. different instructors use different terms as they please. Villabrille called it kali, thus his style is Villabrille Kali. Cabales called it escrima, thus his style is Cabales Serrada Escrima.

http://japanese.miningco.com/bl50kanji3_bushi.htm http://www.shotokai.com/imagenes/kanji/pages/te_gif.htm

The hand is quicker than the eye, many arts (Wing Chun, American Kenpo, Kali, etc.) rely on fast combos to overwhelm the opponents senses. Answer: when you are attacked with too a fast combo, treat it as one big attack (i.e. get out of the way, move to the side or close the gap, or perhaps retreat, but that one must be either the last option or done correctly with something like pendulum step or what fits the situation). Turn the tables on him! And if your gedan mawashi gets blocked every time, you are not setting your kick up properly, keep him busy upstairs so his elbows are not down there to meet your foot.

Pukulan Silat's founder is still alive... Okay, you meant Silat in a more general way, but I just couldn't resist!

Well, the arts are very different, but yes, Kali has LOTS of trapping and Wing Chun is one of the few arts that do this too (to such an extent). That is also the reason why many JKD trapping stuff are a mixture of WC and Kali techniques.

Kali is the term used by people like Dan Inosanto. It is not just a different word for escrima, it's more about style, some styles of FMA call their stylee kali, some styles call their style eskrima with k, other styles call their style escrima with c, etc. If you read books like "Filipino Martial Arts" by Inosanto where dozens of styles are listed, several "old school" styles use Kali too, like Villabrille Kali which is probably one of the best known FMA styles altogether.

[quote="SubmissionFighter"]All good advices here, I'm agree with the NO weight lifting yet... you'll GAIN weight with that kind of training.[/quote] That's old school advice, nowadays people think it's the other way. If you weight train, you gain muscle (yes more weight) but the more you have muscle the higher your maintenance calory need will rise, i.e. the muscle ends up eating the fat for fuel. And if you train with weights but don't compensate by eating more food, you'll lose weight because of the basic rule: you need intake over maintenance line to add weight. Weight training rises your maintenance calory need.

Kali, Escrima and Arnis are all Filipino styles. They all have substyles also. What is common is this: When they were used in real battlefields, they had to produce good fighters fast. That is a reason why weapons are taught early on, as the student might be dead in a year. The people were poor, so the weapon of choice was a rattan stick (grew everywhere). Blade was used when one got his hands on one. These are very "concept" based arts. Instead of teaching "tech A, tech B, ..." they teach attack angles and possible counter angles. Then it doesn't matter what the attack is, as long as you know what angle it is coming from. Also, the improvisation of weapons is a high priority. Use a stick, umbrella, broom, shoe, belt, whatever to give yourself some reach, before resorting to bare hands. Tehcniques remain the same in any case. PS. There are some concepts that modify your techniques for the weapon you are using, like if there's a blade, you can also cut, or if the weapon is bendable (chain, belt, cord, whip) you have some other options. But generally the basics remain the same.

Difference: Kali is a Filipino art, Silat is Indonesian. Kali = Sticks? A common misconception. Kali is as complete a martial art as any. It has lots of different weapons but also a complete empty hand curriculum. What makes it different is that it starts with everything from the start. Many arts begin with empty hand, and wait until you are very good at it before introducing weaponry. Kali on the other hands begins with weapons and empty hand stuff together. Every technique is similar with a stick, with two sticks, or with empty hands. And you may be taught the technique first with sticks, but then you practice it without the sticks too. It makes no difference what kind of a club you are holding in your hands, or if you are just hitting with the hand, when you are skilled in Kali.