Kirves

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Well, an art is an art and it is not the same as an art. Comparing an Aikidoka to a Kungfu guy is like comparing a flight captain to a ship captain. Two entire different things, you can't have one single system by which you rank each. If we simplify it to the basics (this means that there are lots of exceptions and second opinions, so don't get all heated up if you have a different story): A black belt traditionally (well, it's not a very long tradition but for a few decades anyway) usually means that you have learned all (or at least most) of the basic techniques of the style (all different punches, blocks, kicks, throws, etc.) and usually also been introduced to some basic applications of them each (i.e. how to combine blocks and punches, where the kicks fit in, how to incorporate the throws). After the black belt you start to really dig into how the whole system fits together, you are trained in good use of the basics in all possible situations. Okay, there are exceptions to the above description of what a black belt means, but this is more or less the usually used system. Now, think about an art which has 30 basic techniques. Compare it to an art which has 300 basic techniques. How do you divide and compare them equally? One of the arts teaches 30 individual techniques and then considers you a black belt as you are now ready to dig into full application of them. Other art has to teach you 300 techniques until you can start using them all together. If it takes the '30tech' art three years to get the black belt, then the other art would take 30 years? Not good. Maybe a black belt should mean the student has three years under his belt? Well, the '30tech' art has ample time to teach all its basics, but the '300tech' art would have to quickly rush through all it's basics to fulfill that requirement! Now we have a dilemma, how is it solved? And the answer is: Nobody has the "right" answer. Different schools organize it in different ways. If the '300tech' art wants to hand out black belts in same amount as the '30tech' art, then it has to give black belts to students who don't yet know all the basics. Maybe after 60 techniques? Okay, now we have black belt students in a reasonable number of years. But how can these students teach, if they themselves don't know all the techniques? Again many ways to solve it. One often used way is to have a rule that a teacher must be at least 3rd dan. Or whatever is seen fit. Or give partial licence to 1st degree and full licence at 4th dan. Or give teaching licence to 1st dan, but require higher rank to hand out ranks! These are all "correct" ways to solve the problem and also in use in different organizations. Remember that there are styles where 5th dan is the highest possible. Compare this to arts which have 5th dan as the minimum rank you can start your own dojo! You can't compare them. But the idea stays the same - 1st degree black belt usually knows most of the basics and that is what matters. He is the student who is getting taught how it all fits together according to the style's tactics. And the color ranks below black? Well, compare the '30tech' art to the '300tech' art. Of course it is easier to test if a student knows 10 new techniques than if he knows a 100 new techniques, so the other art will have it's curriculum chipped into more slices. The '30tech' art could be an art with only blocks, punches and kicks. The '300tech' art could be an art with all those, plus throws, grappling, weapons training, etc. Most arts would probably be found somewhere in between. (Notice, I numbered basics, not the whole curriculum of combined techniques). Hope this helps your understanding of the differing ranking systems.

Our karate school uses: new student white 6th kyu blue 5th kyu blue 4th kyu green 3rd kyu green 2nd kyu brown 1st kyu brown black I've also been to an Okinawan style in which you had to earn the white belt too, i.e. new student wore no gi and no belt. After a couple of months you had a white belt test, and if you passed you got to use gi+white belt. After that it was yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black. One kyu rank per color (except dan ranks of course).

There are several aikido styles, teachers and policies, so best you can do is contact the dojo directly and ask the same questions. Some instructors think karate gi is ok, some say get thicker one. Some styles use hakama from brown belt on, some from black belt on, some consider it completely optional.

Well, what you forgot about the list of standup striker's arsenal is footwork and movement. You won't get far with punches and kicks if you can't move right. Same applies to groundwork - learn how to move around and position yourself right when wrestling.

I hate it when I try to block or evade a very aggressive serie of punches.

Wow, you were in for a treat!

Here where I live one of the most common jokes goes like this: "One day, a man who works for the city, walks past a bar." Usually half the people around you are rolling on the floor laughing already. It is common knowledge that anyone who works for the city here, is totally alcoholic and would never pass a bar by.

Yeah. For those grown in the McDojos, think gedan barai is used to block a kick? Well, try this one out and see if you still feel you have useless hands hanging around: 1. Have a partner grab your right wrist with his left hand. 2. Counter his grip by rotating your right hand counter-clockwise until you have the upper hand. Simultaneously start pulling your right hand to your hip (or if he's strong, bring your hip closer to his hand). 3. At the same time you are doing step 2, raise your left hand on your right shoulder. When his left arm (elbow) is straightening from your pull and the new angle (after rotating the hand), strike down to break or dislocate his elbow with your left forearm. Now you have performed gedan barai. He is going down, with his elbow broken. Let's continue and finish him up with a reverse punch. 4. After striking his elbow with your left hand, don't pull your left hand back one inch, but immediately reach forward and grab his garments around his upper arm or shoulder, maybe even neck area. Wherever you get a good grip quickly. When you have secured a strong grip, release your right hand from his wrist and while pulling him towards you forcefully with your left hand ("chambering the left hand to the hip") reverse punch his neck with your right hand. 5. Job well done. Now this is something you learn in the basic course. The most basic self defence application of gedan barai + gyaku tsuki (i.e. low block and reverse punch for those with different terminology). Don't get me started on other applications for it. Now tell me, where did you see the useless hands hanging around? I for one had my hands full!

Hmmmmh.... I thought he meant that the hand should come up to a high guard position instead of down next to the hip. I may be mistaken though... No, because you forgot that the stances also have their use in a fight, not just training. Harmful. If operation A is detrimental to operation B, it means doing A will make your B less good.

American and Okinawan kenpo don't have that much in common, at least nowadays. They are as different as if you went to some other art altogether.

I agree. First of all, the only way you'll ever get fast and explosive is to train it that way. You said it yourself: old habits are hard to break. Train only slow at first and stay slow in the future. Also, if they do it like you said: first slow, then medium, then high speed - that means two thirds were done in perfect form, right? Then one third was working on trying to transfer the form to speed. Hmmm... Where do you train? The only time we pull our hand to the hip is when we are pulling something. That's why you draw the hand to the hip, right? Or are you a student of some McDojo, where you aren't actually taught how the basics are applied? You are not supposed to pull an empty hand to your hip. At least not in the schools I've been to. Again... There is a time and place for every technique. You are not supposed to spar while standing rigidly in a solid stance, why would you do that? Just as you cannot do a fireman's throw while standing on the ball of a single foot (as when kicking certain kicks), you cannot kick certain kicks while standing in a powerful stance. A time and place for everything, remember. I smell McDojo...

It has lots of "kata" (that is, long solo forms), but I wouldn't say it "revolves" around them, it just has them for basic technique practise.

We always use shin blocks. You get used to it but it never really stops hurting. Just get tough enough that when you're outside dojo, your shins are tougher than the opponents. I've seen a streetfight end with the block. A thug begun his attack with a roundhouse kick and the defender blocked it shin-to-shin. The attacker fell to ground in so much pain, he was unable to get up for a long while.

1. Do you use protective gear? If so what? None, but we are encouraged to use groin protection. Sparring without it is permitted at own risk only. 2. How hard contact do you use? Do you KO each other often? Injuries? About 50%? Tough, bruising, but no KOs. Low kicking preferred, lots of thai-style roundhouse kicks, though groin kicks are forbidden. Minor injuries. 3. What rules do you use? Punch the face? Groin? Grabbing? Wrestling? Submissions? No punching to face, no ground fighting unless specified. We seem to use sort of "gentleman's" rules, we are supposed to make sure we don't injure the partner and handle everything with correct sportsmanship. This usually translates as no attacking when partner facing away or totally "off balance/ out of game". 4. Don't forget to mention your style! Genseiryu Karate-do

BJJ and Muay Thai are the quickest ways to "get tough". BJJ would be more advisable as you would learn stuff that would enable you to hand the guys rear end to him on a platter, without you doing serious damage to him (i.e. risking harsh consequences).

No. It means, when you aren't skilled enough, and especially if the opponent is somewhat skilled, he may cut off your timing at the critical moment and you've lost the flow. But as I said, it only happens when your skill isn't up to it. So, what I am saying is this: you won't learn 100% surefire self defence in kenpo within the first year or so because the technical finesse required by kenpo tactics needs lots of training action. It is easier to learn self defence in 6 months on other styles. But when you have 3 years or more under your belt, you're getting to the level of skill where you are capable of staying "in the flow".

American Kenpo uses a footwork similar to many traditional styles like karate. But when traditional karate uses a sort of "one step, one punch" movement, kenpo uses "one step, three punches" movement. When karate tries to shoot with a cannon, kenpo tries to shoot with a machine gun. It has advantages: you can overwhelm the opponent with multiple faster-than-eye strikes to vital targets (eyes, throat, neck, solar plexus and groin being top targets). It has disadvantages too: if you fail to get the initiative and overwhelm the opponent, your strikes will be nothing but weak slashes. You need to get lots of training with accuracy and speed on a real live partner to make it work but it can work well.

I have noticed that too.

Don't believe everything "some pastor" says. There are pastors who say to children "Don't tell your mama what we do here in private, ok?", others say the end of the world is coming and they should all buy Nike sneakers and go to a secluded place and kill themselves.

Well, there aren't kata in WC because kata is a Japanese word but if we're talking about long solo forms, then you are mistaken, WC has them. Several of them, usually consisting of more than hundred movements each. It also has lots of Chi involvement, though as my other post already suggests, they don't try to do magic with it.

Ki/Chi is nothing more than extremely good control of your center of gravity, tension and kinetic sense of your muscles, and knowledge of how your breathing affects them. It's not some heretic magic where you try to shoot lightning bolts from the tips of your fingers! Also, the muscle control (meaning more relaxed muscle mode during normal daily activities) and the focus on full deep breathing for better oxygen supply, are great for long term health and longevity. Don't let superstitious movie and demonstration scams fool you out of what might be extremely good for you.

This is not exactly a "description of Hapkido" but you might want to check it out anyway: http://www.hapkido-info.net/html/interviews.html And this probably more anwers to your question: http://modernhapkido.org/ It has a description page, and it has excellent history page too.

Thank you all!

There are generic magazines like Black Belt, and art centric magazines like Inside Kungfu. Is there a magazine that focuses on all the Korean arts?