MasterPain

Very light sparring is great for trying new things. It allows you to try things out without fear of pain. That is valuable. I've done a lot of angle drills, what most call one steps, but always with the idea that later they would be used in a live match. The Dog Brothers have a saying, "If you see it taught, you see it fought." I stand by that. Now there needs to be some common sense, here. Hard boxing should mean wrapping your hands and using big gloves. Tuite and Aiki type throws should be done with enough caution to not destroy your partner's joints. Groin kicks should be pulled and thown about half speed. Goggles should be worn when training finger jabs against an armed attacker. Fencing masks or cage headgear should be worn when someone is swinging a stick at you. Good shinguards are a great asset for muay Thai. No one should be injured, if everyone uses common sense. Slow, easy, light contact is great for learning and developing technique. Most sparring should be fairly light. But harder contact keeps us honest. Therefore it also improves technique. Here's a thought. If you never hit hard, then making contact at all becomes viewed as success. (like in point sparring) So you develop the skill of punching at full extension with no hip torque in a quick manner, making contact before anyone can make contact with you. You become very skilled at doing so, and become confident in your fighting prowess.....What you've actually done is trained yourself to be less effective than untrained teenagers in backyard fight clubs. Now let's look at those teenagers in backyard fight clubs. They have no real technique. They're trying to copy the UFC fighters. They could do this stuff for 5 years and not be as good as someone with a year in a decent MMA gym. But, they have learned to be tough, if they manage not to be seriously injuried by one of the other numpties. (I like that word, thanks, UK.) They also have some understanding of res ipsa loquitur, and will pay attention to the guy with a year of training after he beats them up. I doubt that could be said of the no hard contact crowd, as they do not give the res a chance to loquitur.

There is truth in that insofar as beginners can easily be made gunshy. It's also hard to use new things under heavy pressure. But I firmly believe that I could walk through anyone that has never sparred over 50 percent power.

Some good points, Drew. I made a short video on this subject. Bear in mind, when possible, escape is better, but if you have your kids or someone else that can't run depending on you, or otherwise can't run away- perhaps you're a LEO- you may need to stay and defend yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JCblFSVu58 I would look into some of Paul Vunak's stuff. He has some excellent material.

Redirect, redirect, redirect. More on this when I get home.

Back on topic, I'll do the FMA, you take the Muay Thai, Alex can do BJJ, Dr. Steve can do the Aiki. Or should we each make our own full book and compare notes? That seems like the best option to me.

I must inform the Andrews family. If Larry challenges the legitimacy of my throne, there shall be trial by combat.

Doc had pictures of his purple belt student's abdomen after sparring with those. Black and blue, with a bit of white.

Whip cracking? I'll bring the sjambok.

I'm not getting to sleep well tonight. I have to get up in a few hours to put gutter on Sensei Roth's house. Leaky gutters are hazardous to your health. He slipped on ice last winter and hurt himself a bit. Thank goodness for good ukemi.(he's around 80) This is a good read, and needs completion. I suspect I'll be making copies soon. The technical part to follow would differ between each of us, at least after purple or so. Going by the instructor's video from 96 or thereabouts, our grappling has advanced greatly, we've added more FMA. Kata is less of a focus. I have proof that you could do Tensho rather well, though. It's hard to put more than two decades of stuff to paper. I've added angle drills, modified others in my teaching of the art. In the modern age, video is a great format. Though notes can serve as reminders, text is awful to convey technical knowledge. It's hard to decipher my own notes at later dates. I think I'll attempt it anyway.

The political climate of my place of residence is such that I do not endorse candidates on my car. I believe firmly in the 1st amendment, but I also like not having my car vandalized. It's not right, but it's true.

Most of the time, you're right. They usually are not strangers, but those things can and do happen as well.

I actually find this offensive. Why must we as women stifle our creativity or desires about what we have in our cars etc, just to avoid "the evil man." This pattern of thought - that we must subdue ourselves to avoid becoming victims - is wrong and (I would add) induces into women (and men) an attitude of subservience. I understand that women are targeted based upon our gender, and that unfortunately we must be more aware of our surroundings than men, but I refuse to treat myself like a victim. Now, I'm a tomboy, but if I want to wear a slinky shirt, I am going to wear it. To say clothing, or something in our cars "makes us victims," is closely related to victim blaming. You are basically saying that because a women has female "foo-foo" in her car, she is asking to be targeted. That is wrong and very offensive. Women should be aware yes, because it is an unfortunate statistic that more attacks happen to women by men, but that does not mean women are to blame. You are stating with your wording that "feminine" (and I use the word loosely) things equal victims' things. That is not the case. If I were looking for someone to rape, I wouldn't be hanging around the car with the NRA stickers on it. This isn't about blame, it's about thinking from the mindset of a predator and trying to learn to be safer. It is not "wrong" to leave your front door unlocked while you sleep, but it's not smart either.

Actually, the front kick to the shin is pretty good. I like to do it as a person steps in to me. I try to hit while their leg is posted. For takedowns, I really like uchi mata. It leaves me in a good place to attack if it fails.

I was not aware of that particular noodle preparation. I learned something new.

1. Being behind their back. 2.Belly to back suplex. 3.Angry 2nd Grader Kick to Shin Technique 4.Mantis Hooks

Well, I am waiting on new internet service, so I'm at the library watching with no sound. I expect it'll be a few days before I post much more, but I look forward to seeing these when I can hear what I am sure is ridiculus commentary all the way through.

The most important thing though, when killing ninjas, zombies, zombie ninjas, and zombie ninjas armed with warhammers using a plunger and machete, is that you end in the same location in which you began.

This predates Ameri Do Te. Was the machete the one from post of the year?

I learned to take the throat strikes when I was about 12. It's a matter of tension and breath. You can call it chi, ki, or unholy demonic spirits, so long as those things mean proper tension and breath.

Also note that most violence against women is perpetrated by husbands, boyfriends and family members. Hook them up with information about victims advocacy groups and shelters for abused women in your area. If they or someone they know is a victim of domestic violence, they need to be aware of organizations that will help them.

I still say Dan Severn would have snapped Helio in half.

Simply, no. In an all out fight, the guy with 5 years hard training beats the old guy that can't train hard anymore regardless of style. Not in a slow egoless technical sparring match, but in an all out fight, yes. You notice Helio let Royce represent the family, despite likely being technically better. Why? Because he was an old man who had no business in an all out fight.

I refuse to even try to learn to take a groin strike. Although I've heard a great story involving an industrial strength 3 foot long cardboard paper roll. The rest is no big deal. Then again, I think some of our group had some training in Juko Kai.

He didn't do anything I haven't seen before.........He just did it better.

Another goal. Later in the year, I plan to go to the Beat the Crap Out of Cancer event. It's like Relay for Life, except with less running and more hitting each other with sticks. Proceeds go to American Cancer Society.