MasterPain

This is not true. Tai Chi is just like every other martial art. Trained in the proper manner, it can be used effectively. In fact, a quick glance at youtube will show more Tai Chi people trying out their stuff full speed (yeah it's kinda ugly) than most other CMAers. One problem with Tai Chi is that it is marketed as an old person martial art. The other huge problem with Tai Chi is that like 99% of all other TMAs, it's trained improperly for any sort of self defense. We both know what a problem that can be. I read a book, I forget the name, by Sam Sheridan. He said that a Tai Chi teacher he met could hit ridiculously hard. It has value that can translate well to combat, but it's usually practiced as forms only. Forms have value, but are not a fighting system when trained alone. Someone today described my BJJ as looking like Tai Chi. Odd comparison. I end to be slow and controlling, or when Tallgeese is down here, slow and controlled. There is a lot to be said for the Zen mentality. It's great for martial training. I still can't throw fireballs without equipment to do so.

Very impressive. Both the monks for their training and you for missing my point. These guys worked their butts off to be able to do that.

Then do something that doesn't involve chi. Zen is concept having to do with accepting things as they are, and living in the moment without attachment to past, future, or sentiment. Or at least in my limited understanding of Buddhist concepts. It has nothing to do with monk fingers. Want to develop your dantien? Work your abs and maybe do some cardio. Want to knock people down with spirit pressure? Watch Bleach and Dragonball. Tai Chi is a beautiful art, but it's not designed to fight with. Aikijutsu trained PROPERLY has great weapon disarms. All to often it's done with an uke that oversells everything like a bad jobber. Same with sytema. With a good instructor, it could be good. But faith based principles? Come on, what are we talking about? Martial arts or Jonestown? Once again, find something that does not look like a larping cult and DO IT. Or, join a larping cult, and larp like there's no tomorrow. The world ends next year when the planets align and the great Cthulu returns from the abyss anyway. Either way it's better than trying to decide if Grandmaster X of the Purple Dragon Fighting Society selling instructor courses on Youtube is a fraud or not. A year on this forum and you haven't picked a style to train? Had you and a friend started boxing in the backyard, even with no instruction, you would have had some small amount of skill by now.

In all seriousness, pick an art that you do not question the legitimacy of, and start training it.

4/5 ran a mile with my dog

First the major issue, neither GS nor I have said anything against MMA. We are fans of the sport and practice it. I've fought a couple times. We both train for the purpose of self defense skill as well as a hobby. MMA has a great tool bag for self defense. Not everything that's a good idea in the cage is a good idea for EVERY self defense situation, but it's all good for some. There are times when a takedown and control are the best option. Other times footwork, striking and escape are best. Escape in the cage does not exist. In self defense it is a win. But the skill set learned for cage fighting will enable escape. The training methodology for MMA is also great for learning weapons, going from compliant drills to adding resistance to use in sparring. We are not the types who think MMA is junk, it's a huge part of what we do. The minor issue is in training philosophy here. I think that to be good at kicking downed opponents, you need to practice it. I think people who spar with the groin as a target are more adept at landing it. A person can be a great martial artist without practicing those things, and it's just a small portion of training for those who do.

4/4 1/2 hour core training x guard and half guard sweeps 1 mile run

Here it is complete with some elbow dropping goodness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9AKCdG9VvM

As always, I advocate doing a couple mma fights as a reality check. The pressure of having someone try to put you down is something best felt for the first time in a protected environment. This of course only after a couple years of serious training. Training should include MMA rules sparring to be good for self defense anyway. If you don't compete, an occasional harder contact sparring session will suffice, but competition is good to learn to deal with fear. In my opinion, what separates a MMA program from a self defense class is not what's taken away, but what's added. Add in some weapons training and once in a while 2 on 1 sparring. Also, use illegal techniques lightly to add realism. Turtling becomes less of a defense when someone can elbow your spine and the back of your head. I don't understand why everyone puts such a disconnect between MMA and Self-defense. In a street fight people strike, do takedowns, and grapple. Also there are sometimes weapons or multiple attackers. If any decent MMA fighter could easily beat you in a fair fight, you're not doing something right. If you only train for a fair fight, you are more prepared than most people to deal with weapons and multiple attackers, but if that is part of your training, you stand a better chance at survival.

I will agree with you that George St. Pierre is an amazing athlete and an amazing martial artist, his techniques have been geared towards a sports competition. Due to this he is focusing on certain techniques that may not be totally advisable in a combative situation i.e. a double leg takedown if your are not a law enforcement officer. Therefore im not sure that GSP should be involved in the discussion of the combative effectivness of an art. Just my opinion Because GSP suddenly becomes an incompetent fighter when you're allowed to kick him in the groin or gouge his eyes... There are groin strikes and eye gouges in all fighting styles. BJJ, muay thai, judo- they've all got their "deadly" techniques. The difference between these sport styles and other "combat" styles is that the sport ones have shown their versatility. They dont have to rely on a particular technique or set of rules. They've proven to be able to adapt to numerous situations, which is of far greater benefit for combat effectiveness than relying on an eye gouge or groin strike. If you're style relies too heavily on one thing (i.e. if I can kick to the groin I cant win a fight) then you're not going to have much success with it. Interesting you bring up a law enforcement officer- a double leg takedown is one of the best things they could learn. They have to take someone down most of the time to restrain them and arrest them. If you dont know how to sprawl, double leg takedown works easy. Once on the ground on your back, if you dont know jiu jitsu you're in trouble. I know plenty of people in law enforcement- grappling is the best thing they can learn. Sprawls save lives, and double leg takedowns work exceptionally well when someone doesnt want to be arrested. DOUBLE LEG TAKEDOWN IF YOU ARE NOT A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER is what he said i.e. it is not a good idea unless there is a reason to stay and control the situation. Law enforcement has an obligation to stay and control the situation. We would not advise a LEO to use eye gouges except as an absolute last resort. They have very specific levels of escalation and will be held accountable. Also there is a can of mace and a gun on their hip that most of us do not have. Also most of us are not world-class professional athletes and can't fight for 25 minutes straight. Also funny is that our art includes BJJ, Muay Thai, and Judo. We also train the "deadly" parts. Point is, the rules of MMA influence what is trained. Our philosophy is to train good MMA as well as things that are illegal. I included a video of some good stuff from Pride that is illegal in the UFC. If you can honestly say that you think the rules wouldn't make a difference, fine. OK. If you instead decide that our school spends 10 hours a week practicing the Garvin Stomp, I will not bother with further response. Here are some "deadly" "combat" stomps.

It's already happening. People are taking complete newbies, training them for 2 months and throwing them to the wolves. You'll still see the good stuff on TV, but amateur shows have all kinds of people who don't belong there.

You need to make some advertising deals. Anyway, happy april fool's day.

He said he's teaching his kids, so business ethics is not a problem.

I think you have us confused with LARPer ninjas. While our focus is self defense, our school and associates have decent fight records. EDIT: I mean no offense to Larper ninjas, so please don't call Gong Sau.

In a word- no. By definition, proper technique will yeild a powerfull strike. There isnt a person I train with who knows how to throw a proper cut kick and lacks the power behind it. Some of these guys are older (in the 40's range). Thats what proper technique is. Of course they're not hitting as hard in the pros in the room, but they can still hit hard because they've got proper technique, regardless of their size. I am 145 pounds, i am decently strong for my size, but nothing to brag about. I am a 2nd degree brown belt in my system and do not have extremely powerful strikes. What i do have however is an understanding of what targets on the body will yield the greatest amount of trauma for the littlest power, for example eyes, groin, throat. I have meet and sparred with many black belts that do not hit what i would call "hard", but because of the understaning of anatomically weak areas of the body, and with their ability to put strikes together with combination yield great results. Your theory of striking weaker areas of the body to make up for size difference and landing a series of punches in combination to make up for a lack of body mass behind your strikes completely negate all knowledge you may have of generating power from the ground up, hip torque, starting relaxed and tensing at the point of impact, follow through, ect, ect. and of course ect. We have intentionally trained you wrong, as a joke.

Just be sure to throw the chair back out of the ring before the ref sees it.

3/ 29 A little light bag work.

Yeah, what he said. Also protect your face.

Cool video. That was light sparring. I wonder if the style remains the same if it was a fight for food or territory.

I'd put money on Anderson Silva vs any of them. Sure Ali may have been a better straight boxer, but he was never kicked or taken down. He reminds me of Ali actually. But with 6 more legal weapons and a ground game. Same polarizing persona though. I respect Bruce Lee a lot. The problem I have with other people who like Bruce is that they think they should be doing things the way he did. They're missing the point. JKD was Bruce's attempt at putting together an effective mixed martial art. It was meant to evolve. That's why I think the average MMA practicioner is more JKD than most JKD schools.

Ali was a very fast heavyweight, and I'm sure he hit much harder than Lee. But Bruce was most likely faster. I doubt Ali was as fast as Mayweather or De Lahoya either.

My nephew stopped by for help with algebra homework. Before he left I said "check out this variation of a guard pass."

Some grappling focusing on top control mostly. Some gi grappling, wondering why I couldn't move. About 7 rounds of progressively harder MMA with Liverpunch. Phrenologists tell me I am better at avoiding right punches than left hooks and elbows. Scored a couple nice takedowns though. My body tells me to get the redman suit for my birthday and practice kata in it.

Yeah that's out there.

Try things even if you end up tapping more. The ability to lock someone down and stifle their offense is a great skill, but to learn good offense requires risk. There is no shame in tapping to training partners. You probably understand that, and better grapplers sometimes don't allow you the chance for any offense. Breathing is important. A lot of people don't value good breath control enough.