Liver Punch

The week of the wedding I'll be down in the middle of the week. This should allow us 3 full days and nights of whatever we can come up with. Pro wrestling, sumo, pankration, shin kicking, mongolian wrestling (we'd need their official uniform though)

Don't forget "always slap the ears."

I think that this depends on your application. I would assume that the application of these principals to BJJ is in a combative setting. Evade doesn't necessarily change - avoidance or outright running away are your best bet. Not getting hit or grabbed comes in second place. Stun, in any area that striking is allowed, is also pretty much the same. When someone is in my guard, I always start things off with a slap to the ear - it usually buys me that split second of space that's required. Unbalance, assuming you're on bottom is a sweep. If you're on top, you're either simulating, or already have won the unbalance game. Control, for me is by whatever means I can gain it. If I can control their movement by lying in their guard and holding them down - that's just fine. If I end up in cross-chest with their head and leg hooked and my hands clasped - great. If control means a full-on arm bar that results in them no longer being a threat - I'm on with that to. The control portion is about protecting yourself first, gaining control of them, and using the amount of force that you intend.

Here's a question that seems to relate to this discussion: Why is there a community of people using words from a language and culture that they have absolutely no understanding of? Bunkai means to disassemble - but that's a hugely broad term. I disassembled a computer at work on Friday, a rifle on Saturday, and headlight today. Something tell me that despite fitting the definition perfectly, they don't fit our discussion. The inquisitive title of this thread prompts two entirely different discussions. Within these discussions, there are two sides and a million explanations. Frankly, I'm not sure which of these discussions we're having. In the event that anyone else is unsure as to what's going on, I'll share "aloud." The simple question, with simple answers is what the opening poster clarified his question to be: "can you learn karate techniques and movement with simply kihon and kumite?" There are presumably two thoughts on this. 1) No, you can't learn Karate techniques and movement without kata. The kata is there for a reason, it is a teaching tool, it you're incomplete without its benefits. 2)Yes, you can learn Karate techniques and movement without kata. Everything that is in a kata can be learned with instruction, practices in drills, and perfected in simulated combat. The complicated question, which seemingly has nothing to do with the opening poster's question is: Is a Karate-derived martial art that is void of kata semantically, philosophically, and lineraly sufficient to be called Karate? Again, we've got two basic camps on this. 1) Who cares. You can call it Ballet, but if it teaches someone the skills necessary to defend themselves properly, it's just fine. 2) There are a bunch of words from a time period that nobody alive can remember that still exist in a language and culture that almost none of us have spent enough time immersed within to fully understand. Because of this, we must take what we've been told and taught at face value and believe it exists in only that way. And that's why you can't have Karate without kata. Am I properly grasping this?

My medicine makes me feel like death, so exercise is out. I'm sweating profusely, so going out in public is out. In conjunction with sweating, I also feel frozen, so going outside in the winter is out. My WiiMotes are charging at the moment, so video games are out. I'm stuck here, on the couch, watching TV. Unfortunately, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift is the best thing on TV. As someone who considers himself of the car culture, this is worse than beating myself over the head with a hammer. In fact, I might try the hammer thing for a while.

2/8 - 2/11 Staph infection of the general head region. I blame the stupid mop of hair that I've got. It's like a sponge. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Today, I shall do situps.

I'm a fan of this series already. We need a fancy pilot - you could be put into syndication.

Something tells me that if I show up to a "traditional martial arts tournament" and enter into the Kata portion of that tournament, the judging panel would disagree. Royce Gracie himself bowing to the judges, pulling guard on an imaginary opponent, transitioning into a triangle, then an armbar, then sweeping the imaginary opponent, passing his guard, mounting him and choking him out with an arm triangle would result in Royce being beaten in the kata competition by a bunch of 12 year old TKD practitioners.

This post is a whole lot of rambling that I’ve chosen to do here, on “paper”, instead of in my head. "Chasing the Dragon" is a drug-related term that originated as the name/metaphor for the manner in which one smoked a particular class of narcotics, but is more popularly used as the metaphor for pursuing a high. Due to the increasing nature of human tolerance, it becomes harder and harder for one to achieve the same level of intoxication, and therefore leaves the user in a perpetual journey. Without the narcotics in the picture, I find this to be a positive trait. The perpetual journey is what makes one great at anything, but for the purpose of this rambling, it’s what makes one great at martial arts. This is not a drug-related post, as the title may indicate, but rather the title phrase lends itself best to how I view the situation. As I’ve grown close to the martial artists around me, it would seem that the most successful and dedicated among them all have the quality of using the martial arts not as a means to an end, but instead as simply a means. I have been around many martial artists (although that phrase gives many of them much more credit than is due to them) who are either not goal seeking, or seek a goal which itself has finality. The ones who have no goal are numerous and short lived. Proving that you’re tough, that martial arts don’t work, that you’ve got more testosterone than everyone on Earth, that you already know everything, and simply doing it to be “cool” are all purposes that run their course over the period of less than a half-dozen classes. These ego-driven would-be students typically have strong legs due to the heavy chip on their shoulder, and offer proof the one’s mouth and ears cannot be open at the same time. They come to class and once their journey runs its course, by excuse or embarrassment, they’re never heard from again. Students with conclusive goals probably make up the bulk of medium to long term martial artists. They’re looking for general fitness, a way to defend themselves, camaraderie, or even a general understanding of an art in the form of a black belt. They’re often times great martial artists and add a lot to their environment. Unfortunately, they often times meet their goal – regardless of how lofty it may initially seem. They may test for black belt, be awarded one, and soon thereafter suffer from a fizzling interest. They might come back from time to time, but with their checklist complete, the drive to push on doesn’t exist. And then, you’ve got the small group of people who have a goal that is either flat-out impossible or one that lives in a constant state of evolution. You can’t get rid of these guys. In my circle of martial artists, I know many of these. Some are teachers, but even within the group, the goals of teachers differ from one to the next. One of these teachers looks to pass on his knowledge through competition. He builds his stable of fighters with what must be the goal of one day coaching a world champion. This certainly wouldn’t be the end for him though, as his next goal would be to coach two world champions. His appetite is never fulfilled, and this is what pushes him to deviate far beyond the norm. Other teachers I know are in a never-ending quest for knowledge. They seek general mastery in multiple arts, constantly adding, subtracting, and modifying their toolbox of knowledge in an attempt to build an equation of techniques in which the value is perpetually increasing. Beyond that though, there are guys like Tallgeese, who are really scary. His goals, over the course of a lifetime have evolved to fit both him and his present situation. At first, he mastered a combative art to a frightening degree. Then, he started adapting that art to a specialized combative situation – law enforcement. He forged something made for battle into something made for more battle, but that wasn’t enough either. He then determined that he was going to grow old, and in doing so, he should supplement his prior training with additional training. He’s now mastering another art, and though it has a sport application, he constantly applies every movement into something that exists in real life. He reasons that he’s getting older and therefore should “do less,” but in doing so, he’s actually putting more on his plate – he isn’t slowing down at all, despite his claims. And then there’s me. I’m not a particularly religious person in the traditional sense, and wouldn’t I say that I’m particularly spiritual either. In my most intense periods of training, I have come to view martial arts as a sort of religion. While perhaps not typical, I feel that it does meet all of the traditional and historical purposes behind any particular religion. This religion of martial arts is polytheistic, although just as in the Mycenaean Greece where some prayed to only one god, some martial artists only practice one discipline. I view my fellow students as the congregation, my instructors as the various priests, and the training facilities as temples. There are of course, larger temples dedicated to various arts with varying levels of high-priests spread across the world. As in traditional religion, I find that I’m a better person when I train hard, or in religious terms, when I’m more devout. I find that the religious function of prayer as a method to get closer to a god is replaced by receiving beatings to get closer to the absolute mastery of the art in which I’m training. In the last 18 months, I have not been as pious as I would have preferred. Less than two years ago, I was at my highest mental and physical peak in martial arts. The core members at our gym (myself, Groin Strike, and Master Pain) were training several hours a day, 4-6 days per week. We pushed the limit every day, and despite not always looking like we were the most in-shape group of people, managed to make almost ever 16-21 year old “athlete” that came into our class quit from exhaustion with physical training alone. I performed fairly well on my black belt test – well enough to pass anyhow, competed to good results in competition, survived a few days of training at a high-level facility, and had built my skill level up to what I felt was an ever-increasing level of acceptable. I was in the best shape of my life, and it was fantastic. Today, I’m about 100 lbs heavier, my skill set slightly dulled, and my body now physically unable to perform in the fashion which it was trained. BJJ is difficult because there’s always a belly where there didn’t used to be one, and my high-pace, constant pressure style of sparring quickly fades for want of more cardio. Hope isn’t lost, not by a long shot. Fighting out of this isn’t something I’d avoid if I were elderly, and luckily for me, I’m not – I’m 26. I can still do amazing things like perpetually dropping 10 lbs a week. This is something, I think, that should be taken advantage of while I have the opportunity. But even at my peak, I wasn’t where I wanted to be. My striking could have been sharper, my BJJ crisper, my wrestling more dominant and intuitive, and my judo more existent. My cardio ceiling could have been greater, along with my speed, strength, dexterity, and flexibility. My “combatives” weren’t good enough either – they never can be. My marksmanship with a firearm could have improved, as could my weapon disarms, my stick fighting abilities, and my prowess with multiple attackers. Now, as I start down the path back to that place, I think about what it will be like once I get there. And while the me of today is certainly in no position to offer myself of yesterday criticism, the me of tomorrow knows that where I am headed is no end point, just a checkpoint. Pushing myself to that level again is a lot like lightning striking twice, but still, I’m unimpressed. Getting it to strike twice is just step one in the journey; I’ve then got to catch it in a bottle – and that’s impressive. Of course, once I’ve done that, there’s a lot more lightning out there, and collecting bottles to put it in seems like the natural progression. Pushing myself beyond what my body is capable of is the best high I’ve ever experienced. Every time I do it, my cardio improves – that is our tolerance to the high. Everyday then, I’ll push myself past the limit, chasing the dragon further than I did before.

I do enjoy a good puke. I was rolling with one of our purple belts the other day - whom I'd never worked with, and he rode my back in turtle position forever while trying to sink a choke. He eventually got it and I tapped, rolled over, and said "that was fun." He thought I was kidding, and couldn't imagine that I enjoyed having his hand/arm digging at my chin for 45 minutes. I suppose we've just got a different philosophy. I for one, think everyone's Black Belt test - at least their first one - should be a torturous affair. A black belt is a big deal, and one last push to ensure the person testing isn't a quitter simply ought to be made.

It can run with an external combustion engine, i.e. the steam engine, and can also run on an electric motor. However, I suppose that if you can deny that the Nissan Leaf, Stanley Steam Car, and Chrysler Turbine Car do not, and have never existed, then you can probably make the claim that Karate and kata must coexist. Kata has its place and its purpose, as does stretching, conditioning, weight training, and learning how to tie your belt. It is from a practicality standpoint that I tend to lean toward fighting to learn how to fight as a much more worthwhile endeavor. Edit: As to whether or not Karate sans kata should be called Karate...this is a rare case in which I don't think semantics matter. If your dojo does kata, then every dojo without kata isn't "valid." If your dojo speaks Japanese, then every dojo that speaks English isn't "pure enough." If your dojo is in Okinawa, then every dojo someplace else is "incorrectly copying you."

I'd much rather be able to outrun someone than "beat them up."

I've never before in my life even entertained the idea that someone would be interested in something wasn't a codified method of violence. Wow...my mind is blown.

Aside from displaying some level of competency at whatever his particular art employs as a fight simulating drill, I'd much rather have an instructor who has never been in an actual fight. Learning to avoid a physical confrontation negates any ability to perform within one.

OK, I'm back on the exercise wagon, and working out hard enough and often enough that I've determined supplements are actually necessary. This coincides nicely with this thread, and renders my previous responses to it completely worthless. The following are the things I take, when, I take them, and the science/psychology of the aforementioned. This is my take on things from a martial arts/general fitness standpoint, and not so much that of bodybuilder or someone trying to "get huge." Gatorade Not exactly a supplement, it is full of vitamins and other "good stuff" that someone who works out/sweats needs. I buy it in bulk powder form at a variety of "superstores" and it lasts for a month or two. I drink about 16 fl oz of this before a workout. Other than that I drink almost exclusively water - the calorie content of sports drinks cuts into my daily allowed intake too much (as well as my wallet) to drink it constantly. Creatine I've actually known intellects that use this stuff due to its presence in the human brain, and the theory that it helps brain function/performance. I'll take all of that I can get...and on top of it, it's supposed to provide energy to muscles, cut down recovery time and soreness, and help your body synthesize protein. It's fairly inexpensive, can be bought in bulk at superstores, and doesn't taste bad when mixed with something like Gatorade powder. I use it before a workout, which works out perfect for me, because I drink my Gatorade before my evening workout. Like I stated before, I'm not sure if this stuff actually works, or if it's just a placebo, but either way, it has a positive effect on my training. Protein Body builders and weight lifters consume like 9 lbs of protein every day. They also pass gas like a water buffalo. I consume a normal amount of protein in a day, it's just mostly in supplement form. Personally, as I've stated above, I use it because it's a very cheap and quick method to get the protein that I eat in the course of a day. As everything I buy, it's super cheap at your local "superstore" and available in bulk. I usually drink protein right after a workout, which is supposed to be the most efficient time to do so. All I know is that the cookies and milk flavor is mighty tasty. Glutamine Super-Weight lifters swear by this stuff to the point that some say it's the most important supplement in their arsenal. For a group of people that take more pills that anyone at the Betty Ford Clinic, that's a bold statement. It's the most abundant, metabolic amino acid in the human body and can help fight sickness, improve muscle and injury recovery, and a whole host of other "wonderful things." I buy it in powder form and take it with my post-workout protein on exceptionally hard workout days. It usually works out to be an every-other day type of thing, and from either science or placebo seems to help my recovery time and energy. It comes in bulk, and is relatively cheap. ZMA Zinc, Magnesium, and vitamin B6. You can buy it all pre-mixed, or in individual capsules and put it together yourself. I take 50MG of B6, 50 MG of Zinc, and 250MG of Magnesium. All together, 100 doses costs about 12 bucks. It's supposed to be taken before bed, and results in deeper/better sleep, and in some cases you'll remember more of your dreams. Scientifically, for someone who has zero vitamin and mineral deficit, ZMA may not be useful at all. For someone who does have a deficiency, someone who works out hard, or takes extra protein, ZMA will get your levels up to normal, and allow your body to function as it should. Better sleep results in more testosterone and more energy the next day. I approve of this stuff in a big way. Multivitamin Apparently your body uses vitamins and minerals to make stuff and do things. When I'm attempting to lose weight, my caloric intake is usually much lower than normal, and as such, I have a vitamin deficiency. A good multivitamin helps restore these essentials, and as such your body should perform as it should. I Centrum, as it has proven quality, does not have high levels of B6, Zinc, or Magnesium (which I'm already taking a high dose of) and is relatively inexpensive. Thermogenics I believe this is a fancy name for something that creates heat. That's a fancy term for weight-loss pill. I'm using these right now to boost my energy level, and hopefully increase the efficiency in which my body burns calories. They seem to give a boost in energy, and if you're working out hard, stand a legitimate chance of boosting the amount of weight you lose. I'm not a fan of using them long term, but for a 2-3 month boost in performance, they seem to help.

2/2 AM: Jogged a mile...in record slow time. PM: No-Gi free rolled for about an hour, tapped someone talented with sheer brutality, held pads for 30 minutes, 30 minute circuit, hit the bag for 5 x 3 minute rounds. ZMA is a fancy term for what amounts to Vitamin B3, Zinc, and Magnesium. I "make my own" out of each individual vitamin instead of overpaying for them pre-mixed. It's basically three things that someone who works out is typically deficient in. I'll make a more detailed post in the supplements thread.

2/1/12: I've been back at it in proper fashion all week so far. Pain is what I'm suffering from. Anyhow... AM Took my supplements, "ran" a mile, worked my neck, abs, and assorted pushups. PM More supplements, MMA sparring with Takedowns for an hour, Intermediate Muay Thai Class for an hour, Muay thai sparring for an hour. On a side note: ZMA makes you remember your dreams, and my dreams are pretty disturbing. I think i like this stuff.

I hate doing it, but I'm back on the wagon. I never "max out" however, and rarely lift for maximum strength. Core strength and muscular endurance are pretty much the bee's knees when it comes to strength/weights.

I replied with yes, but I think a more appropriate response would be "sometimes." That is that, 90% of the time, we're training wrestling for example, with the threat of knees, or striking with the threat of take-downs. That other 10% of the time, however, it's behooving to break things down and ignore everything else for the sake of betterment of that specific technique.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/25/us/louisiana-good-samaritan/index.html Ignoring the fact that putting himself in harm's way was a bad idea, I'm not sure jumping on the car's hood was the best response.

I prefer the double because I'm abusive, my training partners are abusive, and the double gives my training partners a better hand workout.

I spent a lot of time in body building forums doing research and getting opinions. These guys live on supplements and spend all of their time reading about them. There's conflicting research and opinions on everything. From simple stuff like protein and when to take it, all the way up to things that i have no understanding of. What I've come to decide is that 90% of supplements are like 92 octane gasoline. I can put the stuff in my car and it will run fine, but unless that car is a race car (my body isn't much of a race car these days) it isn't necessary. Placebo works wonderfully though, and if get benefits from something, regardless of scientific merit, go for it. I find protein to be cheaper than actual protein-rich food, so I tend to use it. As far as weight loss is concerned, it's a matter of burning more calories than you take in. That's the magic formula. Getting "in shape" is a matter of working out muscles. Do cardio, and your heart gets stronger, work out specific muscles in your body, and they get stronger. Once I no longer see any gains from running and doing pushups, I'll become a supplement junkie. Until then, good old fashioned hard work pays off.

Outside of a Test or "formal training session" we don't require that people from our rank wear the proper belt. As long as the visitors are working with responsible partners, it shouldn't be a problem. I think at my home school, we all understand that skill level is much more important than belt color. Visitors can wear a rope or extension cord as long as they're responsible, courteous, and exhibit self control.

Whenever I can't sleep, I lie down, make sure it's as dark and quiet as possible, and count backwards from 10,000. I don't think I've ever made it past 9,960 or so.

I have the Atama Gold Weave pants, but my top is a G1000 Gameness Elite. The shoulders are easily the snuggest portion on all of mine, but my shoulders are somewhat enormous. Tallgeese can probably testify as to what they're supposed to be like for regular shaped people.