Drew

Honestly, some of those really conditioned folks have the thickest adaptations, and I definitely wouldn't want to get hit by them. But personally, I already deal with so many random pains at the ripe old age of 32 that I can't see myself seriously pursuing those conditionings.

Well, if they were yelling for help, that'd be pretty good. But yeah the screaming can be a little distracting.

I don't think that it's so much that the spazzing white belts are going to make a black belt tap. However, white belts have little to no control and are just trying to get out there and prove themselves. My CI always says that when sparring you're far more likely to get injured when sparring a white belt than a black belt for that very reason. I've often been more comfortable sparring black belts than low ranks. They have much more control and don't need to prove how tough they are. Some white belts are about a half step above the drunk in the bar who throws wild haymakers. White belts only do what they know!! In time, the white belt begins to harness their control. I love to see a white belt get a technique in on a black belt due by their inexperience, and their lack of experience can be difficult to a black belt from time to time. I don't disagree that white belts, due to their inexperience, can be unpredictable when sparring or rolling. But I don't scared to spar with them. Sure, they might tag me, but that's on me. In all likelihood, I'm not going to have a major problem in sparring with a white belt. Hey all I think I meant to type "a lightweight spaz against an unprepared black-belt can be dangerous." I'm actually not sure what that mess I typed is, lol. I know I was trying to say though, that someone who takes a cheap shot always has the initial advantage, and the sneak-attack could be enough by itself. I think it's pretty rare for white belts to get taps without other big advantages, I've never actually seen that in person. Though, one of my Judo coaches said, that he saw a guy's toe get torn off between the tatami during randori. Said it was hanging on by just a bit of skin. Nearly toe-less Nick, they should have called him. They sewed it back on, but apparently it was pretty bad because this coach kept ne-waza pretty short, in my opinion.

Sounds great. Do you have some opening thoughts? Taking a stab at this : 1) unannounced attack the smaller guy is getting hurt tbh. I remember a quote from the boxer David Haye when he moved up from Cruiserweight to Heavyweight and he said that any male above 200lb can hit with enough force to ko someone purely due to their mass. Someone 230lb coming up behind someone much smaller and with a unnoticed attack is going to badly hurt the recipient 2) 'Where they can see them coming is a bit harder as it also depends on the style etc. If it is someone who has trained in a style heavy on contact etc then they will likely win as they will probably piece up the opponent and hurt the bigger guy. Something where they are not used to contact may be different i think. Less likely that they will hit hard enough to hold off the larger opponent and when they are grabbed they will be in a lot more trouble What if they were wearing plot armor? All jokes aside, getting hit unexpectedly is a bit like 'riding the lightening.' There's a sudden flash of light, Israel Adesanya crosses your mind, and the rest is up to God.

You can train until you need physical therapy, that's about all I know lol I believe me and my loved ones will live forever. I often think contemplate training into my billionth year in heaven. How I was always far too much for the devil to handle, and I just kept growing.

I got into martial arts because of aesthetics. There is a unique beauty in the lead leg thrust/snap side kick, and in the teep. It's something I spend some time contemplating every day. That's special. Of course, there was always the utility.

I don't agree with your percentages there. I don't think BJJ is a panacea like that. I do think it gives you a huge advantage in a fight, but I don't see it as a guarantee of victory. Fighting and sport are not the same thing. This statement seems to be countering your opening statement of the confidence rating of BJJ. If the bigger, stronger person decides to go crazy in the fight in the same way, then the smaller guy loses the advantage it seems. In physics there's a joke: the 'spherical cow in a vacuum.' Everything else aside, BJJ is one thing you need to account for. On the other hand, it's well known within the BJJ community that spazzing white belts are the most dangerous thing known to black belts. Paint that spaz in a different light and you might have a deadly problem. If the stronger, bigger person decides to spaz on the smaller guy, that's no different than if a white belt decided to spaz on a black belt (which doesn't happen that often, there's a lot of social pressure on them most of the time) and the black belt spazzed back. I've watched it happen and it is hard to recover from, no matter who it happens to.

This sounds like a level of family drama on par with mine.

The amount of references from Frazier in modern TV is absurd. It's like they're beating you over the head with how much they 'liked' Frazier (I don't think they actually liked Frazier.) I remember watching Frazier when I was just 4 years old. It was 'warm.' Then, we watched Tales from the Crypt, like every night. The skeleton made me laugh, I was told.

Well well. My mortal enemy. Who will witness this victory. Here's the deal: if you are trained in BJJ, for example, it is well know you will beat someone who isn't, regardless of any other factors, 99.99 percent of the time. The same is true of every other sport. As for fighting, Jack Dempsey once said that 'Game-ness' is what determines the outcome of a fight. Gameness is your dedication to victory at any cost to your health. If you are of a singular purpose, to badly hurt, maim, or kill the enemy, you will win regardless of their size. With these things in mind, you could have zero training and attack, right out of the gate, with utter nonsense and still win by spazzing every moment, causing injuries to even the eyeballs of the people watching. That's what happened in a recent fight between Nickal Vs. Woodburn. War is heck. Remember that.

.... Then what did you do?

'Shotokans Secret' was very speculative but very interesting to read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYDiFOFYQ4k Here's a video so you can see what I mean more easily. In this fight, Nickal violates some fundamental laws of the martial arts. In particular, they lead with a hook, break, lead with a rear hand, and that pattern of events repeats. This is because Woodburn was carrying his lead hand low, this prevented him from simply jabbing the shorter lead hook, or jamming it. People have said that he lowered his hand because of two faked single-leg shots, but you don't need the underhook to sprawl, you should use a more narrow stance so that you have a strong, lead thrusting knee to dissuade such attempts. It is interesting to note the angles which occurred in the fight. Nickal wound up giving an outside angle to Woodburn when he threw a naked lead hook. He had time to break, then came back in, taking the inside angle. It was a shallow angle, but it helped the rear straight beat the overhand, a punch that typically counters it. Usually, if your counter isn't working, it is because the opponent has an angle. Again, it was technical or kihon errors which prevented Woodburn from lasting long. He was not threatening with a long, thrusting knee, and he was not threatening with his jab. If your lead side doesn't have good strikes, you cannot mount an offence of any kind, whether it be striking, throwing, wrestling, chin na, or ne waza.

Well, I'm not certain what you mean by turning against one opponent. Unless you are turning in order to use a spinning technique such as a spinning elbow, spinning kick, etc. Typically these attacks depend on a more sidelong stance, rather than the square stances you can throw a good teep or front kick from. To my point, if you are in a cat stance threatening a teep against a person to the 12 o'clock, you will have fairly powerful side kick available to the 2-3 o'clock position, depending on your body. You may need physical therapy. This is one example of martial arts allowing you to defend against more than one person at a time, at the kicking range, on the kihon scale of conflict. A woman could drop a man quite easily with any number of kicks available in such a situation, allowing her to fight the other person quite easily. Not to mention her punches, which can be quite powerful as well. Oftentimes when a kata changes direction, I interpret that to mean that the topic of 'angle' is being highlighted, and you are now facing your imaginary opponent from a new direction. They haven't moved, you both have. Naihanchi is kind of a bad example, there is a sort of linearity to the change of direction which is fairly unusual. It seems to evoke the difference between a conventional boxing guard against the first opponent, then turns and assumes a sort of philly shell guard against the person behind. I suppose this makes sense if you say that his stance was orthodox to begin with, but then became southpaw when he turned around. (Typically philly shell isnt used against or by southpaws.) But trying to use kata to reverse engineer a martial art is sort of slow compared to trying to understand martial art all at once. It's not uncommon for me to notice weird things in Tai Chi forms which have nothing to do with a good tactic, but are about some other topic. 'Dust off' is a hand position where the rear hand is held low to the thigh while the lead hand is extended. I take it to be a reference to a pinched nerve in the neck, where the arm may be numb and weak. The thought occurred to me after being injured swimming, and needing physical therapy to fix it. It is interesting to see forms in a new light when you have discovered new things under pressure. To your point, yes singling out and dispatching them one at a time is ideal, not easy, and is severely limited by obstacles in the environment. To make matters worse, it becomes impossible to take an angle against the person in front of you if there is a person to either side of them. If there is only a person to one of their sides, then the only angle that can be taken is to the empty side. This limits your force multipliers to body mechanics, etc.

I really enjoyed D2, but I didn't enjoy D3 nearly as much. D2 was actually one of the very first video games I played, next to Mario and Megaman X. D4 looks a little better than three, but the drawn graphics of two are really what I enjoyed the most about it. The lonely feelings that suddenly appearing in the Rogue Encampment evoke within you, the zombies slow yet inexorable approach as you enter the Blood Moore. The feeling of grim determination as you cross from the Durance of Hatred into the Pandemonium Fortress, on the border of Hell itself. It actually still gives me nightmares. Lately, I've been playing Black Desert Online, because the graphics are far and away better than anything else available. The landscapes at sunset in particular are incredibly realistic and inspiring. If anyone plays on PC, you should hit me up If I ever get a chance to try D4, I'd want to play a Paladin like from D2, with the tower shield and flail. Socket them and put in runewords like 'Indestructible,' and 'Infinity.' Run around with my Sorceress friend.

Hey all, I've been here since about 2005 -- I lurked alot back in the hayday. In all that time, this forum has been the happiest martial arts forum that I know of, and really I think I've been to all of them. So, I'd just like to say, Thanks for being there KF

Hey! I agree that kata give you tools which help against one opponent. Yes, I can agree with you on most points. However, I would clarify that by my understanding, kata and forms of all kinds are a very non-corporeal expression of martial knowledge. What I mean by that is - any and all forms incorporate turning and changing the focus of the form frequently. You could take that to be a tool for transmitting a change in focus on your own posture, angle data, etcetera, or you could take it to be a literal change of opponent location. *Most* opponents do not teleport, but for them that do, a quick backfist (the kind that comes up the middle like an uppercut) is often present throughout many chinese and japanese styles, at this change of focus. I find that indicative that many forms were built with the intention of transmitting knowledge in general rather than focusing on any given point. So you could take it and apply it in any way you liked. Another technique I see throughout the arts when some other orientation on the embusen is taken is the beggining of a knife hand, or lifting the arm up alongside the head, exposing the armpit. Whatever it is, it frequently functions in reality as a block against a straight punch from someone who has a slight angle to that side. It allow you to maintain your focus on the other opponent who would be directly alongside the first. There's a million of these, I feel. I think that when I ponder over forms, my attention is often drawn to the possibility of a second opponent. Kihon should be enough, but it isn't.

I left another of these in general, but this probably belongs here. I just wanted to make sure some poor soul didn't go through the same things I did learning these things. In boxing in particular, you want to watch for the following things: When throwing a jab, which should be at the forefront of your mind for all time, you need to watch for the overhand. The overhand loops over the top of your jab and often avoids getting hit by a jab altogether. If southpaw, when throwing a rear straight, you also need to watch for the overhand. It will *also* loop over the top of the rear straight and avoid getting hit by the rear straight altogether. In this case, it is your fault for leading with your rear hand. Don't do it unless you can't help it. This is karate forums after all. If orthodox, you can prevent your jab being countered by an overhand. It is called (drumroll please), a 1-2 punch. The jab-cross is a stunning combo. Against a good boxer, you will need your jab. You will need your jab-cross also, because they will try to counter your jab. What the jab-cross does is bait out the overhand and punishes it. You may need to put up your jabbing arm to high-block when you throw the cross. This will result in you catching a committed overhand across your arm even as you land with your punch. For kickboxers, here is a more detailed explanation of the above concepts: When you throw a good lead front kick, or teep, or lead side kick, you can create a good set of conditions for your hands. when you have unbalanced them, either physically but especially mentally and spiritually, you have an opportunity to step in and use shorter, safer weapons. The roundhouse kick is more related to the hands than the other kicks. When you jab from such a position, the overhand counter will be what you are looking for. In this situation however, you are comfortable with kicking too. They may slip the jab, which allows you to kick them with your roundhouse kick. They may also throw the overhand, which can be countered with the 1-2 combo (add the high block for safety), and it can also be countered with a strong roundhouse kick. You need to aim at the liver if you're southpaw and short, or else you wont have enough oomph to keep them out of your space. **I need to add, that this is a double edged sword.** When you lead with you jab, expecting the opponent to overhand, they can use the motion of the overhand to hide the beginning of a roundhouse kick. This can have a nasty result, if you aren't careful. Just imagine it. You throw a 1-2 with your arm up to catch the overhand only to catch a face-full of shin. If their arms are long, they may even go over the top of your cross with their lead hook, in the midst of all this. There is really a lot to look out for. If you use these strategies you will have good luck against all types of opponents. They will look for other methods of countering your jabs. They will gravitate towards moving around you in either direction. They will also often try to bait out more committed jabs so that they can slip your jabs and either 1) take an angle or 2) get inside the pocket, aka the reach of your rear hard. (They've surrounded us, those poor bleeps). In the case of 1) you can neutralize the angle with you own movement, or punish their movement with a round attack. If you punish their movement you need to make sure you have a way to prevent them from moving forward into you if the punish doesn't stop them altogether. In the case of 2) you will find that your rear uppercut and your rear hook are coming into play. Your lead knee also works nicely. Edit: One more thing! You need to be wary of round kicks to the head. This is because if your round kick can be blocked, your heal can be caught with the other hand, then you can be swept. The motions of the catch and sweep allow the defender to then switch kick you in the head as you fall! So that's why I say you need to be careful. You don't have to look far on various muay thai format sports shows to find this technique being utilized. Good luck!

Hey, sorry to hear you or other are in chronic pain. Has anyone heard of 'Stem wave' (aka softwave, soundwave, extracorporeal shockwave) therapy? It has changed my life. My back was a wreck from way back when. My chiro has a machine and it largely eliminated the pain. It is like Stem cell therapy. Really quite miraculous.

Some background first: I've been studying martial arts for about 16 years. My first lesson though, was about 21 years ago. I punched my Dads hands, jab and and a two out front of our house. Over many years, mittwork like that was the most valuable part of my training, I feel. Good mittwork (like you will get in Thailand or from a professional boxing trainer) alone will turn you into a formidable striker. Other than striking, I got my start just doing jiujitsu in the basement of my church. We put the gloves on and took it to the yard outside too, and attracted a lot of the neighborhood doing mma out in the grass. We met once a week on Wednesday, just like the English kids back in medieval times. Just casually practicing what we saw on tv and the internet proved to be effective when taken to various gyms and dojos. I grew up in a rural town so we were quite far from even bjj gyms, let alone big boxing gyms, mma gyms, what have you. As I grew up and saw more of the world, I got more formal training. At first I visited anyone who was around in my state, and as time went on I traveled pretty far to get what I wanted, training in Thailand. Like I said, good mittwork will build many good reflexes. Other than that, knowing what you're all about, what you came to do, and what you need to defend, BEING it, amplify these skills. I've had a good number of fights in various formats. 2 in mma, 1 in muay thai, and 1 in boxing. Two of them were professional, two weren't. As I flexed harder and harder, I found that who I was interfered with what the fights were: that is to say; a good will and peaceful attitude bent the fights out of shape and moreover bent my spirit somewhat. It's odd to say and maybe harder for many younger people to understand. Any enterprise you undertake will effect you as a person differently than that same enterprise will effect someone else. I do believe that good has a plan. Where the martial arts are concerned, I think its good for someone seeking a competitive edge to do these things: 1) If you are studying martial arts in the broadest sense; that is, learning philosophy, and how to fight in many contexts, kata and forms of any martial art are a VAST repository of knowledge, and karate kata in particular can give you reflexes which will help you mount improbable defenses even against overwhelming odds. I will say that karate kata are not the easiest way. The forms of Tai Chi contain much of the metaknowledge you will need to even stand a chance against some one who is trained, taller, etc. 2) If you are trying to fight just one person, there are a few principles which will help you regardless of whether it is in a sporting contest or not. Put a side towards the opponent and use that side. Use your longest weapons but not to the exclusion of other weapons. If you use you lead front kick, expect to need your sidekick, and if you use you sidekick, be prepared to use your lead thrusting knee. If you use your jab, be prepared to use your lead knee. If you jab, be prepared to use your rear uppercut, if you have the intention of using that uppercut to prevent certain head motions, be prepared to use your rear hook also. From half of the effective stances, you can throw a concealed spinning attack. This can take any form, from long range kicks to short range elbows. If you have the initiative, you will find your jab coming into contact (maybe.) When a jab touches someone, you should be in a position that is loaded to throw any punch, knee or kick available from your stance. That should add up to a lot of possible attacks. Your lats are a key here, they will feel flexed and very particular, additionally you will feel as if you could shiver from such a position, as if you wanted to sneeze but in your body. I have to say, when someone is jabbed, there is a million different things they may do in response to it. you have to be structured behind your attack, in such a way as to have a response to any outcome. These are shapes you will find yourself taking and find favorable in terms of both offensive and defensive options. I didn't mention slipping, but really, you must be read to lean back, to either side, or duck. These movements are connected to the rear uppercut. You have to be ready to raise or lower either elbow also. When an opponent is within your grasp, you have to have all of these actions ready, so that a flaw in your method cannot be exposed. It is like walking a tightrope but it may become a slackline at any moment. You have to be on your guard. If you are using your lead side, but the opponent is too tall, there are a few more options. Primarily, you can move. There are a million ways to say this. You can change your position relative to the opponent. You can make sure your stance is pointing towards theirs but theirs is not pointing towards you. You can take an angle. If you have taken an angel, you have to make sure that you are 'wound in.' What I mean is, you have to have that shiver down in your bones. And if you do that, and make sure you are either coming up their center line, or coming up behind them (the outside angle), you will have a chance at even someone who has no business fighting you. Angles are very interesting. Conventionally, we say, 'you can take either the inside angle or the outside angle.' The inside angle is also sometimes called the 'pocket,' though this is an ephemeral term, the definition of which often depends on who is speaking about it. The outside angle is extremely dominant, and is associated with southpaws. Many southpaws manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, however, because they use their rear side as a lead instead of using their much nearer weapon, the jab or front kick. The inside angle can also be extremely dominant, and the jab must still be used or the advantage of the angle will be forfeited. Well, I wrote this knowing I would come to a rambling stop. I've had a few bud lights and I'm starting to sound like Abraham Lincoln, but I do have a few more things to add. Your stance, loading and static form all express power. Honing this can feel still and in mittwork will feel incredibly powerful. You throw combinations which could have a million variations due to your balance. They are the qualities that most fighters focus on, and the qualities you will feel in the stillest spaces during Tai Chi practice. They are very internal in nature, and in fact have a lot to do with the internal rotations of various joints throughout your body. Gaining skill in this has a lot to do with awareness of you own body, and trying to put as many weapons as possible between you and your opponent. Angles are an explosive additive to the aforementioned. They amplify anything you know with sheer power, if you know how to find them (there are several tricks of footwork which can help you get to these positions) and if you know how to use them (you have to set and maintain a forward pressure into the target). This applies not only to striking but to grappling. If you have a striking angle, and move within reach of a gi sleeve, for example, you will find that any grip you take (with the lead hand) has a far more dramatic effect on the balance of your opponent. If you wrestle, any shot you take or grip you take will be much more effective if you are squared up but your opponent is letting you take that angle, no matter how slight the angle is. If you are having trouble with an agile opponent who does in fact move laterally, squares off, and attacks such that you have trouble dealing with them at all, there are a couple things you can do. The first is that if they were in range when they move laterally, you can throw a round or spinning attack. These often work. You have to make sure it hurts or you wont be able to regain a position that pressures them out, though. The safer option is to move to cancel the angle even as they are taking their new position. When you do, you need to make sure that your stance still maintains its properties (many attack and defense options) and is pointed towards them. Ideally, you would then take your own angle, but space constraints are going to be at the forefront of your mind. I mentioned karate kata early on. Kata often have responses which would help against more than one attacker. In instances like these, maintaining good angles becomes a matter of gross movement, and keeping 'squared,' 'faced off,' or 'wound in,' towards the nearest opponent. When this fails, kata often help provide any response at all which might help you find a position that has at least a hope. -Drew

Being like the moon is being like water. The moon isn't only reflected, on the water. The moon sees the water and feels that it isn't alone. There is a push and pull between them. Light and power connect them. The moon should feel it has a home in the water; touching the silver disk, or crescent, or shrouded ring, or brilliant penumbra on the water should bring you in contact with the moon itself, into contact with all water that reflects it, and with every reflection.

IMO bunkai are fun but overhyped. Choki Motubu was a proponent of being difficult in the red light district. That was his type of thing - people put hands on in a way that would annoyingly limit their own movement, but which Choki found amusing. Break the wrist and walk away, that's all there is to it. On the other hand, bunkai are useful for decisively ending fights. It's kind of like... Missing the forest but picking all the right trees. You forced certain responses and had miserable answers for each one. That is the ikken hitatsu spirit of kata.

Reaching to the ground can strengthen the wheel kick... However building a variety of options from a stable position like that takes time. I've seen some strong misc kicks used as 'pokes' from 3-points. Usually, they aren't very commanding.

I like fighting mma and muay thai, it may be dangerous but so is skydiving. I've been hurt worse on a mulched playground than I ever have on canvas.