Drew

That's so funny, me and my buddy were talking about this yesterday. We thought that equestrian plus judo would be a riot.

So someone gave me a pair of steel toed shoes the other day. They hurt my feet, so I can't wear them, but I was playing around with some toe kicks while wearing them, something that isn't safe in any of my other shoes. Just the fact that the shoe made toe kicks practical, combined with the extra weight added to any kick makes me want to get a decent pair. My questions are: 1)Do any of you wear steel toed shoes/boots? 2) Do you do it for self defense purposes or work related purposes? 3) My favorite kick with them on is a leading leg front snap kick to the shin, do you have any favorites? 4) Could any of you recommend any comfortable steel toed foot wear?

When I was ten, I was trying to break open a walnut with a rock. I hit my index finger and broke it clean. I ran in circles a while which was then my custom when receiving a painful injury, and afterwards my finger was so stiff and swollen I couldn't bend it at all. Ten years later, that finger still hurts if you rub it the wrong way. Personally, I would give up if someone broke my finger like it had been broke then, unless I was hellbent on fighting them. That being said, my father can get a hold of fingers and do the most terrifying things with them. I wouldn't bet on anybody to shake off some of the major finger and hand injuries he could deal. One such terrifying technique is to grab the ring and pinky fingers with one hand, then the index and middle fingers with the other. Then you pull apart. I have seen this move in football, and it can permanently damage a hand.

Try doing it on a trampoline. My sisters and I used to do that move all the time when we were kids. I think we all got to the point where we could do it on solid land as well, but that was just an afterthought. If you don't have a trampoline, maybe jumping off a dock into the water while doing it? Or you could even find a gymnastics place and use their foam pit.

It takes a lot of training to get most techniques to this level, but I prefer to strike with impact. A strike that not only penetrates, like a spear hand to the throat, or a snappy side kick to the ribs, but also shocks their whole body and picks them up off their feet only to deposit them unceremoniously on the ground. I've found round kicks the easiest to get to this level, followed by side kicks and then front. Shovel hooks are the only punch I've managed to get a really good impact out of. There is a time and place for pushing, penetrating, and impacting though. Often I have used an actual push or slow technique to get them away, in order to create space. When the window of opportunity is small, as it usually is against a good fighter, I'll use quick, snappy, penetrating strikes. When the window of opportunity is large, as when they have missed a strike, been stunned by a penetrating shot or pushed of balance, it is time for impact. Does anyone else make this distinction?

There is one thing that always bothers me when I walk onto a judo mat. I am primarily a no gi sub wrestler. I use whatever works, freestyle, greco, bjj, judo, catch, heck I have even used some pro wrestling moves to great effect. But my number one, go to move to get it to the ground fast is an arm drag to rear body lock to suplex. Pure greco. Nigh unstoppable by mere mortals. Here is the thing that bothers me: Almost every time I use it, someone tells me "Oh well an uchimata will stop that no problem. You never want to be behind a Judoka." This is after I have successfully ipponed (sp?) them with it. And immediately before I perform the feat again, on another person. So I guess the misconception in a nutshell is that the rear body lock to suplex is so amazingly easy to counter if you are a Judoka.

Does anyone know of any good schools in Juction City, Kansas? If you have personal experience with any of them I would love to hear about it. I may be moving there soon but I am not familiar with the area at all. Also, sorry if I posted this in the wrong area, I read the guidelines but didn't see anything that applied.

That is interesting, my first moment where I executed a flawless technique was also a throw I had neither performed nor seen before. A guy had come up behind me and wrapped his arm about my neck in rear naked choke fashion. I reflexively grabbed his choking arm, dropped level, and popped my butt back while leaning forward like I had just dropped a hundred dollar bill. The result? A throw of grand amplitude whereby his feet must have been ten feet in the air. He didn't let go, however, and he pulled me into a front flip. It probably would have been better for him if he had let go, because the impetus of the throw meant that when I landed, I landed hard, and it was right on top of him. He did let go when I landed on him though, and I still had enough momentum that I rolled (read: flew) to my feet without trying. So there I was, dazed and unsure of what I had just done, while this guy held his gut on the ground. The funny thing is that no one present even saw it happen. One second we were walking in the same direction, me in front, him directly behind me, and another they looked back and we were in a similar orientation to one another, only he was on the ground looking like something heavy had landed on him.

No, can't say I have. If those are truly the ideology of your group, I would suggest another group... what are you part of? Cobra Kai? lol Strike first strike hard show no mercy! Cobra Kai for life! Woooo! Oh dear, I hate that movie but love the 80's cheesiness.

Wow he does look silly. And that's coming from another no-gi guy!

There is no doubt that Talhoffer is one of the number one resources a student of WMA should look to. However, his work is more often than not just a random collection of techniques that, taken out of context, may or may not make that much sense to whoever is reading it. It is for this reason that I recommend starting with Fiore. It is composed in a very he does this so you do that sort of way, which really gives a student a context from which to work out of.

Easier to digest and partial English translation of the aforementioned at: http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Paulus_Hector_Mair You kobudo-types may also find the section on fighting with a grain sickle to be of some interest.

In case anyone is interested the site wiktenauer.com has the biggest index of manuals I have been able to find. To anyone particularly interested in ringen, I recommend starting on this page: http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Fiore_de%27i_Liberi

Sotiropolous vs Stevenson Ben Saunders vs Santos Shinya Aoki vs Akira Kikuchi These are just a few example of elite MMA fighters using rubber guard to significant effect, and there are many more. Good point about any guard being less than optimal in a combative situation though, that point was right on.

Normally I would say you need to put an arm drag or something before those three, but since its the Dan Man I think that will do just fine

I think we are about to see an upsurge in the popularity of the guard. As, erm, quirky as Eddie Bravo is, he is really pushing this rubber guard thing, and the fighters I see actively use it often dominate their opponent. Thing is, I don't often see people use it. It will catch on though. I have had great success with it myself. You keep your guy so close he can't hit you, can't even think with all of the submissions you are able to chain from that position. If they fail, you often end up on top anyway, so who cares? It really seems to bypass many (though definitely not all) of the problems with the current usage of guard in pro MMA.

If one throws a roundhouse kick without chambering it, is it still a roundhouse kick? I have seen very unskilled people try to throw a roundhouse without a chamber, but it looks silly and is never effective. For simplicity's sake I'm going to assume you mean the very exaggerated chamber often seen in TKD vs. the less exaggerated roundhouses you tend to see Muay Thai fellows and the like do. Pros of TKD chamber: Tends to be quicker IMHO. Those guys almost always nip me quite painfully. Actually I guess that's the only pro I can think of. Cons: In my experience TKD roundhouses, while painful, are not completely debilitating even when well placed. They seem to focus a lot on using the quad to snap the foot into the target, which is quick as I have mentioned, but not optimal for power generation. Pros of Muay Thai Roundhouse: Crazy powerful even from a small practitioner, great for bludgeoning another dudes legs. Very debilitating when placed in the 'ol bread basket. Cons: I find it is easier to read and opponents intentions when they throw Muay Thai style. Its also harder to hit someone in the head with your shin, though that has nothing to do with the chamber. I hope that my two cents have helped you.

I understand you here, but neither one of these guys is likely a grappler. Its just a natural human reaction when you are getting pummelled to close and clinch, to take away those weapons pummelling you. Even non-grapplers will end up doing this.I agree with you completely, which is why I think everyone should practice grappling in the first place. This is almost always what these cross-style matches end up as, sloppy grappling.

The only problem I see is the free triangle choke the karate fellow had around 1:20 that he didn't take. It bothers me so when I see such awful grappling.

If those people are any clue, proper grammar is dead.

I agree. Wild haymakers seem pretty natural to. And speaking of slaps, you can seriously mess someone up with a slap thrown as you would a hook. Man do those things hurt.

Being pretty "muscular looking" is a whole lot different from being strong. Take a gander at this here little lady http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdpET1ztZlQ That lass doesn't look particularly strong, but she can squat more than twice her weight raw at that age. The key factor of strength is not having visible muscles but intense nueromuscular conditioning, using what you have better. I know plenty of people with very visible muscles because of low body fat, but not many of them can put up twice their weight in any lift. Just keep at it. Read about strength training, make yourself a good, educated program, and be consistent. You'll get to where you want to be.

I may have posted this link on this site before, but I think you would be hard pressed to overstate the value of this video for multiple aggressor situations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHG2Us4_Js4 He stacks them up, as most of you here think should be done, does his best to knock the one in front of him out, and looks cool doing it, always a plus. I think I counted five attackers in that one as well. I wonder if this guy trained for this situation or just trained in boxing? I assume he is a boxer, maybe he just came out of the womb swinging naturally

The article says that this is the fourth time the poor man has sustained a knife injury. I think that if there is one thing we can learn from this, it's that fighting someone who has a knife is risky even for a professional fighter. Maybe it's even more risky for someone so accustomed to fighting in the ring. What if fighting people fair and square all the time conditions you to not keep a look out for weapons? Maybe he expected the ring-side doctor, ref, coaches and commentators to step in once he had knocked the fellow out. I know that sounds ridiculous but I release immediately when someone taps out on a subconscious cue, I don't see why he might not have a similar cue for after someone is knocked out and seemingly harmless.

That's funny, I remember thinking that it sounded stupid when people stated "I know karate" instead of "I practice karate." Never thought to equate it with medicine or law. Good point.