cross

I realise everyone is different, but if i want to learn to backfist, i would do a backfist, not a kata and then substitute a move that sortof looks the same. I wonder how much power would realisticly be possible performing the technique you describe? That sounds like it makes alot of sense. Have you ever tried to scoop and trap a punch with realistic speed and energy behind it? Balance is not something i would give up in a self defence situation, therefore the cross leg stance is a big no no for me. Im not sure there is a clear cut accepted definition of each. I no longer consider myself a martial artist, and im not saying i consider myself a fighter either, but if you goal is self protection i would much rather be a fighter than a martial artist.

Agreed.

Any examples?

Just a few points for the link you posted: I do a similar type of training that is called "overkill drills". At any point during the drill one of the techniques may have been enough to stop it, but with the use of protective equipment it allows the opponent to continue fighting, so you can continue the drill and know how to deal with a situation where your first techniques fail to end the confrontation. Combos are certainly a part of boxing, but advanced techniques? Boxing has a very small number of techniques in comparison to all karate styles, hardly a case of not keeping it simple. The whole "one hit, one kill" thing sounds great it theory, but if you limited yourself to this kind of training and never prepare for the "what if's" then your not doing yourself any favours in terms of realistic self defence training. Some examples of the "what if's" include... what if you are feeling sick that day? or have a broken hand, or sore shoulder? What if you are caught by complete surprise and the fight has already started before you know it, now your left having to defend yourself from a positive of extreme disadvantage? There are lots of variables, and there is obviously no way you can prepare for them all, but training in the "one hit, one kill" point sparring mind set is limiting your ability to being good at that alone.

I train in shoes the majority of the time, flip flops(we call them "thongs" here in australia) on the rare occasion. Its for a combination of the things you mentioned, my training surface is my backyard, carport, paddock and road, so a variety of surfaces and i train wearing the clothes and footwear i wear the majority of the time outside training.

I want to see the video

The ones that you dont have a chance to see coming... Not alot you can do other than try and recover from the position your left in. In some of those clips where a person was hit from the side of behind they were focused completely on the person in front of them and almost blind to anything else going on around them. Against all the others, get your hands up for a start. If someone is that close to you and clearly acting aggressively, a passive stance works wonders. It puts your hands directly in the way of anything they will try to do, while remaining non-threatening and increasing your natural reflexive reactions. One thing in common with alot of those clips was the person being hit stood still, had their hands low, staring down the attacker trying to do the chest out tough guy thing. Not the way to deal with such a situation.

I suppose it depends on a few things. Like how the punch misses(is your hand past their head now or to one side of their head?). One of the more common things i train is a palm from a passive position straight up under the chin from underneath the field of vision, the impact on the jaw and snapping back of the head alone would be enough to ward of most people, if it doesnt, or your hand slips "up" along their face, you can slip the hand straight back down their face from top to bottom clawing or gaining control of the face. Im sure their would be certain instances where you could open your hand after you missed a punch, but it would require that extra peice of movement and the moment where your not attacking to make it work.

I realise this thread isnt about knife defence tactics, but i have to question what research or experience your basing this advice on? What if you cant grab a chair or something else, does the advice to "never ever try to fight unarmed against an armed person" still hold true? Circumstance is something you cant control. Regardless of the situation?

Depends on your goals i suppose, if you want to be good at point sparring, then the boxing stance probably isnt for you. Not explosive? Not great for kicks? Look at what all the professionals are doing atm in ufc, boxing, kickboxing, its all some slight variation of the boxing stance, if there was a more explosive, more easily applicable posture im sure they would be using it.

There was alot of discussion of the merits of each at: http://www.karateforums.com/shotokan-sparring-stance-vt16517.html?highlight=stance To be honest with you, that guy you speak of would probably be equally has fast and powerful regardless of his starting position, and against someone of lesser skill it really wouldnt matter what stance he used, but against someone of equal or higher skill, or in a situation of surprise then you need to look at the position that gives you the most advantage, gives you the most access to your tools and enhances your reflexive responses. For me personally, and alot of others, thats a position is identical to, or similar to the boxing stance. (hands open and more evenly forward in self protection situations to calm the situation and appear passive.) How have you faired using the boxing stance so far? What have you experiences of the pro's and con's of it been?

Slightly off topic, but i find it interesting that people often train to learn certainly skills... and then you are tested on these skills. However, in this case your required to defend against 3 people, yet it hasnt been covered or practiced in class before? Is it just me or do that not make a great deal of sense? I would have thought that if you are required to do something in a test that the content of the test would reflect what you have learned during the lessons leading up to said test. I can see your point here, cross. However, I think that when it is done, it is meant to be impromptu at times (at least in our school) just to give a surprise element to the testing. We do 2 on 1 and 3 for alls in class from time to time, but not often. I think we do it so seldom to keep it from getting out of hand. Sometimes, we get a little squirrelly! I understand what your saying also. Im just not sure that i personally would be satisfied with my only exposure to multiple opponent training being a one off or a surprise in a grading test.

Some good points here. Slaps are fairly natural movements also meaning you dont really need to learn anything new, just fine-tune the skill you already have.

Certainly. I will try to clarify. Due to the ever changing nature of a violent situation it would be very hard to tell if you had those 3 things at any given time until you have already done the strike and it was either effective, or not. So if your choice it to throw a punch or a palm.. you could throw the punch, all 3 things were in your favour, you knock the guy out, or setup for futher attack(assuming you didnt break your hand) or distract him long enough to get away, then great. However, if you find throw the punch and 1 of those 3 things is missing, for whatever reason, then what has the punch done to improve your situation? If you throw a palm and realise your missing 1 of the 3 criteria, its not ideal, but still doesnt really matter because right now your hand is in his/her face and you can go from there with something else that doesnt require those 3 things, or will allow you to regain 1 or the 3 things that was missing.

Its fairly common to get into a purely punch mindset with boxing on tv and everyone growing up is generally exposed to punching has being the "way" to fight. The problem with punching, and any other strike for that matter, is for it to be effective, you need at least 3 things: 1. distance (if your 2 close or 2 far away it wont work) 2. Grounding (if you dont have a solid base to strike from there will be no weight or power behind it) 3. Torque and timing (the foot, leg, hip, shoulder, arm all moving and doing their job at the correct time.) The reason i say this is a "problem" is because in a self defence situation, it will be rare for you to have the luxury of all those things. Ripping, tearing, gouging, pulling, on the other hand require only 1 of those things, distance. Basically all you need is to be close enough to be touching your opponent.

Slightly off topic, but i find it interesting that people often train to learn certainly skills... and then you are tested on these skills. However, in this case your required to defend against 3 people, yet it hasnt been covered or practiced in class before? Is it just me or do that not make a great deal of sense? I would have thought that if you are required to do something in a test that the content of the test would reflect what you have learned during the lessons leading up to said test.

Agreed. One of the main benifits of palms is that they flow into so many other things, you can rake, rip, grab, tear, etc without having to retract your hand.

Have you talked to the female friend who he is trying to harm? Do you know the full story? Have you explained to her some things she can do to help the situation? Your right about it being childish. Just keep in mind that your trying to stop someone from harming one of your friends. Putting yourself in between the 2 people seems to have worked well for now. Because he pushed you and maybe hurt your ego a little does that mean you should try and harm him now? Well thats for you to decide, but when your trying to stop someone from doing something be careful that you dont start doing the thing your trying to stop... i.e attacking and harming someone. It takes much more strength to walk away and not push back and not attack to give him some kind of satisfaction or try and prove something, than it does to give in to your anger and go after the guy. Its very honourable that you are trying to protect your friend, talk to her about the situation(if you havnt already) you may want to stay close to her for a while until things cool down and the guy seeing you 2 together will give him a clear message that you will protect your friend. You have to ask yourself if the best way to deal with an angry violence person is to fight fire with fire? The person with the more "fire" is going to come out on top. A physical response should be the last thing you should be thinking about. How often did you execute these techniques against someone coming at you with the energy of a person who would pull a knife on a teacher and wants to harm a female? My guess is never. Does that mean what you learned wont work? It might, but without performing it against real energy its a possibility, not a probability. You have the power to let it go aswell. If nothing else happens with the guy, forget it. Dont let your anger take over. If something else happens, dont automatically assume a physical response. Do whatever you can to avoid the situation. There are far 2 many cons that come from fighting. Assuming you can beat him the first time, will that end the situation? Will his friends get involved? Will he pull a knife or worse on you? Will it make him want to harm your friend even more? IF however he is posing a direct physical threat to yourself or your friend and you have to defend yourself.. not fight...then i suggest you hit first, hard and often until you can get away.

One thing i noticed through this topic is the level of maturity displayed in each post made by bbk2132. My advice to you would be, keep up the good work... If you can set the example for other kids to limit the amount of time they spend messing around in class, then your doing a great service to your instructor through that alone... If your instructor feels you have the ability to teach, and you approach your teaching the same way you approached the discussions on here, i dont see any problem with you gaining the respect of others. There will always be people who dont want to be taught by someone younger, they wont let their ego accept it. For those people, there isnt much you can do other than direct there concerns toward your instructor and let them be.

Hey Dan, Welcome to the forum, good to have you here.

And if in doubt, talk to a lawyer before you say anything to police.

I agree in part, and would like to add that gaining access to attack the throat is rarely direct. You will most likely need to attack other areas to create a distraction or make the opening, but it obviously depends on what your opponent is offering you at the time.

In a "fight" i think the "block punches with your head" is a crazy idea to even consider. You may damage the other guys hand, but you also may get hurt yourself. Unfortunatly, thats not a luxury most people will have during a fight. The ability to do something there prefer. If you become fixated with one particular range, you may just get hurt before you ever get to that range. Punches, palms, elbows, knees, are just tools for a certain situation, some tools are better for particular situations than others. Having a favourite is fine for some, but the majority of the time, its much better to be open and responsive to whats actually happening in front of you, not trying to execute your favourite technique.

1-20-07 skipping 4x 3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest. shadow(kick)boxing 1x 3 minute round. Modified card deck, total of 100 pushups, 100 situps. 20 back extensions.

Agreed. Weights are an excillent thing to add to your training, and like bushido man mentioned, talk to a personal trainer first so you can plan your routine and learn the correct way to perform each movement.