Harkon72

Hello and Welcome, I started my Martial Arts path almost 30 years ago with Shorin Ryu Karate; it is a door to great things.

What you say is perfectly true Bob, but as is apparent that the terms "Martial Art" and "Martial Artist" have a vast spectrum of meaning to different people. This meaning has changed and will change as the concept of martial arts evolves. Maybe my background and experience has greatly effected the way I see it, I have fought for my life as my family have for generations. My mother's sister was horrified when my father gave me a wooden tanto to train with at five years old. Does my aunt have a point? Should the craft of combat be withheld from children? Today violence and conflict seems to part of the culture. We had no Ghost Force Recon video games when we were kids. We just made catapults and watched Tom and Jerry.

Our difference in opinion is quite clear here Bob. I see her as a child performing a highly skilled martial arts themed exercise. Being a martial artist has nothing to do with age, I agree. But performing prescribed movements, however skilled is not what it takes. Play fighting in copious amounts of dipped foam does not make you a martial artist either. The simplest way that I can see a martial artist in my mind is a Warrior trained to do harm and respecting his opponent. This is the greatest paradox of modern martial arts; we train in an apparent art that has nothing to do with the tradition that we think it is. So many styles are not combat arts, they are purely styles of martial looking movements. I'll give you an example. Ten years ago, there was an international Karate event in Paris, France. A fight broke out between two teams of karateka; one from Germany, the other from Spain. The comment afterwards was the no-one got hurt, not a single damaging blow was landed. These karateka had trained in their art for years but had never thrown a real punch or strike, they expertly pulled each one. I think it's remarkable and sadly illustrates my point. I don't condone violence, but many martial artists have a great sense of accomplishment in something that they are quite deluded about.

I'll give you an all too vivid example. I was a student in the city of Swansea, when I had left school, I was 19 years old. I had studied Karatedo for 5 years and held the rank of 2nd Kyu. We, as students had been invited to a martial arts seminar hosted by a student Ju Jitsu school in the sister University of Cardiff. We travelled there and had a good time with other collage students and a 4th Dan Ju Jitsu and Aiki Jitsu Sensei and two of his Sempai. As we walked out of the Sports Hall in Cardiff, we noticed that we had walked into a crowd. They were Swansea soccer supporters, their team had just played the Cardiff City side and lost. They were in a foul mood, drunk and volatile. They saw our clothing and sports bags and they turned on us. It was chaos, we were young students of martial arts, some with almost no experience, male and female, out numbered more than 2 to 1. I don't remember much, only trying to spare the other students a beating while trying to stay on our feet. We were attacked with blades, bottles and boots. There were some serious injuries, I had a broken nose, sprained fingers and a knife wound to my left ribcage. The police were there relatively quickly, the thugs legged it but the damage was done. In hindsight, we were lucky, lessons were learnt. But the most enlightening was this; if you put them down, learn to really hurt them. I know it sounds callus, but the problem we had that day was whatever pretty throw or fending off technique we used, the attackers kept getting up and attacking again. My life was a risk that afternoon, it was a great lesson and by the grace of god, not my last.

There are so many on the money making band wagon in the UK you would not believe! At best they teach watered down rubbish. Others build clubs to create muscle for criminal activity, but that a given in most of the world. I was so relieved when my present Sensei said; "Put your belt in the bin and leave your ego by the door." I have come home.

I'm lucky, over the years most of my Sensei have been honest with me. I know that some martial art training can be good for most people, even to the extent that they can defend themselves and have confidence while dealing with confrontation. But what saddens me is the false super hero mentality taught by some martial art schools. They instil a fantasy mind set in their students that they can take on anyone. I had one gentleman say to me after he had trained Krav Maga for three months that he was "Street Lethal" and no man or street thug could touch him. I think he needs a serious reality check, the general public are not idiots when it comes to confrontation, some even excel at it. When I walk after dark in our town, I keep a low profile, I don't think I'm ten men. I've seen Skinhead boot parties, they are an ugly experience. Sensei, tell your students to avoid such areas, you will never gain the super human prowess that some schools of martial arts seem to promise. As for children and young people, teach them to run away and seek help. I have turned away from competitive martial arts, I now see them as sport and combat themed games. I have a profound spiritual aspect to my Budo, I respect, I adapt, I prevail.

Simple, finding an Honest Sensei.

The point I am trying to make is the chasm in the conceptual difference between a child Dan grade and an exponent of martial arts that has some idea of what the roots of the martial arts were about. There are some of us that see them as a skill for survival, not just a pastime or a way to lose weight.

You can look at the context of a dojo with regards to what the term shodan means, fair enough. You can give validation to a child's achievement in a martial art styled exercise, I have no problem with that. The way I see it is that the concept of attaining a level of proficiency in a martial art is lost. As I have tried to convey, you cannot compare a 7 year old child, however skilled to a 16 stone 30 year old combat artist who has had real combat experience, and I'm not talking for points; the context of their mind set and application is a world apart. One is a child, the other has fought in harm's way. For some of us, martial arts are not a sport, they are not a hobby, we don't care about grades or trophies. If you want your picture in the news paper, go to your local belt factory if you can afford it. My Sensei said to me on my first lesson with him; "So you have a black belt in Karate? Congratulations! Now I know that you have been taught to attack and defend in a prescribed way. Here, we have no form, no stance, no set attacks and responses, only principals which you will learn to apply differently each time with what you are given. There are no visible grades here, please leave your ego by the door." That is why I consider my Sensei's Aikido to be a real martial art.

Almost any good brand can be good, Nike, Blitz, Longsdale. The most important thing is to fit it properly. Also, expense doesn't always mean quality or ease of use.

I train two two hour sessions of aikido a week and a Ninpo session every month. I train Karate every day, at least some if just a few minutes.

They have similar drills in Wing Chun. As you practice you apply them faster and faster. They are good for reflex response to attack, their weakness is that you can be led into acting in a certain way with faints. That's why it's good to train them with some Chi Sau.

I have realized quite recently that any martial art or combat system is as effective as the way you approach it. Of course, the way it is taught is vital. To say that the student will follow the teacher's mind set is true in many cases. I practice Karate for what its worth, Aikido has been a landslide of realization in actual combat reality, but I think that is to do with the quality of tuition rather than the style; Sensei Halsall is inspirational in his no nonsense outlook. Once a month I travel to Anglesey for Ninpo training with Master Arthur Lock, with this you have no idea what to expect; it can be violent, calm and controlled or profound. He teaches hand to hand, Japanese and Western weapons, daggers, shillelagh and tomahawk. I have a rounded view of martial arts with what is available. I can't advocate the belt every three months for a fee scene or the apparent cure all fads. They come and go, traditions remain, warriorship exists despite the franchises and belt factories. We recognize our legacy, it's who we are.

The problem I see with Krav Maga is this; it is designed to be taught to security personnel, namely the IDF, to be effective in as shorter time as possible. They can't get away from that. What they try and do is teach it as it were a traditional system and it is not. Self defence systems are great for the military, the police and security staff, but they are not martial arts in themselves. Almost all these systems, Krav Maga, MCMAP, BOJUKA, the list is endless, are in fact moulded by their founders from other, sometimes numerous arts. The context for them to be used is Combat, real life threatening situations. This is a massive paradox in martial arts. Many students have no idea how powerful the techniques they are being taught are. They teach this stuff to children. I'll give you a few examples; "Strike with your knuckle to the Temple." "Stamp with your heel to the opponent's throat." "Push with your fingers down the sternal notch." All three of these techniques could end in severe injury or death. We know that we need the tools to defend ourselves, but students of combat systems need to realize the context of what they are being taught. I've seen people leave the Dojo thinking they can take on ten men, even 8 stone women think this, that's not a sexist comment by the way it's sad fact. I was taught that you may have a chance against two men, three and you're at their mercy, I don't care who you are. Some believe that the general public are idiots, they are not, many cultural classes have a fighting mentality from childhood, they have never been to a Dojo in their lives! "I need to pay for my child to be safe, I don't care what it costs." McDojos thrive on this kind of rubbish. If you are teaching martial arts, please be honest with your students, tell them to walk away, make sure that they know that movies and computer games are not the real world. Krav Maga was designed for a violent society, Warriors don't seek out conflict, if you give an impression of an aggressive mind set, trouble will find you.

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I totally agree. I have made clear how I feel a few times on this form about child Dan grades. Simply, it's a paradox. To me a martial artist is a warrior, he does not fight for points or belts or trophies, those guys are sports men. To a martial artist, fighting is the last option but the first in defence of the innocent. You can't put a child in the same mind set as an adult who's skill in combat has been honed to expert level. Grades and titles mean nothing, martial arts were made to offer survival, comparing them in the mind of a child to that of a warrior is invalid. The girl may be skilled but she is working on a different level, the physical appearance of what she is doing does not reflect this. I remember Shaun Thornton (John Wayne) saying that he wouldn't fight until he was ready to kill, that proves that he had the warrior mind. I have fought for my life, it is not a trivial thing. Comparing a child's pastime to a real combat art is a delusion, and a common marketing tool in so many dojos, who, when you look at them objectively don't teach martial arts at all.

I like the Nunchaku, I have two pairs, oak octagonal with cord tie. I find the Sai most versatile and I am looking for a good set of Tonfa. The problem in the UK is that the law is very paranoid about weapons; not just carrying them in public but even owning them in your house or on your property. It has been known for a police officer to confiscate even the most simple blade that is by the letter of the law legal to carry. Most officers have no idea what the law is. I carry an oak kubotan, I took it into a Government Building, it went through the scanner and the security officer handed it back to me, he didn't even blink. The problem is the phenomenon that the police can caution you on a suspicion of intent to cause harm. In theory, they can implement this even when you are unarmed. How they can justify holding you under suspicion by what you are thinking before you act in any way is beyond me. The British Police are known for their paranoia and over reaction. If you wave at them, they wave back.

You are right, it wont. A punch has an impact that is part alignment and form. Part energy and focus, but most of all, relaxation. The harder you consciously try and punch, the more energy you waste in the mechanics of the process. If you tense your body, the effort is contained in the structure of the machine. If you totally relax, and only form the shape of your punch on impact, the energy or force of the strike will be much greater. The statistic for a karate punch is that the greatest impact is made when the martial artist, sometimes when tired is working an effort of 80%. I don't know how they worked it out, but that is a figure that I have come across recently. Keep punching and relax, you don't need a spring makiwara or a wooden dummy, I use a bean filled wall bag. You'll soon learn to focus and speed will come. If it hurts by the way, you're doing it wrong.

I think that the way they are letting him down is that they let him train twice a week in a system that has not been taught well to them themselves. I have seen Krav Maga applied well, but in this case my suspicion is that they have sold the mythical cure all to this guy. No wonder that he struggles in the Aikido dojo. There are no short cuts in martial arts, there never will be.

The founder of the Krav Maga franchise is Steve Sohn, he heads the Krav Maga World Wide MMA association. He is also one of the directors of the EFC. And as we know they drive the money machine from America. Our Kravist friend just can't relax in the Aikido class. The moment he makes contact with you, he tenses and looks for something that is not there, namely a pre arranged technique. This is not how Aikido works, what you search for is your opponent's balance point; if they have passed it, you direct the force of the attack or any aggression so they are no longer a threat. I know it is difficult and a real mind bender when you are learning, but the application is very effective, if you don't have your balance, you are defenceless. The Aikido practitioner can choose how to respond, they can be gentle or they can send you into the ground with force; you sometimes hardly feel the contact and yet they can meet you with a strike or joint pressure that can leave you disabled. To be honest, I was Aikido's greatest sceptic until I experienced it taught well and from the direct linage. There are many even within the style that will never learn the true principals of it. As a Sensei from Ireland said "It's a paradox and it's not apparent as you watch it, and that's how we like it." It seems that our friend wants instant self defence results, unfortunately for him, he must see past the technique as Aikido is more of a feeling than anything you can sell as a paint by numbers system.

Going into bars and starting trouble? I wouldn't recommend it. As we say here in rural Wales, it's like a jungle in these parts, it's pretty and peaceful and all the little monkeys mind their own business and life is good. But if people start to go around shaking the trees and upsetting the little monkeys, they will soon find out that bigger monkeys start appearing and life will get a little more difficult. You may think that you are hard, but there is always harder.

My favourite Okinawan Weapons are a pair of Sai. I like blades, my favourite is my Anglo Arms tactical tanto. I train Fronteer Tomahawk and Bowi Knife because I find it interesting.

I searched in our area for a school that teaches Krav Maga regularly, and I found one. Also, one of their students trains with us at the Aikido class. I think it is a reflection of what he is being taught that he really struggles with Aikido. He gets really frustrated; he doesn't seem to get the fact that there are no set techniques and responses in our Aikido system. There are principals that you apply to each situation in a fluid and flexible way. The guy just can't get his head around it. I asked at his class how they were taught the Krav Maga, and my suspicions were right. The two ladies and one man who teach there were already Dan grades in Karate and Kick Boxing, fair enough. What happened was that they were approached by a Krav Maga stylist who offered them a series of courses that would adapt what they were already teaching into the Krav Maga way of thinking and system, and after a while they would be qualified to teach Krav Maga, which would be in truth a self defence system that used their previous styles and teaching within the Krav Maga model. Apparently, if you follow, you can call your new system "Krav Maga", use their logo and ethos to advertise and send out to other clubs super human Krav Maga hoodie wearing thugs. I'm not saying that this is what always happens, but it seems that what has happened here is that the Krav Maga teachers have hijacked a perfectly good school with a promise of fame and fortune in the self defence world. I get paired off in the dojo with Superkrav quite often, I find him quite funny but I don't like the swearing.

Two injuries can occur with executing the back fist. The first comes from not focusing the strike properly, when you over extend the wrist towards the fingers. It happens when the target is immobile and the strike's focus is too deep. The second is physical tendon and soft tissue damage. This can happen when the fist is not conditioned and you strike a hard surface or edge. Both these injuries can be avoided if you follow the simple rule of striking soft targets with your bones, and hard ones with you fleshy body weapons. I know it can't always be that simple, but it is a rough guide.

It depends, if he's an outdoor type, maybe a good quality folding knife would be ideal. Does he spend a lot of time in nature? Fishing or Hiking? Maybe a good quality multi-tool would be perfect.