AdamKralic

My son and I will be there. This is our first Diamond National tournament! Win Or lose it'll be a great mini-vacation for our family. Wifey is beyond excited about seeing the mall of America. I am excited about the tournament and getting my son on a real roller coaster for once. (They have one inside the mall)

Instructor also was doing sidekick into spin back kick combo drills. Those looked awesome as well. Basically I loved last night's class! I HAVE to get Zach to link up moves better. Absolutely. He relies soooooooooo much on a lead sidekick...and often doesn't follow up. Even though many have told him many times to do so. (and equally frustrating for me at least is that Zach will go through stretches where he does follow through all the time...then go through stretches where it's like he's never heard of following through!)

First of all congrats. Merely entering a tournament is proof of one overcoming a natural fear that all humans share. That is the important part. I also understand your feelings as well as a year or so back my son took 2nd in a two man competition. He got smoked too. 5 - 0. There was a call or two that was kinda shaky...but the other kid was better so that does not matter. The 2nd place trophy at this tournament was huge. His biggest trophy by far. He did not feel joy in receiving it. I did not try to change his mind on it as I feel the same. It's a giant reminder of a loss. BUT...not in a gazillion years would I not have wanted my son to have experienced everything about that day. It takes courage to get there. You trained to be there. Not every day...will be your day. But every day is leading up to the day that will be yours.

Yeah...intercept any attack before it reaches completion with...a...KICK. Leg's longer, thus, can thwart a hand technique because of reach. You are right. Often I have seen Zach counter a kick with the exact same kick and they kind of get "stuck" for a second with two kicks each to the thigh portion of the other's kick. Wing chun would not be great against the incoming kick...though a pass through with your lead hand guard when an opponent round kicks towards you almost seems wing "chunish" As to lead punch counters...you are right...when they superman blitz...a d side is magical in it's effectiveness. Still going to do some regular drills with the wing chun though...I very much liked it...but I won't push it as an answer for tournaments. TY

Hmmm. So am I reading that it is of questionable use for a point sparring tournament? The kids at the big tournaments are all pretty good and pretty fast. Any kind of advantage that I can help my son with...well we'll do. IMO Zach has kind of plateau'd a bit...just looking to get him up that next step.

My son had a good class last night in which the instructor was showing showing some wing chung styled arm movements to knock down the front guard of the opponent then hitting them with a "vertical backfist" Unfortunately my son didn't seem too into the lesson (for which I talked with him afterwards) but I was. A lot of good fighters seem to have an extended front arm guard going. tapping it down with your lead hand...then hitting it again with the other hand...then "vertical backfisting" the opponent with your original lead hand seems effective to me. It also allows for variations of strikes such as a a ridge hand instead of backfist... Thoughts? Ever seen it be effective in the forum that I am concerned with? (point sparring)

I was overweight at age 14. My entire family is thick in general...and my father decided the best thing to do was to put me into a lot of sports. I did basketball, football and boxing all within 2 years. Boxing was what interested me the most and I stuck with that for longer but anyways...the weight melted off me. Sports work as they are a fun way to exercise without the boredom that is often a part of exercise routines. Exercise is what is needed to lost weight and gain muscles. All the dieting in the world won't accomplish as much as regular exercise will. good luck and have at it.

I wanted to give a happy ending to the story...and tonight I can. They fought tonight...all went well...she talked with my son in a general friendly way. Learned a bit more about him...it would've been nice if he asked about her but he isn't exactly an extrovert...and he is 13 so. Anyways... He also got to fight others and was able to go harder against them. And yes Zach is training to be a fighter. Fighting in and of itself is a endless well of life lessons to be drunk. He does kata, he does bo and sword...not half badly either...but fighting is what he excels at.

What do you compete in specifically? Just curious. Everything I've read says you need a month for the body to acclimate (improve) to your "new" normal level of exercise. So a month prior would seem to me to be minimum. Of course you are going to taper off very close to competition...so maybe 5 weeks minimum to cover all bases.

Well for sparring you want the largest variety of opponents possible. If your current location only had a few other fighters? You'd want more. Otherwise you are just learning how to beat them. There are 5 schools in the organization by son trains with. Zach has fought at all five schools on multiple occasions. To me it seems like every instructor is ok with it and even a few seem energized by it.

I really don't see the point. You'll hit harder by practicing good technique a bazillion times. From a boxing standpoint body mass is pretty crucial too. Feather weights do not hit as hard as heavyweights...no matter what. The world's best pro feather weight will not hit as hard as the world's worst pro heavyweight. (I added pro in there for a reason...I'm assuming even the worst guy has some knowledge of how to punch) I like the idea of this being the formula: mass x speed x technique = power. You remove one of those "legs" from the tripod of power and you will have severely limited your power. The gloves don't seem to help anyone with any of those things really. Certainly don't give you mass. They do not give you speed. They do not give you technique. They just give you the results.

I have discussed judo and ju jitsu with Zach to incorporate a ground game into his knowledge. Wrestling does offer more advantages with scholarships...shame that America is so behind Europe in karate scholarships

and there are people with your mindset in that class. They can take my son's shots and the more they take...the harder they push back. Which is what I want for Zach. Eventually it should get to the point where both can go hard. That is the point at which both get the same level of instruction from the fight. Eventually an adult will sweep aside a kick technique and really connect with a reverse punch to my son's gut. (especially if he spams a kick from far away using the spam to get closer) That is how he will learn to make each kick touch...even set up kicks. Without pain...an adult can talk and talk and talk...but pain is the greatest teacher on earth. Well I've used this forum to vent yet again...but i thank you all for allowing me to do so.

The others in the class that fight her seem to just give her free shots. The best fighter does. He literally opens up his rib cage and let's her flail away. It is my belief that she cannot take any shots at all. She must've complained to each and every one of them at one point for this to happen. To answer background questions: She did mention something during the fight. I also believe that was when my son stopped using kicks and went to punches only. Seriously his power level from kicks to punches is like a 15 year old vs a 10 year old. (He just turned 13) His punches would be a person toning it down. I believe that taps from an adult are of the strength of my son's normal punches. We are working on that though. The fights are short...1 minute rounds and then you switch partners. But you can grab someone...my son will grab someone else. My son WAS the smallest in his kid class at the beginning. He has grown at a faster rate since and that was no longer true at all. But from day one he used technique and speed to generate power. Had to. That or be a punching bag getting pushed around the ring. Once you can generate power to stop a bigger person pushing you around the ring...they stop doing so. When you have the ability to flip the script...that is when you start winning a ton of fights. Is it different now? No. He's a child in a adult class. They try to push him into corners and trap him there. He stops that the same way he always has. All punches and kicks can be blocked or avoided. All of them. In training my son every hard hit he has ever taken was labeled "his fault" To think that my son has never taken an excessive shot is well...incorrect. He has been gut kicked hard enough to fly backwards 5 feet and land on his butt. Several times. I laid the blame at his feet though. The harder the hit...the more it was his fault. Guess what happened? He learned that he did not like taking hard shots. He learned that every shot can be avoided. He became better at not just offense...but defense as well. In the end I believe that one will take less damage, become a better fighter and learn more valuable life lessons by realizing that you can control what happens to you.

I will also suggest the half power training as others have suggested. Thanks.

As I said...I prefer avoidance. He has little to nothing to gain and apparently a lot to lose.

My wife's Grandmother was a Tai Chi Champion at age 70. Hey i realize that each and every one of will get old if we are lucky. I have no problem with reality. I love football...would not strap on pads and play against people half my age though. Tai Chi might be more her speed? Hell there is no shame in matching your body type to a sport. My son is not in basketball for a reason. I plan on being world class at shuffleboard when the time is right. Love me some Bocci too. I walk at night around my neighborhood with my son. Great time to talk about guy stuff. I suggested that if forced to fight her...to just take her shots to build his conditioning for taking shots. IDK really what else to do. He is good at avoiding and blocking...and she is not fast so that wouldn't really be a great exercise either. He does not however take too many shots. He is training to fight people faster, stronger and more experienced than himself. That is HIS reality. He needs to be going hard in practice so as to not get really seriously hurt in a tournament. That is the reality that is not considered by some perhaps? What kind of person would let their only child enter into big tournaments unprepared?

My son just made the travel team. Points are not scored unless they are solid. My son does not punch hard enough now. He tends to throw them out fast but doesn't pull them back at same speed thereby reducing their snap. I really feel that there is a double edged sword in karate today. Many complain that the art has been watered down to the point of not being worthwhile for self defense...others think that it is a glorified tae Bo class. I have made his regular sensi aware of what my son is doing. (Travel team has different leaders than his regular class) I am of the camp that feels karate is about defense.

Ok...I ask this on behalf of my 89lb son. He has been put into the adult black belt sparring class as he hits hard for his size and has the endurance to fight for the full hour. (kids class fights maybe 20 minutes rest is drills) Needless to say he is the smallest in the class by quite a bit. The next smallest probably has 4 inches on him. Heck there is a legit seven footer in that class. After his second class...he received compliments from two of the students in the adult class...and one scolding from a student. She complained rather loudly in the parent/changing area that he punched too hard. (seriously punching is his weakest...we train it to get harder and snappier...but he's all thigh muscle...thin upper body) Once he hits puberty it'll get there as he is coachable...just need to polish the technique and get some mass. But back to the scolding. This woman complained that she is a 54 year old woman and can take some but not a lot of punches...that he needs to respect her wishes to not be hit hard and that he needs to have more control. I can see her point on one hand as the really big adults do not hit my son full strength...but then again they outweigh him by about 100 lbs. My son is 89 lbs. I said nothing during the scolding even though it happened right next to me and she glared at me a lot. (I am used to parents glaring at me...somehow it's my fault that their kid cannot avoid/block an attack) Honestly though? My thoughts were "what kind of martial artist are you if you cannot take the punches of a child wearing gloves and you have a chest protector?" They were body shots...not one head shot. I told my son to avoid fighting her from now until the end of time. I do not seek confrontation. He wanted to really fight her. (as in really pushing her with kicks and not just punches) I said that would accomplish nothing. But still.

Champions become champions because they train harder and smarter. To the above poster: take any champion and let him prepare for your different rule set fight like he would a championship fight in his rule set and he'll win. If you really believe differently you are being misled. 2 arms, 2 legs. The will to be the best is important...above all else. Style is unimportant. What will you do to win? A world champion in ping pong would answer: anything. Instead of being upset that xyz fighter is competing...come up with your own competitions in the rule set that you'd prefer! Make your league most successful one and someday you will have your own detractors who talk a lot of smack.

Speed is crucial though. Anything that makes the fighter faster in reaction, footwork and in striking...is good. Ultimately if you want to be the "baddest on the block" in fighting a pure karate training will not be ideal. With most fights ending up on the ground...well karate is very limited there. So why worry about that? You would want to add krav maga or perhaps jiu jitsu to your training already if the goal was to be a true take on any comer in a fight person. Now if it's more spiritual in nature as the ideal: then how does the olypics change that more than it already is? People that seek the spiritual side...will find it. People that do not? Will not.

I want it. I have never played a UFC game before...but I want it.

I do believe that the top martial artists of today are better than in the past. Let's look at an example of someone you might have heard of: Bruce Lee. Name ring a bell? Today his teachings are the bible for MMA fighters. They all cross train. They all believe in multiple martial arts to complete their singular "style" ( or lack thereof) I watch old karate tournaments and compare to new tournaments and even in a period as short as 20 years one can notice changes. Speed for one. Today's fighters are very fast. Like ridiculously fast. I'll even throw in a example of a amateur: This teenager is not a pro. He wins a lot...but I do not believe that he has ever left America for any fight ever. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=789886401030619&set=p.789886401030619&type=2&theater That is pretty fast imo. How many people were that fast in the 70s? Like I said...that is a young amateur. There are better, stronger perhaps even faster fighters all over youtube...at the amateur level too.

McDojos do produce high quality fighters. How? It's the fighters themselves. They train hard and get the results one expects from hard training. Now the McDojo might not produce the level of competition that they require to be the absolute best that they can be...but one can learn a lot by fighting even "inferior" fighters if the repetition/number of fights is high enough.

Congrats!