AdamKralic

effectiveness implies results, execution implies a action being done well. What if the well executed action did not match the scenario provided? I'll take results. Like Karate point sparring for example: effectiveness rules the day. A blitz wouldn't be perhaps the BEST move in street fight at all...but in sport fighting it is a great one. It's fast, has big reach, is easy to surprise people with, can be launched almost anytime. A perfectly executed spin kick CAN land to great results...but often does not. Between the two? A blitz is the winner in sparring. Now don't get me wrong...if you had a nasty, fast, strong spin kick that you could execute well...dang youtube that stuff man!

I put my wife in charge of video...I took a few horrendous ones myself. Congrats to your family!

Well I wanted it it to fight better fighters. They have since bumped him up...but he still needs better fighters. We do not care about the belt...it's about finding a better fighter than himself. I'll answer to the best of my abilities but understand that I have little to compare to. Mostly we practice by exercising, footwork, technique and trying to string useful combinations. This helps him tremendously with the basics, technique and of course sparring. He likes the bo and is self teaching/learning his own creative form with it. He has competed before using a bo in traditional style. (what I prefer) He is attracted to the flashier creative style. Best way to not have sloppy technique imho is to get hit really hard. Everything is talk, talk, talk...you get hit hard because you were sloppy? You'll remember that. He is a 2nd degree brown belt now and they have in the 1st and 2nd degree black belt sparring class. He is killing them. Sensei will put him against black belts much larger than himself so as to avoid the smaller kids (kids his size) from taking the shots. That doesn't work because big people tend to be slow. But I suppose they also can absorb more punishment. Most kids tend to take karate not too seriously from what I've seen. I was shocked to see horseplay in the black belt class...but it's there. IDK. There is a massive gap in talent between the kids he regularly fights and the national tournament kids. <--- THAT is a huge issue for us. IDK what to do about it at all. I am not a pushy person...and even if I was...there isn't anything to push against/for. I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing to do but keep on keeping on. We might change schools once he hits black belt though. IDK.

Little late to the party but can I add: stretch. I do not need to know what you are doing...you need more stretching! Front splits and side splits. These help TREMENDOUSLY with the height of your kicks. Read up on dynamic stretches. Look up wushu performer stretches online to see "ideal" stretches. For example this lady is VERY flexible:

Wolves might be cool...but honestly one would think a cat a better representation of the Ninja training. Especially my cat Inky. Pitch black and overly cautious; Inky is a cat that ALWAYS sees you before you see him. He hides in the shadows in the daytime and is most active at night. (seriously incredibly hard to find him at night...the cat is masterful at finding the darkest part of a dark room...you can look right at him and see absolutely nothing...he even tilts his head so you have a hard time seeing his lit up eyes...like I said MASTER of the dark) Moves very quietly and often likes to be very high up on a ledge or something. Compared to a wolf Inky IS a Ninja.

Practice makes perfect in all things. You say that your balance is "off." Can you do roundhouse kicks? Can you do two roundhouse kicks without setting your kicking leg down inbetween kicks? 3? 4? 5? 6? 7? Have someone hold a kicking hand pad at the highest height that you can do once. Practice kicking the pad repeatedly without setting the foot down inbetween kicks. Mark your progress. Make it a daily exercise. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes tops per day. If done every single day...your balance will improve. Please keep your hands in a guard position while doing these kicks.

Anything permanent? No. Not worth it.

Cheers! Good job!

I see the point you are getting at here, but I don't think speed is any more a guarantee to hit than size is. Speed isn't good for anything if you can't hit the target, or don't have sound technique. Speed is just another physicl attribute, like strength. Having it is one thing. Putting it to good use is another. I had imagined skill to be a given in his hypothetical exercise. I agree...all encounters are unique...all skill a major factor. If the larger foe is also more skilled...speedy will have trouble as strong with skill can hit where speed is going. If skill is equal though...I stand on the speed being best belief. There is also the larger = more target area factor. If it was a battle of truly gifted practioners...going for vital strikes...speed will REALLY come in handy. Now all that being said...I've seen people with the trifecta of speed, size and skill. It seems unfair!

It should be speed vs size. If you can only have one? Take speed. Power and size only count when there is a connection. If the person cannot hit the other...size is nothing. Speed though...speed is ALWAYS valuable.

*update* the story was a prank. I fell for it. *facepalm*

http://soccerly.com/article/IanStewartPalmer/absurd-league-makes-kids-play-without-balls?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+soccerly+%28Soccerly+Recent%29 Now that is crazy! Raise your hand if you'd pretend to score 49 times per game. *raises hand*

Today is the tournament...his coach called to say that he cannot be there. We needed him there so I canceled. It's a shame as Zach was ready...but I just felt that in a bigger tournament like this one that having a coach is crucial. If I call a timeout for my son...I would get a lot of strange looks and it'd be awkward. If Zach's 5th degree black belt coach who is a 10 time national sparring champion calls timeout...it happens instantly. I still am a bit torn. There are a lot of tournaments in my area though; heck he has another in 2 months. We did train extra hard though...arrrggghhh. But now he finally can do a tournament usable axe kick! Ying / Yang I suppose.

Lookup Ringstar brand shoes. They look and act like a sneaker/low top basketball shoe. In NASKA they are approved for tournament fighting. Blood blisters on the feet is something that needs to be addressed immediately imo. Any source of pain that you can eliminate is a positive step. http://fighterxfashion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ringstar-shoes-1.jpg

Where do you get blood blisters? On your hands? What exactly are you hitting with them if so?

Can you learn how to swim without water? The question is the same. You could practice the strokes while perhaps lying on your belly, you could read a lot of articles online...etc. But until you get in the water...no real progress.

Can I ask how old you are? How old the people that are making your studies hell are?

They are idiots. If the instructor wants to give free lessons to idiots...then don't be the sucker that pays. I'd tell them that you will file formal complaints to the better business bureau and the police. or he can immediately rip up the contract and apologize. Putting up with abusive behavior is bad for you immediately and in the future as that stuff can leave mental scars. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER.

I would imagine that punching a bag of uncooked rice would be preferable to concrete.

If the desired result is to not get hit as frequently...I'd imagine that one arm is longer than two. Two requires you to square up...1 requires you to be sideways and thus a much smaller target.

Exactly right ! Karate is for everyone and age group ,anyone can learn and train in karate ,they just have to adopt it to their body type , even ones with disability can work around it . we had members that had disabilities or were much less gifted athletically but after a few years the improvement in them was incredible , guy who could not walk after a terrible accident and was wheelchair bound came training and within a few months he was back in his feet , I am not saying he was back on his feet and training like he never had a problem but his physical improvment was amazing ,he was back on his feet and trying to punch and kick and block and doing his best . Of course all this is possible only with a good instructor and will power on behalf of students . I have just started learning the guitar in my mid 50s ,something I wanted to do since childhood ! I find it hard ,my fingers don't like to obey me and go where I tell them but I am using what I have learned from karate in the last 29 years ,using the same method to teach them , same way I learned to kick and punch and block and move and perform variuos forms (kata) . Now I have to teach my fingers and co ordinate my hands to work in harmony and develpo calluseis on my finger tips < similar to the one I developed on my knuckes of my hands ! How long will it be before I can be a good decent guitar player ? I don't know and it doesn't matter to me much , I will just enjoy the journey ! You enjoy your karate journey ,even the hard training , it is not the end of ther world if you can't kick to the head , karate has lot more to offer than that ,once you get to build a strong fundemental in your karate you can adopt the best it has to offer for your body type and pyhsique . GREAT post. I played guitar for a very long time and am new to karate...I found the same to be true as did you. Learning is all the same. You do something slowly and purposefully until it is correct. You then speed it up as fast as you can do correctly. Muscle memory in your thighs...is just like muscle memory in your fingers.

Ultimately it is ALWAYS what the child puts into it. ALWAYS. My son trains hard...harder than many adults do I'd recon. He fights in about 5 or 6 tournaments per year that are high level and 2 per year that are closed tournaments and thusly much weaker imo. His school is a bit of a McDojo chain...but he's elite amoungst them. He is always fighting people several belt levels above him in class...and is absolutely crushing them. Now does it get me irked that children that are not worthy are getting black belts at his school? Yes. When my son is eligible in 1 year for his will I feel that he did not earn it? No. In a year my son will be amazingly good at karate for any age trying for Dan. My son will be 13 and a 1/2 at first black belt exam possibility.

Besides my above "just fight" "tip?" Increase your speed in training. 1st step speed is everything. zero to sixty in 1 step is the unattainable ideal imho. Being that I live near Chicago...I use Derrick Rose as an example. He moves pretty slow and relaxed 80% of the time...but he can hit a gear that is just flat out unfair and he can do so with 1 step. Derrick Rose would be great at point sparring if motivated is my fearless prediction.

Go up 2 points on the guy that waits for you to see what kind of fighter you are. Follow up with the complete opposite attack. You are now up 3 points. In a match to 5 the guy down 3 points is finally ready to fight? I've heard every single line in the OPs thread starting post before...(and they are all WITH merit) but reality is closer to hurts when i blink. My favorite fight quote of all time by anyone ever: Mike Tyson: "EVERYONE has a game plan...UNTIL they get punched in the mouth."

The color of the belt is not as important as the skill of the practioner. <-- sp? If you were the best in the class with the best skills and attitude and did not get advanced that would be a different story. Then again if you were the best in the class with the best skills and attitude; perhaps we never read your complaint as you never typed it? Take it from someone perhaps more like you than different than you: You want something they have, you might have to swallow some pride to get it. That is life. Life is not fair...demanding that it be fair just makes you look immature. (been there, done that...will probably do it again at one point or another...and I'll be wrong then too)