delta1

I have some tennis balls strung on light bunjee chord that I hang at variouse heights to useas focus balls. You can also hang paper or foil strips for this purpose, but the wind will obviousely effect them more. I make training knives from scrap wood. Shape them on a belt sander or a grinder. I leave the edges fairly flat. Recently, I came across a tip somewhere that you can glue pipe cleaners to the cutting edges of wooden knives. Dust them with carpenters chalk, and you get a mark everywhere you 'cut'. I use hot melt glue, and it works. One thing I found is that you should crimp the ends of the pipe cleaners back so that if (when) they come loose someone doesn't get poked.

I'm making a dummy now. PVC frame padded with carpet padding and carpet, wraped in duct tape to hold it together. The PVC dummies tend to get busted up fairly regularly, but I'm trying some new reinforcing measures and a shock mounted base. The base is a piece og 3/16ths sheet aluminum about 2ft x 2ft. Two pipe anchors are riveted to this base, and a 14" x 3/4" PVC nipple is threaded into each anchor. On top of each anchor is attached a heavy duty bunjee strap. The nipples are loosly padded to absorb side shock. The legs of the dummy are 1 1/2" PVC. They slip over the nipples, and the bunjee straps are attached inside the legs with a bolt. The bunjees absorb upward force. The PVC nipples should give way before the legs, and will be easier to repair. The legs are usually the most vulnerable part of the dummy. The legs attach to the torsoe with unions, so that you have access to inside the legs to secure the bunjees and effect repairs. The torsoe is just a skeletal frame of PVC nipples and fittings, cross braced with twisted wire. I'm thinking of adding some 1/4" plywood to brace critical parts, like the shoulders and chest. The head and neck is more PVC, but heavier to take the abuse. Just bush up to larger sizes. The entire frame is padded with carpet padding, and the outer padding is carpet. By cutting and layering, I can get all the landmarks and targets, effectively creating a fairly realistic human body. I use a LOT of duct tape securing all this. Major muscle groups and body shape are pretty simple. But I also include details like eye sockets, mouth and jaws, ears, adams apple, suprasternal notch, ..., any landmark that indicates a target I might want to hit or stay away from. I dress them in old clothes, and name them after Pollacks I've known. They are one of the best training aids you can have. I don't put arms on them because they are way too easily broken. A partner standing behind the dummy can strike with padded sticks for a bit more realism. But, I am toying with the idea of a shaft and bunjee mount for moveable arms that have resistance. That is one other reason for useing plywood reinforcing in the torsoe- though it would have to be 3/8ths to 1/2 inch plywood for this. Who knows? We'll see how it ends up. Edit/Update: I kicked the legs a little and wasn't satisfied with the way it felt. So I've just modified the base. I added a 4" steel nipple to the bottom, and coupled the PVC nipplet to this. The steel nipple is padded with one wrap of carpet padding. Seems to work OK, but obviously won't know 'till I get it all together and whomp it a while.

And I agree with Jerry Love, et all. One thing that I havn't seen yet is targeting their hands. Boxers, for all that moving and covering, have this wonderful habit of putting their hands up by their hard head. They are used to taking strikes on their gloves. Without the gloves, you can do a lot of dammage targeting their hands.

aefibird, thanks for the vote of confidence. I guess I need to clear up one thing. I wasn't saying to just leave without telling him you are going. I'd just not go into a lot of detail why. If you do, be prepared for him to get defensive about it. If he presses you for details you'll just have to decide how much to say. But I recommend keeping it pretty basic, like "I'm not getting what I thought I should out of the martial arts." That doesn't attack him directly, and so is pretty neutral. Another option might be to say you'd like to try other things. But talking to someone who is in the position of teaching what they don't understand- and make no mistake that he knows he doesn't understand even if he's fooling himself with rationalizations- is asking to have a lot of insecurities unloaded on you in the form of aggression. So again, for what it's worth, my advice is to tell him you are leaving, but not go into details. Even those instructors who don't know what they are teaching can recognize ability, dedication, and the fact that you do care. They want those students around to give credability to the lie they tell to themselves and their students. You have to decide two things; one is if this is the case here. As I said earlier, I can only speculate based on the limmited information you gave us. You have to make this judgement yourself. Next, if you decide that this is the case, you have to decide if you want to be a part of that lie. One last bit of advice. If you do leave, even if on bad terms, let it all go. Don't spread tales, start rumors, or bad mouth him. You don't need the problems that will bring, and it will only result in your character being questioned by those you talk to. If asked, you don't have to recomend the school, and not giving a recomendation speaks volumes to anyone that is not terminally somnolent. If they are, of course that may be where they belong any how. Well, that was more than I intended to write. Good luck with your problem. I've got to find white warlock and see if I can get a ride to the AA meeting (Advisors Annonymous). aefibird, do you know which way he went?

Sounds like you're about to pee on him.

DA, you gonna give us an update, or just leave us wonderin'? Tried any of this advice yet? Talked with your seniors? Changed your mind even a little? Verdict still out? Let us know, 'k?

Good question- hope you get some good replies. My system teaches one steps first to a static attack, as you described. Then it is steped up to a moving or a sudden attack. Also, we have to work the same defense for different types of attacks that it can be used to defend. We are allowed, and often required, to change up the defense while staying with the same general theme and principles. We also combine one steps into techniques, or link them together so that one flows naturally to the other. The best way to explain this is to give an example: One Step- challenger, on defenders kiai, steps forward into a front stance and throws a right straight punch to defenders face. Defender steps forward into a right back stance with a right inward block to punch, left chambers at waist. Right fist chambers to left ear, then right back knuckle to right eye. Right foot steps out into a right front stance, right fist chambers at right hip, left straight punch to solar plexus. *Note: even in the basic one step, I add in a minor block, or parry. As he punches, and I step forward and chamber my right by my ear for the inward block, my left parries the punch outside, just by my left ear. The left flows on down to chamber at my hip as I hammer the inward block to his radial nerve. principles and concepts- Just some of what I get out of this one step. Steping forward and a little to the right takes you slightly off line of the punch and inside his defenses. My parry is much quicker, and will get to the punch far faster than the block. It also positions his arm for a more effective block. The inward block should move the punch just enough to disrupt the strike, hurt and control him. Chambering the right is supposed to add power to the strike, but all it really does is rob power and slow the strike down. I look at this as an elbow strike if I do it at all. The strike from a chamber is an excellent illustration of contouring, as it follows the entire arm straight to his head. Steping out into a front stance as you punch teaches you to use a stance change to add power, reach and position to the straight punch. It also gets you out of the way of the opponents head as he reacts to your strike to the solar plex. Chambering the right as you strike with the left adds torque, which adds power. My way- I have several variations of this one step, but I'll give you one of them so you can see what I do to them. This is done against a moving, padded and resisting opponent: or against an opponent who moves but knows how to dummy the attack. The opponent (O') steps into you with a right punch to the face. You step forward into a fighting stance, left close outward (vertical outward) block to punch, done as a double bone block. This brings your left up similar to a boxers guard to take the punch, moving it just past your left ear. Simultaneously with the step and block, your right contours his right into an inward forearm strike to his right mastoid. Block, strike and stance should all solidify at the same time, and your right knee checks inside his right knee. Immediately pivot into a forward stance as you right back knuckle his right jaw and replace it with a left vertical punch to his jaw. The right back knuckle comes from point of origin (does not chamber, but moves directly to strike), and is not a power shot. It is used to hide and set up the left vertical punch, which is a power strike. You have to move the right anyhow, so you might as well use the movement instead of wasteing it. As the right clears throught the strike, it flows through a vertical outward double bone block to deal with a possible left from O'. It flows down and through a sort of a high chamber, but never stops or cocks, just flows into the next strike. As you pivot back into a fighting stance, the right uppercuts his solar plex and the left checks high to deal with his head when he bends forward. Technique flow- they allow me to do this one because it just works SOOOO gooood! I flow into an American Kenpo technique, Five Swords, from the uppercut in that technique. Left foot steps back to @5:00, left sword hand to his left mastoid slips through to crane O's neck. Pivot into a fighting stance, useing the stance change to pull his head down with the crane and add power to an inward sword hand strike to the back of his neck as the crane hand releases and checks at his left shoulder. Well, you said long posts were ok. You probably forgot that me and white warlock were around when you said that, but I took it as license to expound at length! Hope that was all clear.

You know, I'm thinking that this is one time I'm not going to advise talking with your instructor. I'm not saying don't talk, either, but from what you've said here I doubt it would do much good; and it might cause hard feelings. It sounds like he's one of these guys that thinks that you learn the dance, you get your belt. If he's not requireing you to understand what you're doing, my guess is he doesn't understand either. The worst thing about 'learning' kata, or anything else, without understanding is not that you don't know what you are doing. Far more harmful is that, without understanding, you develope bad habbits that will plague you for a long time. My advice, based on what you've told us and my experiences, is to leave. I'd do it quietly in this case. I've tried to talk to instructors like this before (not in front of their students). They generally start by giving you a 'what's your problem' look. But, if you persist, they get offended and downright antagonistic. In the end, though, it's your call. I don't know the whole story nor this particular instructor, so I'll be the first to say take this advice for what it's worth and come to your own conclusions as to how to handle this. Good luck.

If I could only do one art, it would be American Kenpo, and everything I do comes back to that base. But, since there are no AK schools near here, I do a lot of other things to keep going. I guess you could say that is a compromise, but I enjoy working with other styles and reworking their stuff to my base. We all do what we can, and I don't look at it as a compromise if I have to rework TKD or Arnis, or even Taiji, to AK. It's just another adventure in the martial arts.

I don't know anything about Kyokushin tournaments, and I don't know of any American Kenpo only tournaments. I know AK people who do tournaments and fights, including local NHB venues. The tournament you are refering to is the Nationals, started by Ed Parker and where Mr. Parker introduced Bruce Lee. They still occur, last I heard, but I've never been.

Yang Taiji does White Crane Spreads Wings, but it isn't quite like standing on a pileing on one leg and hanging both hands in the air. American Kenpo has a crane stance, but our guard is still in place, again as opposed to just hanging.

Probably because you are thinking about it instead of just reacting. Also, remember that "Action beats reaction unless the last thing to be hit is the first thing to be moved." If you aren't moving, you'll probably get hit. But this is ok since this is just a drill to improve reaction speed. It isn't competition, and you aren't incompetent if you don't block everything. You're just practicing combinations, not fighting. Just drill the combos. As for him moving, AK does everything with reaction- at least what I've seen. He shouldn't be just standing there. If he does, change the kick to a knee strike (AK also teaches adjustments). Or, you could do like Mr. Sepulveda allways says when with an uncooperative partner: "React, or I'll MAKE you react!" Again, they are drills. You are learning things like maximum range of motion, distanceing, working stance changes, and all this with combinations. You probably do other drills to work on other things. Like gleaning principles from your techniques, think about what skills you are working with your drills and focus on improving them. Probably because you are making too much of them. They are just drills, not the Nationals. Relax and work them instead of letting them work you. Again, it sounds like you are focusing on competitiveness rather than learning. Everything you do isn't fighting, though it does relate to fighting. Drills, by their nature, focus on a few aspects of fighting. They don't develope bad habbits unless done wrong or taken wrong. If you look at these as increasing reaction speed and developing coordination in your combinations, they will do those things. If you look at them as 'this is what I have to do in a fight', then you have some bad habbits. If you don't see what a drill does, talk to some senior students or your instructor to see what you are supposed to be getting out of it. But don't discount anything's value just because you don't understand it. But, after having said all that, I do prefer to work those kind of drills full force against the Muy Thai pads!

I agree that it can be useful, but should not be relied on too much. As for your hands being there to protect the face from a knee strike- they may be there, but they won't protect much if the knee is thrown with intent. In fact, without gloves, a good knee strike is likely to dammage the hands if they are sandwiched. The arms might do more, but they may not be completely effective either.

Hey, Disco, DUCK! American Kenpo As intellectual as it is physical. Designed primarily for the Western streets, though it also stands up extremely well to other martial arts styles. Adaptable to both the stylist (you) and to the opponent you face. Has an extensive arsenal of natural weapons. Covers all ranges, including stand up grappling and throws. Enough to study for a lifetime, but I personally know yelow, orange and purple belts who've used their skills to come out on top of some very seriouse street encounters- including weapons assaults and multiple opponents of the baddest sort. Only problem area I see; "i dont want to do an art that includes getting beaten up during class like hits on the head and such." Every once in a while you will have to take the hits. Otherwise, and this applies to whatever art you do, my advice is to keep it off the street. If you can't perform under force in a controled environment, you aren't going to be able to do it in the real world.

Applies to two knife fighters.

In close and up the center, where things tend to happen real fast, my "guard" tends to resemble the boxers. It supports a lot of in close strikes, like elbows, while covering the head and upper torsoe well. The vertical outward block,done as a double bone block, resembles the boxers guard on one side. After it takes the punch, it is in good position to follow the punch back, or even be carried by the withdrawal, into a hammerfist. The disadvabntage of the boxers type guard is that, especially as range increases, it leaves your mid and lower body open. To make matters worse, the primary defense with this guard is evasion useing a lot of twisting and ducking. Great for getting the head out of the way, but the lower trunk is relatively stationary. Nice targets. Fotwork is floating, hopping, leaves the base vulnerable. And stance is square on more than I like, leaving a few lower targets exposed that I'd rather keep protected. Blocks- I'm not a fan of blocking just to stop an attack. The block should do something, either to or with him. Position him, drive him back, flow into a trap, cut and strike, .... . Paries- the classic parry to an overcommited punch is not that common. But, they still work great if you move in as you parry. Position is relative, after all. Parries can also check, trap, flow well into cranes. They can drive a limb back and pin it. Parries can be soft, but are usually more effective done hard, like a heel palm strike that rides and/or moves the limb. Elbows, knees and feet can parry. You can parry up, down, across, diagonally, overhead, ... pretty versatile. I like them. But a parry should have a purpose- it should quickly lead him into doom.

AAAHHHH TYPO. MISTAKE. Yeah, I can make jokes too... Kinda. No prob..., uh, no worries, mate!

welcome aboard!

Rugby's not a martial art? Oh well, welcome aboard anyhow!

Interesting. Quick question: was that Capoeria that the rebels used to kick The Rock's butt with in "The Rundown"?

Well, uh, thanks. I owe it all to a lifelong preference for hangin' around in Old Phart Bars. Now, I too are an old phart, so I pass on my lernin'. By the way, was that a play on words there- physiologist vs. psychologist?

LOL Score one for th' frog!

You might consider going to Chicago- I hear they are allways looking for security personnel! Seriously, when you do leave, you might just find out that the edge of the world is not such a bad place to live. My only problem, at least with this edge, is it can be a pain in the backside to study martial arts in a small town environment. Every time you find someone good and/or seriouse, they generally move away! Still, much as I enjoy going to Chicago from time to time, I'll take life here any day!

Just goes to show that our laws aren't the worst around. But now I know where you are comeing from. Agreed! And you don't have to be a doctor. But a good general working knowlege is important. If that's an option, all well and good, and I'll take it. I've saidbefore that I don't hold with killing if there's another way. It's just that allowing someone who'se trying to kill me with a knife to live is not my primary concern. At this point, it's all about survival. If leaving is an option, take it. If wounding does the job, do it. But if we close and knives are involved, do whatever you have to. That may mean he dies, but again I'd rather him than me or someone I care about. My comments about the spec ops trainers were not directed at anyone in particular, nor the one about it applying to general martial arts also. I'm just saying to be careful what you plunk money down for. Didn't offend me in the least! I appreciate your input, but I was interested to know why you said some of the things you did. Things like focusing to train knife fighters to wound only. I can see training wounding strikes in the case you cited here, where it might keep you out of prison. And training wounding strikes is good to let the martial artist know in a fight that a) they are available, and b) that if you hit him there, you've only wounded him. The converse is also true, know the killing shots , if nothing else you can avoid them when you travel. But, no matter where I'm at, if I were in a knife fight and his throat were open, I hope I wouldn't hesitate to take the strike. And, that is the problem with training to wound only- your mindset is wrong. Avoiding strikes so that you don't kill him might get you killed. It's also a defensive mindset, which is (in my mind anyhow) not a good thing in this case. Again, just my opinion, and you should feel free to give yours as that is what these forums are about. It gives us all something else to consider other than our own narrow view. And, a lot to endlessly debate also!

Bammx2, I'm having a little trouble following your train of thought here. But I'll respond and hope I get it right. First off, if you pulll a knife, you are using deadly force. So your reason for pulling it should warrant that level of force. Once deployed, as I stated before,your reason for being right now is to destroy the opponent. If he is armed, or if he gets control of your weapon, you are in seriouse trouble and your life is definately at risk. I don't advocate killing unless it is necessary, but in this case it may well be. And,frankly, better him than me. Once a knife comes out, your mindset has to be to take him out. You don't stop until your opponent has fled, been incapacitated to the point he can no longer be any sort of threat, or is dead. If the either of the first options occur, great. But my purpose is survival, and to insure that I'd fight to destroy him, not scare or subdue him. A knife is a close range weapon, and the deadliest one you are likely to encounter. You just don't have the time and can't afford to risk control or scare tactics once range is closed and he's engaged. As for the spec ops stuff out there, all I'll say is that there are a lot of people trying to cash in on this one, and not all are who or what they claim to be. 'Caveat emptor' is the by word when looking for this stuff, as well as any martial art related topic/instruction.