delta1

I was working on Chon Ji today, and trying to get a handle on some of the applications. When you start doing sword blocks (vertical outward block), I see them working best for an attack comeing at you from an oblique more than from 90'. First off, as you turn and cat and put up your wall block, the lower hand doesn't have much travel, and so would not clear much. More importantly, as you step into a back stance and deliver a sword block if it takes his punch at an angle it deflects with the back of the forearm, as it should. But for a punch comeing at you from 90' the block connects with the radial side of the forearm, risking injury to you. Of course, you could allways torque the arm at the point of contact so your palm faces inward, but this is not how I generally see the block done in this form. How do you guys do it? How do you see it applied?

I had to work.

I don't think there's a simple answer to your question, and I don't know what I'd do if faced with that situation. But I do know the values I'd use to make a decission. First, you'd be correct in handing over your wallet. You'd be right in taking your chances alone, but in this scenario you have to consider the safety of someone else. So, unless there's some overwhelming reason to take the risk, give it up. The more complex issue is whether to lie down or to try to stop the bad guy (BG) from abducting the woman. First, if you lie down, you give up any chance of defending you or her. He may just decide you are such a worthless worm that he wants to shoot you any how. Are you willing to complety put your life in the hands of a scumbag like this? Also, what do you think your chances are of disarming, then subduing the BG? Further, you need to do this in such a way that the gun does not at any time dureing the disarm point at her or any other bystanders. Can you accomplish this? (Hint: if you havn't practiced it, probably not. If you have practiced it, maybe, maybe not- it ain't that easy). If you comply, then call the police, they may be busy, maybe not. They may get there in a timely manner, they may not. They may find her in time, or not. They might successfully rescue her, or not. She may or may not suffer significant mental and emotional trauma, even if she escapes physical trauma. Odds are that if she is abducted, this is going to go bad for her- it's really just a matter of how bad. If you lay down, are you ready to look her in the eyes if she comes back? Are you ready to put up with the spoken or unspoken recriminations of co-workers and friends? Can you live with yourself? Of course, there are other things to think about. I'm sure we all know some women that might tempt you to smile as you lay down. What about the law? There's allways the chance you'll get arrested for defending yourself, or sued if something goes wrong, or even if it doesn't. Do you consider these things? I hope I wouldn't, but I really don't know. I've stood up for total strangers before, but not against a gun. And I can't even guarantee what I'd do the next time in a less than deadly encounter, let alone this scenario. I hope I'd do the right thing, and that I don't make too big a mess of it.

I've heard that Bruce Lee used electrostimulation, and some say it was a contributing factor to his death. Don't have any idea if that is true or not, but I do know that any time you start applying electrical impulses to your body there is a very real possibility of doing dammage. Under the care of a doctor and a trained therapist, and for specific medical reasons, getting repeatedly electrocuted might be acceptable. But to get in shape I think I'll rely on the grunt and sweat method.

Howdy. Hope your knee is gettin' better. Don't push it too hard too fast. When I have down time, I usually review and redo my notes, and bug the fool out of everybody on this forum. Look forward to hearing from you.

Hello, and welcome. Too bad about your JKD/FMA class being canceled. That sounds like a soli, as well as fun combination. At least you still have the kickboxing.

Similar, but not exactly the same. In AK, we do two versions of the front, and some other, kicks- snaping and thrusting. Snap kicks are quick and don't get as much hip into them. Thrusting kicks get a lot of hip and are designed to do as much dammage as possible. Your kick sounds like a front snap that was converted in mid strike to a side snap. If I did this, though, I'd probably roll my hips to prevent torquing my knee and also to facilitate a better withdrawel if he tries to trap. Might be interesting to practice as a designed kick, see how it works.

As sevenstar pointed out, different styles emphasize different methods of power generation. There are some basic principles common to most, if not all styles. Multi volume books have been written on the concepts that are used to apply these principles. So I'll just stick to simple principles. Ed Parker listed three main principles of power generation: Torque- any time there is a twisting motion involved in your strike, stance, move, etc. Back Up Mass- any time you get your body weight into a technique, either moving forward, backward, or just in body allignment. Marriage of Gravity- when there is a downward component to a move, whether droping a knee on a downed opponent or, at the other extreme, just settling into a stance . Everything else- proper body mechanics, structural allignment, technique, etc.- all work with these three principles. It is mostly these concepts that are done differently, or emphasized more or less, by different systems. For example, boxers use a lot of torque and their body allignment in a strike allows them to throw their elbows out more than a karateka, whose stances are meant to be used with an anchored, or tight in elbow. Both use backup mass, but in a different way, and the karatekas lower stance makes better use of marriage of gravity (though I doubt they call it that). All the principles are in both styles, but there is a very different emphasis.

I don't know much about the style, and nothing about their system. My advice is to study a little on ninjutsu, do some research first, then check it out. At least you'll have some knowlege that way and it would be a little more difficult to do a fast sell on you. And you could ask some intelligent questions. For example, weren't there 9 houses, or major areas of study in traditional ninjutsu? (Some of you closet ninjas, correct me if I'm wrong on that). Find out what they are and ask if they teach them all, and if not why. Also, I think I remember from one of Steven Hays books that he wasn't on a colored belt system when he learned. They just taught you more as you were ready. Another good thing might be to find out what their fighting style looks like so you aren't sold Krav Maga with funny clothes.

Not sure what you mean by "the three level technique thing of kenpo". There is the three phases of learning a technique- ideal, what if, and formulation. Ideal is by the numbers, you learn the mechanics and principles on a compliant partner, then start to increase the level of force until you can make it work under "street conditions". The what if phase of learning the technique is where you explore options when things don't go exactly as planned. The formulation phase of learning is when you tear the technique apart, change it, add or delete moves, look for hidden strikes, locks, throws, etc. I think they do teach this. My system (AKTS), and most others, teach there are three pases to a technique- deal with the attack, change or modify a deminsion, take advantage of the change. Two, or all three phases can occur at the same time, but all are there. I don't know if thy teach this, but from all I've seen of their stuff the IKCA techniques do have this concept embedded in their system. Understanding the three phases is extremely helpful in formulating a technique. As for its being good for street defense, I think it can be. But it depends on how you train it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Well, you guys are sure putting a damper on mine! Oh well, I have to work anyway, so that's ok. Hope you all have a happy!!!

Both are generally good, though I can't speak for specific schools. My base is American Kenpo, and it definately meets all your requirements. You are in California, and there are a lot of excellent AK schools throughout that state. If you can find a school afiliated with the LTKKA you won't go wrong. There are a lot of other good associations there as well.

Power is generated by paying attention to the concepts and principles taught in your system. Proper timeing, structural allignment, targeting and body dynamics. In othr words, drill your basics with attention to detail.

It is an abreviated Kenpo course taught primarily by video. You purchase their videos, study the material , then send in your test by video and they critique you, plus dub on extra instruction and send your video back. It does require a partner to work out with. The system is based on American Kenpo, but is only 55 techniques (as opposed to 160 to 200+, depending on which other system of AK you want to try). They do a pretty good job of teaching the principles, but you don't get a lot of the concepts, like dimensional control or family groupings, in as great a deapth. The techniques were created by the founders, Mr. Sullivan and Mr. LeRoux, both of who studied under Mr. Parker I believe. I talked to Mr. LeRoux once, and he seems to be very knowlegable and willing to share his experience, even though I'm not in their system. He's definately very motivated, one of those hard charging individuals that loves what he does. I usually recomend people look into IKCA Kenpo to study with other styles, or if you just can't get to a good school. I think it would really go good with TKD, Arnis, Okinawan systems, many Chinese systems, and most other styles. I don't recomend any video course over a good school, but for some it is a good option as a second art or as an adjunct to current training in a school, or if there's no other alternative at the time.

Psych, I was willing to look at this with an open mind, but you lost me about here: That's just gettin' too deep- I mean that's just too deep for me.

Go easy on the monk, guys. I stole his beer and he's feelin' a bit ornery!

I'll second that! I see your point, and agree to an extent. But blocks can work to open him up or check his weapons and they can get there in time if you move the target. And since blocks are the same motion as many strikes they can do double duty. Also, as you move and block simultaneously, you can set him up for lessons in pain tolerance if your blocks have an angle of disturbance- in other words it affects his ballance, even slightly, so that you momentarily have positional advantage. Blocks also can position him if he commits to a strike and your block, with movement, has an angle of deflection. That doesn't just mean the 45' angle of your arm, but also the angle of the path of the block. Example: he thrusts a hard right front kick to your mid section. You move left and back to @7:30 and deliver a right downward block to the kick at the same time. If that block travels diagonally back toward you at @45' it will both pull and move the kick to your right, causing him to drop instead of retracting, with his right side and back exposed to you. You moved the target off line, so the block wasn't necessary for protection. But the angle of the block gave you a positional advantage. You, of course, should be there with your counter assault before his foot lands- momentary advantages are just that, quickly lost if you don't follow through.

Looking at the posts here, I think they are mostly famouse for being completely misunderstood.

A good hook kick requires you get a lot of hip into it. But the kick is the backward hook, so that is where the most power and hip rotation is. When I do a hook kick, my hips feel like they stutter, if that makes sense. You get hip motion when you side kick past the target/opponent, then a really seriouse hip movent as you snap the hook back. Another thing to watch for is your 'side kick'. This is not the main part of the kick, so snap it out fast and hard, but don't fully commit it or you'll rob power from your hook. Don't over extend, and stop the motion just before you would pull it back with a normal side kick. Instead of returning the leg, you immediately snap the hook. Difficult to explain, but I hope that helps. Edit: I thought about it, and that sounds like I'm saying you interrupt the motion of your kick. Instead of stutter, think more along the lines of a second, larger surge. You get hip, then a lot of hip!

Athena. Knowlegeable, studiouse, basically I'm the brains of the outfit. And, no, I did not pick the library for my night out!

Actually, it does. Several years ago a study was done where prison inmates were asked what things detered them from commiting crimes. Part of the findings was that the biggest deterrent to breaking into a home or business when someone might be there was if the criminal had reason to suspect the occupants might be armed. Explains the dramatic drop in crime in areas that pass laws requireing everyone to be armed. Criminals look for easy prey. That usually doesn't include people with the means to defend themselves. That's one of the reasons some of us train in martial arts, and a good reason for others to buy a firearm.

Yup. That's probably the biggest one. Most people see someone train 'block, step out into a stance, and punch', and they say 'that would never work on the street.' They don't see the martial application, where those three things happen all at the same time, nor the more advanced techniques where your strikes double as blocks or checks. They don't see the principles being taught: dealing with the attack, assuming a solid stance, delivering a mechanically powerful punch to the appropriate target. They just see 'by the time you've steped, I've hit you again.' Wrong! As I steped, I hit you once and have already selected my next target!

Sparing a woman and hitting a woman (in the sense they are using the word 'hit') is not the same thing. The difference is their intent. They are training, not trying to harm you or take advantage of you. Even in contact sparing this makes all the difference. When I spar, I treat every one the same. I'll go at it as hard as they are willing, but I don't push it past what they can or are willing to take. I'm still aware that there are some shots you don't take. If a guy has badly bruised ribs, I'd try not to strike him there. When I spar a woman who doesn't have chest protection, I don't hit her there. The intent is not to harm your partner, but still have as realistic a training session as possible in a controled environment. One other reason some guys don't like to spar women is they may be a little intimidated. Doing poorly against a 'guurl' might embarras them. Again, I think they've misinterpreted things. First, just because someone 'wins' in a controled sparing event doesn't mean they could do it on the street. (Doesn't mean they couldn't, either.) Second, if we train because we think technique counts for something, it makes us liars to say that we shouldn't loose to a woman. But most importantly, sparing women can work the guys in different skills than just sparing other men. Before she moved away, I used to spar regularly with a woman who was about the only person who could semi-reliably kick me in the head. I like to fight in close, and most TKD folks I've fought are toast when you get inside. But this gal would get nose to nose, look you dead in the eyes, and I swear she'd smile about the time her foot made contact with the side of my head. There was no telegraphing movement of hr head or upper torsoe, she never broke eye contact until my face turned over my shoulder! I've never met anyone with as much ballance, flexability, and technique. Every one has strengths they adjust their style to, and not sparing someone is a disservice to them as well as you. I think you need to spar as many different people, from as many different systems, with as many different personal styles, as you can. That includes the opposite gender.

SS, your problem here is that you've only considered one possible reason for carrying a weapon- that you are paranoid. Further, that term is thrown around these days to label anyone who is concerned and takes action to prepare a defense as some kind of sociopath. That is not the case, nor is it the proper definition of paranoid. The term actually refers to someone who is unreasonably fearful to the point of being debilitated. A person who rationally assesses a situation and decides to carry a weapon 'just in case' is not paranoid. That is not to say that there aren't some weapon totin' paranoids out there. But it is nowhere near the problem it is made out to be. Also, there are those who think carrying a weapon makes them a big man. One reason for the bad advise you refer to might also be false bravado, another might be to get attention with an outrageos statement. I think most of us just ignore this kind of advise, as well as the paranoid people we might meet on the street. Well, me, for one. And fortunately I was armed. They showed their chains, clubs and knives. I showed my firearm. They decided they didn't dislike people like me as much as they thought, and we all went home healthy. I had opted to carry a concealed weapon simply because there had been prolems in the area where I was going into alone. So, you tell me, was I paranoid for carrying a weapon in an area that was known to have problems like this? And I did have to be there, so avoidance is not an issue. For the record, if anyone does try to rob or assault me, they take their chances. I might or might not stand and fight, with whatever means I have at hand. But it is my choice, and they take their chances. And I do not habitually carry any type of weapon.

I'm thinking, "This guy is full of ...!"