delta1

http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=12769&highlight=three+bares First page, 8th post. Couldn't put this story down!

Glad it went well for you! I'd like to see a Kyokushin tournament sometime. I'm not a big tournament person, but they can be a lot of fun and a good learning experience as well.

A few years ago, I pulled my right hamstring from buttocks to knees once doing a reverse roundhouse kick a little too high. I fought a couple more matches that night, then went to a tournament and fought two matches I won the first, but that is where I think a lot of the dammage was done. Second match, I was a standing target! Fortunately, it was single elimination and I didn't have to go again. So, that's my first bit of advice is to stop any training or sparing/fighting. Next, you need medical care. There may be something there that predisposes you to that injury, and it may make healing more difficult if not treated as well. In my case, it was an older injury that was not treated or cared for correctly. Also, get a refferal to a good sports physical therapist. They not only help with the healing and recovery, but they can give you a stretching and exercise routine tailored to your build and your injury. And, muscle is like any other tissue- it will scar where it was dammaged. This is permanent, so you want to minimize this now in the recovery. The worse it is, the more it will predispose you to injury later on. Don't rush back into training. Use this time to study, read, maybe coach a little, work on your notes (or start a set if you don't do this). Observe others to gain more understanding. Whatever keeps you involved in the martial arts without actually doing anything that could complicate your injury. Too bad this happened, but it isn't the end of your carreer. Just a big bump in the road. Good luck!

Dance of Death- You are standing naturally, your opponent is in front of you at an angle, his left foot forward. He suddenly pivots (does not step) and throws a right straight punch,or a cross, to your face. *Step forward with your left to 10:30 (slightly off line of attack) into a left neutral bow (fighting stance) as you thrust a left inward block just above his right elbow. **If you adjust the angle of this block so it goes in and slightly down toward his upper chest, you'll push his arm back to his chest, interrupting hispath and redirecting his momentum, introducing torque and backward motion on his left side. This will momentarily unballance him, rocking him back on his heels, and sets him up for your next strike. *Immediately pivot your stance forward into a left forward bow or a left close kneel (keep your left foot in place and rotate your stance on the ball of your right foot so that you are facing him squarely with your torsoe). Maintain a left bracing angle check to his right with your left (keep his right pinned to his body) as you deliver a right underhand reverse hammerfist (basically thrust your right forearm straight in, fist down and closed) to his groin. **This goes straigt in and moves him back. The groin strike will also cause his butt to drop and probably his knees to buckle slightly. He's now in a very unballanced posture. *Right foot steps through to a right neutral bow as your left hand contours down his right back ide of his body and cranes the back of his knee, pulling it toward you so that it concludes as a grab at his right ankle, pinning it to your left hip. Simultaneously execute a right inward elbow strike to his lower ribs, timed to settle into your stance as it completes. **This will drive him over backwards. Also, that step is between his legs, invading and occupying his space, itself an unballancing move. And the elbow strike does not chamber first- it just rolls up and in from point of origin at the forearm/hammerfist strike. There's a lot more to this technique, but we'll stop here. You can see how this works his ballance at every step of the way. That is the main theme of this technique, what it works and teaches. Any single move of this can be inserted or used to modify other techniques to destroy ballance, and in a real fight any part can be used when you have position recognition in a situation. Ballance is key to effectiveness. Without it, a fighter cannot effectively launch a counter attack, nor can he successfully defend your attack. His first priotity has to be to regain ballance, which buys you a little time to launch your next move.

Thanks. I thought this might be the case, that it was for training purposes. But I had to ask. I do like the 'explosive energy' concept in the form. I sometimes mix Taiji and Kenpo, and I think the results are good. But, it can lead to static moves and postures that block qi flow- not to mention being a little aggressive. An example of this is Single Whip, which I'll use since I saw it in your form. The lead hand is generally thought of as the whip, and the trailing 'crane' hand is more a trap or parry. But I sometimes use the lead hand to clear as I step in to the same side as the lead. I simultaneously bring the trailing hand forward and execute a Kenpo finger whip to his eyes. The finger whip is done with elbow down, hand and wrist extremely loose, hand down in the crane position with fingers and thumbs touching. Elbow doesn't move, but forearm turns so that posterior surface faces forward as it leans toward target. It hen reverses the torque as it sharply pulls back and fingers are forcefully flicked into an eye. This creates some hard angles in the arm, especially the wrist, which occludes qi flow. Not a real problem for me at this stage, as I'm still a begginer myself. But it drives the more senior practitioners round the twist! And that finger whip to the eye can do some dammage- which isn't in the spirit of doing no harm and allowing him to defeat himself. Any way, thanks for the clarification.

I don't know what part of CA you are in, but there are a lot of excelant American Kenpo schools in your state. You might look into it if there is one close. And they do a lot of forms, but the techniques are themselves like mini-forms. You have to treat them like kata in order to understand them. It has enough hard to make you feel at home, and soft to give you something new. And, they definately spar! If you want something totally different that will help your understanding and improve your Shotokan, try Taijiquan. It is completely form based, all internal and soft. If you want something fun, try the FMA's. And find a school that does a lot of full contact stick fighting. Guarantee you'll enjoy their version of 'sparing'! Course, if you want the same old, but a little different flavor, try TKD. Or, if you can find it, Kyokushkin looks interesting from the clips Dijita posted here. Grappling is allways a good thing to add to your striking skills. If you're athletic, try Capoeira or Wushu. Dang! At 16, the world is your oyster! Find something that interests you and go for it!

Most FMA's do a lot of locks and standup grappling. Some also do Fillipino grappling, which has a lot of takedowns and some groundwork. They obviously also learn to defend what they are trying to do to each other. Japanese occupation also brought JMA's, and many FMA's adopted karate, Judo, Jiu-jitsu, and other JMA's in part or whole. So it really depends on the system and the school as to what or how much variety, including grappling, you get.

Same here. A block, parry, or even a well timedmove out of the way can be done so as to effect his ballance- even if only a little. Same if you have to reestablish your base and/or ballance. It can be done as a leg buckle or hard leg check, or moving your body into his space. Counter striking with proper foot and leg work. All can put him off his center. I even met one japanese stylist who could (and did) put people down just by cutting their center- he never touched them! And these were senior martial artists in different systems, most of whom I knew. I'm betting that this kind of thing is in all systems, but is probably part of the deeper bunkai. Might be interesting if some of us got ahold of our seniors and asked about this, then get back. I'll think of a couple of easy to communicate techniques try to give some examples from AK.

Christina, I do American and Chinese Kenpo. Both of the systems I study are Ed Parker based, and that would be the first thing I'd need to know before offering advice. What is the lineage of the Kenpo system you study? You said 'Shaolin', which could mean any of the 'external' Chinese martial arts. However, they are not commonly refered to as 'Kenpo' unless they've been reworked by us occidental types. (Kenpo/Kempo is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters for Chuan-fa). If your prospective school is IKCA Chinese Kenpo, it is a good system when taught by a knowlegable instructor. But if you are wanting somethin traditionally Chinese, it would probably not suit you as well as a good as the Gong fu class. Hard to say, though, without more info. If you are into Eastern/Chinese philosophy, and want an art to go with it, I'd really recomend Taiji (Tai Chi), especially if you can find it taught as a combative art. It will also be a lot easier on your hands if you are wanting to make a carreer in music.

I don't know about sites, but I can tell you that a fair ammount of the adults in the martial arts got suckered in- uh, I mean started because they signed their children up for classes. Save yourself some time and angst, just go ahead and sign yourself up and get started now! Good luck, and welcome aboard!

You still need something to wash it down with! I recomend red wine- it's good for the digestion as well! When-when -WHEN, will they ever learn?!?

Headbutts are a good weapon, when used correctly. But if you mean headbutting in the scenario you just gave, I'd say forget it! Your head and neck will get jammed back, possibly causeing seriouse trauma to your brain and spine. As a relatively minor secondary problem, you are going to likely get bowled over and steamrollered. Cross was right- move to the side and deal with him. If you can't get to the side, step back into whatever stance your system uses that is rock solid front to rear and double punch him, or double elbow him- ANYTHING but a headbutt!

Would I (we) lie to you? Huh? Huh!?

Water, if consumed to excess, is actually a poison. Little trivia there, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. No one could get that thirsty (at least, for water. Red wine, maybe- but not water!).

Red wine is good for you- IN MODERATION! Water is bad for you- IN EXCESS! And WhiteWarlock is correct- AD NAUSEUM! (Those of us who are allways right, really annoy the rest of you, huh!

You mean about the Kempo trial run? We're not sending updates, or other messages encouraging others to submit so we don't skew the results of this little test (and because Patrick asked us not to- which is only right for the reason I gave). If it was something else, you'll have to refresh my memory, as I've been pretty busy thelast few days- that and I'm getting senile!

opnek, thanks for the clip, and congrats on he win! Mr. Ryer, good to see you here! Thanks for putting those clips out there! And, you are correct, this is one of the best places for multiple systems to discuss and compare in a respectful manner. Hope to see you here again! Oh, and here's my shamelss plug- some of us Kenpo/Kempo types are trying to attract others here as well, ... and I'm pretty sure that if you point a few good people this way, Patrick (the forum owner) wouldn't be too upset.

That's pretty good for a begginers class! Interesting, too. I recognize some of the postures, but see a few differences in them and Yang style. The thing I'm most curiouse about, thiugh, is that there are some places where the students apparently stop all motion. Is this a learning tool, or does Chen teach static moves? In Yang Taiji, we are told that motion never stops, though sometimes it is pretty subtle.

Well, I discovered google the other day! Found a pretty good illustration of the Universal Pattern: http://www.kenpo-texas.com/universe.htm They have a good intro writeup as well, but there is a LOT more illustrated there than what they list. I like to lay out this pattern with the others I listed in my previouse post and meditate/contemplate their applications. All the applications in the other diagrams are represented here. Conversely, this can be developed from any of the other diagrams. They each do give a different representation, but motion is motion in the end. The different diagrams emphasize different concepts of motion, though. For example, the Universal Pattern emphasizes Kenpos' tendency to round corners and elongate circles. It also emphasizes the ballance between circular and linear, and the interaction of the two. The UP is also a good teaching or communicatng tool. A portion of the pattern can be referenced to illustrate footwork or hand motions, etc. And we use it to illustrate concepts and exchange ideas. Mostly, though, it is useful for developing your own understanding. Like a schematic drawing, it gives a representation of structure and change, principles and concepts. It can diagram the intricate interactions of two opponents- like a 3D jigsaw puzzle in motion. It doesn't replace hard work and training, but it does help us to get more out of that training.

I've heard of him. Send $1000.00 and you get all the videos And a black belt AND a suitable for framing black belt certificate. Just add water! He's a joke. But for those who think the government should step in and regulate the martial arts, take a good look at his site! This is your future if you get waht you want. 'Chief' Roman has been recognized officially by more than one state legislature! Personally, I think he's a blight on Native American culture, American Kenpo, and the martial arts in general. But he does have a really cool buckskin ghi!

OK, let's talk about a visualization technique common to most systems. DIAGRAMS. The most common diagram that in so far as being used as a study of motion is probaly the Cardinal Directions. An x superimposed on a +, it represents the primary striking angles, with the point of intersection representing a thrust. Next is the Taiji, or Yin-Yang symbol. Probably more common than any other, but used less as a diagram to study motion by most of the systems that use it in their crest. It epitomizes the motion and interaction of Taiji and other 'soft' styles. The Five Element diagram is also an excellant study in motion and interaction. FMA's and others use the Male & Female Triangles to represent their primary system of motion. Inscribed in a circle, it is an excellant visual depiction of what they do, and motion in general. American Kenpo has the Universal Pattern, which diagrams all possible patterns of motion. Now, besides looking real cool on patches and crests, all these diagrams were intended to be studied and meditated on, broken down and used to aid understanding. They can be viewed flat, and you'll get a basic understanding of motion. But they can be turned through an infinite number of postures so that circles look like elipses and elipses look like circles, with the straight lines superimposed on them looking shorter or longer. Viewing the diagrams like this gives an even deeper understanding of motion and interaction. The next phase is to view the diagrams in motion as they go through these postures. Now you get changing motion, spiraling effects and clearing paths. So, here's the question: What diagrams or symbols does your system use, and how do they represent motion?

American (AKTS) and Chinese (OKCA) Kenpo- both Parker based. Both are heavy into the principles and concepts involved in what you are doing, as well as good form, technique and application. Understanding helps improve practice, which leads to the kind of motion you asked about.

Study and practice, grashoppa, study and practice!

Both are competitors in contact martial arts. They are two of the BKF founders. Their system has been described by Dr. Chapel as American Kenpo crossed with stret fighting. One of the things you need to understand about their hand speed is that it isn't all hands or all speed. It is moving for position at the same time you strike, reading your opponent before he moves, eliminating wasted motion, setting the opponent up. Physical speed is enhanced greatly by these things, which are more accurately termed 'apparent speed'. You can develope physical speed, but it is practically limmited by your physical qualities. You can develope apparent speed also, but it is potentially infinate.

Same in AK. Initially, the focus is less on breaking his ballance than on maintining or reestablishingyours. But as you go deeper into the same techniques,you almost allways learn that while you were preserving your ballance, you are taking his. Sometimes this is more obviouse, other times it is in some of the finer details, and yet others it is in some of the modifications you can make. Like I said before- even a simple 'block', properly applied, can effect his ballance. A lot of moves in AK are extracted from the techniques, just like bunkai in traditional forms. For example, we have a technique against a Chinese finger lock, which is applied from the side as the opponent steps around to your front. The defense is to step in, taking the angle away and simultaneously use his upward motion to carry his elbow over your shoulder and break it. But there are several locks which can be applied instead. One is to grab his wrist as you move into him more sideways, forcing your shoulder into his upper arm as you anchor your grabing elbow. You immediately put him over forward, stretched out and on his toes in a pretty unballanced position. You can also dislocate his shoulder and elbow.