guird

According to wikipedia it is one of the original taekwondo styles. It also mentions it's very head-kicking focused. I assume they do spar? do they spar competitively? by WTF rules, ITF, or something else?

1. don't get caught in a no-sparring or no-contact dojo 2. cross train.

The MMA place seems very expensive, I get access to 15 different martial arts and unlimited fitness centre access for a full year for that price. not that the others you mentioned are much cheaper. if money is no object I'd go for the MMA gym, you'll learn a balanced fighting method, and though it's a lot a month it's still more options and more hours for your money than the others. Plus, MMA gyms are like pizza, even when they're bad, they're still pretty good. Kyokushin is also pretty unlikely to be bad. If they fight full-contact like other kyokushin gyms, any training there will give you a sizeable advantage over average joe. As for bjj, you should study it (or maybe judo) at some point in your MA journey, you never know what kind of situation you might end up defending yourself in, so you need to have at least a basic understanding of the groundwork/grappling aspects of combat. you don't need to start there though. Also, are you looking for something more competition-directed, self-defense directed, or performance directed? something more traditional or modern? something adrenaline-fueled or with a calmer, zen-like atmosphere.

If I were you I'd simply let him try out every dojo/dojang/gym, etc. within a reasonable distance which allows young children to train and see which one he likes best. maybe have him try out two new ones a week, and you'll have a very informed decision soon. If he's acrobatic, capoeira may be a nice one to consider as well, it'll fit realky well with his gymnastics, and will probably make him a superstar at school thanks to the impressiveness and musicality of the style. I definitely think he'll thank you for that. if he wants to compete, sport karate and sport taekwondo are good options. judo may be a little dangerous at such a young age, though the breakfalls may save his life someday (I know a few stories of people who studied judo as a child and survived a fall thanks to it).

Hi everyone, I've been here a while already but only just found the introductions forum. I've been studying martial arts for about five years now. the first three and a bit were Shotokan, though the dojo I was in was poor quality (no sparring, pad or bag work, and the Sensei taught a lot of things incorrectly). This time gave me an interest in martial arts, but I wouldn't count my training as having started in earnest until a little over a year ago, when I started visiting other clubs/gyms/dojos, all in all a very embarrassing ordeal which left me feeling dissapointed. I hopped from style to style for a while, a few weeks of taekwondo a few weeks of aikido, a couple lessons at a sport karate dojo, a lesson here of wing chun, there of krav maga, over here of jujutsu. I recently returned to Shotokan on finding that there were dojos in my area that taught good karate. I'm currently also training BJJ and a little kickboxing. My current rank in shotokan is ikkyu, though I think I still have a little catching up to do before I match the ikkyu of my new dojo (especially in sparring). So that's my story, glad to be here. edit: I made a mistake with the japanese naming of my rank earlier. I've fixed that.

When you say 'chest' did you mean mostly solar plexus/stomach etc. with some accidental shots to her breasts or were you actually aiming pectorally as a target. I generally don't aim for the pectoral muscles against a male target, and though probably effective against a woman, it's bad etiquette towards your sparring partner in the same way as a kick to the groin is. If it was the latter, then I do see where she's coming from, it would have seemed like you were aiming specifically for 'private places'.

I had a discussion on a similar topic a while ago. Aside from the angular momentum of your body there is another aspect of power generation, which is to whip your arm into the strike. You still use your entire body, but it's the arm's high-speed-low-mass momentum on impact that does the damage rather than the low-speed-high-mass momentum of the torso. Ideally you'll want to use both in one punch. It's this power generation that makes a more 'snappy' punch, more directed at tissue damage and fracture than knockouts. It isn't really what I'd reccomend for boxing but it's up to you. in terms of the impact, the torso rotation generates an impact that transfers a lot of momentum over a longer time period and distance, while a 'snappy' punch delivers a smaller change in momentum over a shorter time period and distance (higher peak force). Systema isolates and emphasizes this element. It's not really what I'd reccomend for boxing though, the strikes don't work so well with gloves.

Shorikid If your daughters don't enjoy karate/kempo style training and you want them to study martial arts, let them try out and choose between some others. From what you describe Judo or (kick)boxing might be more fun for them. How old are they by the way?

See if your son has any friends his age/size in the dojo that would like to spar with him outside of dojo hours (under your careful supervision of course).

Very interesting take on the question. It makes a lot of sense for multiple ways of generating power to be employed to different degrees in different punches. just like the snap of the wrist adds power, so can throwing the arm.

I've been walking around with a question that I can't quite answer for myself. I know of three ways of generating power in a punch, the wing chun way, the boxing way (where the angular momentum of the torso is behind the punch on impact), and the systema way, throwing the arm itself at the target. The last one isn't arm punching, you do use your entire body to throw the arm. I saw a number of comments in reply to an explanation on systema punching saying 'just like karate!'. Until then I thought the punches generated power the same way as boxing/kickboxing punches, but looking at the movements - especially the horizontal hammerfist strikes- in the katas I see much more in common with systema. For example, when (in shotokan) we perform a hammerfist strike, we rotate our body so that the arm whips into the strike, as opposed to rotating it in the direction of the strike. hip movement for choko tsuki also tends to be much less than for any boxing straight punches I've seen, and the movement feels much more like throwing your fist than driving it. that said, these punches are somewhat different from the punches we use on pads and to spar (especially sparring punches have a lot of rotation). It would also explain why we hardly rotate our bodies into hook punches such as in empi. This difference doesn't seem to be brought up or discussed unless systema is the topic though, so am I perhaps mistaken? is it just some styles of karate?

The problem with the backfist for the goal you're trying to accomplish is that it doesn't work with gloves. in kickboxing/mma it won't have much effect because it uses the small surface area of the back of the knuckle to strike a weak point such as the temple. more of a precision strike than a powerful one. That said, the spinning backfist has made a few, fairly succesful appearances in MMA. The traditional blocks, done traditionally are pretty useless I have to agree, and even more so in MMA. a lot of them are more intended to break out of someone's grip, etc, some are meant to double as a hammerfist or forearm strike. However, merits exist. blocking with a twist of the forearm is a very quick, efficient way to block that leaves a relatively small opening while still forcing the punch away. it has more of a place in mma, which has smaller gloves than in (kick)boxing.

Some Shotokan dojos do train with hard contact, though most don't. the rulesets are very limited in these semicontact dojos, but if you combine it with boxing you should be able to work it out. Shotokan CAN work full contact, (lyoto machida is the famous example, though I've heard of others), but you do have to make it work. It also really depends on the dojo. In terms of style differences, shotokan has deeper stances in the katas (though those are not fighting stances, more for developing leg strength and explosiveness). It also tends to be more crisp, while kyokushin katas are a little more fluid. Shotokan is primarily mid-long range fighting, you'll only train a handful of close range techniques. One thing that it will give you is a really fast straight punch from the rear hand. That's never a bad thing

I trained Aikido for a while, and I agree it isn't a style I'd rely on by itself, especially not at the lower levels. However, it has a lot of very helpful drills and concepts which can help you a lot even outside of Aikido's area of expertise (stand up joint locks and throws). while sparring with my friend, without even using an aikido technique my movements were smoother and my taisabaki faster and more tactical. It seems a great style to complement whatever else you train. To the good luck to the OP

Hi again Harkon I can't say I've ever trained for the sai, but one of the Shotokan katas is also a kata for sai. It's called Jion, if you have the kata as well (or any others that consider Sai) in Shukokai, consider learning the sai application of them.

I've seen and heard a lot about krav maga, and I went and attended a lesson of it. Overall, I'm very impressed, but I have a question about the 360 defense. when you do it, you lower your hands to block low attacks. I recognise that this is important when knives are involved. Unarmed however, I've found that this is very disadvantageous against e.g. an experienced kickboxer. dropping your hands mean's you'll be hit by any follow up in the combo. How do you deal with this when you spar? Is the disadvantage in unarmed fighting worth it for the possibility of knives?

I really would not recommend settling for anything less than semi contact. No-contact not only doesn't teach you to judge distance properly and execute techniques properly, it teaches you to MISjudge distance and execute techniques incorrectly. Having no sparring is equally nonsensical, I can tell you this from experience having spent three years in a no-sparring dojo, followed by total embarrassment and disenchantment upon visiting another dojo. Think about his argument for a moment: in the prearranged kumite drills, do they attack each other to injure or kill? no, they avoid injuring each other same as in free sparring. even if you did develop your 'killer' technique, without sparring you wouldn't be able to hit anything with it. trust me, this is a no-go Full-contact sparring is a myth however, if it's full contact it isn't sparring, it's a fight. medium contact is about ideal: you're not likely to injure yourself much, you do learn how to take a hit, and you do learn to execute your techniques and judge distance properly. Apart from the obvious disadvantages of semicontact over light-medium contact (the advantage being safety), it also has the disadvantage that many semicontact karate schools place a lot of restrictions on techniques in compliance with the competitive rulesets (e.g. no hook punches, often no low kicks or throws/takedowns, mandatory hikite). one and a half years later I am still recovering from my miseducation in non-sparring (I still can't hit anyone above beginner), don't make this mistake.

following an incident in a moshpit that left me limping for a while, I've changed my mind about the low roundhouse. If your attacker is not trained to take it, it will hurt them enough for a follow up, and slow them enough for a getaway. if they are, you're in for a long fight anyway, may as well start wearing them down.

I may disagree regarding kicks to the thighs. They're powerful, but to the thighs it will not stop your attacker. after two or three of those kicks they will start to slow down, but when you're defending yourself you don't have time for that. you need something that will drop them. any kick that makes it to the groin is good (provided the situation is dire enough), and using the low roundhouse a little more diagonally allows it to strike the groin. a low side kick could be useful to the knee (again, if there is enough at stake). Another one to the knee, probably preferable to the side kick is the 'monkey kick'. (that is what my friend, who showed me the kick called it). it may be what you guys mean by a low front kick. The only kick higher than the waist that I would recommend is a Mai geri to the solar plexus, preferably while your attacker is moving in for the attack, or when they're retreating and covering their head after a flurry of punches. You may prefer a side kick due to the longer range, but I find it doesn't work as well to the solar plexus because the striking surface is different, and it's easier to get put of balance or have your leg grabbed.