Luther unleashed

Thanks stonecrusher, I'm really looking forward to learning it. I'm hoping to start soon. I will defiantly let you know what happens.

At the end of the day, is it even possible to create an entirely new style? Somebody somewhere has already done practically everything, and everything's just a new spin on what's been done before. Unless someone figures out how to hover/levitate unassisted while shooting laser beams out of their eyes, then it's all been done before. Wait, isn't there a character in the Tekken series games who does this? I believe you can create a new style. I happen to think that you can create something new because the new material could be a sequence of moves in relation to one another and it could be created by you, thus it's new. A punch and a kick are hard to keep building on but more In-depth movements I think one can build on. If I may rant about this a little... Over the years there are a great deal of "watered down" martial arts schools. What I mean by this is that they are not traditional, they are more open minded and many blend styles as I do. I prefer to maintain a strong connection to karate because I personally feel My students get a stronger foundation but that's just my personal preference and feelings. Many schools blend more, and some are even blending in stages. There's a king fu school near me that teaches hung gar in 1st degree black belt. They teach tai chi in second and every level/degree the martial art changes. I trained in a school like this as well. We have gone away from being heavily bound by styles much. Ore then 15 years ago or so. Some feel this is messy and lacks connection to traditional martial arts. My personal opinion is this... If I know 6 martial arts, why would I o my teach one? Or, do I open 6 schools/programs to teach them all and make sure I keep them pure? Some would see it this way, we are loyalists by. Studs I feel, and we like to wear certain brands and hang on to certa. Sports teams, and specific martial arts for that matter. I feel the student benefits more from the well Ron des blended experience. What do you rank them in then? Now we're getting complicated and an identity must be put in place. The end result is that we are becoming more open minded as people in our martial arts experiences. This is what Great martial artists have always done. Bruce, chuck Norris (chun kuk do) with a base of tang Soo do while incorporating a few other martial arts. If the martial arts taught, weather 10% or 20 are being taught correctly, why does it matter? To the very core of the last few posts I ask, does it really matter what we choose to call it. If something is believed to be completely "new" I am ok with it, because while we dissect the moves specifically we should remember that the core of most martial arts are really the concept, there may be only a certain amount of moves to do, but our ability to create mental angles and ideas is never limited. Take Tang Soo Do, clearly it is a facet and rebirth of shotokan with a different base of ideas and concepts and mental approaches, but it's the same in many ways. Sorry I know I got all deep and ranty!

This topic will always pull me in. Everybody has a different understanding of fighting/self defense. How many times has of e seen a person pull off particular bunkai in a real sithation. Well, the exact technique? My take and the way I develop from from is very similar to how I develop from one steps. I feel they do a great job of helping you to understand angles, distance, timing etc... It's not always about the exact movement to me. As an example, I teach a jab as thrown to the face, but in a real situation can it become free movement to be thrown anywhere if, lest say, your opponent ducks? Of course, it changes as your tarvet/opponent does. Does the training going become not practical, no its still very practical Indeed. In bunkai there is also one thing that must be understood to have the greatest success. The more complicated any technique, the less practical. The more basic, the more realistic and useful. This is true In my experience, of all technuiqes. It is sort of the old "I do not fear a man who knows 1000 kicks, but I fear the man who knows one kick and practiced it 1000 times". There are many great purposes in forms, but to me, not always directly seen even if I call it bunkai, think less specific, think more simplistic, a different set of lessons begin to form in this way of thinking.

I use the theory of "push vs swing". I have always, and now teach, with an emphasis on linear attacks. My opinion is that a swinging strike doesn't have the potential to push them in the direction I want them. A side kick can be used as a push OR a strike. A front snap kick can be used as a push or a striking kick also. A roundhoyse, we'll it's a strike and I can't see much use aside from that. My answer, side kick. Low not high, in learning jkd I learned the "stop kick" witch is essentially a side kick to the front of the thigh, knee, or shin. I also use front snap kicks to the hip often, for distance control but the side kick is IMHO the best self defense kick.

To add onto this topic, and my last statement really... I really find myself interested in style at times. In what ibteaxh, I blend known styles and teach what I know as wealth to studenrs. What style is it really, I think it's the styles they are and the name I choose is really the name of the program I teach. Nothing in what I teach did I make up, we'll there's actually one thing I do that I was never taught and I call it freestyle blocking, but all else is a specific martial arr. I find it interesting when people take martial arts and blend them and give it a new name. I'm OK with it, but I think it's really the original martial arts blended aren't they? I they give it a name so students can achieve rank in it, can identify it, and take pride in it. If there was no rank, would one still feel the need to name their "art"? I don't mind what people do and that's the beautiful part of it all, but IMHO I just think that names should be used on an original or unique style and not a blend of already named styles. Like I added integrated in front of tang soo do, I easy could name it "luther kwon do" and it's still the same material so it's not that important I suppose, I just think it's more true to what I am teaching to specify it's a blend. Arts like kajukembo are really the same thing, and again I think unless there's something new, it's a blend of already named styles and not a unique art itself, just a mixture. I mean no disrespect to any bodies system they practice. My opinion is just an opinion and if your happy I'm happy, just a preference thing, what you teach is the same whatever you choose to call it to identify it.

Well, I mean so any schools are so different anyways, it's really crazy. In the end some research will be true about some schools and not so much others. For the history sake it is widely stated that Soo Bahk Do is its own martial art separate from TSD. All I'm really saying I guess is in today's martial arts society so much of it blends together. I think the Bruce Lee era ser the tone for this.

16? I'd question an 18 yr old black belt being the head guy. After a lot of years studying martial arrs, I also studied to teaching for a year, putting in many days a week and sometimes weekends to really gain the know lage important to teach. Even if you have a natural ability there is a great deal of learning to do. I mean, even from a buisness side, a social side, and of course a martial arts side. I have seen a great deal of bjj schools ran by purple belts as well, but to be a low rank makes no sense at all. I taught as a yellow belt but I certainly didn't run the show, come on man let's get serious. Age is more then a number so forger that one, there's a level of maturity you just can't fake, and there's a level of know lage that takes longer then he could have put in at his age. I'm with sensei8, just my opinion.

I'd like to ad this to the thread about TSD. I have studied a bunch of martial arts but I ha email never practiced a martial art that focuses so much on the development team of the person, aside from martial skill. All traditional martial arts have this quality, but TSD in particular really let's this become an identity for the art. It's a beautiful attribute of tang soo do.

Nicely done..You used Pak da-slap block and punch. I do it almost the same way just using a shorter stance to get in closer to control and disrupt the opponent balance and position,so it makes it hard for him to counter. Hey thanks for the compliment about how I used it, you clearly know what you are doing so thanks. I'm in phoenix by the way, I actually found a guy downtown. I already made contact and got info on pricing and classes. Going to give it a try next month and see how it goes, thank you!

You are absolutely right. I used to host a YouTube show where it was basically just my face, and it can be a pretty daunting thing. You did good. Thanks haha, I guess I'm not afraid to look a fool if I did though. Thanks for the words of encouragement

Research can be challenging, and although informative it's sometimes a different truth then lies in a real do-jang. To me they are the same. As I practiced Tang Soo Do, and my instructors refered to it as TSD and visiting instructors wore TSD on their backs, it was clearly Soo bahk do and in some do-jang literature it was refered to as Soo bahk do. What I'm saying is that although the history has some differences, in all places this is not today's truth! There is a thread for this

Thanks, yeah I study more then one faction of TSD, Soo Bahk Do is just more appealing to me. I enjoy the use of hip and feel it makes you dig a little deeper into the technique then usual.

I am very in depth with my postings, but I am passionate about these topics so please forgive the books I write, my intention is to contribute healthy input. So I have a couple of opinions here. First, if a person uses martial arts for self defense/fighting primarily then I suppose it can be a true statement that is not for everyone. However, these days in the society we live in, fighting is really not as much of a prominent threat as it used t I be. I live in phoenix, I'm originally from chicago, lived a good deal of my life in California after leaving chicago, just for some backround. Phoenix has got its share of gangs, murders, and other things, but IMHO doesn't compare in the aspect of violance, to the other places I have lived, and yet still a murder, an attempted stabbing, shooting, road rage and so on is going on daily. Fighting is hardly the same issue as it used to be. Many people use martial arts as a firm of focus building, an escape, for health reasons, flexibility and so on. It just shouldn't be limited to fighting/self defense, because its, well... limiting. As far as the fighting aspect thpugh. My most recent instructor openly admitted to never being in a fight. This I cannot say, as a young teen and into my early 20s I fought. Real street fights, some I won, many I lost, but I never lost heart, now one may judge me and that's ok, I have to ready to be judged if I am open about something I don't need to be. My point is I usually don't say that to people because it's a bad thing in a sense and my old instructor is better for not fighting. A man who can avoid fighting must be a good fit to teach youth, and adults alike to be peacefilul, humble and so on. I feel my fights have really helped me to understand how much I hate the violance. Also, in my martial arts path I have always been geared combative techniques, where some instructors came up in a sport aspect or like my last instructor, almost for the tradition and artistic part itself. This is the beautiful thing about martial arts, it can be something to so many people. I don't think my last instructor should try and great himself towards the self defense aspect as much because he would be teaching something he's never even "pressure tested" as he can't really know the pressure of a fight. For me, I do that better. Let me be clear, iv not been in a fight in 14 years and I base my teachings on not fighting, but I do have experience in what I teach. Martial arts filled a gap in my life and became my teacher of calmness, patience, and humility. Everybody is different. I see nothing wrong with somebody doing kickboxing cardio because it may not be what I love about my martial arts training BUT it is still the showing of martial arts reach to be an adaptive passion and I love this about the arts.

Here's a cool video I found a long time ago. It's a generalized TSD video. This does not enlighten many on different factions of TSD, but it does a good job of showing a general and we'll rounded idea of what it is. Figured it's a great thread to post it in. It's also worth noting, much if the self defense shown here is from forms, it much of a demo of the art, and not completely what you would see in a class exactly but similar.

First, sorry to hear your frustrated with martial arts training for your child. Second, wow sense8 gave a response that, as an instructor myself, is an incredible response on so many levels. I mean really, it's long and if anybody takes the time to read it it's really on point. I can't contribute too much because of his in depth response and the others who have answered and commented. Only thing I can think of is I'm curious if this is your first martial arts experience? Also, I use push-ups mainly, to "wake the kids up". The thing that my teacher who taught me to teach told me, if I do that, you must explain, weather it's imedieatly after or pulling the student/students aside and explain to them. I also always try to end my talk with possitive. Example, do you know why you did pushups? No? Well this is why, so we're not going to have this problem. Again right? OK great, your doing great I just need this to not happen, your kicks are really coming along! As for some of the other stuff, it's really hard because I can't help but wonder if somebody could say these things about me, some of them any2ays, I think it's a great deal of perception and this is why I ask "is this your first martial arts experience?" If so it's a very tough call on weather you are being impatient and a bit hard on the instructor, as sensei8 stated you are paying for a service and if you are not happy certainly you shouldn't spend your hard earned money. I would like to hear much more detailed explication to these companies before I personally was able to tell you if I felt you are in a bad place. Take care.

If I could make my martial arts it would be one with a foundation in karate because the typical style of karate and compasses what I look for in a martial arts. Karate is historically based around self defense, health, and overall mental and personal growth of the person. I would incorporate kickboxing and other various kungfu styles to keep me interested so that if I did not feel like training in one particular system I'm used to that day, I could easily trained in something different. I would also place some emphasis on place although not a great altho I find that sports martial arts aspects are very important to keep the youth interested and it can be a very fun angle and and it c. The core would be an emphasis on discipline and self defense however. Oh wait, that's exactly what I did lol. I did not invent any techniques in what I teach, everything I teach is a blend of traditional and contemporary martial arts. If this makes it my own style then so be it but I like the idea of this thread, nice topic

This is really a great response here. I get a similar question about the forms I do. They incorporate a great deal of him. They teach you to use your hip, but in application you may not see hip because it's exaggerated to train but as you get more seasoned the movements become smaller.

I agree that rank carries some weight. My intention in writing my original post want top day rank doesn't matter at all, but as an example, I just found a new place to train. It's style is a Kung fu style and really carries no rank, the only real rank is master, once you have learned all of the main material and I like that in a way. It makes me feel as though it's less t I worry about in a way idk. I honestly feel that having the belt system and rank is more harmful then good most of the time. It has its goods as pointed out in this thread but there are many bads. The main point agreed on so far is that rank and it's meaning are completely subjective. The weight that a person's rank carries is not the same anywhere you go and compare, so that makes it carry less weight to me. It does represent time in rank at most schools but even that can be just a number. If student A trains an hour a day, and student B trains 1 hour a week then even time in rank means very little. If student B practiced for a year you would wrongfully assume he is better or even more knowledgeable then student A if he has trained 6 months, but in six months student A has trained and studied about 182 hours, while student B has only trained about 52 hours. Sorry for the 6th grade math problem but I'm just saying that I guess the way I approach it is not to overthink it. I few my ability as how hard I work and the time put in, not the rank somebody says I am.

Your very right. You know what your talking about, you can almost always find a link between American kickboxing. It is often called full contact karate in its essance. The thing that sets it apart as its own style though to me, is the array of techniques that seemingly come from karate like spinning back fists, and karate style kicks with more emphasis on speed and deception similar to boxING and so on. I learned it this way just without the sport setting. Nobody told me to not kick low and so on, I was told to hit in the most devastating areas. I was taught because I needed to know how to handle myself in a tougher area. The guy who taught me said "having heart isn't enough". So what I'm saying I guess is to me it has an identifying style, aside from the identifying sport aspect.

Yeah your right about American kickboxing and the no low kicks and elbows and so on. I trained under a guy as self defense though and not in a sport setting. The rules you mentioned are a defining point in the style, however the biggest thing I have seen is that back in the day these were guys that wore black belts and karate style pants in their matches. Also just as I teach, they assume a more sideways stance which makes use of lead leg/arm attacks better but not as much rear leg/arm attacks, it does however follow the belief that this enables for faster entry and exit techniques. The more popular nowadays square stances in kickboxing are conducive to attacking equally from both sides, and make Robson readily available. Kicks like spinning back kicks and side kicks are more difficult and require a bit of telagraphing to facilitate however. Essentially it's what you described in a sport setting though, thanks for the post

Thank you. Not the easiest thing in the world to put yourself out there like that but I figured I'd give it a shot haha, take care.

How many know what this is. I practice/teach this with Karate to my students. Anybody know what it is.

There is an option to not allow comments FYI on YouTube guys. I have seen place saybthinhs like no video, but allow pictures and things like that. I not only welcome people posting videos of any of my classes but I post videos at least monthly on our style, videos from class, and so on. I personally feel its a great part of our technology and helps to grow your school or art. We have always had books, and I feel its very similar. I personally have a great deal of confidence in what I do in class so I encourage video recording and pictures at all levels, from class to testings. I myself have really learned a lot of different ways to do things and had my mind opened up from videos. Taking care of your image is a descent reason to not want videos our there BUT I'm just more of a let it all hang out there kind of guy guess. That stinks for you if your looking to see stuff at home about your art or school though.

Sensei8, yes in myb mind I suppose I take what's useful. Not always what's useful for a fight but maybe ill use the hung gar horse stance training sometimes because its lower then a karate style stance, to promote leg strengthening, or ill use something else but for the most part I do it in a structured way. Like kickboxing with TSD TO BLACK BELT, then TKD with TSD. i try and do it in stages so its not too messy and gives them something to look forward to, also I feel it helps to focus more deeply on the integrated martial art with a bit more tunnel vision and expose them to it more in-depth. anyways... Here it is guys. Its a little long winded and focuses more on the t uhh e difference specifically between Soho Bank Do style vs most others because there's a more drastic variation in techniques with that particular branch and its the one I use and teach most. I did it on the spot and really winged it so It may be a bit Speratic in topics and explanations so don't judge harshly. https://youtu.be/_gqYrE5Brio

Id like to also add, that my personal use of the name "Integrated Tang Soo Do" represents the fact that I blend other martial arts experiences with TSD at the base, but also that I do not teach any one style of TSD either, I am not afraid to mix it up and although i realise i will loose a particular styles essance in a way, i personally feel it is the only way to be free as a martial artist who has built a program with this in mind.