Punchdrunk

Welcome AO. As a 37 year old newbie, this intro thread and the responses are among the most inspiring ones I have read. I appreciate what you have added so far and look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Another fighting Illini, Phantasmatic it is good to have a fellow Windy City practitioner on here with us. Osu!

G'day Little Moo good to have another crazy from down under.

Welcome Onesimus, I'm up in Chicago, we've got the Shidokan coming up in March let me know if you make the trip.

Howdy Have fun, learn lots!

I agree with Yoda and Shotochem as any right thinking person would. That said, there seems to be several forms of respect I see in my gym. General respect for each other as humans who are seeking to better ourselves. Respect for people who are grinders, not neccessarily talented, but tireless workers. Respect for senior ranks and sensei's, for the work we know they have to go through to get there. Respect for whoever is leading the class, just to keep order. And a very different sort of respect for the professional fighters and high level competitors who train with us. This last is a mixture of admiration and the kind of respect accorded a King Cobra. Osu!

Phantasmatic, could you be a little more specific about what triggers the breakdown in respect? Are the students not performing kihon? are they talking and not following the class structure? Are they openly ridiculing you? Are these truly adults giving you trouble or are they teenagers who are unsure of themselves as well? I'm not going to debate whether you should be there or not. You are there and the opportunity for personal growth is pretty high. Sit down and come up with a very clear lesson plan. Whether you have advance notice of when you are teaching or it is sprung at you at the last moment, having a clear default lesson plan you can use, will inspire confidence in both yourself and your students no matter what age. If you know in advance that you are teaching on a regular basis, set some goals for your students. "By the end of the week we will be able to throw this combination. By the end of the month we will be able to perform these kata or forms." Then structure part of your class to achieve these goals. People of any age have more confidence in a leader if they feel they know where the leader is going. "Sabaki Method" is a book that has an excellent structure for lesson plans. After that, teach the ones who want to learn and ignore the ones who want to waste their time and money being negative. Nothing will make you grow more than being forced to crystalize how you perform your techniques and impart it to someone else. I'm very disturbed to hear all of this disrespect for female MA's and younger practitioners. Our dojo is extremely informal but not only would the sensei's not put up with crap like that, none of us students would either. We have one young student who might be put in that position and we would all accord him all the support and respect we could. Anyone who didn't would find themselves limping out of sparring and the young master wouldn't have to say a word to instigate it. We are here to support each other not create dissent. :dodgy:

I'm lifting, doing weighted shadow boxing, cardio, and lots (300-600) squat kicks a day to bring my developementally challenged kicking up to speed. The kick for kick thing is suprisingly seductive, I hate conceding any part of the game to an opponent. But my partners are good and we are focusing on improving not just wailing on each other. They are getting better hands and I(SOOOO SLOOOOWWLLY) am getting better kicks. Osu!

No doubt Rickson is great. Top of his talented brood. BUUUT, I'm going for Shonie Carter, not only is he an outstanding ground fighter, witness him avoiding Matt Serra's many submission attempts in their UFC match, but he fights more styles against top competition than anyone out there- wrestling,judo,jujitsu, Pancrase, NHB, kickboxing, San Shou, Muay Thai, Shidokan - He's competed at high levels in all of them. Two years ago he fought in the UFC one night and flew all night to fight in a Shidokan tournament with a broken hand the following day. He's almost impossible to tap on the ground. Just triple damn tough.

Actually, the ones that give me the most trouble, and I know I'm not alone here, are the kicks to the legs.

Hey folks, which of the K-1 kickboxing videos have the best fights for both excitement and watching technique in action. I'm talking about total tapes not just hit or miss one fight on this card one fight on another, because frankly I can't buy a bunch of them. It's not that I'm plugging K-1, it's just that I'm looking for kickboxing tapes I can get easily from big distributors. So if you all have other kickboxing cards that can be easily acquired please let us know about them. I'm not looking for ads or anything violating forum rules, I just want some educated reviews.

Not to be too obvious but the wieght of your gi matters a lot if you are incorporating throws into your routine. One of the fighters in my dojo enetered the Shidokan tournament. He bought a brand new lightweight gi for the fights and by the end of the night it was in shreds from the throwing grips of his opponents. Even ground fighting and Sabaki grips can destroy a lightweight gi. If your working on kata, kihon, or striking only kumite, the lightweight gi is fine otherwise, you should at least have a medium weight gi or a judo/BJJ style gi. Osu!

The more I'm working, the more I'm learning not to stay in any one zone too long. If I stay in tight too long, taller guys start putting in the knees. It's like any sport, unless you just have raw power & strength, you have to keep moving and shifting to maximize your own strengths and minimize your opponent's. I'm just begining to try to incorporate the Sabaki style strategy into sessions. So much to learn for such an old dog. Thanks for the help folks. It keeps me trying new things. I hope others benefit as well. Osu!

Yep, Angus, I've had a fair amount of success going into full on boxer mode sporadically, with guys that aren't too far beyond me. It throws them off when you put together three or four crisp multi punch combos coming at them hard. I think it's because I can close distance so fast that way. If I don't mix a kick in there somwhere by then they've found their distance to lay into me with kicks or knees if they are any good. I'm making slow progress at judo so I am hoping one day to top these little hand offensives off with a throw but like my spinning back and hook kick I still have to think about the mechanics too much for the techniques to be even remotely sparring effective. Osu!

Tim, your post is the answer to so many of these "if it was a real fight" questions , I may just refer people to it. I have a technique that is 100% effective and non lethal. I would win 95% of my fights if I could employ it. It is called stick my fingers in your eyes If only people could learn the subtle nuances of my art. Sigh. Of course there's my lethal technique - shoot you with a gun.(Just a dark joke) But no one is man enough to spar with me on these techiniques. People agree to the rules, restrictions, and scoring of combat before they engage in organized competition. For that competition it is real. Complaining about the nature of the event afterwards is silly. Osu!

Slider, have you seen UFC or Pride lately? The level of competition and conditioning are quite a bit higher than the old days. One of the new complaints is that the competitors are so technically proficient that they are boring. g- The reason we have rules, is to facilitate living to fight another day. If you want reality, join the police or military and work to be accepted into an elite tactical unit. Or walk around a depressed area with a one hundred dollar bill hanging out of your pocket. Or do you just get a fiendish glee out of torturing judoka in particular? Iron - as usual the voice of reason Osu!

Danny, you're right on about Thurman. Tough as nails boxer who saw an opportunity when kickboxing started up and started going right after he picked up the minimum skills. My family was involved in the KC boxing scene a little bit back then and were pleasantly surprised when he had such quick success. I wanted to belt Ferdy Pacheco during the Dorsey vs Paez fights. His coverage was so biased against Dorsey! And I am a Paez fan! But give the dirty faced clown his props - Paez only stopped competing successfully against top tier competition about a year ago. Osu!

He was not the best but I was always partial to Bob "Thunder" Thurman out of Kansas City in the eighties. Also Troy Dorsey gets some kind of honorable mention for doing so well in karate, kickboxing,and western style boxing doesn't he? Iron Arahat - Is there anywhere in the states to get a copy of any of Teng Jun's fights? You've mentioned him before and I respect your opinion. Osu!

Actually, Angus, Jerry Quarry trained for his fight with Joe Frazier at the Playboy Mansion. He put on a whale of a scrap before his cut prone skin and his (late night diminished?) stamina betrayed him. Which Saint was it who said "Give me abstinence! But later." ? Or Jesse Jacson " You must endure short term pain for long term pleasure. Don't fall for short term pleasure that condemns you to long term pain." OK enough preaching. This is the very definition of a crossroads decision, pilgrim. Osu!

Thanks, Havoc. I've noticed sometimes when I circle left it's like boxing a southpaw, I feel like I' moving right into their kicking power. Which K-1 did that fight take place on so I can get a hold of the tape? Osu

Let me see if I've proccessed the basic physical movement of this exercise - start in the medium low horse stance raise up into the high horse stance leaning forward, slowly over three minutes at the same time raise your arms palm down from your sides in front to shoulder hsight palms up next lower back into the original position over three minutes rise again from medium low horse stance to high horse stance leaning backwards over three minutes raise the hands and arms as in the first instance lower back down This whole sequence as described above should take 12 minutes Don't analyze, project, anticipate or theorize as to the results that may come, just give it time and consistent effort. See what the results are after time. Is that the gist? What do you mean when you talk about the streaming and the jerk? I don't quite follow you in regard to these terms. Are there decent references available? I don't want to change styles but I am intrigued by yours. Also, I'm still curious what led you to embrace this style with so much dedication? Osu!

Angus if you are going to be a"young lion" I think you probably need to give up the notion of having "other stuff". Based on your posts I don't doubt your dedication or ability one bit. However, it seems like a pretty traditional role for a free spirit like you. It is an honor and it says a lot about you that it was offered. Which appeals to you more, the intensity of accepting or the freedom of remaining a "ronin"? Osu!

Chang Wuji, your posts are thought provoking. There are stories of Musashi, the great Japanese fencer, leaping with that level of power and agility. But the "sword saint" has definitely crossed the divide from history into myth. It sounds like your art requires an even higher level of patience and most uniquely FAITH than the Shidokan Karate I study or many of the other styles discussed on these boards. How did you begin, and where did your belief in the more fantastic possibilities long study could afford you stem from? I know if I do 500 squat kicks every day for even a month I will kick better, but waiting 10 years for tangible results requires true belief. Why and when did that faith arrive for you? OSU!

Thanks folks, lateral movement does seem to help. And of course when in doubt, jab, jab, jab. I do get in to trouble in clinches because these taller fellas are just beating me up me with knees. Osu!

:???:Any suggestions on the best way to suppress a superior kicker's techniques with faster sronger punching? I'm shorter and lighter than most of my sparring partners. They kick higher, harder, better, but I'm definitely a superior boxer. Faster hands, better technique, even better power on my side in the punching dept. How do I maximize my strengths versus superior kickers without eating more knees and leg kicks than necesary while bringing my own kicking techniques up to speed? OSU!