Alan Armstrong

Good to hear you are on the mend JR 137 Hope you go beyond your former self. Sometimes just getting back on one's feet is victory of sorts. As each individual has battles and challenges to overcome. We are fortunate to be martial artists that we have it to draw strength and courage from. Whereas many people continually settle for less and less till there is nothing else but a shell of their dreams or former self. I believe you will rise above your former self, believe you can and that day will come when you least expect it.

Elaborating on the Yin/Yang aspect further, it is the common denominator of all Chinese MA styles and systems. With this in mind there is alot of theories that need explanation when used in combat, so much so that a class could easily become totally theoretical (talking) not consisting of any type of physical activity. Whereas training hard "physically" towards becoming effective martial artists is normal for many students. Having trained in both sides of this theory vs physically has its Ups and Downs, please excuse the Yin/Yang pun. As there can be such a thing as too much theory and also too much emphasis put on the physical aspect alone; with children however playing is normal as opposed to using (adult) complex ideas. The Yin/Yang symbol is commonly used by many martial artists throughout the world, as it facilitates in explaining complex concepts in a simple way, The complimentary opposites exist in all things, through out the known universe, where connecting with this is called Tao, the way, the right way, that includes harmonizing with Yin/Yang. Tai Chi Chuan for instance with practice is to harmonise with the universe in a type of physical activity that is also just as important to use Yin/Yang energy theories and concepts, to cultivate chi energy in oneself. Yin yielding concepts are difficult to understand for many to include in techniques which are just as important as the opposite Yang factor, which is usually used, The way I explain it is similar to concrete that cracks due to becoming harder/ brittle whereas being a wet noodle isn't recommended either. A few finer point when utilising Yin/Yang is when simultaneously attacking and defending or transitioning a single hand techniques or movement from defensive to offensive in the most effective way possible. Of course to be called a martial artist should contain expertise in using effective and efficient techniques, as opposed to those who do whatever by swinging and wailing away arbitrarily. This refinement in combat must find itself somewhere inbetween, when the theory and physical are put into practice.

I used the word "caution" instead of" warning" as to lift very heavy weights is good way to slip disks in the spine or something worse if not practiced properly. The bottom line for me personally for using weights is to gain strength for my MA techniques and to lose unnecessary body fat, whilst increasing my flexibility, all practiced with due care and attention as to not injury my self in the process of improving myself physically. When things go really wrong in the gym https://youtu.be/ghfGdEilxZg

I am surprised to hear about the comments on using apps in this forum. . Having recommend the two aforementioned apps to others in the field of martial arts and they are all very pleased with them. Therefore I believe that those that are not willing to take a look at them, might be missing out on something very useful, but on the other hand, a person cannot mis whatever they don't know or haven't seen or used previously. Personally I am only interested in what works and what is useful, having downloaded many apps and no sooner seen them, have deleted them, whilst keeping the best of the best. Most apps on MA are totally useless but for a few others are real gems, which are the ones worth watching and using for training purposes, as they will repeat a technique a million times if need be, for those that practice alone. I recommend apps to my students among otherthings, which doesn't mean that I don't teach them anything else face to face, on the contrary I want to expose them to as many types of hand to hand combat as possible and as many ways possible towards knowing MA from a variety of perspectives, At the end of the day, An app is just a tool and with all tools in the right hands wondrous things can be achieved.

What motivates you?

When teaching sparring, being defensive is a losing strategy, therefore learning to attack the attack, gives the fighter a fighting spirit and mentality to hit back, as opposed to backing up and eventually getting hit or beaten up. There are three actions to take, fight, flight or freeze. As you are in the dojo to learn how to fight, then this is the option you should adopt. Everyone started off as a beginner and over time with practice became proficient at sparring. There is alot of information for a beginner martial artists to take in towards becoming proficient at sparring. Not much different than a naive playful wolf puppy that eventually becomes experienced as an adult, that when hungry, becomes a hunting predator that is focused and poised, ready for the kill. There is a gap between playing and reality, in martial arts, a transformation from one to the other, where for some when the martial arts is not fun any more and it becomes too serious or difficult they quit. Actually (personally) having many fights and losing many taught me more than the ones I won easily. "As what doesn't kill you will make you stronger!" There are many fighting strategies that work, some will work for you and others might not, try out as many as possible separately, from them confidently use the ones that are useful for yourself. Always simplify yourself to become more efficient and effective with your movements, use your nearest weapon against the nearest target for instance. Attack and defend simultaneously also defend and attack simultaneously also, while defending simultaneously use it as a way to set up a new shot towards the opponent. Also have all of your weapons feet, hands, knees, elbows aimed at your opponent, then use the appropriate one instinctively without thought, hesitation or telegraphed. Confuse your opponent by not giving away your intent, use broken rhythm, feints, misdirection, think high hit low... Position yourself for better striking as in flanking your opponent, also as when nothing is stopping you to go straight in, go in fast and hard. Attack the opponent's balance, as this makes it difficult for the opponent to strike back and easier to hit. Take away or occupy the opponent's space, as where ever the opponent is standing that is where to be. Learn about circles, squares and triangles, these are geometric structured shapes, that make for excellent foundations for all combat arts, as we can recognise them very easily and use them quickly and confidently, in footwork hand and locking techniques. My personal favourite is called "three hands" the way it works is for every one hand movement from my opponent, I will use three of my own, this makes it difficult for the most part to catch up to stopping my intentions. Also if possible, inserting or thrusting the lead leg forward between the opponent's legs, can instantly disrupt any attempt at being attacked by kicks and punches. I'll stop it here as it will instead turn in to a novel but if interested in more of the same, I will gladly oblige. Here is the karate nerd that might have a point with which style of fighting is best for you:

Here is a worthwhile boxing example of Obscuring the opponent's vision, that also is applicable to other styles of combat. What is your opinion about this video clip attached below? Can you adapt this concept of Obscuring to your own existing fighting skills?

I don't teach katas or bunki to the student directly, I do however give them videos to study for the level that they are at. This way I can personally explain the importance of the kata, the essence of it, on a profound level of understanding, even if it takes a year towards knowing why it is practiced. The reason for this way of teaching is that of course the movements can be performed and mimicked in a class room setting, where I want the student to absorb as many of the what's and whys as possible separately during the class instead of learning, time consuming choreography. Practising together with the student, separate aspects of the kata at a close up and personal perspective, analysing and suggesting the multitude of possibilities moves contain, usually focusing on energy concepts, also attacking and counter attacking strategies. With the kata containing body mechanics, leverage and levers, fulcrum strengths and weaknesses, weight distribution and body mass, using gravity and body structure, using energy simultaneously in different movements and directions, yin/yang concepts, speed and timing, cause and effects, when to be soft/yeilding and hard/forceful, as well as muscle memory and conditioning, also explaining terminology and self defence possibilities... As there are many concepts to learn from a single kata, it will make more sense to the student when contemplating it as explained and they practicing it alone over time, as I can only correct the student, as it is their responsibility to learn its choreographed movements, while I help towards refining and explaining its combat purposes and applications.

Meanwhile getting back on track, Micheal Jai White side kick explanation might be helpful to you grenage.

Martial art is about training for everyone else it is a workout. All of my training is directly related to martial arts with or without weights, therefore I use all of my muscle towards one certain aim or focus and that is towards improving performance. As martial artists we use our entire body as a weapon in some way or other, therefore to find and strengthen those weakest links inside ourselves will make us more aware of what to improve upone and to attack in others if the need arises. I want to be faster, stronger (with more endurance) more agile, more flexible than any time in my past, if using weights will help towards my goals, then practicing with them, they will always be welcome and be by my side. I divide my usual 7 hour day training sessions in to two, morning/afternoon and evening/night, also 50/50 with and without weights and machines, if however I fell burnout or exhaustion, or signs of fatigue, I will skip a session or two if needed. I find that sometimes I mix the two, which gets interesting and challenging that can be very helpful in many cases, where just separating the "with and without weights" can become or seem like a routine or workout. A word of caution: As using very heavy weights can have disastrous consequences on the spine, over doing it in this area should be avoided, as injuries of any type are counter productive. Here is a topic that needs more attention to define the difference towards useful ideas and understanding, Body building vs strength training Personally my goal is to: 1) lose weight and gain strength with weights. 2) Towards making my MA techniques effective through resistance. 3) As another way of exercising for improving endurance. What are your expectations for using weights?

-Motivation Has No Excuses- https://youtu.be/K07tdf2vueM What motivates you to try harder than the day before? Perhaps you are a lone wolf battling alone?

Organizing movements? Coordinating movements? Effective movements? Training movements. Conditioning movements? Combat movements? Strategic movements? Rather than starting many topics on martial art movements, it seems that it can also be used satisfactory under one thing as "movement habits" as we do seem to repeat ourselves with repetitive behaviour patterns. For as ballet dancers walk and move like they do as no one else does, due to their movement habits have become ingrained. Therefore wherever they are they are ballet dancers on or off stage. As for martial artists to switch on and off when not wearing a gi, this seems to me not to be right, rather all movements no matter how small or insignificant should have an element of martial art in them. Could be as simple as getting home in the pouring rain and figuring the best way possible without getting wet, that with forseeable planning an umbrella would be the right thing (weapon of choice) to have. As many martial artists convey that they don't seem to have the time to practice, which means to me that they are only practicing when wearing a gi, which doesn't seem right to me. As for instance, waiting for a bus or in it and getting off it, with a little creativity and imagination, it is possible to find something that can be helpful towards becoming a better martial artist, even if it is practicing awareness or body language of other passengers, or it could be as simple as practicing over grips on handles, to strengthen hands. Our daily movement habits from weakening up till falling asleep could contain martial art movements, if nothing else it could be the art aspect alone. We can disguise our daily movements as to not look obviously martial art based, when in close proximity of others, perhaps when on a bus or in a bar, or elevator... As martial arts isn't necessarily just about kicking, punching and blocking, as they are an integral aspect but still they are just movements, just as important is moving away from such things. Martial art movements was once intergrated in to ways of making a living as for many trades in construction, nowadays perhaps this is not so easy for many, but not impossible by introducing new movement habits in to your day. Tai chi chuan for instance is a way to integrate good movement habits that are martial art based. What changes could you make during your usual daily movement habits, that could improve your strength, balance, flexibility, reflexes and speed, for your own martial art betterment? (To start things off, breathing or deep inhalation improves martial art movements as doing this feeds muscles with the the necessary oxygen and drinking plenty of water helps to keep those movements moisturised)

Do you use Apps for your own personal training, if so which ones do you use? I use "Fighting Trainer" and "MMA Trainer" mostly, also many others.

Karate Combat has an App on Google Play if interested.

Personally I use weights machine and free weights for my martial art betterment, also using rubber bands and whatever else is available. There are however many others that don't use weights that believe that this will not be helpful therefore avoid any type of exercise that involves using weights. Perhaps what I might do differently, is to have in mind to incorporate weights towards strengthening my techniques as much as possible and not just for fitness or strength sake alone. As having the time and availability to use many types of exercises equipment, it would be a shame not to take advantage of this opportunity, to explore and experiment with them as much as possible. Would you like to incorporate weights and machines in to your martial art journey and wonder how and where to start? Or maybe you're going it alone without weights and machines and being reliant on oneself alone, which is perfectly possible and acceptable. So the question is where do you stand using weights or not for your martial art betterment, or maybe you stand somewhere between the two?

Karate Combat looks like a more all round classy version than most; I like it! The bouts look like authentic karate and not kickboxing or mma which is refreshing to see. They utilize over hand punches alot (gaining extra reach while in motion than the usual standard karate reverse punches) by closing the gap quickly and are noticably difficult to defend against also landing blows incredibly hard with knock out power.

Great points sensei8. It is funny sometimes when teaching or showing boxers techniques and forgetting that I am in South-Paw JKD strongest side forward LOL. While they tell me that they fight in left side forwards Ooopppss! Due to past injuries I think I do favour sides in doing techniques, instead of being ambidextrous as we should try to become over time. In the forseeable future I see a personal focus week on ambidextrous techniques, thank you sensei8, for pointing out this concept but first this week has been aloted or dedicated towards doing core exercises, by which I'm not sure whether it will be possible to complete such a self imposed challenge, as last week was upper body and the week before was focused on legs, both were very worthwhile, demanding and exhausting.

There is credible reason to believe, that the pain factor of stretching is very important to understand for gaining flexibility. As it is the case that lowering one's own pain thresholds is due to stretching often and not lengthening muscles as they are designed primarily for lengthening and contracting, as too much one way or the other, muscles will become unbalanced. Sometimes listening to what everyone thinks about how to become flexible can make the situation worse, as this adds to the confusion of what works and what doesn't. Perhaps what works for one doesn't work for the next person, as adults, with a past of moving differently eating different foods and genetic factors. therefore trial and error and experimentation will need to be explored, as to what works best to become more flexible, I do focus on many theories regarding being flexible, including the lowering of the pain threshold but not to the point of tears and tearing. What I do is stretching in and out or open and close within my comfortable tolerance, many times without triggering pain responses (with and without resistance bands) also to take collagen supplements daily. I see many people stretching with painful expressions on their faces while I look at them confidently while smiling and saying ohhhhh that feels good, as what I am triggering off inside is my sleep mode of relaxing pleasure. What I am trying to convey to them is that stretching isn't a matter of causing pain but realistically, it is in releasing unnecessary muscle tension, to gain ease of movement. Fighting one's own muscles is a losing battle but using TLC can help to improve flexibility by going through a process which can lead to more flexiblty during training sessions, such as utilizing tension and relaxation with and without weights. Also breathing exercises and most often consuming plenty of water, reducing inflammation, eating foods that aid in micro muscle repair, massage to name a few. What I have found is that flexibility isn't just about stretching it is however about having a feeling of wellbeing, which means that movements are easier, techniques are stronger, agility is better, reactions are quicker. With these factors, is to out class the opponent if possible on different levels, with the ability to coordinate attacks and defend oneself beyond what is considered normal, by being nimble, fast and accurate. With combat body mechanics in place trained towards optimal speed and performance, flexibility can help towards springing it all in to action, quicker than your opponent's reaction.

Hitting a target effectively does take practice of course but proper training and care first. As explained, hitting the targets at optimal impact, this is to assume that you yourself are hitting with the best way possible, (without causing damage to oneself in the process) perhaps a little refresher is worth a moment or two towards the complete concept of when two objects collide, as it is usually the most powerful of the two that prevails.

Sometimes things work better in reverse and here is one example, by doing this exercise or improvising on it, to loosen up those hamstrings. Still is needed to stretch them hamstrings out and alternately contract those quads. Here is the desired machine that makes it all possible.

One of the first techniques learned in karate was (rush forward) to obscure the opponent's vision with a palm strike with the left hand (covering the eyes) and use a reverse punch with the right. While in Wing Chun (in emergency response situations) the finger jab to the eyes can end a fight quicker than anything else. Meanwhile in boxing, to obstruct the opponent's vision between the gloves is very effective (with glove or forearm) as losing sight at what is coming up or over the top and around the corner makes for a good opportunities for landing punches in bunches. Do you make good of use of obscuring or attacking the opponent's vision with your techniques?

The simple rule is to hitting the target square on, yet to hit a person this way that has a big belly for instance doesn't work. The reason for this is due to hitting a big belly straight on, firstly it is the most protective area of the person. If however the punch comes downward at a 45% angle then you will hitting at the most effective and vulnerable angle possible, as the belly is sagging downwards, which is the part that is most weakest. The party trick where people crush beer cans on different areas of their head or other parts is simple due to crushing with two firm surfaces, if not the crush will simply slip or slide off. The way to test which angle is best when striking an opponent is practiced using a beer can or a plastic soft drink bottle, while placing the base of the container at different places on your compliant partner. While testing this out, you should start to developed a sense of purpose for understanding areas where your container lays flat against your partner. An easy location is the side of the head but don't be fooled by assuming this to be true over other parts of the body, as first mentioned about the belly, as creases are a very important factor for understanding how this concept works. I hope you test this out for yourself, as by knowing the difference with practice, you will have a better chance of delivering very effective blows as they will be hitting with a greater understanding than your opponents. The bonus point is that you can with practice, position yourself towards not letting your opponent hit you square on while you can. Hope you give this idea a try and let's see how you get on with it working for you, any questions?

When using a pulley and weights machine in order to strengthen my punching capabilities, the four versions is very effective towards exercising all of them confidently, just by twisting the wrist. In knowing that I am giving all of my punching muscles a full workout, while simultaneously using the other hand practicing covering techniques; which really does translate well when sparring with an opponent. As being completely conscious of the four positions, automatically the body will adjust towards maximising the positioning, to deliver the most effective way to deliver the power of the punch to the target, in the most efficient way possible.

Here is karate focus explanation. Personally I have been focusing on my legs for gaining strength, speed, flexibility and agility, (as feeling that I have been spreading my self thin with many types of exercises, for the last six months) now doing the same type of focusing this time for my upper body, with the idea to maintain the improvements made. I am feeling and seeing the benefits of re-focusing my training sessions with concentrated efforts, it was difficult at first, pushing past that psychological barrier, but now knowing that it is working out for me, I aim to continue focusing my energy in this way. With the third part of this re-focusing my workout routine will be on core exercises and maintain my new gains, for my lower and upper body and hopefully integrate the three parts and focus once more on improving my overall performance.

Focus is very important factor for all martial artists, that needs regular attention and maintenance, as if you don't use it you will loose it. Sometimes focus can be an issue especially when you have that, seen it many times before feeling or having a touch of ADD at the wrong moment. We have focus pads and make up plans and strategies to stay on target, as others use photography while others shoot guns or arrows. Humour, imagination or something interesting to focus on works for me, to hold on to my attention span for as long as possible. What do you do to stay focused?