Alan Armstrong

Thank you Nidan your insightful comments are always appreciated. I like the contrast of quietness in a swimming pool and the crashing against the waves in the sea shore; both have their respective benefits. Another aspect of MA workouts in water, that might not seem apparent, is the inflammation factor, as being in the water keeps the body a little cooler; similar to using ice packs. We could call this "Amphibian martial arts" AMA training or combat on land and in water. Bruce Lee used a trampoline in his workouts while holding dumbbells; another element for the mix, in the air; something that was my edge over others when in TKD; giving me more air/hight when kicking techniques were used in conjunction with jumping high. Putting these all together, workouts on land, in water and in the air; most definitely gives a person a variety of different gravity appreciations. We all need an edge of effectiveness in MA, perhaps this little topic will ba added to your overall, training advantage strategies.

Great points of view sensei8 My little light hearted Wing Chun video selection was to highlight, that this gender issue isn't new, what so ever. As the Wing Chun style is founded on this very debate and not on rules, regulations, weight and size differences but on using, straight forward effective techniques. Just if I may jump back a little with David and Goliath. Goliath could just as well use a sling shot against David. Goliath using a sling shot wouldn't have the depth perception quality necessary to use it accurately, due to having one eye. David being skill based and Goliath being strength based. As martial artists we are using "knowledge" passed to us through countless generations. Putting this martial art knowledge in to "Skills" with constant practice. This combination of knowledge and skill is fused together as one. The next ingredient is "Attitude" this is what the person puts in to his or her martial art. Perhaps our skill and knowledge is very similar. It is "Attitude" and having the right or wrong one that makes the real difference. Bringing out the right attitude male or female is why a person is a winner or a looser. Attitude is an accelerator, a type of rocket fuel for humans; where most people are apparently running on gasoline; both will fuel your engine, just that one will get you to where you want to be alot faster. Attitude in Ballet is very important to Ballerinas. Attitude for martial artists is important also, just as long as it is the right one for females; as sensei8 points out incredibly well.

Martial art workouts are usually gravity based on dry land. What if the same workouts were performed in water such as in a swimming pool? (Mohamed Ali worked out in a swimming pool) "Float" like a butterfly sting like a bee. I do more martial arts in a swimming pool than actually swimming. Martial art workouts in a swimming pool are what I do on my recovery work out days. Astronauts returning back to Earth after a long time in space, loose bone density, due to the lack of gravity placed on their body. Fish surprisingly or not have a small spine, also due to the lack of gravity as they live in a buoyant environment; they however can become very muscular and strong. What can we as martial artists learn from this? Workouts in water is less stressful on joints as opposed to jogging or jumping about on concrete pavement. Muscles in water move slower with a resisting pressure against movements. Doing martial art movements in water, helps to feel and see energy flow through a liquid instead of air, giving a new perspective that is usually lost when practiced on dry land. Eight or so years ago while in cardiovascular rehabilitation, everything was done in a gymnasium setting. Had a talk with the therapist about, doing these exercises in a swimming pool instead of a gym. Well talking about hitting the hammer on the head. He gets all embarrassed and starts explaining that yes I am right. Everything we do here would be better for everyone if done in a swimming pool. As cardiac rehab patients would benefit, becoming stronger without the impact on joints; especially as most are seniors. But as budgets wouldn't allow for cardio rehab in a pool so here we are in a gym. From what I have learned and understand is that strengthening muscles for martial arts can be found in a swimming pool also improving muscle memory, with less stress put on joints. What is your perspective on martial art workouts in water?

Very good point, the CI should always be approachable to students, parents and anyone else that needs to ask questions or voice positive or negative comments. Knowing why other styles do what they do, is also helpful to know, if the need arises, to defend against them. While sparring in TKD and change style stances. A Muay Thai stance can also help with momentarily distracting the opponent, then switch to a karate ready position can confuse them further; Wing Chun or JKD work just as well. It's fun to do occasionally but it's no joke for the opponent. To show and explain why the "Ready position" in other MA styles differs from your own is helpful, for the simple reason of being exposed to something, that they have never seen or experienced; to take away the "fear of the unknown" factor.

Certainly makes a positive change as something new for all styles of martial arts. Different styles could and should of need be, develop a curriculum for cabin crew staff, for their respective airline companies, worldwide. Also, this opens up options for many martial artists to train cabin crew staff. The trickling down to airport security and boarding staff members are also going to be encouraged to explore ways that benefits there safety as well.

Mandatory, Wing Chun cabin crew on Hong Kong Airlines. Perhaps other airlines will use the same idea?

Wing Chun, the only martial art style accredited to a woman. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I02M8L-2kro Wing Chun reaching new heights for women Humor= Ancient method for improving wisdom and happiness. Wing Chun Girl vs Bruce Li

Chinese belive in Demons; perhaps not exactly the Western world equivalent, but they are real. Smoking is a type of Demon, as if it possesses the person to keep doing something wrong; the Demon voice saying "Smoke another cigarette, it will make you feel better" Demons can be past on from one person to another, usually starting from parents and then in society. Women can be brought up with Demons passed on to them in the home; just by being taught that house cleaning, making the beds, cooking and grocery shopping are Women's jobs; or simply the ones waiting on men. Maybe these are not as obvious where you live but for many, this has not changed. Men can carry around these Demons also; within there attitude of Women being less than them. Sensei8 has no Demons when it comes to gender differences; for the rest that are Demon carriers, there is always hope for you to change and expulse them. Punch like a girl ; has been known as a derogatory statement for a very long time; science proves otherwise as this video explains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Qfhs_4z8c Perhaps when women start believing in themselves in totality, then they will be ready to take on their counterparts without the prior need for consent, permission and approval from any gender.

It cannot hurt a CI to have knowledge of other styles to contrast what is being taught; especially with the basics of punching, kicking and blocking. Theory and tactics of other styles is always useful to know. Training and conditioning regimes of other styles might be worth a look at. As the CI can point out to students that we do it this way because... Children ask why more than most, so should students in martial artist ask why, more often to the CIs.

Punch like a girl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Qfhs_4z8c

BRUCE LEE'S 10 RULES FOR SUCCESS

Would that we could at once strike with the eyes! In the long way from the eyes through the arm to the fist, how much is lost! Bruce Lee Bruce Lee's unnoticeable movements

We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. Yet, it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents as well. Bruce Lee

Silence is an important aspect, not just in martial arts. Why you might ask, is silence important? Here is why I believe it is important. There is a fight or war going on to influence your thoughts, more specifically, to influence your spending habits. From TV to radio and visually with newspapers and magazines, junk mail to billboards; you are in combat terms "Being bombarded" Silence and practicing it is your secret weapon against it. Now in silence, you will be able to listen to your own thoughts without noise made by others trying to sell you things, that you probably don't need or you can very happily live without. Music is how many people try to drown out the outside world, but the lyrics and music is still influencing your thoughts and emotions. Silence is the only sure way of tuning out the world and tuning in to yourself for a change. Noise pollution is real, silence is pollution free. Silence will be a new experience for many, with a little time and practice; (Just like the song) Silence is golden. This is a part of Silent killer ninja skills; just kidding.

At one self defense class, the CI used the idea of an attack dog. Just as if you are the dog. To be able to spring in to action if the need arises. I have used this method in tournament sparring and found it to be very useful.

Jeet Kune Do favors formlessness so it can assume all forms and since Jeet Kune Do has no style, it can fit in with all styles. As a result, Jeet Kune Do utilizes all ways and is bound by none and, likewise, uses any techniques or means which serve its end. Bruce Lee

There are plenty of male vs female videos on YouTube. How about looking at a few, that meets your criteria's. The links I posted here were very random, wasn't sifting through them to find the best of the best. Would be ironic for many if the best of the best, turned out to be a female. UFC was based on or started from the idea that a smaller person could beat a larger/stronger person, with a good ground plan; BJJ proved it.

"Success is where preparation meets opportunity." Learn the material, know the material, practice the material, and apply the material. Then, when its time to test on the material, your only doing what you've already done. These words should be carved in stone

Yep. I'm learning the hard way from that! We do need to train our muscles to obey our wishes.This is a part of self mastery. I pulled a calve muscle recently during a workout, the next day I was sprinting with it; to show it who is the boss! Amazingly it recovered very quickly. Relaxing muscles for stretching purposes, also demands that muscles do what are expected of them; as some dogs are for working and others are better for relaxing with. Muscles just like dogs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each having special abilities, such as for climbing, running, jumping and swimming; as for martial art purposes, better for fighting with.

Not to be corrective but that is not swordsmanship. That is meant to impress the crowd. I take nothing away from her performance. I'll even give her high kudo's for her athleticism but that is not the proper use of the sword. For one - if you watch closely at the angle of the blade in respect to the angle of the arms, they are not aligned. The sword would be striking at an angle and thus cut nothing. For two - she is using it as if it were a modern rendition of the use of nunchaku. This is "Xtreme" martial arts were they make kata specifically for the WOW factor. There is nothing about that performance that says she knows how to accurately use a sword or that she has learned real Kenjutsu or Iaido. And as Tempest said it's a blunt sword. And I'll agree that it is a dance because none of what she did came from an actual representation of battle tested applications when utilizing an actual Shinken. Flailing a sword shaped device while flipping and doing somersaults is very impressive but I will not call that swordsmanship because it's not. So yes she is too young to put a real Shinken in her hands especially doing what she is doing. So this just goes to show that those in power (Judges of Britains Got Talent) see but they are blind due to not knowing what they are looking at.On the other hand it is a talent show and what looks great to them, is all they care about, as long as it contains originality, novelty with a pinch of the WOW factor; authenticity and technicalities are not entertaining prerequisites for the masses, as the show isn't based on reality. I would agree with that assessment. It's a talent contest. Originality and Wow factor trumps everything else. And it should. Your trying to out do the next guy and it is not based on reality insomuch as it's based on what people want to see... Flashy, high flying and breathtaking wow factor. Do it and you win. It's the stage under which they compete. And you're right the judges see this and think, wow, I wouldn't want to mess with that little girl. But in reality the actions she is displaying (I will not call them techniques or applications) is exactly what they want to see but has no basis in reality when it comes to actual effective combat methodology. This is part and parcel what you find at 90% of modern tournaments these days. The Wow factor trumps the intent and actual reality based techniques. Don't get me wrong, I love watching these feats of athleticism. It's amazing and certainly takes years to learn. But the problem is the context in which people talk about it. When discussing something like this the comment always comes up that they are great examples of MA's, but it's not true MA. It's a staged performance with one goal in mind, to wow the judges and the audience. To say this has anything to do with real martial arts is ridiculous and false. It's a sport not an art of self defense. Nothing they do translates to the street. Whens the last time you say someone do a triple back flip and roll to a flying front kick to a multitude of high machine gun kicks on the streets? You haven't because it's for show not for actual combative situations. If you attempted this your ancestors would feel the beating you got. It's just for show kinda like Hollywood's version of war vs actual war. The two do not translate. You can't fire a shoulder fired rocket inside of a helicopter cockpit and live to talk about it. But in Hollywood Rambo walks away and so do all of the POW's in the back of the Helo. Not in real life. Flash sells which is why so many promote this. But make no mistake this is not MA. Cannot agree with you more; as you are spot on, great observation skills you have MatsuShinshii.I have been told by a CI recently, that I am too much reality based; as if there is a problem being this way.

You can take the karate kid out of the dojo but you can't take the dojo out of the kid. Growing up in a not very nice neighborhood, when walking down the high street, if you didn't move out of the way of someone walking towards you, you would be bumped and most likely a fight would break out. Some 45/50 years later, I still move out of the way of anyone by yielding. Having done this yielding, avoiding on coming people (as not to collide with them) shows courtesy and respect; as accidents can happen and mindfulness isn't practiced as much as it should be by most. It is also a part of the Chinese martial art style named Bagua. A martial art style popular with waiters, as slipping past people, is a requirement for their job. I look at it as a peaceful warrior practice, by moving out of the way of things that can cause harm is easier and better than taking the force, head on; unless I choose not to.

Not to be corrective but that is not swordsmanship. That is meant to impress the crowd. I take nothing away from her performance. I'll even give her high kudo's for her athleticism but that is not the proper use of the sword. For one - if you watch closely at the angle of the blade in respect to the angle of the arms, they are not aligned. The sword would be striking at an angle and thus cut nothing. For two - she is using it as if it were a modern rendition of the use of nunchaku. This is "Xtreme" martial arts were they make kata specifically for the WOW factor. There is nothing about that performance that says she knows how to accurately use a sword or that she has learned real Kenjutsu or Iaido. And as Tempest said it's a blunt sword. And I'll agree that it is a dance because none of what she did came from an actual representation of battle tested applications when utilizing an actual Shinken. Flailing a sword shaped device while flipping and doing somersaults is very impressive but I will not call that swordsmanship because it's not. So yes she is too young to put a real Shinken in her hands especially doing what she is doing. So this just goes to show that those in power (Judges of Britains Got Talent) see but they are blind due to not knowing what they are looking at.On the other hand it is a talent show and what looks great to them, is all they care about, as long as it contains originality, novelty with a pinch of the WOW factor; authenticity and technicalities are not entertaining prerequisites for the masses, as the show isn't based on reality.

Sorry I didn't read the small print.Just put 1on1 male vs female MMA; it looked good enough 99%

I don't think this will happen. Look at other professional sports, men's and women's divisions are separate. Another reason I think we won't see this happen is due to the current climate of domestic violence, specifically men being violent towards women. In a society where we are working to protect women from being abused by men, I don't foresee a company like the UFC actively seeking to pit men and women fighting against each other. It just sends a bad message. I also think that at the UFC level, it wouldn't be as competitive as many people think. I forget what Rhonda Rousey weighed, but it was under 140 lbs, wasn't it? For all her skill and ability, if she was pitted against a male the same weight, and a UFC caliber fighter, I don't think the fight would be competitive at all. And this is not a knock to women fighters. But women just aren't as physically strong as men are as a rule, and the same would hold true in professional level athletics, if not more so. Overall, I think it would be a bad idea, send the wrong message, and be bad for business. Male vs Female MMA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3KQACh4Yv_k

Do you know the difference between a fake Karate CI and a Karate Master? McDojos and fake martial art instructors, paying out cash for second hand instruction (is hurting the real karate masters, that have dedicated their lives and limbs to a living breathing art form) is putting students in danger due to lacking the necessary survival skills that were bought and payed for but not delivered. Worse still is the students of these fake Karate CI's, passing on the deception to another unsuspecting generation of martial artists.