Alan Armstrong

Being a self taught martial artist must ultimately depend on the person practicing it. I have learned some techniques just by watching others doing them. Practiced them and used them in live confrontations. Today there is no end to the amount of virtual help for self taught martial artists. With practice and determination a person could become good at martial arts practicing alone. This is not the way however to reach one's own potential.

Warm up sparring games can be played. Start off by trying to touch each others knee. Dodge the contact. Then try to touch the top of your partners head, this is going to invole jumping. Try dodging any type of contact without backing up (only by stepping and twisting) the body. Conditioning the body to take a reasonable amount of kicking and punching blows is normal. Have a partner hit you (not hard) to see how much your body can take. It will give you a chance to learn how to bounce blows off your body also. Your sparring issues will dissipate over time and with sparring experience your confidence will most certainly grow. Another type of sparring game can be played to help you from freezing up. Attempt to attack your partners blind side. Also let your partner attack your blind side. This is a toe to toe strategy. Now one of you pivots while being attacked on the blind side on the lead foot. This will open up the attackers front. Giving the defender plenty of openings to counter with. So the idea is to attack the blind side and the defender pivots off the lead foot and counters. This is a great strategy game. I noticed in some ma dojos that strategy is not covered or an issue. I greatly disagree. Should be some kind of game plan otherwise it is just exchanging kicks and punches.

The video is cool. The wall dummy is cool also. The techniques look alot like Wing Chun to me with a slap or kick, with a telegraphing twist for there openers. It's all great if people are moving in slow mo with arms stretched out and want to get beaten up. So although the techniques are solid, just cannot buy in to the virtual combat wall dummy and the crash test dummy partner scenarios. Sorry!!! For introductory level marital artists this video could be a great primer to start with. But reality dictates to me for advanced students, the dummy has to get out of the equation; the sooner the better. The question is, is the wall dummy a novelty or a real valid training aid? Personally I'm no stranger to wooden/plastic/metal dummies. I believe training with them has some benefits. There are no human qualities about them, therefore when I move, I want to be as un-predictable and un-dummyish as possible. The way the dummy was being attacked in the video looked more like bullying than anything else! There was nothing self-defense about it just blatant abusive intent. Virtual training has it's dangers of giving confidence to none realistic circumstances. It could get a person (student) seriously hurt. As for the instructor teaching virtual as actual it is very irresponsible. Especially when weapon training is involved.

Ask an experienced Aikido student to show you how to roll properly. 1) Practice on a martial art mat. 2) Always tuck your chin/head in. 3) Go slowly but continually smoothly. 4) Roll across your spine and never along it. For example: The right way is from your right shoulder to your left hip. 5) Always keep constant contact with the mat as you roll. Hand connects first, then across your forearm too shoulder to back, (diagonally across back too hip) too thigh too feet. I remember seeing Brad Pitt in the movie "Mr and Mrs Jones" diving over some shrubs, late at night. He dived over the shrubs landing and rolling along his spine. If it was him or his double doing the diving it was very bad form. Could have caused himself some bad back and neck pain from rolling this way. It was supposed to look humorous, just didn't see the humor in it done incorrectly! Tumblers can roll along their spine, but they have years of training and practice doing it this way, with developed muscles to protect the spine.

Isn't momentum something that picks up speed as it travels, such as a rolling snowball? Isn't pressure a varible exertion of force? Also fluctuationing pressure such as in the atmosphere? Or sudden pressure and low/high pressure! If I fire an arrow in to the sky, the arrow looses momentum the higher it gets. Then as the arrow falls to earth it picks up momentum. When the arrow hits the ground, the speed of the arrow slows down considerably and depending on the connecting arrow head and softness/hardness of the ground, pressure and force can be measured. Centrifugal force as in a backfist picks up speed (momentum) and depending how fast the person is spinning and the density of the fist when it's connecting (force) to the head, it can exert deeper (pressure) damage. More momentum equals more force causing more damage connecting pressure to the target.

What you are describing could be something of a byproduct of doing martial arts for a long time. What you may or may not know is that martial arts brings together the five senses and produces the sixth sense. This sixth sense heightens your intuition. You might transcend the physical known world and touch on other types of vibrations in the universe. I would suggest that you keep both feet planted on the ground. Take what you feel and let it go in one ear and out the other ear; just a figure of speech. Otherwise if you give this feeling importance you could dwell on it, suggest to let it go. Martial arts is more profound than all other physical activities, this is why religion is attached to it in many eastern cultures. If your sixth sense does grow stronger over time, just accept it as no big deal. As a spiritual or intuitive phenomena it is not governed by what you do so much as how it can effect you, don't let it effect you. Just let it grow or dematerialize naturally.

As great are these training aids are to stike on, or practice blocks on, there is no real equal training, other than another living human being. Timing and simultaneous impacts come to mind. None of this happens when practicing with a dummy. It is just your timing and your single impact with every technique thrown. Yes heavy hitting and slipping around wooden arms works on the dummy. Not so with humans. Unless the real person's fighting IQ is equivalent to the practice dummy. Never have I felt like I have learned something from practicing ma on a wooden dummy. Yet practicing with another human being, there is always something to be learned or gained. Wooden dummies are for those that want to pefect something that they already know. The dummy has nothing to teach you, that is why it is called a dummy!

Pivoting on the heels or toes both have advantages and disadvantages. Do as your Sensei requests. TKD has another methodology than Shotokan. So as all styles have their differences, that is why they are called different styles. Personally I pivot on my toes and on my heels depending on the situation or techniques I'm using. Pivoting heel or toe could depend on what surface you are standing on also. Aikido practioners need to pivot on their toes (balls of the feet) for quick footwork mobility, one way then the other way for their throwing techniques to work. What works for you will ultimately be your choice eventually. Body mechanics is something worth looking in to. Running on the heels is not practical. Tai Chi students pivot on the heels for a single foot swivel movement. To pivot on the toes just wouldn't work for their intended techniques. Jumping on your toes and jumping on your heels both have there advantages also. Something worth investigating. Of course to perfect moving on your toes and heels you will eventually learn the hidden secrets that they both posses. Heel and toe perfection and to understand when to use them, will lead you to moving better than those that only use one way (toe) or another (heel).

Thank you for your reply MasterPain. While still exploring the 'Chin-na' and Chi-kung' cross training idea. It has given me new insights to training, never seen before, at least by me. Training with a partner is usually better than working out alone. Working out alone has it's benefits also; here's how. One idea that I have come up with, is to use thick rubber training bands and thread them to a pull up bar. As one end is looped around the bar, I just loop the other end around my wrist, as if I was grabbed by an opponent. Then I use my 'Chin-na' techniques, as exercises. This idea can be incorporated in a variety of martial art type stances or movements. Getting a bit too good at it now, the bands are snapping. Even using six bands at one time, I'm still managing to snap them. I'm going to incorporate bungee cords in to this new exercise idea. As the rubber bands are not holding up due to my increased strength and stretching them beyond their intended length. So to give this idea a name. I will call it CNRT. 'Chin-na resistance training' As resistance training with rubber tubes is nothing new, but using them to exercise Martial Art self defence grabbing techniques or other MA movemts, this could be a novel idea. As much as I believe in chi power and not muscle power in certain techniques. CNRT might become a new tool to advance martial art skills. I believe the strength of my self defence skills has improved. For example, these resistance cords attached to one of my wrists. While my other hand clamps down on top of that hand, as to trap the opponent's hand. I can singularly exercise my grabbed wrist. Then incorporate my elbow in to the technique. Then introduce my shoulder. Then using my body weight in to the mix. Then the legs and so on. Also can exercise perhaps just my body weight (gravity) in to the pulling down motion. Exerting full power in techniques also takes in to consideration keeping one's own body in check (balance) at all times. Or keep everything stationary and only use my elbow power. This idea of using and strengthening one joint (fulcrum) at a time, is how 'bone power' is used correctly. Tai Chi practitioners use bone power in their movements. Dragon Yin style Kung fu is all for more bone power. Resistances training this way can be done with fingers. By bending them back as if attacked and using the cords on the fingers for strengthening their attacking power. By placing oneself in an arm lock position and putting the rubber bands in such a way to place pressure on it. Strength and endurance is increased and also counter techniques can be practiced also. What I am incorporating or focusing on is the resistance aspects. Making the martial artist more aware of the strengthening techniques that resistance can have on muscles while actually doing the ma movements. Could be said that by using body weights could do the same thing; I think not. Because weights are going straight down to the centre of the earth, while resistance bands can pull from all different directions and simulate a resistances more varied and similar to an actual opponent. This resistance exercise could be setup in a way that incorporates more than one attacker. In the past, ropes and pullys were set up in a Hercules type of workout. Exercise machines have resistance ideas built in to them, but most are not designed for the martial artist. Just to recap a bit. Chi Kung are auxiliary exercises for martial artists. There are literally hundreds of exercises to choose from. to enhance one's own chosen style. As some internal styles use little effort or exertion on muscles, this could reduce muscle strength and reduce bone density also. So exercises were invented to give the body more strength and endurance, internally and externally. Breathing is also a vital component of 'Chi Kung' training. 'Chin na' recap. Most styles use 'Chin na' MA techniques to grab or seize an opponent in a offensive or defensive way. It is said that there are 700 techniques in 'Chin na' The Kung fu 'Eagle Claw' style uses many Chin na techniques. Pressure points can be struck or pressed accordingly. Sealing the breath or choke holds are another aspect of Chin na.

Bushido-man96; you are so right with all your comments. If other martial art styles had the same training issues as Aikido has, I'm sure they would be in big trouble fighting in the open martial art world. It seems to me that Aikido is leaning or aiming towards a pre Tal Chi Chuan market. Losing the combative aspects making Aikido for the (lets pretend fighting) middle aged crowd. As many martial art styles have their strengths and weaknesses, Aikido's weakness is not the style or it's techniques. It is the shift away from reality partner training. Perhaps some lightweight protective gear could work for training realistically. There are thin fabrics used in the motorcycle industry for added protection and safety. Aikido safety gear; why not! Now let's say Aikido is all kitted up for reality training. This doesn't change the (slow rag doll) attacker and the (lightning quick ESP) defender ethos. But it could be a point in the right direction. Martial artists eventually learn to play their own game when fighting other styles. Aikido has far too much potential, once the reality training issues get sorted out, there might be a 'Brazilian Aikido, style just waiting to be discovered.

Respect is something societies need in order to live and survive in them. The neglect for a place shows the lack of respect people have for that place. Japanese gardens for instance are groomed to perfection. This is no accident! Respect for one's self and fellow humans has to be a good thing. Respect for one's environments home, work and play, has to be a good thing. Respect in the martial arts, has to be a good thing. How are we going to survive without it?

As mazzybear rightly points out the alpha male status. Rams by name and by nature use the head-butt. Seems familiar with humans using animal attributes such as with the Shaolin monks. In the late 1950's ealry 60's in the UK, the male teens of the time would sew thumb tacks in to their coat lapels. As head-butts wear usually accompanied with an unexpected lapel grab. Must have been a surprise for some of the nutters of that time, to grab a handful of thumbtacks. This head-butt topic must have a long history. The popular tv program 'Black Adder' had a very active and 'Rambunctious' character (Lord Flashheart) for the Elizabethan time.

I do some extreme chi kung sometimes. End up having some very nasty looking bruises from it or a pulled or twisted something or other. A month later I'm O.K again. I'm taking some time out from injuring myself and being more therapeutic at this moment. Point being, martial arts can be very intense on the body. Injuries will happen from time to time. Accept it! I have medical issues like most of the older crowd but giving up my youthfulness; never! On this issue I'm not going down without a fight. Flexibility becomes more and more complicated to deal with the older one gets. I look at this subject as another challenge. Sticky Fecha. Scare Tissue. Muscle Strains. Joint and tendon stiffness... and so on. For me practicing martial arts, I don't need sports science, never have. I do however have mother nature and she has far more experience to keep me flexible, all is required is patience and my cooperation to listen.

My worst injury was psychological. A black eye given to me by my girl friend, that is now my wife. I did a summersault over her head while she was sitting on the bed. I did it to impress her. She was so impress that she elbow strikes me in the eye. I had a real classic black eye shiner. So my friends just thought (having a black eye) it was just me going at it with someone in the dojo, but no my girlfriend did it. Sympathy 0. Laughs 53. I wouldn't mind so much if she did it in a clumsy or accidentally done way. No! She brought that elbow perfectly straight down with full force like a professional wrestler. I'm still suspicious of her fighting background, that she claims to have none.

When we were all younger we could move like the wind effortlessly. Most took this marvel of nature for granted. We grew up and lost the youthfulness we once had. Now we want to recapture that lost youth. Not so easy. Nature gives us a second chance to relive our youth by having children. Nature then gives us a third chance with grand children. The problem is as humans we can use up all our chances that nature gives us to recapture our youth. So we turn to artificial youth products and remedies to fool nature. Nature is not stupid, far from it. Nature gave you everything you needed and you spent it. Almost all of your youthfulness has been spent and now you appreciate what you once had and it is almost gone. The quest for the elixir of youth begins. Health and beauty commercialization promises you everything without effort. Buying in to it is the easy way; the lazy way. The expensive way. Only to find out you have lost your way. When you were a child, no way was the way. You climbed, run, went swimming and played games. You fell then you got up gain. Bumps and bruises came and went without too much fuss. To recapture your youth, reawaken the child in you and play. Play with your martial art. Be the Karate kid and not the broken old toy. Nature will guide you, your nature will guide you. The child in you will guide you. If you have pain in a muscle or joint do what you did as a child. Rub it quickly! Stop having conflicts with your body and start playing and enjoying what you have. The more you play the more likely you will get better at it and more likely you will enjoy it more. If you feel stiff and sluggish from lack of movement. It is time to change your game plan. It is time for you to be the 'Karate kid' that you were ment to be. Age requirement 'NONE' Flexibility issues starts with attitudes and your muscles might learn how to have fun again once these issues have regained some youth.

Make others aware! Another method of attracting attention to be assisted if attacked is to scream "Help" Make others aware! May seem simplistic to scream for help, but for bystanders watching what is unfolding as a man is attacking a woman for instance, it could be a domestic dispute and many people don't want to interfere or get involved if this is the case. Make others aware! Shout out 'police' 'police' 'help' If not, bystanders could continue going on about their business and just ignore the situation altogether. Make others aware! Be aware that people/strangers will help you if you are in danger or in need of assistance, but they need a clear message or signal from 'YOU' before they will proceed. Be aware and if you need help make others aware also (VERBALLY) with as much noise as possible.

I have most certainly usef headbutts with ground fighting no matter the size of my opponent. If the opponent is on his back and you are in any type of mounted position, headbutts are more devastating because no matter which way the opponent turns his head, he is going to get banged up very badly and temple shots are more devestaing than nose shots. Gravity is on the head-butt delivers side also, being on top the opponent has the added danger of getting the back of the head damaged also, with every head-butt! Repetitive head-butting while on the ground is a very vicious technique to use on an opponent; added with banging the back of the opponent's head to the ground is going to cause some serious concussion or head trauma. Luckily enough I still have hair. If I was bald, I would not like to show off the lumps and bumps that hair hides. A good defence to a head-butt is to nod the head forward or pull your chin down to you neck; as if looking through your eyebrows. This will protect your own nose and will be setting yourself up to give a head-butt of your own. A quick finger jab to the opponent's throat can be used effectively to intercept an anticipated head-butt atack or an incoming hock punch. Any type of technique that reverses the downward blow of your attacker's head-butt with your upward interceptive blow such ad an upward palm strike to the chin or elbow strike will work just as well. If the opponent has hair, then grab a handful with one hand, while grabbing and pushing the opponent face up and over backwards with the other hand. This will throw the attacker backwards, causing that person to land on their back. As many confrontations are usually started off by attacking the face or head, stay out of range, so as not to be sucker head-butted or punched out. Many put the 'I'm tuffer than you stance' towards their opponent and get knocked out in the first few seconds of a fight.

Running away could be the best option and doesn't make a person a wimp! This depending on the circumstances is good strategy. What if running away is not an option or possible in a conflict? being surrounded or no exit? What do you do? What if the situation is more complicated than what you have learned from your Sensei? What do you do? Labels or generalizations are helpful to organize things and thoughts quickly. sensei 8 is a label you have given yourself! My label was given to me by my parents.

A person is born with a warrior spirit or is born without it. It all depends on the nature of the person to develops what they are; warrior or wimp or whatever. Good warriors win the day and survives. The wimp runs away and survives. The difference is that the warrior can look himself or herself in the mirror; knowing and feeling something that the wimp will never posses. That is the warrior spirit knowing bravery as opposed to the wimp only knowing cowardness. Who do you look at in the mirror each morning? Personally I train my self to be a warrior and will protect the wimps. Having a warrior spirit is something I was born with; it is most likely a genetic survial thing but that's another story. A Chinese scholar told me that I am reincarnated from a Chinese warrior. As karma and reincarnation is an accepted view in the orient. It is another valid point of view also. Having a warrior spirit isn't a blind or stupid way to be. Sometimes it takes more courage to walk away from a fight or confrontation, than jumping in with both feet and hands. It is to do what is right in the face of those that do wrong. The warrior spirit isn't a romantic notion for me. I don't glorify war or condone it. I don't ornate weapons either. I am thankful for the warrior spirit in my ancestors, because without them being who they were; I would never exist!

Seems KALIPUTRA has made an impression here not soon forgotten. Karate and Kung fu are on two different sides of the same bridge. The perspective from each side looks very different. On one side lives the Giant Crane a creature that has developed exceptional self defence skills. While on the other side Tigers dwell; unmatched predators. One side sees that their side of the bridge has qualities far superior than the other side has due to strong footings and a close up view on things. While the other side has a higher view on things due to past experiences and living far above ground level seeing more terrain. A Giant Crane and a Tiger walked to the middle of the bridge, each animal wanted the other one to back up or move aside so as to get to the other side. Each would not move an inch for each other. The Tiger suggested that they should have a contest. It would be settled if a Giant Crane could wrestle and put the Tiger down on to the floor. The Giant Crane wanted a different contest, the one that jumps the highest wins. They could not agree on a contest or a compromise so they both went back to their own side of the bridge. They both lived ...

Seems to me that Aikido had it's day with Stephen Segal and is just waiting for another person to highlight the art to a higher level. I use some Aikido principle with self-defense. I'm sure Krav Maga enthusiasts would disagree with me on some of my aspects of training. As there is no military brute force involved in my methods it could look a little soft and sensitive for those wearing size 16 commando boots. Aikido has principles that blend well with other styles and has similarities in which reinforces the practical functionality of this art for the average size human being. Aikido is a traditional art not caught up in the commerciality or vogue styles of today. Just like rock music had it's day, new generations want something that is contemporary or representational for them. Irrelevant of practicality just needs to look cool ... I do appreciate those that keep this Aikido style in a state of preservation. I'm not trying to be ironic with this comment. Would be a shame for Aikido to fade away due to neglect and obsolete attitudes towards it's contradictional nature as a martial art style that promotes harmony. Aikido and Chin na are both created to not permanently harm the opponent. Not all self-defence situations call for mortal combat techniques. The strength of these styles is the multifaceted uses as opposed to the single minded seek and destroy mind set of most ma styles. Aikido and Chin na techniques can easily be modified and combined to cause serious bodily harm. Yet those that practice these styles develops a deeper sense of understanding that can transcend brutalities and find the art in it instead. Someday Aikido without the safety latch on in the hands of Mike Tyson type mma is going to surprise the Aikido skeptics; just a matter of time!

Well done Yodo! Without a connection with nature we are surely disconnected. Fitness clubs in my area of the world are becoming far too sterile and unnaturally plastic; told them so face to face. Where is the fresh air in a fitness club? Or any connection with nature?

When a MAist is voided of experience, then that person is operating solely on second hand knowledge; devoid of actual experience. It is like there is no such thing as a bad electrician, because all the bad ones have been electrocuted! Point being, there are no MAist voided of experience, simply because it is impossible to be one without having any physical martial art experience. I see people hitting a punching bag and bobbing about, to me they are trying to look like a boxer or they want to be a boxer. Just because people do what boxers do doesn't make them a boxer. They need to have the spirit of a boxer to be a boxer. The people that contribute to this site are martial artists, because they have first hand knowledge and hands on experience. They share what they know so that it will raise the collective conciseness for all martial arts. MAist without anything to offer are just wasting everyone's time including their own. Playing all of the martial art games or watching all the martial art movies in the world, a person can however be a martial art enthusiast. Just like there are enthusiasts with baseball and the like...

A warrior in my eyes is a fearless person as opposed to a wimp that is afraid of everything. Love is the strongest emotion humans have, to protect what we love, be it family, home or country. It is the warrior spirit that is awakened if our loves are threatend, the body is just there to follow it's commands. Having the warrior spirit is to gladly die for the greater good. Having a self sacrificing nature that fights for what is right. The knights of the round table comes to mind, to fight unlike a savage, but to fight like a real free man that fights with honor and has vitues that inspire other men to be virtues also.

Seems there is alot of negativity towards Aikido these days. Not being real or realistic as a martial art. Aikido being compared to flower arranging. Personally I am not negative towards Aikido but I do have some reservation on the effectiveness of Aikido self defence demonstrations. Not that the techniques don't work but the people demonstrating them seem a bit unconvincing. What is your opinion on Aikido today; is it doomed or is it flourishing?