SevenStar

completely agree. given the limited number of sets people who push heavy weight typically do though, I'm betting you're more likely to get an overuse injury from pushups than weight training. More common in weight training would be a pull or tear from trying to push something heavier than you can handle.

I train with a capoeira guy on a regular basis. They are VERY deceptive, and that's the main problem. If the guy is good, it's gonna be hard to hit him, plus it's hard to tell where his next strike is coming from. "breakdancing" is hardly what they do. I've been smacked around by these guys and have no doubt that they can hold their own against anyone. The blatantly obvious approach is to close in on them. the guys I have experience with though are comfy in close range - capoeira has a LOT of knees, elbows and takedowns, you just never really see it when you are looking at the stuff you see on tv. On top of that, one of the two guys (there are the instructors) in a bjj purple belt - very comfy in the clinch - and the other works with judoka alot, so he's at home in close range as well. people who underestimate capoeristas are seriously deluding themselves...

one tip though - don't get caught up in who you can beat while sparring. use sparring as a method to ingrain/refine what you are learning. beating people is what you do once in the ring; sparring is a tool to get you ready for the ring. if you focus on beating people while sparring, you will eventually notice that your development stagnates.

the problem is that tma won't do it. the major difference between a sport system and a traditional is conditioning. the second is experience. When you fight guys (if you get to) that have had more training and several ring fights, you'll see what I'm talking about. That opportunity for extra experience makes all the difference. Other than that, it's pretty much the same - just a different way of doing things. I posted just yesterday on the chinese forum how we use tan sao, pak sao and other things in muay thai from a basic standpoint. also, the jab/man sao, but man sao has a different purpose than a jab.

bingo. there is a difference between a strength exercise and an endurance one. I can bench close to 300, but usually stop after 50 pushups. Also, you don't want to do TOO many pushups - injuries happen that way. several people I know - including myself - have gotten rotator cuff injuries due to repettitive stress - too many pushups.

that's up to you. when are you planning on fighting? how much time do you have to cut weight? If you feel that you would be more effective at a lighter weight, then lose the weight before you take a match. If you feel you would be more effective at your current weight, then stay there. another thing to look at is advantage - if you are currently at the low end of what your weight division would be, then you may want to drop a little - just enough so that you are the heaviest in the division below you. It can suck when you always have to fight bigger guys than you. if you ARE the biggest though, then it can work to your advantage.

good job. this is a positive step! go daily, if possible. At the very least, go three days a week. if you go daily, you won't have to - you may want to do some weight training, but it's not a necessity, especially not now. If you don't go daily, then yes, definitely work on your own. go to ringside.com and check out the handwraps area of the store. they have a link you can check out. Also, if you buy wraps from them, they will send you a printed copy of how to wrap them. They also have a nice video that talks about the different types of wrap you can buy, and different methods of wrapping, as there really is no one right way. It's an interesting video. you don't need any. they will teach you all you need to know about both. you likely won't be sparring for a good 2-3 months (at least) anyway. The best tip you need right now is to simply listen to your coach. ask questions for different viewpoints, but ultimately, listen to him, as he can actually see you and we can't, so he knows exactly what to correct, how you should move, etc. I did a search on him and found quite a few things - google his name.

nobody in k-1 has the hands to damage him. He'd be great in k-1. He'll be able to take leg kicks just fine. pain tolerance is something that any fighter is used to. just like he trains to slip punches, he will train to do leg blocks. If this does actually happen, you can bet that he will dominate.

yeah, those are the basics that anyone should have. what kind of gloves do you have? are they boxing gloves, or something open fingered/palmed that you used in WC? typically, a beginner won't do any real contact anyway, other than possibly some padwork. since you have some experience though, they may allow some for you. schools tend to have extra gloves and headgear, but don't always have extra shin guards, and obviously, you will want your own wraps, cup and mouth guard! Have fun and let us know what you think!

pockets is right on both points. typically, when you spar, do drills, etc. you rotate partners - you aren't assigned to only have one for the rest of your training time at that school. by training with everyone, you are getting used to different people with different fighting styles and preferences. As for his power, ask him to lighten up. He'll still get a workout. Heck, change it up for him. Tell him to go lighter, but faster.

12-15 reps is good for endurance. You won't build any serious muscle size that way, because you are not recruiting all of your muscle fibers; the body is lazy by nature - it does the bare minimum it needs to in order to get by. In other words, by lifting high reps, you will use only enough muscle fibers to perform those reps with that weight. now, when you lift heavy, maximal weights, your body HAS to use all of it's available fibers to push the weight because you put a load on it that it cannot handle. it will then stimulate growth, because the body will try to adapt to that weight so that it can move it easier. As for bulking, a fighter will not worry about that. he fights within his weight class. bulking can push him above his weight and cause him to forfeit his fight. a fighters goal is to be in the best shape possible for his weight. they often lose weight to compete, rarely to they go up.

No. I'm talking about the body's internal processes. your body is either in mode to gain weight or it is not.

right... so you do all of your techniques on your partners at full power unprotected, all the time, right? since, you ARE prepping for the street... a boxer does both. Not only is he training for your possibility (a streetfight), he also trains for his own inevitability (his next ring fight). As I stated, I throw thousands of punches per week... Imagine what a high level boxer throws. when throwing such a high number of punches, wearing something to protect your hands is just common sense...

saotome kun, I see you are in nashville. it you and genma ever take a pilgrimmage to jussenkyo (memphis) we will have to meet up and train. if you are a ranma fan, you get it... If not, ah well. If you're ever in the neighborhood though, shoot me a pm.

kicboxing is a martial art. it is basically full contact karate. there is also muay thai, or thai boxing, which has been around longer than "kickboxing". muay thai is also referred to as kickboxing by some.

the state tournament is held in clarksville, just outside of nashville. Also, there is a national level bjj tourney held there yearly. that tourney is held by ed clay, and he has a bjj school in nashville. look up the nashville mixed martial arts academy. If you don't mind the drive to clarksville (about 45 min, if I remember right) then you can check out ft. campbell judo.

good post. And to answer the second part of your question, no, I don't think that. I think that over the years, the concept of what is traditional has been changed. I know in old china, they used stone locks. okinawans used them as well - they did weight training. working grip by carrying vases by the wide mouth of them, etc. all of that hard training became obsoleted as we became more modern. people didn't have time/interest in training that hard. Also, many arts picked up kata from styles that died. they added them to their system, and learning them all takes ALOT of time - it takes time away from training other things. a perfect example is longfist. it's comprised of a ton of forms from other styles.

to die from a strike to the head is unlikely. possible, but unlikely...

in kyokushin, you can't hit in the face, correct? In venues where face shots are allowed, you should believe in a mouthguard too. Ya , we can't hit the face , you haven't read that i do Muai tai as well , and i had a black belt in kickboxing .. but still , cause my background is initially kyokushin , i disslike mouthguard cause i can't do the hissing thing i do in kyokushin rounds, if i am to choose , i will never put it in my mouth .... Nah, I read that you trained it. If you fight though, a mouth guard is required, so I just assumed you'd never been in a ring. same with kickboxing. Also, if it was on an amateur level, headgear is required too. lol, what hissing thing?

the techniques aren't standardized. you may learn bjj in one program and shotokan in another.

I don't disagree with that. I don't know that I'd refer to it as richness... stance training, forms, weapons, strikes, kicks, chin na, qi development, iron body, etc... there is alot to learn, but it many cases, it's all separated, which is why it takes so long. with "sport" styles, all of this is combined. it makes for producing a proficient fighter faster - there is more focus. that's just it... you really have no inkling who actually used them, and to what extent. If I only have one fight in my life, and in that one fight I win by steeping on a guys bare foot, does that make it a sound principle? Some vicious fighitng technique for me to pass on? I think in this day and age we may sometimes get caught up in nostalgic things, like undefeated masters and such. undefeated against how many? can it be verified? what skill level were they? etc. a sound concept is a sound concept. last night in thai boxing, my friend and I (we teach the class) were making jokes because what we were doing was alot of the same stuff we did in our kung fu days. we use pak sao, tan sao, gan sao, simultaneous blocking and striking, etc. but it's all used in the frame of thai boxing. I may be parrying your incoming strike, but on the most recognizable level, it's a pak. after I throw a cross elbow to the head of a doubled over opponent, I reverse the path of my arm, using my obtusely angled forearm to redirect your head, as I get you in side plam and begin to knee you... I just did a tan sao. as someone throws a rear haymaker, I cover to absorb the blow and then elbow their bicep. When a comes in, direct the punch downward into your upward elbow strike - limb destructions. So, are we doing thai boxing, or are we doing kung fu?? "bouncing" is not in boxing or thai boxing footwork. They don't for the very reason you mentioned - power release. Also, while bouncing, you are more susceptible to sweeps and takedowns. That is one of the messed up adaptations I was referring to. I don't know that there are any... listening, absorbing, pushing, exploding, etc... these are all found in sport arts as well. The difference is that we don't define it. It's merely part of good technique. grapplers don't know what ding jing is, but they do a good job of using it. a judoka has no concept of peng, but he uses it... I'm aware of the benefits that horse stance training, standing, etc. provide. However, I disagree with one of those being building powerful legs. It is an endurance exercise. Also, the limited strength you do gain is only gained in one position - the one you hold it in. such is the nature of isometric training. I'll try to find it. I used to have it on my server, but someone bought my domain, so I let the site go. I'll try to find it somewhere.

uselessness is in the eye of the beholder. the sheer athletic ability of those guys alone would enable them to land many of those techniques in a real confrontation. I've seen a tkd training friend of mine win a confrontation with high and spinning kicks.

I keep one. I don't write what I do daily, but I make notes of the details of things, that way I don't forget them. So for example, let's say tonight in judo, I learn a new variation of a throw, amongst everything else we train. When I get home, i will write down that throw and it's details.

here's the scientific explanation - the body cannot be in anabolic and catabolic states at the same time. it is either in burn mode or on gain mode for optimal efficiency. look at body builders. They lift heavy weights and eat lots of food in the off season. in the on season, they do more cardio and work to cut down to their competition weight. Why? it's more efficient, as that's how the body operates.

very true. in westernized thai boxing, you will learn two stances - boxing stance and kick stance. the kick stance is the more traditional thai stance.