SevenStar

Can kung fu masters punch? Can kung fu masters kick? Can they throw? If so, then they were NOT out of their element. How many people do you think they killed while training? My guess is zero. How many have they killed in real life? for most of them, my guess is zero. When you are in class training, do you eye gouge at full power? groin kick at full power? Probably not. The problem was not being out of their element. There were two problems: 1. they weren't training properly. 2. They didn't know how to remain in their element. Grapplers were able to take them down. On the ground, those guys couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag with a hole in it because they had no ground skills. plain and simple. Look at tank abbott. he had ZERO skill, and still mopped the floor with the TMA guys he faced. Why? He had the right mindset and he liked to fight. He was a barroom brawler who knew what it felt like to get hit and knew how to deal with it. consequently, he just plowed through people. It's not apples and oranges. And if you look at more recent fights, san da guys have beaten thai fighters in several cases, although the thais still have a better record overall. Why did the san da guys win? they trained properly.

I've seen several 1 on 1 fights that lasted more than a minute, some involving chairs and sticks. As for the skill of the fighters, it doesn't matter. Most of the people you encounter in a fight/ watch fight on the street won't be trained. You don't have to be trained to have a beef with someone.

even stepping at 45, you will have a leg available - it doesn't take any real effort to grab the leg that's in front - you still have a single leg there. Hands down, the best defense against a shot is the sprawl.

lol, reyes has been doing MA since he was like 6. You can see him in his youger days in the films "The Last Dragon" and "Red Sonja", and more recently in "Surf Ninjas". He also made guest appearances on various shows, like "Macguyver" and "circus of the stars" Around 1988 or so he had his own series, a show called "Sidekicks". He and his father are both part of one of the most famous MA demo teams in the world. I've been following his career since he was a kid, as we are about the same age, and when I was younger, he was an inspiration to me.

115 isn't bad - if the guy is a black belt. Under black belt level, between 60 and 90. That may vary from region to region and organization to organization, however.

I'm not so sure that's the case - they kick, punch, etc. The only thing they didn't do was grapple. They weren't out of their element at all - they weren't training properly. just because you train a TMA doesn't mean you're out of your element if you can't use eye gouges and groin strikes. a grappler in a boxing match is out of his element. a striker in a grappling match is out of his element. The tma guys were in a venue where they could strike and grapple - they weren't out of their element per se - the grapplers took them down - THEN they were out of their element, and they didn't know how to get back into their element.

1. you can't do most of those techniques full force in class, just like it can't be done in sport. 2. no single technique is going to give you an advantage. 3. actually, eye gouges used to be legal in UFC. you would only get penalized, not DQ'ed. If I eye gouged you, I would get a penalty, but if you couldn't continue, I still won. I believe Kneeing the head of a grounded attacker. is allowed in Pride. Can't remember.

I would agree with that. attacking limbs isn't my cup of tea though, so that's no limitation for me. When I was in kali, we did plenty of limb destructions. On occasion, I still redirect an incoming punch into my elbow, but that's about the only one I use. Boxer's guard works great for that one.

san soo sounds like a decent style. I've heard good and bad things about it, but that applies to anything

two points: 1. the basics in shotokan are completely different than those of muay thai in some respects, in particular, the roundhouse. That can be a hinderance. I spent 4 years in long fist, after doung two years of thai boxing and several years with a Japanese friend of mine who's style was similar to kyokushin - the thai roundhouse is what I knew. In longfist, the thai style roundhouse is "wrong" I can throw both types interchangeably, but prefer thai style. Thankfully, I'm back in thai boxing now. 2. The above sports spend just as much time - actually more time - on basics...They very well know the correct ways to move and strike.

Cung Le would kill you.... BTW, san soo and san shou aren't the same.

Like I said before, many kung fu systems are slower by design. It takes longer to become proficient.

until more of the wc guys step up, those vids are all you have to go on. It amazes me how everytime some guy loses, everyone is so quick to say "well, he had no skill anyway..." Where are all of the guys with skill?

Bayside academy of mixed martial arts is in Elizabeth. If that's too far of a drive, there are some bjj schools in philly.

1. a good kesa katame is not easy to escape. 2. you can modufy it so that your opponent can't escape it and take your back.

you're in jersey? There's a good catch wrestling school there. I'll get some specifics.

JohnnyS is correct. TB, you're likely NOT going to see the shot. I'm not shooting from a mile away. If that were the case, lateral movement would work. I'm striking at you, keeping you on the defensive, THEN I go for the shot. Or, I wait for you to commit to a punch of kick, THEN I go for the shot. you don't have sufficient time to move laterally. At best, you may get one leg out of the way, which is fine, because I can still take you down with the one leg that I have.

The simultaneous block/strike is mainly a chinese idea, and one I personally never cared for. Being a thai boxer, I've felt what happens when you are unguarded. If I am blocking and striking, that means a portion of my face is unguarded. That means I'm open to be countered. If I'm parrying and striking, there's a still a chance I may eat his punch when I strike. I just parry and follow up as his arm is on it's return path. Now, if you're ducking, that's a different story. hit him with a body hook as you are ducking under his swing.

FWIW, your instructor sounds like he has zero control and should have the rank that he has. If he's calling students wimps, then he has some character flaws also that are not becoming of a teacher. IMO, 45 mins is WAY too short for a class duration and by having brown belts that look like crap, that tells me that instruction there is likely sub-par. I would find a new school.

I disagree with that. the way you get better is by training with people better than you are.

That's tactically a bad idea. Let's say you are fighting four attackers. you tell your loved one to run. 1. you are creating too much space between you and her. you can't protect her if she's not close to you. 2. since there are more of them than you, one of them can run after her and get her anyway. They will grab her while you are fighting the others. IMO, you should keep them close to you. As long as she is close, the attackers are close also, giving you a better chance of hitting them when they get close to her.

This opens a completely different kettle of fish... I never understood why some styles are billed as less effective. Tiger is known as being a fierce style, as is southern mantis. All styles SHOULD be effective. you won't hear any MT guys saying "Alex Gong's MT style is good, but Rob Kaman's style is crap. However, the best style is that taught by chai sirusute..." It's all thai boxing and it's ALL effective. same thing goes for bjj. A person doesn't have to worry about finding a "good" muay thai style, however, you have to search high and low for good kung fu...

MT has takedowns. Sanshou guys use them more, however, and they are big believers in use of the sidekick. The sidekick is taught in MT, but it's not used as much.

As far as I know, butterfly kicks and tornado kicks aren't meant for fighting: It's pretty hard to do a complex move like that when you can't even see the person you're attacking. (due to the spinning and all) That's exactly my point!!! It's a training exercise that you aren't going touse in a fight. sure, back in the day a butterfly kick was a good tactic for reamaining offensive while leaping over a spear or staff attack, but it serves no use for me in this day and age. But regardless, you still have to learn it. that's time that can be spent refining techniques that you WILL use.