Rich_2k3

I've been doing karate for over a year now and I decided to cross train with Lau Gar Kung fu. Anyway I was sparring at Kung fu training with this Black Sash guy, very experienced, very skilled, anyway at the end he said well done, good technique but I see u've got a wide karate stance which is very easy to sweep, he told me why, i can now agree with him, and also he said becareful cuz if u were in the ring u'd be sweeped very easily. Now the kung fu stance is quite tight compared to the Karate stance which is quite wide, i've realised that if u sweep the front leg of the Karate stance then all ur weight will be on the other leg and ur gonna go down, the kung fu stance however has a better weight distribution so ur harder to sweep. On the other hand the karate stance is better balanced so if u kick or push the side of ur body then u'll stay balanced but if ur stance is less wide then u'll be pushed over easily at ur flanks. What do u think is more effective and can the karateka's stance be easily sweeped ?

I dont think a real black belt would ever assualt someone unless provoked, its self defence rememeber .

Guys do u reackon weight will slow u down (even if its in the form of muscle)?

Amen to that, its a brilliant way to build muscle strength and the exercises are so easy! Guys, now i'm speaking to u as a fellow martial artist, plz give this book a try, u can get it from lots of websites, https://www.Amazon.com or .co.uk is a good one, and its so cheap. The is a brilliant way of building muscle tone and strength and improving ur martial arts 10 fold, u keep at it and the results will be phenominal. It works for me, Give it a try. Direct link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0865680132/qid=1074800961//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl14/103-9488893-6195803?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 p.s If u walk away from this taking no notice then ur making a big mistake, by using this book ur muscle strength WILL in increase and so will ur MA's ability, thats all i'm gonna say.

Hey Italian guy ive got Dynamic strength, bought it a few weeks ago, I think its brilliant and the exercises very efficient. I perticularly like the "whisking arms", "prayer press" and "pullys". Its fantastic for building the muscle strength. I thinks it fits in fine with martial arts, and at the end of the day there just exercises and u should be treated just as exercises, ur martial arts are a completely different thing. Remember some of the exercises are no different than lifting weight its just that u do them with ur bodies resistance. I think its a brilliant book and I would recommend it to anybody, the ideas and exercies are reveloutionary. Search for it on Amazon, give it at try.

I think what ever style u do there wont be much of a grappling side of it. Oh, and a question are there any styles of Karate (except traditional) that trains with weapons?

U cant have much of a warm up in half an hour and a good amount of sparring a the end.

I guess it also depends on what u want from it, an hour might suit u if ur not too serious about it. I do 2 one hour sessions a week in Lau Gar Kung fu, and 1 hour a week in Karate.

When I mean big i dont mean tall, i mean well built, u know muscular and strong.

It is good in some ways...

WC-strayder i agree that if i had a choice of a striking or grappling art then i'd choose striking hands down, and as u say u only have the time for one, so u made a good choice, i think wing chun is one of the best arts for self defence and if thats what u want then thats fine. But u still have a weakness and although the chances are slim u may find ur self in a tricky. I've also gotta say, jeff rogers is right, in most fights if ur opponent doesnt win with the first few punches then he'll probably go in for a grab to escape urs, then u'll need it. But I suppose that at the end of the day we cant all be perfect, and different ppl are after different things in MA, ur after self defence and u dont have the time to cross train, well u made the right choice on ur art. Thats all i'm gonna say, i've gotta leave for training, and no it aint grappling.

I dont understand the question? a bad toe? is this permernent or have u injured it? I also dont understand that u dont go to a martial arts school but u do train? also ur asking if u should do martial arts or suppliment martial arts training, well do u do martial arts or dont u? Sorry for all the questions but can u plz make urs clearer.

Do you have to be "big" to do Muay Thai and what kind of training do you do? Also is what kind of fighting equipment do u use, i've seen professional fighters use only ankle guards on their legs.

I know tournements within my organisation but I dont know if its open to everyone.

Yeah me too, i'll like to make my shadow box dynamic, it gives better aerobic exercise and makes it feel more real.

I'll give u the best UK martial arts and boxing supplies on the net (In order of favorite): https://www.ukmao.co.uk https://www.blitzsport.com (Free P&P) https://www.ukfitnesssupplies.co.uk (Free P&P) https://www.karate-kid.co.uk (There's some decent ones on ukmao, look in protection and then on elasticated, Check it out. These are good sites. Another thing, the best equipment is always T-sport.) Hope this helps !

I cant beleive u guys dont do sparring, its is THE best way to train, theres no subsitute. Its like hitting a tennis ball against the wall and serving by ur self, u'll get really good at it and ur technique will be great but u enter a tournement and u'll get absolutely nailed big time. Guys i'm not joking, sparring is so important, especially if ur gonna enter a tournement, its just so important. "Nothing neats experience"

I chose under 3 years but I think even when u get to Black belt theres so much to learn. Your still quite "naive" in the fighting world and theres so much experience and knowledge to gain. I always beleive that u can no it all on paper but at the end of the day its the experience of putting that knowledge into practice (ie. Sparring) that makes u a good fighter. "Nothing beats experience"

There are quite big differences in the four main styles of Karate, like Kyokushin and Shotokan, the first is based on power and body conditioning and the other a more lighter karate style, that favours some of the traditional ways, I'd say Shotokan was the closest style to TKD and Kyokushin, I'm not too sure, it has a large body conditioning aspect that could reflect some of the "external" Kung fu styles. But i'm no expert those are simply my observations.

Yeah thats the kind of stuff, is it true or just a pile of *whatever*. I got a question, is it true that weight lifting can have a negative effect on ur growth in someway by restricting it or slowing it down? and is this just assoctiated with weight lifting or is it the same with any high intestity exercise program?

I think we need a womens opinion on this....ladies?

Ok. I want u guys to list all the fitness, weight lifting, body growth (etc, etc) mthys that are floating around at the moment and try to answer them, u know does weight lifting stunt growth or all the contrversial issues on toning/muscle gain, u know that kind of stuff. These issues are quite important cuz there are loads of ppl out there going by the wrong information and barking up the wrong trees, I mean there has been loads of posts about seperate stuff on this forum, lets sort all this stuff out once and for all. I dont care how long it takes !

Do just do basic skipping or do u do any of that fancy stuff like "Cross overs", "Double Jumps" "Jog jumps", "Spotty dogs" etc?

I tell u what, theres some good stuff in there. I dont use free weights at all though really, just havent got round to it. I'm more concerned with improving my martial arts and general fitness, for muscle gain i'm doing Dynamic strength exercises(similar to isometrics) and calsinthetics. Ive started on the skipping and bag work too. I might give the weights a try in about a year, u see i'm only 17 and I cant be bothered with all the calorie counts, diets, injuries and all that, got skool to worry about. Maybe later. Wolverine one question, u know this "weight lifting stunts ur growth" stuff, is it in anyway true or is it just myth, and if so is there any science behind why ppl believe it or is it just old wives tales?

We dont have one, we just fight .