DarthPenguin

One part you have missed from the promotion system here that makes it a little more complex is the lineage aspect. People don't say they are a X Belt; they say they are an X Belt under Person Y who is under Professor Z. This does lead to a divergence in standards a little but it also means people have an idea still of someones level e.g. I always used to hear people talk about Cesar Gracie being notoriously hard to grade under; Saulo Ribeiro used to make a lot of higher grades put a white belt back on unless they had trained under a Gracie directly or a student that had directly trained under them. I'm not sure if it would work with karate nowadays since there are so many people who do train/have trained and claim rank. BJJ system worked since it was a much smaller art and it grew with the system remaining in place. I can't see how you would implement it now : eg a lot of karateka train under one Instructor but have a different Grading Examiner. This is different from the usual BJJ model where the instructor awards the belts (Sometimes they check in with their own instructor for permission when awarding senior belts). You also cannot typically map a BJJ grade to a karate or other style grade as the levels and requirements are totally different. A BJJ BB doesn't really get assessed again once it has been achieved (degrees are time based) and it usually takes a skilled practitioner 10-12 years to achieve. This is closer to the time for someone to get to a 3rd dan or so in karate etc. Personally i think it would be good to see people making a bigger deal about their lineage in karate; it would hopefully help to raise standards etc but i doubt it will happen tbh

This seems sensible. All you can really do is talk about personal experiences and let people draw their own conclusions

I always loved Chris Eubank. For all the prancing about he could really fight and i always enjoyed watching him. I still remember him dropping Nigel Benn in their first fight when everyone else was scared shitless of him. Never the same fighter after the Michael Watson fight (totally understandably) but even then he still did well for a fighter who had lost his killer instinct. Always had a soft spot for Michael Nunn too (mainly after the hilariously dirty fight he had with James Toney)

I can see your point but if he comes in and totally dominates it might encourage someone else to come in and try to do the same. They might view it as "easy money". The dream (in my head) publicity wise would be for Wonderboy (once done with the UFC) to give it a shot. That could be very interesting and would draw a lot of attention

For "self defense or fighting," it depends on how immediate the need is. If it's a kid who is getting physically bullied at school, or anyone else getting physically assaulted on a regular basis for that matter, I'm only going to recommend boxing. No other martial art but boxing. For anyone who wants to learn "self defense or fighting" for "just in case" purposes, then karate actually enters the debate. Actually, i might disagree here from personal experience, though i think things have changed over time. I first started karate at 5 for that very reason (without going into too much detail i was picked on a lot due to being mixed race). Started mid 80s in the UK and trained 4 times a wk almost from the get go. I actually found it very useful self defence wise when a kid: i could throw a punch with a decent amount of power and generally handle myself reasonably. Over time (and a lot of fights) i began to be targeted a lot less. For context, before i started i would always lose - in particular this one kid always stepped in and gave me a kicking. About 3mths after starting karate i broke his nose with a punch and he never tried again. At the time i was also tiny: i didn't grow til my mid teens really so i was always a small kid I do know though that things might have changed a lot now and karate might not be as good self defence art for kids anymore, based on how it is currently taught. Just my 10p worth Yeah, but I didn't see you mention anything about experience with boxing. Walk into you nearest boxing gym, and just watch a whole session. You'll see the difference immediately. IME, karate training hasn't changed. I finally became "fully matriculated" later in life, but did some dojo-hopping as a child and into my teens in the 80's and 90's. If there are differences, I haven't seen any. With boxing, things like speed, accuracy, stamina, power, etc are trained on DAY ONE. Also, maybe with the exceptions of styles like Kyokushin or MMA focused karare, karate is generally all point-matches - nothing where a KO is the main objective. That's why most traditional karateka thought Karate Combat was so innovative - most have never seen anything like it. I don't know your situation, but I imagine that the people for whom karate would have "immediate" benefits would be those who've never thrown a punch before. Because at least they'll come out doing something they've never done before. But for the kids who have thrown their share of punches, with less than desirable results; karate will be of little benefit to them in the short run. Now, the kind of training that the Karate Combat fighters go though: if karate dojos in general adopted that, then we'd probably be looking at something with benefits as immediate as those obtained from boxing. looking at the way local point tournaments were run and rules enforced tells me that things have changed.There might have always been rules against ‘excessive contact’ but how people define excessive contact seems to have really changed over the years. Having relatively recently returned to karate after a LONG time away it is something i have noticed. My second lesson back someone told me to stop throwing high front kicks as it would be a KO and instant disqualification. That kind of thing used to be allowed - just look at some of the old school videos!

For "self defense or fighting," it depends on how immediate the need is. If it's a kid who is getting physically bullied at school, or anyone else getting physically assaulted on a regular basis for that matter, I'm only going to recommend boxing. No other martial art but boxing. For anyone who wants to learn "self defense or fighting" for "just in case" purposes, then karate actually enters the debate. Actually, i might disagree here from personal experience, though i think things have changed over time. I first started karate at 5 for that very reason (without going into too much detail i was picked on a lot due to being mixed race). Started mid 80s in the UK and trained 4 times a wk almost from the get go. I actually found it very useful self defence wise when a kid: i could throw a punch with a decent amount of power and generally handle myself reasonably. Over time (and a lot of fights) i began to be targeted a lot less. For context, before i started i would always lose - in particular this one kid always stepped in and gave me a kicking. About 3mths after starting karate i broke his nose with a punch and he never tried again. At the time i was also tiny: i didn't grow til my mid teens really so i was always a small kid I do know though that things might have changed a lot now and karate might not be as good self defence art for kids anymore, based on how it is currently taught. Just my 10p worth Yeah, but I didn't see you mention anything about experience with boxing. Walk into you nearest boxing gym, and just watch a whole session. You'll see the difference immediately. IME, karate training hasn't changed. I finally became "fully matriculated" later in life, but did some dojo-hopping as a child and into my teens in the 80's and 90's. If there are differences, I haven't seen any. With boxing, things like speed, accuracy, stamina, power, etc are trained on DAY ONE. Also, maybe with the exceptions of styles like Kyokushin or MMA focused karare, karate is generally all point-matches - nothing where a KO is the main objective. That's why most traditional karateka thought Karate Combat was so innovative - most have never seen anything like it. I don't know your situation, but I imagine that the people for whom karate would have "immediate" benefits would be those who've never thrown a punch before. Because at least they'll come out doing something they've never done before. But for the kids who have thrown their share of punches, with less than desirable results; karate will be of little benefit to them in the short run. Now, the kind of training that the Karate Combat fighters go though: if karate dojos in general adopted that, then we'd probably be looking at something with benefits as immediate as those obtained from boxing. I don't disagree, though i have never trained straight boxing so i can't say what was/wasn't taught to kids in that era. If i had to pick styles to teach a kid nowadays to learn to defend themselves i would personally pick Muay Thai (as they are tough as nails) to learn to punch, kick, knee, elbow etc and Sambo (since they would learn the throws of judo with a little more time on groundwork, leg locks specifically). Once they were old enough i would then see if they added in BJJ to flesh out their ground game and add in the submissions not taught in Sambo etc. A kid who has learnt Thai and Sambo for a bit should be ok to defence themselves i think from most situations a kid would get in. For my own son (who is 5) he is attending Judo and karate and has been since he was 4. When he is a little older i'll see if he wants to branch out.

For "self defense or fighting," it depends on how immediate the need is. If it's a kid who is getting physically bullied at school, or anyone else getting physically assaulted on a regular basis for that matter, I'm only going to recommend boxing. No other martial art but boxing. For anyone who wants to learn "self defense or fighting" for "just in case" purposes, then karate actually enters the debate. Actually, i might disagree here from personal experience, though i think things have changed over time. I first started karate at 5 for that very reason (without going into too much detail i was picked on a lot due to being mixed race). Started mid 80s in the UK and trained 4 times a wk almost from the get go. I actually found it very useful self defence wise when a kid: i could throw a punch with a decent amount of power and generally handle myself reasonably. Over time (and a lot of fights) i began to be targeted a lot less. For context, before i started i would always lose - in particular this one kid always stepped in and gave me a kicking. About 3mths after starting karate i broke his nose with a punch and he never tried again. At the time i was also tiny: i didn't grow til my mid teens really so i was always a small kid I do know though that things might have changed a lot now and karate might not be as good self defence art for kids anymore, based on how it is currently taught. Just my 10p worth

Thats a fair point. I think that as long as there is a reasonable quantity of new topics for people to look and and consider then things keep flowing. It's when new topics stop being posted that issues crop up

Thanks!

Good shout! The other series i would love to be made would be the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Would be hard to do it justice but could be amazing if done right

Definitely agree here. Tbh there is no such thing as a 'best' martial art, though there might be a best one for an individual. They should try it and see what they think of the instructor and other students. Most decent schools offer a minimum of one free lesson, so worst case you try it and score something off your list. I'd always prefer to have tried the thing and decided for myself that it was crap! But tbh i have found before that anytime i had to 'convince' someone to try that they generally don't stick it out. Proper MA training is hard. You have to have a desire to do it yourself for the effort to be worth it.

Friday 10th June BJJ session - Lunchtime Nogi warm up Practiced techniques from sitting/butterfly guard. Take deep underhook then a shoulder crush grip. Pull opponent onto you for sweep to trapped side Practiced hipping out to an armbar when the opponent shifts weight to the non trapped side to prevent armbar Drilled technique king of the hill style. start with the shoulder crush grip and have to either sweep or submit. opponent has to try to pass to dominant position Then couple of rounds of rolling Was good session, fit in on lunchtime from work

Fingers crossed. Though i'm not sure how they would represent Morgoth since he is depicted as being so massive

It's at least tangentially tied to The Silmarillion, specifically the Akallabeth. We're pretty sure that they have access to the appendices from the Return of the King and maybe some notes. I'm given to think that they have the rights to some very specific passages in The Silmarillion, but only time will tell. That's good to know. I always enjoyed the Silmarillion. If this series does well i would love one that covered Feanor and the downfall of the Noldor. It could lend itself to a multi series epic

Thursday 9th June Lifting session I am currently doing a 2day per week 531 template with Bench and Deadlift on week 1 and Overhead press and Squat on week 2. i am doing a modified version of the BBB assistance when i use the opposite weeks exercises as the assistance (so i do press assistance with bench and squat with deadlift). Starting at 3x10 of each on the first week of the cycle, increasing by 1 set of 10 for the subsequent weeks. After 3 weeks i then add 2.5kg and repeat. I'm doing it this way so that every lift is performed once a week, either a heavy (531) lift or the lighter assistance one Lifts : Bench press: 20kg x 10 40kg x 5 50kg x 3 57.5kg x 5 65kg x 5 75kg x 6 final set felt heavier than usual but my shoulder was feeling fatigued before starting due to the karate night before so i was fine with this Barbell Row (no belt) 60kg x 8 60kg x 8 60kg x 8 60kg x 8 60kg x 8 Have lowered the weight massively here and doing all sets without weight belt. I always used to use a belt for bb rows but i want to try and build up the numbers without it now Seated Overhead press (no back support) 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 I am doing my overhead press seated on a flat bench with no back support. Can't do them standing as the ceiling in the garage is too low for me to press standing inside Triceps rope pushdown / biceps cable curl superset 25kg x 7 25kg x 7 25kg x 7 25kg x 7 am adding these in as i think my arms are proportionately weaker. Got a cheap plate loaded lat/low pulley machine that i can use for these and face pulls etc KB hammer curl (two hand on one kb) 16kg x 10 16kg x 10 16kg x 10 16kg x 10 16kg x 10 This is a new exercise i had never tried before so i thought i would give it a shot and err on the side of caution. I liked it so will keep it in programme Straight leg raises lying on bench 4 sets of 12

Wednesday 8th June Karate session Warm up first Began with Kihon appropriate to grade. i am 8th Kyu currently and am grading again next week for 7th. After practicing Kihon we then moved to multiple rounds of grading kata. For myself this will be Heian Nidan Did one round of 5 step kumite with a 1st kyu to practice it in advance of grading then put gloves on and did a few rounds of free sparring with a second dan. After this the class did 5 rounds of kata of your choice. I chose my grading kata for all rounds to get in extra reps.

Tuesday 7th June BJJ Nogi session Worked some wrestling takedowns (I am a terrible wrestler) from armdrag to rear body lock Drilled takedown followed by drilling the stand up and break grip from the takedown. Followed this by adding in another takedown in response to opponent standing, taking them down into turtle Added in a rollover from turtle finished with rear naked choke Rounds of drilling technique to see if could turn over turtled opponent and then apply choke. king of the hill style. Winner stays on and attacks the choke Finished with a few rounds of rolling

As i mentioned on the training goals thread i thought it would be an idea to start posting a training log to increase my accountability, and it would also allow people more knowledgeable than myself to chime in if they felt like it! I found Bushido_mans log to be quite interesting and if more people started one then it might lead to some interesting discussions on training methods. Little background on myself and my log : I'm currently 42yrs old, 6'4" and about 105kg (about 230lbs approx). Due to a combination of work and two little kids running about i've been out of the gym too much over the last few years and now am weak as a kitten and out of practice martial arts wise! I've trained in a few martial arts over the years but my current focuses are BJJ and Shotokan. At Shotokan i have decided to regrade as i was away for so long and started again at White belt last October - I started back as i am going to classes with my son. The class is mainly adults but they are fine with him attending as long as i am there too. At BJJ i got my Blue belt in 2014 and have trained inconsistently since due to a lot of injuries, work and the appearance of the mini people. I'm currently looking to do one class session of karate a week plus some more in my own time and 2-3 bjj sessions a week depending on work. Training goals : I want to regrade to Shodan and then subsequently would like to see if i can manage to get to Nidan by the time i turn 50! I would like to get my BJJ purple by the time i turn 45 ideally and then see what happens. Lifting wise i want to recover my prior levels of strength from when i lifted a lot more frequently. I have always been much weaker at Push exercises due to my long limbs so would like to increase them too. Plan is to lift weights 2X per week following a modified version of the 531 programme. Goal is to hopefully match and exceed my prior lifetime PRs though a lot of them are a long way off! Target PRs from past Squat : 150kg x 5 Deadlift : 200kg x 5 Bench : 100kg x 1(much weaker presser) Overhead press : 60kg x 1 BB Row : 102.5kg x 3 (with weight belt) All lifting to be done in garage in home gym. I have a squat rack, trap bar, 7ft bar, swiss bar/football bar, EZ curl bar, 2 x olympic db handles, 180kg in plates and assorted KBs Apologies for the small book for the initial post but thought some background would help for context and encourage myself!

Very true. There is no substitute for time on the mat. Consistent training works wonders (the same in any martial art tbh)

yep, comic batman doesn't just learn them: he completely masters them all. Maybe he applies a time dilation effect: assuming the commonly held figure of 10,000hrs for mastery holds true then he somehow managed to cram 1.27m hours of learning into a couple of years!

what a very appropriate response, cant get any more true than that. Haha thanks!

Thanks, i appreciate the clarification. Since part of the reason for posting a log would be to hold myself accountable i'd likely post my own one, since then i would be faced with "last post on Date X" and that would be a good reminder to keep it active!

Yeah i think there is a massive difference between 'movie batman' who is "relatively" grounded in reality and 'comic batman' who is anything but!

Honestly if it's a brand you like and are comfortable with already then I would just go with that. Gis can vary so much between manufacturer, so if you've found something that you like then stick with it.Yeah that's why i was thinking about their karate gi's. But since i have only ever tried their BJJ ones i was curious if there was a difference in quality for their karate ones etc. Thanks for the input though

Thanks, that seems like a few votes for Shureido and KI so i think i'll check them both out. From a quick look at their sites their sizing options look like they might be a bit better anyway - i'm 193cm so the Isami ones might have been a little small. Thanks for the suggestions