Thuggish

from my what? huh?

really, cross? in my experience roundhouse kicks are faster than a side kick. i wonder how you execute yours?

i sort of disagree. while yes, you do what your instincts tell you to before you even know it- on the street i know to kick the knee and not the thigh. maybe its just my instinct on the street, but i dont really train aiming for anyones knees. i just know to when the time comes. same thing with punching a guys throat.

you can do the icing/heating thing.. heat heals! and lay off it for a while. no punching things, no lifting things, etc. it ought to get better on its own unless its really bad, in which case youll definitely need to have someone look at it. should be fine. im hesitant to advise stretching it, im not sure if thats good or not. if i think of anything else ill post again.

no no, i meant that differently. while yes, untrained fighters do use such tenchniques often successfully, i was referring to trained fighters, specifically wrestlers. wrestlers are skilled in take downs first and formost, and in nearly all street fights, once you take the guy down its over. to reiterate, bjj and other such grapplings are great- im just pointing out that takedowns win fights. and, obviously, being trained in such techniques (wrestling or bjj or whatever) will greatly increase your chances of winning a fight on the street.

in an actual street situation, feet are at most supplements to the hands. theyre not as effective as youd like a lot of the time, and dangerous to use. miss a punch, pull your hand back, probably still okay. miss a kick, or even land it, you still find yourself in trouble. unless you KNOW it will land, and you KNOW youll be on top of the fight after it does, and you KNOW its worth throwing, and its not a risky kick, dont throw it. i will never throw one unless his torso is very open for a front kick or if hes severely off balance. typically they shouldnt be used. as far as grappling is concerned, the most effective street grappling ive seen is the wrestling style of taking someone down. dont get me wrong, bjj is great, and arm bars and all that are great if youre willing to break someones bone; but a simple (often sloppy, but still effective) take down with you on top, and/or getting most of the punches in, is what wins street fights.

in street fights kicks are rarely an option or deciding factor. if given the opportunity, a front kick to the groin or torso can be very effective, and is the least dangerous to throw. the push kick (or whatever you call it) is barely more dangerous. roundhouse kicks are incredibly effective (if they land righ), but quite dangerous. the head is really not an option, and to the torso is more dangerous than to the leg, and to the leg can still be a problem. while one who has not trained wouldnt see either a front kick or a side kick coming, or know how to stop it, it still leaves you very open for some sort of take down move- such as a tackle (and possibly a punch right in the face). you dont have to be a grappler to tackle someone and punch them in the face on the ground. also, if they happen to move inside the kick and its rendered ineffective, youre up on one foot and hes swinging. personally, i would save any roundhouse kick untill after i got my opponent off balance and open, or he was so wide open i was 99% confident id be okay throwing it. side kicks take a while to throw compared to other kicks, i would save them untill id allready knocked my opponent off balance. or if hes to the side of me, in which case im probably out numbered, which is when i run or position myself so im not so surrounded. all those other fancy tkd kicks are crap- even any sort of hook kick (with the heel) id recommend against. if you miss and youre lucky enough to be right back on balance, lucky you. if you connect your foot and leg is in a wierd position, and youre quite likely screwed. its too awkward. thats my take on things anyway. odds are i wont throw a kick in a street fight anyway- if i do itll almost certainly be a front kick of some sort.

you are not too old at all. no such thing as too old, until your body is too feeble- the sooner the better. i still woudnt give up wrestling so easy though- its a great sport and great fighting style. (just because it isnt asian doesnt mean it is doesnt kick *.)

why would you even believe this crackpot? have you ever heard of pathological liars?

depending on what youre expecting, but at least at cheekbone level is good. that way you can do what we often call the 'oh sh%t block' if the other guys fast. at punching range, that is. watch especially feather weight and light weight boxers- youll see their hands are always up there. wait for when a hand drops, then see what happens (smack!)

this is all great stuff... i think ill make a checklist out of it and see what im doing and what im not.

anyone with experience in kickboxing can do it. just aim your kick a few inches lower. just aim your punch a few inches lower. what i mean is, just because boxers are given limits in the ring doesnt meant they dont know how to step outside those rules on the street.

i would say right now- but at 4 i dont know if thered be any point. either way, to a point, the younger the better. just make sure they want to be there and all that.

i dunno- my thing is, in a fight, someone beats the other person down in the end. its you agains him (hopefully not them) winner take all loser takes a beating. muay thai is the most effective way to kick the crap out of something... and any muay thai fighter with half a brain will know things that make karate so good (such as punching vital areas, kicking the knee, etc etc.) thing is though, the thai boxer is likely more able to punch and kick you, HARD, and take punches and kicks, and they have more experience with realistic fight situations. without getting into grappling related stuff, thats what wins fights on the street.

no no, you people.... that is for grip (finger) and forarm strength. ideal for rockclimbers, and anyone who wants strong forarms- which should be everyone. they have nothing to do with punching. however, when you fight a kickboxer and want to block a head kick or something, you want strong, hard muscled forarms. those things are good for that, and are much better than some tennis ball. by the way, what the hell is 'inhowfar' supposed to mean?

i personally found the tredmill a good way to break into running. its a little easier on the body, and if your gym has tvs to watch it can help with the boredom.

its not that hard to know how to do. forget properly, think effectively. punch him in the throat, kick his knee sideways... anyone can figure that out. and surely a boxer is capable.

aikido has its benifits, but in a fight with a trained striker, the striker is quite likely to win. aikido is mostly a style for fighting off untrained fighters. think john wayne and how he punched.. not unlike many street punks. they throw an ugly hook, you break their wrist and move on. a boxer though would probably pound you into the ground. (disclaimer- it depends on the fighter, blah blah blah....)

boxing. it teaches you how to punch? more like it teaches you to pound the crap out of something. thats what street fights are virtually every time. the only person id give any possible advantage to against a boxer on the street is a wrestler, a kickboxer, or some crazy-skilled person like bruce lee. but, if the person can bench 300lbs and youre nowhere near that size, for gods sake run. if you have to, kick out his knee, punch him in the throat, or get a gun and shoot him- and then run. dont count on a martial art to save you if youre small and the other guys huge.

aikido is all about locking joints and finesse and such, what i like to call an idealistic style. judo is a sort of wrestling, you could say, dealing with take downs and holds and so on. jiujitsu, traditionally, is jude only rougher (it started first) and mostly deals with the arm and take downs. the reason for this is because the samurai developed it as a way to fight someone with a sword unarmed. if anything, id recommend it- unless you can find a good brazillian jiujitsu place- they teach a more modern, and more practical wrestling style involving take downs, holds (submissions), breaks, etc. and since im on the subject- greco roman style wrestling is incredibly effective as well.

one of newtons laws states that objects in motion tend to stay in motion, and objects at rest tend to stay at rest. this means that when punching with a weight in your hand (or weighted glove) it will be slower because there is an additional weight that you are pushing forward (towards your target) from rest (your stance- presumably hands in front of face.) this means that punching with the weights will make you faster without them, but it also means that you are at risk for hyper extending if you go too fast. tibby is right about everything except gravity slowing your punch down- it has negligable effect. anyway- doing the exercises tibby was talking about will make your punch faster more than anything. stronger is possible- but id recommend heavy bags and weights for that.

coffee.

the only thing i could think to add is the straight counter attack- meaning when you see a hook or something coming you jab him right in the face, ruining his punch by landing yours first. somewhat dangerous and difficult, its a lot of fun and very effective though.

how the HELL would you knee a collar bone? midget wrestling? anyway, to answer a more general question- anyone with a broken collar bone will not be able to punch with that arm. in fact, unless theyre super tough and crazy (or high) they wont be fighting at all.

yea chrismann, that is a good way to go- make sure to consume lots of calcium (drink a lot of milk- high in protein too.) as time goes by you might find youre able to do a lot more, and nothing should stop you from doing more if you can handle it. the others were also right- none of that kicking trees or anything stupid... dont use a roller on your shins either, if anyone ever suggests it. if you look around, you might find some heavy bags are harder than others too- next time youre in big five check it out.