TheDevilAside

Thank you And yes, it does... I'll be keeping an eye on you (Okay.. that smiley face is supposed to convey more of an intimidating glare... but uh... yeah, be afraid )

Yeah, I noticed Tracy Kenpo had some techniques with those names (like Circling Serpent, I think) but the techniques itself were completely different. So, going off on a tangent here, what do you guys think of simplifying and breaking down more complex techniques to its basic movements and adding them to an introductory belt level? Good or bad? Btw. Just because my school does it this way, don't worry about me taking any criticism personally

Weird... I really have no idea. Once I get back to the school I'll have to ask. Let me describe them as best I can... Sword in Return Attack: Grab defender's sleeve with left arm. (Like you're ready to hold them in place for a punch to the face with your right fist) Defense: Step back with left foot and settle into neutral bow while simultaneously striking/deflecting/loosening the attacker's arm with an inward block. This exposes the neck of the attacker, opening it up for a chop. The rest is up to you... Ah, here we go. It's exactly like Delayed Sword ( http://www.bakerfamily4.net/kenpo/Images/dsword.gif ) minus the kick. Makes sense, because I learned Delayed Sword as soon as I went up a belt. Parting the Sea Attack: Commited push to the chest/shoulders. Defense: Step back with left foot and settle into neutral bow while bringing your arms up in between the arms of the attacker who is about to connect with the push. Does that make sense? After your arms are in between his, launch them out (controlled, though.. don't fling your arms out, keep them boxed) with an outward block. This should make it so your attacker is kind of "spread-eagle" with his arms and makes him look more like he's about to embrace you, rather than push you. Then do a front-snapping kick to his groin or another available target. The first part of this technique works great. However, I don't think a front-snapping kick would be very effective in stopping the attacker dead in his tracks. So, I've made my own little personal modification where instead of going into a neutral bow, I go into a frontal bow (okay.. I forgot that AK name for that, but it's the one where you're keeping your weight on your front leg) and prepare to clinch him and launch in with knees. Theoretically, anyway... I had a friend of mine push me as hard as I could, and it worked like a dream (I didn't actually knee him, though) but that was only once. Kick in Return Attack: Right step-through straight-punch to the face. Defense: Same as Sword in Return, except your block is aiming the right hand instead of the left, and it's a punch not a grip. Also, instead of doing a chop to finish off the technique, do it with a front-snapping kick. I think a kick is put there in place because of the distance of the attacker. Essentially, Delayed Sword is the combination of Kick in Return and Sword in Return. K&R and S&R being the simplified versions. And the last two are way too complicated to describe. ...Man I really miss doing American Kenpo :/

I was looking through my American Kenpo folder today because I couldn't remember the name of a techique I wanted to describe in a thread that talked about how to block a push. It's a white belt (or yellow, my school has a white belt as sort of an introductory to the basic motions of most American Kenpo techniques) technique. The list goes as follows (the one I was looking for is in Bold): - Sword in Return - Parting the Sea - Kick in Return - Circling Serpent - Passing the Horizon Now.. since I'm lazy and horrible at describing and visualizing techniques, I figured I'd look online for the technique Parting the Sea so I could copy and paste a link of how it works, and then describe the modifications I would make as best as I could. ...Turns out, I couldn't find the techniques Parting the Sea on any online lists of techniques. It's a great technique, but I remember my instructors talking about having modified and watered down complicated techniques to their basic principals and added them to the "White Belt" curriculum and then saved the more complex versions of the techniques for the advanced belts. This was done because beginners were having a really hard time grasping the Yellow Belt techniques as they are, and they thought making simpler versions and adding them to an introductory belt would help. Sounded like a good idea to me. ........Back to my question. Any of you American Kenpo guys heard of this technique? Parting the Sea? I'll describe how it works if nobody has, so we can find what more advanced technique it correlates with and was possibly derived from. Oh, and I can't ask my instructors, I'm taking a 6 month break from martial arts.

I was going to go to a party as Johnny Bravo.. but I'm too tired.

If you wear gloves or wraps, you can hit the bar harder without tearing the flesh off your knuckles. Go with handwraps or gloves, seriously.

..I think he already figured that one out.

lol, naw. Got an estimate on how much they are? I never really looked into it.

Exactly, and that's the problem.

Strenghtening the bones of your knuckles by doing knuckle-push ups is fine, since it might prevent you from splitting them open if you ever punch someone in the jaw (which I wouldn't reccomend doing in the first place). But punching things until the skin is calloused is a bit extreme and really not worth the time. It's just skin, you're not going to notice the pain of the flesh on your knuckles if you're ever in a confrontation... or have to punch through things to save your life.. There are bodyparts more callouse-worthy than your knuckles, such as... the bottom of your feet and palms.

If you have the money, go for it. But you're only 15, I personally wouldn't put that much time, money and effort into simply just working out, especially since at your age your gains (or losses, whatever you're going for) will probably be minimal anyway.

Make sure you just eat healthy. That means stay away from McDonald's, chips, pizza, and things that belong in that category as much as possible. Try to cut down on white sugar (not carbohydrates) and replace it with Sucanat instead... if you're the kind of guy that likes to put sugar on everything. Don't worry about protein too much, since you're not doing any drastic muscle development. I can't really be specific and tell you how many grams of X you should take, I would suggest seeing a qualified person for specific information. But I wouldn't worry about it anyway. Just eat and train healthy, and in moderation.

Well, actually, it aggrivates my shoulder a lot more when I'm bench pressing with dumbbells, for some reason. I haven't really tried bench pressing with just bringing down my arms until they're parallel (yeah, makes sense) but I'll try that and see how it goes.

I wouldn't get so worried over the details and focus on them so much. That just might mess you up. Instead focus on more general 'weaknesses' and factors you can exploit and use to your advantage, such as short vs. tall, strong vs. weak, and so on. Take care of the little details (such as a bad leg block) while you're in the fight, not before. If you focus on that leg too much you just might end up getting hit in the face.. or just miss out on a bunch of target opportunities.

That's what I thought at first, too. But you'll learn a lot from taking it, trust me. You'll learn how to bench-press properly (it's a lot more involved than you might think), you'll learn about those different styles and knowledge is always useful, you'll learn how to use the machines or just the equiptment in general (and how to do the exercises properly without hurting yourself) and you'll just get a feel for everything. Plus, if you're social, you'll make some friends that might come in handy if you ever in trouble It doesn't really matter if it fits your style or not. You're just starting out, aren't you? The way you choose to train comes into play once you've built a good base, once you're strong overall. After that you can go with freeweights, calisthenics, machines, power lifting, cardiovascular, whatever you want. But in order to really find your "style" you have to build a good base then then experiment with other styles to find what's really best for you. Take the class next year. Oh yeah, and incase you're worrying that taking a semester weight-lifting class will turn you into a muscle-bound hulk... don't. It's not going to happen that easily.

American Kenpo... My lineage is.. uh... I'll get back to you on that

Does your school have a weight lifting program or class you can take?

Easy for Bruce Lee to say, he never got past 35 and was inredibly skinny to begin with. For some people, after they've reached a certain age, it's not just possible to be slender or in great shape anymore. Especially, like MR mentioned, if your metabolism slows down. And if you're an endomorph (a person who's, basically, genetically a bit more "hefty") it's just not going to be that easy.

I would say Muay Thai. Not because its techniques/principles are more effective than other martial arts (but they're definitely effective) but because Muay Thai schools are usually very combat oriented and have a lot of contact sparring, which is what you're going to need. A bit of grappling (Brazillian Jiu Jitsu is great, from what I hear) would be nice, too. Pretty much, what you're going to want to look for is a school that trains hard, has a lot of contact sparring and emphasizes on fighting.

Yeah, I will. I'm going to be seeing a doctor sometime around Christmas about something else, so I'll ask about my shoulder while I'm there.

How so?

Got it, but what's "retract-row-rotate"?

Yeah, I try to be "open-minded" and not call people idiots just because I disagree with them.. but whoever wrote this is an idiot. Someone should write this guy an e-mail... not it!

Lol, yes.. we should. No, seriously. I wouldn't mind going to a martial arts dojo instead of school

Okay, if you do 500 push ups, you'll be able to deliver 500 weak punches. If you do 6x3 oh the benchpress, you'll be able to deliver 18 very hard punches. I would go with the benchpressing. 500 is going a bit overboard. Doing just 50 is plenty.\ Don't be so extreme in your work out. Do both weight training and calisthenics. But don't go overboard with either. Doing 500 push ups is going overboard.