bigpopparob2000

I've been trying to increase my vertical leap for the sake of learning jumping kicks. To make a long story short, I was considering jumping rope with ankle weights to give me some hops. Has anyone tried this before? Was it successful/useful?

Generally, you work your lower pecks by pushing, pressing away from your chest at a downward angle. Think decline bench press and dips. I imagine by inner chest you mean the area just above your sternum, so you can hold a pencil between your pecks. Try this to understand the why of it. Stand up straight and stick your arms straight in front of you. Keep your arms locked and perpindicular to your body. With your arms still straight, touch your hands together. You should feel your pecks bunch up together. You want to use exercises that replicate this. Use a narrow grip when doing bench presses or push ups. Dumbell flys are another way to use your inner chest.

I don't know anything about combat Muay Thai. I will say that Karate in and of itself is good for self defense. Granted, it depends on the dojo. If the school places a lot of emphasis on training for competition, then you're in the wrong place. What do you need from a school/style for self defense: 1. Physical fitness-being in shape increases your self confidence and image and reduces the chance of being attacked. Thugs and muggers would rather have an easy target rather than someone who's going to fight back. 2. Striking-know how break someone's nose without breaking your hand. 3. Know how to keep it from going to the ground-you're better off staying on your feet on a street fight. Especially with regards to Karate or Muay Thai, you won't specialize in grappling like in BJJ, so it's good to know how to remain upright where you can utilize your strikes. 4. Grappling-basics of what to do if you do find yourself on the ground. This can be putting your attacker in an arm bar or using some escape to get back on your feet. 5. Weapons-you can't carry around nunchucks and katanas. However, for self defense, they should teach you disarm techniques for knives, sticks, and hand guns (be particularly mindful of this if you give Muay Thai a try). I would say that you are at a good age for learning Aikido. Unfortunately, Aikido takes a lot of time and work to become proficient at. Aikidokas can kick butt in a street fight, but they need around ten years of training to perfect their techniques and sensitivity. For your immediate goals, Karate or Muay Thai are excellent choices.

What stance is best for practicing aero kicks. I'm trying to learn them on my own, and I can't tell if I'm just too new at them or if I'm using a bad stance. At my school, we mostly practice with a side-fighting stance. Is this stance good for learning aero kicks or should I practice them with a forward stance?

Not that I'm considering learning the art, but this is something I've wondered for a while. Why are sumo wrestler fat? Obviously, it's better to be heavy to keep oneself from being pushed out of the ring, but muscle weighs more than fat. Wouldn't it make more sense for a sumo wrestler to be built like a power lifter or body builder?

It's been a while since I've been back here at KarateForums.com, so I don't know if this video is old news. Anyways, I think it demonstrates the unique values of both grappling and striking, and why an accomplished martial artist should be able to do both. Check it out. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8530050435368865797&q=jujitsu

It might be neither. I had a similar problem once. When I was in high school, a friend from church invited me to try out his ninjitsu dojo. They tried teaching me rolls and falls when I first got there, but the back pain was horrible. I had a really strong back, too; I weighed 190lbs and squatted 405lbs at the time. I didn't continue the lessons because of the back pain, but I continued working out every day. When I got into college, the back pain became consistent. I could lie on my bed and it would hurt. Then one day, I was looking through my text book for the Health class I was required to take. In the back, I found pictures and descriptions of various exercises and stretches. One stretch really intrigued me, the pike stretch. This is the stretch where you sit on the ground with your legs straight out in front of you. You stretch by leaning forward and trying to touch your toes with your fingers. I had done this stretch many times in the past, and I could reach well beyond my toes. However, in this picture, the person had his head tucked all the way down to his thighs, something I had never done. I worked on it for a while and got my forehead touching my thighs before too long. The relief was incredible. It felt like I had unwound a knot in my lower back that I had never known existed. I've yet to have any back bain since. My problem was that my back was so tight and stiff. Try the pike stretch and the bridge on a regular basis and see if you don't end up feeling a lot better.

I think the best thing you could do is let your child try it for a month before you shell out the dollars for a long committment. Nearly any child can be on his/her best behavior for a few classes and come off as exceptionally mature tyke. After the first handful of classes, you should know what his demeanor is going to be like in the dojo. If he has the maturity, then that's wonderful. If not, then your just wasting your money and your kid's time. Not to mention the ordeal the instructor will have to endure. It only takes one bad apple to ruin the bunch. You get one kid in class who wants to goof off, and it spreads like wild fire so that all the kids want to goof off. Allowing your child to train when he isn't ready wouldn't be fair to anyone.

Sky, I can very easily relate to what your going through. As a child I decided it was more fun to play Nintendo than baseball, so I quit physical activity all together, and I bloated up as a result. I had no strength or stamina. I couldn't do pushups, either. I also suffered with esteem issues. Being the pariah of my class didn't help much. Basically, when I hit rock bottom and couldn't even stand to look at myself in the mirror, I finally realized that I had to make that change for myself. I started of doing situps, as best as I could, every other day. I started doing 20, moved up to 30, then 40, and on to 50, 60, 70, and so on until I reached 300. Now, when I do situps, I get bored before I get tired. As for pushups, I had already lost a lot of my gut by doing situps, but I then realized how weak my arms were. One day I assumed the standard pushup position, and I made up my mind that once I lowered myself I was not going to quit pushing until I was back in the starting position. Low and behold, it was a teeth gritting several seconds, but I actually did it. As pathetic as it sounds to many people, I started off doing one push up. The next day, I improved my record by 100% (yeah, I did 2). I moved up to 5, then 10, and I was cracking off 20 by the end of the week. I kept pushing myself on into 30, 40, and 50+ at a time. I lost the weight, built my muscles, and greatly improved my fitness. You could very easily surpass that goal of losing 30lbs in 3 months. The worse shape you are in, the greater marginal gains you'll see as you begin your excercise program. Early on, once you hit 10 pushups, you could very well double your record to 20 the next time you work out. After that, you might only improve by 50% (moving from 20 pushups to 30 pushups) for your next few work outs, and your gains will start getting smaller as you get in better and better shape. I think calisthenics would be the best way for you to begin. They did miracles for me. I know you said you can't do sit ups or pushups, but you'll change that fact by trying to do them. Make up your mind that you won't quit until you've at least done 1 proper sit up today. Do the same for pushups. I realize 1 sounds like a pretty low goal, but that number will rapidly increase so long as you make the committment to perform your exercise regimen daily (or at least every other day). In the end, the key to getting in shape is focus and committment. Remember, Rome can't be built in a day, but it can be built.

Yes. Capoeira is very effective, provided you know the applications. Arts like capoeira, tae kwon do, and aikido often get bashed as not being arts worthy for combat. My perspective is in the contemporary debate over size/strength vs. technique & practicality vs. aesthetics/tradition, too many martial artists have forgotten about the asset of experience, and experience takes time & patience. Unfortunately, in our society of microwaveable dinners, 8 minute abs, and "guaranteed results in 30 days or less", anything that takes time is often deemed inferior. Someone wants to be able to defeat someone else in a street fight, he wants that ability now, he doesn't want to wait through 5 years of training to reach his goal. Here's a good example. One of my instructors was telling me about an aikido demonstration he saw at an open tournament (I'm pretty certain it was the at The Battle of Atlanta). They took an aikidoka (I apologize that I don't know his name, but I can get ahold of it if anyone wants me to) and around 10 other fighters of varying styles. They told the fighters they could attack him in any way they liked: punch him, kick him, wrestle him to the ground. The fight went like this. The 10 attackers moved in on the aikidoka. The aikidoka moved to position himself closest to one of the attackers (we'll call him attacker #1). The aikidoka grabbed attacker #1 and sent him sailing into attacker #2, and they wound up in a tangle on the ground. About this time, attacker #3 was coming upon the aikidoka, and the aikidoka sent him sailing into attacker #4, and they went into a tangle on the ground. Next was attacker #5. About this time, attackers #2 and 3 were getting up, so the aikidoka sent attacker #5 crashing into attackers 2 and 3. And it went like that until everyone gave up. Now, that man defended against 10 assailants with aikido, an art like Capoiera in the sense that it allegedly has limited value for self defense. However, he had been practicing aikido for 20+ years. That's 20+ years of developing his sensitivity and training his instinctive reactions. It's the same deal with Capoeira. Once you have the experience where you can instinctively apply the right techniques to the appropriate situation, there's no reason you can't use your art (whatever it is) for self defense.

When is it best to do plyometric exercises? My initial instinct was to do them at the beginning of each work out when I'm fresh, but I was wondering if it would be better to do them at the end of my work out when my muscles are fatigued. Kind of like if I become able bound up 5 stairs at a time when my legs are tired, then I'll be able to jump even higher when I'm fresh. So which is better, doing plyometrics at the beginning or end of a work out?

Most of those things would be effective for self defense, although it might be seen as "fighting dirty." Maybe I'm just too much of a green horn, but I don't see how spitting at the attacker or speaking profanely at him would do much more than make him madder and harder to calm down. If your going to talk to him, you should probably say something in regard of finding a peaceful solution, not aggravating the attacker further.

Approximately 5'11", 190lbs. Truthfully, I would like to be lighter. Like say around 175 lbs. I think that would make explosive power come more easily in my limbs.

Take the stick part of the nunchuck and press it up against your forearm with one end right at your elbow. The other end should be above your wrist. That's the rule of thumb as it was explained to me. BTW, where would you go to find out about your local laws regarding using a weapon for self defense or even self defense in general?

A while ago (to long for me to remember where or when I saw this), I saw a news documentary show (i.e., 20/20) where they discussed the issue of what to do in the event of being confronted by an armed opponent. The scenario went like this. There were several people used as test subjects (who were aware that they were going to be tested on this issue-they just didn't know how or when) who were each tested separately. A test subject would be walking out of his place of employment with a female co-worker (who was aware of what was about to happen). All of a sudden, the assailant would come up to them, pull out a gun, and demand the test subject's wallet. Provided that he complied and handed over his wallet, the assailant would then demand that he lie down on the ground so he could abduct the woman. Several of the test subjects tried to fight the assailant to protect the woman from what they thought would ultimately be her being raped and/or killed. Needless to say, those subjects would have been shot had the incident been real. A couple of the more conservative ones lay down on the parking lot, and as the assailant kidnapped the woman they pulled out a cell phone and called the police. One pulled out a pen and scribbled the license plate number of the assailant's car on his hand. Granted, these individuals weren't experts on self-defense. However, what would you ("you" being the martial artist who has been studying self-defense for quite a while) do in such a scenario? I feel torn. On the one side, I've learned about disarming an opponent with a hand gun, and I don't regularly carry around a pen or cell phone with me. Furthermore, my initial thoughts would be to do whatever it took to protect my female friend from being raped. That makes me want to take the attacker on. On the other side, I've heard many tales about self-defense techniques working just fine in the dojo but failing on the street. If I got killed trying to protect her, there might be no one to call the police. That makes me want to comply with the attacker's demands. But the very thought of surrendering to a deadbeat like the one in this scenario sends me back over to the other side. First off, the police might not be able to catch him until it's too late, where as I have the potential to end the situation before anything bad happens. Secondly, one of the reason's I got into the martial arts was so I could protect those I care about and stand up for what's right. I mean, I've heard an awful lot about how I should just hand over my wallet when held up by someone with a gun or knife. But now, for some reason, being told things like that makes me feel like I'm being told to let myself be run over by the scum of society. Isn't there something to be said for standing up for what's right regardless of the materiality of the issue and not letting bullies and thugs have their way? Does cowering from using my self defense in such situations violate who I am as a martial artist?

Be careful when you say something is impossible; you may end up looking foolish after a while. Back in the late 1800s, people thought it would be impossible to break the 12 minute mile. Now we're talking about if it's possible to break the 3 minute mile. It's really amazing when you think about it. Makes me wonder on what kind of level athletes will perform on 100 years from now.

Go to https://www.ninjitsu.com. Click on the videos. They'll be a weapon's section covering many, many techniques with nunchucks. He doesn't cover any nunchuck katas, though.

Like others have said, it depends on your natural ability to pick it up but moreso how much work you put into it. You'll do a 100 of muay thai kicks the wrong way before you develop muscle memory and know how the right way to kick feels.

I do it more for comfort, but shaving your arm pits really helps reduce perspiration and odor.

Oh yeah, what's CAT training? I can find any info online not pertaining to felines.

Actually, I have Matt Furey's Combat Conditioning. I got over the summer and started incorporating it into my routine. I was doing over 500 hindu squats almost a month ago. The only problem is that I focused more on getting to 500 rather than cultivating speed, so my jumping power sort of subsided. I only did 150 hindu squats last night, but I did them as fast as I could, so that' s why I tired out alot sooner. Anyways, I use to be a weight lifting machine. Four years ago, I weighed 190lbs and squated 400lbs. Understandably, I could jump pretty high, but I couldn't spin to save my life. My older brother played football in high school. He only weighed around 150lbs, but he didn't do squats b/c of his back, yet he could sprint like there was no tommorow. Of course, it's not like we were ever able to compare ourselves at our teenage peak physical performance, so it's not like I know what works best.

It's good to shock your muscles every once in a while. You don't have to do bench press, incline press, and decline press in every chest work out. It's better to do otherwise. Use bench press until you hit a plateau, get bored with the exercise, or both. Then switch over to incline press and do that for a while. Then switch to decline...well...you get the idea. It's a good way to keep your workouts fresh and at the same time stimulate muscle growth by hitting the same muscles from different angles.

I'm trying to build explosive leg power for my kicks. What I've been doing for the past couple of weeks is a combination of weight training and I suppose what you could call plyometrics. I'll start my leg work out with a pyramid scheme of squats and calf raises (Set 1: heavy weight x 10 reps, Set 2: Set 1 weight + 10lbs x 8 reps, Set 3: Set 2 weight + 10 lbs) followed by approximately 3 minutes of jumping rope as fast as I can and at least 100 hindu squats as fast as I can. I've noticed some improvements in my jumping and kicking power just from a couple of weeks of this regimen. I was wondering if I could get the same or better results in less time if I combined the two methods. Namely, I was thinking about just doing around 100 hindu squats as fast as I could with something like 50 lbs of resistance. From there I would try to add repititions as opposed to weight and work up to, say, 150 hindu squats while holding two 25lb dumbells. Eventually, I'd add some resistance, maybe work with 60 lbs, but still keep the repititions high in quantity and fast as I can safely manage. Will emphasizing speed and high reps with low resistance yield explosive leg power? I was thinking this kind of training would be kind of like Herschel Walker's doing wind sprints while dragging a truck tire, and he was pretty hard to catch. Comments and input, please.

Boxing is a very effective system of fighting, but keep in mind that it is mostly taught as a sport, and as such it has its limitations. However, boxers have some serious strengths as well that you would be a fool to underestimate: 1. Strength-The boxer's first great strength is his strength. Learning to box requires so much physical conditioning in addition to the techniques themselves. Boxers are strong, quick, and light on their feet. Truth of the matter, the fitter fighter always holds the advantage. Look at Hardbody Harrison. 2. Simplicity-Keep It Simple, Stupid. All the flashy, high flying, and complicated techniques are useless in a street fight. What's more, boxer attacks and defenses can be taught in a very short time. Simple, direct strikes and blocks are easier to become second nature to a fighter, and they have more universal application. Yeah, the Muay Thai kick is a devestatingly powerful kick, and it's about as simple as a kick can get. However, could you use it effectively and keep your balance if you found yourself on a wet or slick surface? What about in a crowded area? What if the ground beneath you isn't level? Now I'm not saying boxing doesn't have it's limitations b/c it does. Like I said before, it's mainly taught as a sport w/ rules. Real fights have no rules. Also, it's solely a striking art. A fighter needs to be able to fight in all ranges from grappling, to striking, to weapons range. Moreso, as with striking arts, the goal of boxing is to pretty much pound your opponent until he can't continue. As boxers get older, they tend to suffer brain damage simply b/c they've endured so many beatings over the years that it catches up to them. The first thing I learned at my first JKD class 3 years ago was boxing techniques. He showed me what it was like to hit something. I've been trying out the Karate club at my school for the past few weeks, and they're making me suffer through learning all these ackward stances and strikes that are useless for a real fight. I learned more about combat from 30 minutes of boxing.

Karate serves as a generic term for people w/ little MA knowledge. Sometimes, I can't tell the difference b/t a MA dojo and a Chinese restaurant by the name