Malkosha

**she's in her late 40's-50's ... i dont have a problem with elderly people *** I resemble that remark!

Bodybuilding and MA go great together. Contrary to popular belief, muscle size will not hinder your flexibility unless of course you are really … really … HUGE! I mean steroid use huge. Most people can get great results from BB, but the chances of getting Pro-bodybuilding huge are almost impossible to achieve. The days of “Lifting weights is bad for sports performance” are over and have been for a long time. While some arts don’t require great strength, if you think about it logically, what’s the worse that can happen? You get stronger? I say go for it, but remember that only MA practice can build skill.

I’m very surprised that your instructor hasn’t noticed this. Perhaps if you stopped goofing around with her like you said, this wouldn’t happen. After all, it takes two to goof around like that. Oh, as a geezer I would try and get rid of that “weakness” for any female. Yes, I know its impossible … esp for a 15 year old … but keep it in the back of your mind. Its hard to train when your 18, have 2 kids and work delivering pizza’s because you can’t afford college. Just my 2 cents

First let me differentiate between MMA’s and the people who play in the ring. The high-profile UFC type guys/gals are not the everyday normal people. Everyday normal people can’t take multiple blows to the head while trying to clinch without getting stood up or put down. Everyday normal people don’t train near the amount of time that these sports people put in … after all it’s their profession. Everyday normal people can’t afford to take the time to try a make someone submit when you don’t know who may interfere. Now that we have gone there, TMA’s usually have a completely different mindset and are looking for something different than a MMA does. It could be spiritual or the desire to immerse themselves into a culture that they weren’t born too. Bottom line here is that TMA’s are more than just fighting. Everyone had their own reasons for practicing a TMA and they have more to give in that area than a MMA. MMA’s either train for sport or train for self-defense. Of course, there is a big difference in what really happens on the street and what happens in a MMA class. Fights don’t usually go to the ground after you get out of school and like I have said before, the sucker punch is king … not the takedown. While I respect grapplers (Judo among others myself), if grappling was the king of all fighting then the striking arts would never have flourished like they have for thousands of years. There is a reason for that. I think you can learn to fight very well in both schools. MMA’s tend to be the “jack of all trades master of none” type of school where TMA’s tend to focus on a particular area. IMHO, MMA’s are more well rounded and would probably be able to handle a greater variety of threats than a TMA could. At the same time, a Master in Karate could probably punch better, a Judo Master could probably do better takedowns and a TKD Master could probably kick better. Either way, when it all comes down to it, a punch is a punch, a kick is a kick and it’s not what the art can do but what you can do with the art.

I'm not sure. The one I mentioned doesn't involve a straight leg but the same motion as "bending" the leg ... its just at the same time as the hip follow through.

You can defiantly have both, and in fact if you’re kicking high then you need better flexibility in order to get that power at the top end. When you reach the maximum range in your flexibility … as in the upper range of your kick … your stretch reflex slows the leg down. This is a natural instinct that keeps you from over stretching and injuring yourself. Of course with this comes a loss of power and speed. If you have done any high kicks for a while, I’m sure this has happened to you. By increasing your flexibility and re-training your stretch reflex, you can approach the upper limits of your kick for instance, without any of the natural slow down or loss of power. At the same token, it is possible to over-stretch yourself, which weakens the joint and can make you unstable. Therefore, if you want max flexibility its best to train for strength as well as flexibly in the same joint. Keep in mind that the range of motion in a very high, lets say 180 straight kick, is well within the operating parameters of your joints.

Well, I guess that I may stand-alone on this one, but IMHO, it depends on how good you are. I’ve trained with some people, Korean style mostly, that are really very good with their kicks … high kicks included. They could easily fake a low kick and before you know what happened have a sidekick pounding your jaw. We are talking spped, power and accuracy ... the whole package. I think it’s about knowing your limitations and being honest about what you can do. Many can’t and shouldn’t do head kicks, or any other kick above belt level. Some however are plenty good enough to get away with it. Since real fights are never “if they do this I’ll do this affairs”, it’s a tough call that only you can make. What I’ve noticed in real fighting is that they don’t always end up on the ground and in many cases the first good lick wins against a NORMAL person. If your good enough, and I mean really good enough, that first lick could be a high placed kick. Look at yourself, rid yourself of all ego and find out what you can honestly do. Then ask yourself again. For me, the only way I would kick someone in the head, is if I brought their head down to me first.

I think forms are an excellent way to learn and solidify basic movements. When done correctly, they develop the base needed to perform proper punching and kicking techniques. When I first started, I noticed that we didn’t fight in the same manner as we did using forms, but I also noticed that I was able to adjust my body to deliver max power on the fly … because I knew what the correct alignment felt like. I knew this because of forms training. Could I have learned this another way? Probably, but you use the cards your delt with and run with it. Does it help you fight? Yes, in the same way that drills help you fight. In the same way that bag work helps you fight. These might be different methods that develop different aspects but they all add up in time. On the same hand you don’t need to do forms to learn how to fight. Some arts have no forms at all and they can also be effective. I wonder sometimes if some people put down forms in order to make light of the old style MA’s in favor of the latest fad. People are funny. To me forms like many other types of training are about tool building that prepares you for fighting. When I say fighting however, I don’t mean that “so called” all out stuff that they show on pay-per-view. I mean REAL fighting like Motobu(sp) used to do. He spent his time wandering the worst neighborhoods for the sole purpose of getting into a real fight. No mats, no rules. Eye gouges, knee crackers, groin shots, etc … everything was fair game. Unless you fight for real, everything else is just training. This includes wrestling on mats, light contact sparring, full contact sparring, forms and bag work. Regardless of how brutal you want to make it, all these things are just tool builders that lead to the main event … real life combat. Real combat is spontaneous. Real comabt unpredictable. That is something that can never be duplicated in a school. Besides, there is a certain satisfaction in perfecting a form that you have worked hard on. It’s fun for me but to each their own

Point sparring is great for developing timing and learning distance without beating each other to death. After all, if your training your kids for instance, do you really want them to go all out at such a young age? I’d rather see them use point fighting to learn combos, timing, distance, balance and leave the contact stuff for when they are older and grown. As far as one punch one kill goes … while it easy to watch the UFC stuff and try to translate that into real life, most people are not a trained super athletes who can take a banging and come back strong. In many fights, it’s quite possible to win or at least setup the win on the first punch or kick … against a NORMAL person. In fact, once you get out of school, most fights do not go to the ground and the sucker punch usually wins. Forget the TV and pay-for-view events and go find a bar in a ruff neighborhood and see what I mean I know it goes against the mantra of promoters who sanction full contact bouts (and get rich doing it) but most NORMAL people who get into fights can’t take very much damage at all without going down. Of course, every now and then you get the guy/gal who can really take a beating. If that person is a grappler, you better be ready to either hit the ground or have more than one punch or kick ready to go.

As my first post, maybe I can help here. Many people think that power from the hook is generated from the snaping back of the kicking leg ... or hamstring strength. This is not acurate at all. Like has been said earlier, focus on your target. Aim the kick ... much like a side kick ... to the inside of your target. Then whip the foot around AND at the same time sweep the upper thigh in the direction of the kick. Its this sweep of the upper thigh which starts at the hip that gives you the power. For practice, and as an example, have someone hold 2 targets about shoulder width apart. Kick the inner target with the hook and work the kick through to the outer target. This will force you to sweep the leg through. Both targets should "feel" the same force of contact. As your tech gets better, widen the distance between the targets. When done correctly, hooks are a very strong kick. They only seem weak when you are "snapping" the kicking leg without the follow through from the upper thigh. Hope that helps