DLopez

WW, what we call pressure points in KSW are just that. Areas of the body where when pressure is applied, it causes much (and extreme if done just right) pain. Some people are more susceptible to certain pressure points than others, but the whole point (no pun inteneded ) of the pressure point attack is to force your opponent "cooperate" so that you can complete a joint lock or control technique. The other person is not going to be disabled by the pain of the pressure point attack, but he will react in a way by design that allows you to more easily complete the joint lock or control technique. Hope that helps. Here we agree Reklats, trading blows is definitely a bad idea! That's why I emphasized outmaneuvering and picking when and where to attack.

Sometimes I just can't believe what I read on here... Surely you know that it's a classic technique to outmaneuver a larger opponent, picking and choosing when and where to attack, that gives you a better chance than diving in and playing to the bigger person's strength. Just so you know, I'm not "anti-grappler", as KSW teaches grappling techniques too, but I fail to understand why so many JJ folks think they can take anyone anyday with just grappling techniques? I'm of the opinion that I will use the technique best suited for a given situation, whether it be a kick to the knee, a punch to the head, a throw, or an arm bar on the ground. I'm not going to go straightaway for the arm bar on the ground. What is an "average striking art" anyway?? PS - Reklats, why would you call me out on my "completely wrong assumptions" and not call out those with wrong assumptions against pressure point attacks? May I suggest you likewise get a better understanding of pressure point attacks if you feel they are useless.

turonaga, for some reason I just started daydreaming about The Sopranos. Hehe! Just to update, my instructor let a week go by (to cool off) before talking to this guy about what happened. He's still a student, but after being told he's under the microscope, you can tell he's really watching his P's and Q's now. Hopefully, our instructor got his point across, and he arrived at the best possible outcome from this situation: the student has changed his attitude and ways, and the school hasn't lost a student.

Beka, perhaps it's something in your diet... did you eat spicy Mexican food that night? (I was gonna ask how many Margaritas you had too, but... ) I think one thing's obvious, you really enjoy your martial arts training. Maybe your mind is just taking what you find really pleasurable, and trying to ease some of your other preoccupations and worries by mixing them together in your dreams? Anyhow, the only thing I would worry about is whether you woke up refreshed from a good nights sleep.

I get the feeling that many here have a misconception about pressure points, and how and when to attack them. Attacking pressure points isn't some mystical technique where you poke someone with your index finger and leave them writhing in pain. We learn pressure point attacks in conjunction with our joint lock and control techniques to enhance the overall effectiveness of the technique. But as always is the case, the specific situation will determine which technique is most appropriate, and if you employ the wrong one, it's the same mistake as say, a "grappler" trying to wrestle someone 50 lbs heavier than they to the ground, or a "striker" only trying to go for the head shot with spinning and jumping kicks. I guess what I'm trying to say is, pressure point attacks isn't an end all be all weapon in itself, but rather (at least in KSW), just another tool in our arsenal of weapons to use. And they do work, whether you choose to believe it or not. What I find a little exasperating is the feeling I get by many here that if something like pressure point attacks or joint lock/throws are not something you can learn in a lesson or two, then they're useless.

Pressure points attacks are part of the Kuk Sool Won training... They can be pretty brutal. I will say this in response to the notion that attacking pressure points requires a cooperative opponent, especially the "grapplers" that think tackling someone is all you need to do - grappling has so many weaknesses of its own, the most glaring obvious one is the weight advantage it requires, especially when going up against someone larger than you. Talk about requiring a "cooperative" opponent - like asking your opponent to drop 50 or 60 lbs. before you'll fight them - or are you counting on only fighting guys your size or smaller? The story of the guy trying to reach out and find a pressure point on the BJJ's shoulder tells me he didn't know jack about the various pressure points if he had to grope around for one. They're all over your body, from your head to your toes - you just need to learn where they are. BTW - as far as the notion that it takes too long to learn how to attack pressure points, it may take a while, but it's worth it. Meanwhile, I've been in KSW 2 years now, and I haven't had anyone try to pick a fight with me, so I've not been caught empty handed while I learn some wicked techniques and how to apply them to an uncooperative opponent.

I had to ask twice to make sure I heard correctly when my instructor told me which weapons we would learn. It was quite amusing that everyone looked around at each other to see if they were all thinking the same thing! As you may know, Bong simply means "stick" in Korean... but I guess even that doesn't eliminate any double entendres from being associated with it.

At the risk of sounding contentious, I have to disagree somewhat that light contact sparring induces bad habits. Quite the contrary. I find the natural tendency is to want to hit full contact, and it takes extreme control to strike fast, but not hit my opponent with much force. IOW, I am constantly having to *think* about not hitting hard. That's not something I will have to worry about in a street fight.

I doubt I will ever try to learn any other MA besides Kuk Sool Won. We cover quite a lot of different techniques, from the usual kicking and punching techniques, joint-locks, throws, and control techniques, to basic grappling. Weapons training is also part of the standard curriculum, with the Bong and Jool Bong being among the first ones you learn. It's a pretty well-stocked system.

A big Texas "Howdy" to the new person from Joisey!

Getting back to sports dialogue, the Irish have a sport that makes British rugby look like a bunch of nancies painting their toenails... Dunno if anyone not Irish has heard of it, but it's called Hurling. It's an awesome game, and has a HUGE following all over Ireland! I became a big fan of it when I visited Dublin.

No silly, on July 4th, I'll be celebrating how the Americans put those silly white wig-wearing Brits in their place. But, if martians ever did attack the world, you know you're gonna call us.

Hehe! Spoken like someone who has never been hit by a 250lb. - 300lb. behemoth running at full gallop straight at you!! I've watched rugby, and you are right, you don't need padding when playing it. In fact, sounds like the British women are far tougher then the men. Khehehehe!

Ya, those Brits play such "manly" sports, like Cricket and Badmington. Oooo! Watch out, don't stain that sweater!

My first inclination is to think that if it is called a "Kata", then it is probably either a Japanese creation, or like tommarker said, created by a school owner or regional master, and not a traditional Korean form. Korean forms are called "Hyung", and from what I've seen of the very nationalistic attitudes between Korea and Japan, official Korean forms would never be called "Katas".

Bart, I realize you intended your question for angelica d, but I don't think anyone is qualified at first to decide if they have what it takes to teach, especially if they've never done it before. My instructor asked me to assist, not because I thought was capable, but because he thought I was. I honestly didn't know if I could do it. Now, I recognize areas where I need to become better at, but my instructor realizes that it simply takes time and practice. You make a good point though. I wouldn't want to be taught by someone that really didn't want to be teaching, however, I get the impression that angelica d wants to teach and is just looking for guidance on how to handle this type situation. But, I think angelica d can answer that way better than me.

Everyone I've met that's lived in Austin says they really loved it and miss it. There are a couple of really REALLY good Kuk Sool Won schools in Austin. That's my style, and I highly recommend it if you are looking to change. Kuk Sool Won of Austin Kuk Sool Won of South Austin Every time I've been to Austin, I loved visiting there, but I could tell it's a "small" city going through some serious growth pains. It's such a beautiful area of Texas, that lots of folks have moved there over the past 20 years and it's having a hard time keeping up. But, as I'm sure you know, you can't beat the Texas Hill Country for nothing! I'm so sorry you chose to become a Texas Longhorn fan though! Go Coogs! (University of Houston Cougars, that is!)

Sorry Dijita, what a heartbreaker... Lightning struck twice to beat the Flames. Tampa Bay 2, Calgary 1 Don't fret, you Canucks won it all in the Olympics. Don't be so greedy. (chuckle! ) Yes. The NHL is composed of teams from cities in the US and Canada. Even the minor league AHL has teams from the US and Canada, but the AHL season ends a little before the NHL season ends. Hockey is very popular here in Houston, believe it or not. We have an AHL team, the Aeros, that won the Calder Cup a year ago. That was cool!

Hey now, don't be like that... Because in return, I would be tempted to reply with something like, "And that was the first and last time anyone from Portugal ever invented anything"... but I won't because I'm a nice guy.

Ah yes, now I remember. Pedro Cabral, the famous Spanish conquistador, aka "Senor Portugal", discovered Brazil in the 1500's. It's all coming back to me now. (Yes, Rhaminos, we're just kidding!)

I thought it was a Spanish colony in South America... that big place with the Amazon river and Amazon women, and where they throw a mean Carnival, and practice some weird Joo Jit Soo or something! They speak Portuguese there, no? (just funnin' Rhaminos!)

I just remembered one more thing to consider... When we teach kids our techniques, we typically start them off with a 'simpler' version of it than we would with more advanced students. We simply leave out some of the fine details of the techniques to make it easier for the novice student to grasp the basics first. It's just to ease the student into the complex techniques, the same way kids don't learn to write essays in elementary school, they start off by writing short, simple sentences. Sometimes when I'm supervising the kids going through their techniques, I might think a particular kid is doing a technique incorrectly when actually, that is how he was shown how to do it by our instructor. I will usually ask our instructor if they should be doing the technique the advanced way if I have doubts. Likewise, to another more advanced student, it might look like what I am teaching a novice student is incorrect, when it is actually my intention to teach it that way. That's when I have to tell the other student to "please perform the technique like you have been shown, and let me worry about teaching this student."

Duh... I knew that!! I was thinking of how I originally came across that little bit of trivia... I had to name at least 3 of the four. Am I turning red?

The original question for this thread is "Why start with instructing kids?" Well, I would have to guess that it's simply where it is needed most by instructors because the kids usually require more supervision than adults who can practice somewhat autonomously after being shown how to do a technique. From my experience, the kids need to be corrected quite often, and while it can be debated whether it's fun or "worth it" to have to constantly repeat material with kids, it's simply a matter of that's where the help is required.

angelica d, I am an assistant instructor for the kids classes at our school, and I have had that exact thing happen a couple times early on when I first started teaching. It felt like when I was back in school whenever we got a substitute teacher - we tried to see what we could get away with or try to expose them as not being as smart as the regular teacher. Well, yes, they were right that I wasn't as smart as our instructor, but I made it clear to them right away after the first couple incidences that, as a brown belt, I certainly knew more than they (mostly white and yellow belts), especially the material I was taking them through. I was simply firm, but not domineering towards them. Our instructor overheard what I was telling them and came over and backed me up, lecturing them on how they had wasted valuable class time by not listening to me and making me have to explain myself, and that he was upset with them because "the number 1 most important idea in Kuk Sool Won is etiquette", and they were showing a disgraceful lack of it. Perhaps you should ask your instructor to 'announce' something similar during the kids classes to nip any future occurences in the bud. I don't know about this particular kid getting private lessons from someone other than your instructor. Does you instructor know about it or given his approval? I find that strange that he would be allowed to learn material beyond his rank. Our instructor has made it clear that no one is to teach anyone else unless they have received his permission and approval. I am very careful that I only instruct and help out with the techniques the kids have already been taught by the instructor. I always ask what techniques they know, and if some of the kids don't know a particular technique, I do not teach it to them unless the instructor gives his 'OK'.