Fat Donkey

As u said these r some of the top fighters in the world so their speed and timing are tops and so is their haymaker. What u should keep in mind though is that most people arent as good or fast. A good example is sparring with rookies who throw the wild punches; how many get through? how quickly do they get tired? It is however a punch u should practice as it's great for finishing off a failing opponent and hard to beat for sheer power

Yeah, but what about good ole personal preference Some guy's r aggressors some defenders, attackers or counter attackers. I agree with the pale spellcaster when he say's fight them all because experience against different typee and styles of fighters is simply the only way to go. As far as iishinryugurl say's I think she'd talking about jerks who r too undisciplined or simply bullies. These guys u should hurt. It is usually the only lesson they can retain and besides it's fun

Yeah but don't u want to get flexible, isn't that one of the goals and benefits of doing MA's. I bet youre a lot more flexible now that when u first started?

Hey Shorin Ryu Sensei, If u can make it up to Calgary Alberta the Krav School here is starting to have great knife seminars. My friend is an instructor there and he was raving about the guy who taught them, I didn't catch his name but i guess he's an assistant DA from LA and VP of Krav. I guess they have access to dozens of videos of actual stabbings and they analyzed what worked by who lived and who died. Can'y really argue with that. If your interested drop me a line.

In all seriousness u jokers, the staredown is a very valid part of MA's and self defense. I went to the Muy Thai fights this weekend in Calgary and even though they sucked, I could tell which fighters were going to lose because of the staredown. One guy looked away and two others were looking at their feet and all of them got creamed. Same with Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. If your not ready to look someone in the eye your sure not ready to fight him. In real life it's a lot harder. I almost got into a couple of fights because of the stupid staredowns. When it happens now I don't break eye contact but I assume a calm demeanor and it's worked so far. Knock on wood.

Listen, a)u should practice kicking to the head b) kicking that high also allows u to kick the opponents arm/arms when he blocks. This is often better than the head because if u can break his arm then he's in trouble. c)If theres an opening then take it, it just might be the head d: U might have to fight someone really tall practice kicking high. Listen, most of us agree that if we could afford the time and money we would probably practice a lot of different MA's so why not practice the techniques we have access to, to their full extent.

Well, you guys have made some good points and there r a lot of questionable things we learn in the Krav Classes. 95% of the class r yuppies and moms trying to get fit and learn self defense, so the classes r geared towards that. I'm holding out for the more advanced classes where u go toe to toe hard contact. With multiple opponents etc. What I do like is the flexibility of the style and the good organisation. Also the seminars allow u to check out certain aspects u might want to try. I can go to any Krav class in the world using my card. We're a new club so it's not the same as MT where u have a lot of hard core fighters who r willing and eager to fight and take the pain. We'll see how it works out because if I don't get my hard sparring in 3 to 6 months then I'm going to have to look somewhere else.

My master was telling me that u can't train a donkey to be a warhorse or vice versa. He also called me Fat Boy all the time. After he said this I would bray like a donkey before sparring. He started calling me donkey and I added the Fat. Luckily I'm drop dead handsome and super smart or my ego might have taken a beating.

:)We always did at least 45min of core exercise per class. IE about 8 to ten types of ab exercise for 30 reps each. Double for fight training. Protecting yourself against body blows is like anything else a)good conditioning and B) protecting the sensitive spots eg diaphraghm, short ribs , kidneys. Taking medium to semi hard body blows from a partner is also good because u instinctively learn to tense and It has always helped with my digestion

I've just started Krav and it is pretty good. The focus is strictly on self defense and ferocity in the attacks. Like Lucky I've got a lot of styles under my belt including MT so the transition was pretty hard. But they use the best from every style including MT and we will be bringing in a BJJ guy to teach grappling. How many schools do that? Also it gets more intense as u progress and hard sparring is included. It is probably the best self defense style out there, even though I still love MT. In MT we train for 4 to 6 hrs to fight other fighters. Krav is poke in the eye, kick em in the nuts kind of style. Hope that helps. PS they have a very good organisation with only one governing body so there r no fakes or Mcdojos.

Thanks guys, I've been humbled One of my good buddies told me Iwas being a jerk so I shut up and I'm trying to keep it shut. Also I'm out of shape so u really can't be king if your coughing up a lung

U know those morons who go around boasting how their style is the best and how they can kick everybodys butt. I think I'm becoming that guy I've started at a new school as a rookie again and I want to jump right in and start the advanced stuff, but obviously I have to learn the techniques first. I keep assesing the other students as opponents and my big mouth opens and I say something stupid. I know it's wrong but these idiotic things keep popping out without concious thought. Also I keep correcting peoples technique automatically, those of u whove taught classes know what I mean. I fear that the instructors will see this as disrespectful and while my mind says shut up, my mouth keeps going. The self confidence that allowed me to get into the ring and fight bigger and better guys has turned into something ugly and I need to stop, but how Anyone been in this situation? How do u change

My MT classes were 2 hrs regular and 4 to 6 for fight preparation.

I asked my master about that (the guy kicks steel posts) and he said just use the heavy or Thai bags. He also said that your conditioning your pain tolerance and not your shins. I mean keeping a good level of calcium is important but the bone is the bone and your really not going to make it stronger by beating it.

Yeah, thats a cut kick, but the basis MT roundhouse comes straight up and the angle of your foot on the floor makes it turn into the target. Still yours shins should killingu if u r using a thai bag or heavy bag properly packed.

Hey remember, we kick with the shin in MT not the foot. An instep against a knee and the small bones in your foot will get broken. Lucky is right, also the calf muscle is a doozy. For punches, MT guys punch like boxers and not like karatekas who start at the waist. What ever punch u r learning do it slow and properly.

:lol:It's funny u should talk about the broken arms because my master was telling me when the thai guys come over to fight westerners it's their favourite target. The main technique is basically the push kick to keep the guy off. The other two main techniques Ive learned (besides getting the heck outta the way) r the grab (step in, u turn your back slightly to absorb the kick letting it go undr your arm, grab the leg under your armpit, push and then leg kick ps yes it hurts absorbing the hit but getting kicked in the calf is much more painful) next is breaking the elephants trunk, where u step in with an elbow descending to meet the kick, aiming for the thigh. MT is about attack, attack attack

My brothers were also maniacs and chased me around with machetes, knives and whatever else was close at hand. Talk to him and become friends. If u don't you'll end up regretting it and as the big brother it's your role to take the first step. PS try learning some submissions I was also the little fat kid, man boobs and all. MA's changed my life as I am confident (maybe even a jerk ) so stick with it and it will improve yours too.

That was a great post granmasterchen! As an MT guy I could not of said it better myself. To reiterate a point I've made on a lot of posts I prefer MT because it increases the chances of me winning a fight without killing or hospitalizing my opponent. I'm taking Krav Maga now where the emphasis seems to destroy your opponent by any means necessary. Some of the moves scare me as the damage they would cause would probably land me in jail (justified or not, thats Canada for u). It sounds like Kajenbuko is similar. The thing I also loved about MT is dealing with pain. Only hard contact can teach u to deal with it. Is there hard sparring in Kajenbuko??

Well, Ive done the Shotokan, The WTF TKD and judo, hapkido, Muy Thai and now Krav Maga. I have the exact opposite experience were I thought Shotokan was all style and WTF TKD was all fighting and did work on the street (for me). The advantages of the WTF r that it is full powered kicks above the waist, a good organisation and olympic sport. For strict self defense or hard combat I choose neither (MT, MMA, BJJ or Krav r better) but for plain fun and competition the WTF. Don't get me wrong, with a good sensei Shotokan is as effective style, but as a young guy with a first style I say take the WTF, who knows, Olympics someday?

We should also discuss the dangers of low kicks which is breaking your foot or accidently wrecking someones knee. Wisemaster u do know that we kick with the shin and not the foot? I've seen a lot of fights end because someone threw a crappy low kick and ended up clutching a broken foot. In MT we practise lowkicks a lot for both accuracy and power and we also practice the proper blocks against low kicks as Mart says with the top of the shin. This is one of my favourite techniques, Stepping into the low kick with an aggressive upper shin block almost always causes the other guy a lot of pain.

Here's a great workout for computer junkies. If your gameplaying then everytime u save, load or die then do five of any exercise pushups, squats, crunches. Build up to 20 reps. If your surfing then everytime u jump sites. Next play or surf titles which get u pumped to go out and practice eg Jedi Kinight does it for me. Next, learn to cook! You can eat well, help out your Mom and girls like men who can cook (back me up here Ramyensa). Wheres your brother, why don't u practice together? Go walking and jogging. Don't be scared to go out! It's your neighbourhood and people survive in worst and you'll probably met friends your own age.

I have talked my way out of so much deep doodoo that it's not even funny. I mean surrounded by six guys etc. A few times I did strike first when I judged that the time for talking was passed. The best is if your dojo or gym will let u bring it inside. When some guys would give me thrash talk I would just hand them the card for my gym and say come on down and we can settle it in the ring, not like dogs on the street. Funny no one ever showed up. So TAlK, Then WALK, Then RUN and if that fails then FIGHT.

Thanks for the input guys This is my fifth or sixth style change and the progression from shotokan then TKD, Judo, Hapkido and MT has always been from less structure to more full contact. I will however shut my cakehole and be open and receptive for the next 6 months or so. As u guys know sparring full contact on a regular basis is addictive and keeps your mind on your strengths and your weaknesses. It's also really easy to lose everything you've (painfully) learned in a few short months. These guys won't begin sparring for a couple of months so how do I keep my edge.

So I've just started Krav Maga since my MT gym has closed. Good instructors, good classes and good style BUT being a newbie again sucks, especially listening to why this form of kick or elbow is preferential over the ones u spent thousands of hours learning. Also learning the self defense basics that most experienced fighters have long abandoned like two handed blocks and fairly unrealistic choke scenarios. Do I keep my yap shut or do I argue the philosophy between different styles? Do I offer suggestions or wait until I know more? They have an extremely organized technique structure as opposed to my other MA's which were much more loosely practised. Do I ignore the changes and keep what I know works for me? Any thoughts and suggestions would be gratefully accepted?