Fat Donkey

If u want to save on the gi and can only afford one buy a judo Gi, They are a lot heavier but last for decades. It takes a lot of sweat to break them in but they never rip and the pants are reinforced also. As for equipment wraps and good bag gloves r a good investment as they ease u into your hand conditioning. For sparring equipment I would get good boxing headgear (eg Everlast) and for everything else get it straight from Thailand. Tons of good stuff for reasonable prices. U never said what type of sparring your referring too MMA, standup full contact or point?

I know the BBC did a series on the Martial arts some years (early 90's) ago and it was simply amazing. I'll try to look it up and get back to u. Good luck.

Djitta makes good point's but I gotta ask the question, do u want to win or do u want to be a better fighter? I know a lot of point fighters and they win by practiscing fast, single and obvious techniques i.e. knifehand to the abdomen, front kick to the abdomen, jab and backfist to the face. At the lower levels many people get disqualified because of their lack of control so if u want to win work on quick techniques i.e. jab and not combos. The combos get powerful when u get excited and u might lose if u hit them too hard. If u want to be a better fighter do like d says and work on the combos and blocks. For point forget about the blocks. Good luck and have fun

Thanks guys, I'm going to go and give it a shot!

I honostley think that this guy could give Jackie Chan a run for his money, I mean the chase scene in the street when he jumps through the hoop of barbed wire alone makes me think he's already way ahead of jet Li and the others. While as a MT guy I loved the fight scenes, I think they need some work in order to break into the mainstream market. Does this guy have any more Movies?

Yeah, it's a deadly style and a well structured organisation. They do include a combat fitness program after classes, again 1hr. I usually like to do 4 or three hr classes, u know both beginner and advanced. My concern here is the no full contact as I like to spar hard as this shows me what Techniques and weaknesses I have to work on.

Hey, my MT gym has closed and I'm looking into Krav Maga. Now I have the literature, the school is legit and my friend says he loves it. MY problems are a)I like full contact and they don't usually do full contact until way down the road b)Its expensive and the actual classes r only 1 hr long. Any of u experienced MA guys out there taken this? I would appreciate some feedback before I spend money I don't have and end up hating it.

Well, I know three stances which are horse, where the weight is mainly on the rear leg and and the front one is lghtly bouncing(good for push kicks and defending) there is tiger which looks like your basic boxing stance except your feet r pointed outward so u can kick (this is for attacking) and there is Tiger holds his tail which is a deeper version of tiger for use in no hold barred or against grapplers. As the guys said it's more about footwork. Lucky Boxer wasn't exaggerating when he began to list techniques, they r almost endless. We learn almost every kick including jumping and spinning but we rarely use them as it's suicide against an experienced MT fighter. Icetute, your obviously very interested in MT as your posts keep popping up. As someone who made the transition from TKD to MT I highly recommend u give MT a shot. It simply rocks (except for the shin blocks I did with my master without pads, a 130lb Thai guy had my 200lb * lying on the floor in agony, but now I can break bottles with my shins )

Well as someone who's taken TKD and Muy Thai i have to say that the kicking philosophy is completely different. I took WTF not ITF but I think they are pretty similar. MT is however completly different. Learning to take leg kicks is like conditioning your shins, it always hurts but u get used to the pain. As a TKD guy u should have learned foot blocks by now where u intercept the kick with your foot before it develops power. Stick with that. Muythaifreak is right, you gotta go to a good MT gym to learn the proper techniques. Trying it otherwise will just confuse u and get u hurt. He's also right about the training. MT training hurts but u don't usually GET hurt. If a master is letting people get injured regularly he's no good, however regular full contact sparring with gear is usually a good idea and most good MT gyms will have this almost weekly. Thats the great thing about MT, u never have to wonder if your technique is good, u know or your knocked on your butt.

They did a study up here in Canada about sport injuries and football (soccer for North Americans) came up number one for concussions and broken bones believe it or not. The risks are minimal but i understand the concerns. If u luv it keep going. Your more likely to get injured playing conventional sports than Kickboxing and wear good headgear when u train.

From what I understand from my master its a bit of a tradition to start fighting as soon as possible. They start the kids off right away in thailand, I mean Like a week after they join the camps. They want to see if the kids have spirit/heart before they invest years of instuction on them. I personally think it's a good idea because u will learn pretty quick if u want to stick with it or not. The only problem I see is getting disqualified for using MT techniques because low-kicks, knees, elbows and MT clinching are not usually allowed under kickboxing rules.

Yeah dude I've been in similar situations and years later I still get in a rage when I think about it. Those bloody cowards, I still want to kill them all and stick their guns and knives right up their behinds. But this is the heart talking and not the brain as u obviously know as your brain got u here to talk. If u r like me i.e. bad temper then u will probably remember this for years to come and it will still make u angry. Worse this is a lose lose situation because if u do confront these guys then it will just escalate until you or they are dead. U will never get any rest because u will always be looking behind u because thats how cowards attack, from behind. So turn that rage into something constructive, go volunteer to help train kids and teach them honor and responsibility. Don't piss your life away on a bunch of losers.

U should see what we wear under the shorts But is it not the closest thing for preparing for real life situations? as opposed to drills with partners etc.

Well seven I agree with u but I think u miss my point. I also do MT and I only use it as ebmb says to throw my opponent of, u know changing stances to keep your opponent off balance. And yes it has it's risks but u gotta try as much different things as u can to see what works

I think we all missed something here and thats to have goals. Both short term and long term. The running example was good, trying to shave your time etc. A good short term objective. Then u have the big grandiose goals like WORLD CHAMPION which are also good. My problem is that if I don't have a goal then I tend to get bored and slack off. Whereas if I have even the slightest oppurtunity for a fight then I'm traing 4 to 6 hours a day 6 days a week. It is the motivation/spirit which drives the body no matter how u train and ultimately the most important factor. More so than whether u win or lose.

:DBoth Northern and Djita make good points, another question I have is how fast do u mant to start the hard stuff. I know KK and Muy Thai start u off right away and its extremely cardiovascular. Since u want to train with your wife I think the JKD and also Hapkido or Krav Maga(not full contact I don't think) would be good bets because they practice weapons and joint locks for self defense scenarios and include a bit of everything. Good Luck.

That was an awesome clarification and it brings up a point I'd like to reiterate. I think the HEAVY contact sports are better because u don't practice or use lethal techniques. In my experience most street confrontations involve the drunken meatheads out at the bars. My main fear is not getting killed or beat up but of going to jail or being sued when I am forced into a physical confrontation. For instance if I actually used and connected with the spear hand strike to the throat I learned in shotokan then I would probably kill or maim my opponent. But if I use my punching, kicking or knees I learned in MT then I would probably just knock him down or out. Also I know how to protect myself, I know not to panic and I know when to stop because I practice this in the ring on a daily basis.Opinions

Wow, one of the best questions yet! And one that brings up an interesting point: Confidence or Humility. We all know that if u step into the ring/mat/street without being confident your pretty much dead meat and everyone here has probably experienced the boost in confidence from practising MA's. Also as teachers u have to instill confidence in your students while keeping them humble. What a conundrum? So for in light of this I'm going to say 2.5 in the gym and 10 in the ring/mat/street. I think its the only way to go .

Yo Killer! The "lets get it on comment" leads to some good threads. In fact your strong opinions are what got this thread going and without strong opinions this forum would be pretty boring On this basis I defend anyone who gets a little obnoxious and arrogant (myself included) as I believe that this leads to passionate and informed responses. Most of us have strong opinions and are confrontational. It is a Martial art website after all.

Hey Killer, I was in for two years, I was a purple belt, but since belts don't indictae skill I didn't think to mention it. U also notice I said that Shotokan was one of the toughest training I ever had. What I was telling u was that I've tried the different levels of contact. I said u should give it a try and see how well point sparring did against full contact. But since u want to lay it down, lets get it on. JKA was the biggest thing around in the eighties when I was a kid, then they got soft and turned into McDojos. It was like TKD is today with a dojo in every shopping mall and 300lb black belts who couldnt waddle half a click. The one international contest my instructors went too the whole team got disqualified for hitting too hard during the point sparring. HITTING TOO HARD This attitude and the proliferation of McDojos spelled the end for JKA shotokan. So its simple, try the full contact and then talk. I believe there are some excellent TMA fighters out there, but i believe that most of them will train full contact and be OPEN to the experience.

Yo Killer, take up the challenge and enter some full contact MA's. Then Talk! I moved from JKA Shotokan point sparring to WTF full contact and then MT. Trust me there is a world of difference. Point sparring simply does not prepare u for full contact, end of story. I loved every MA i did and respected it but until u actually go at it full bore your speaking out of ignorance. There is no doubt in my mind that JKA training was one of the toughest I've taken but the one hit victory is unrealistic and point sparring is good for the kids but u have to go beyond that. Give it a try

The Bong!!! Way out man, I knew it could knock u out but I didn't know they taught lessons. Do Masters Cheech and Chong teach there.

I like to train at least 2 MA's. I did Judo and TKD, now MT and hopefully BJJ. These are opposing styles and fill in the weaknesses of each other. It also means u don't get totally burnt out doing one thing. I mean face it everyone gets bored or injured when doing the same style. When my legs got banged up doing MT I could rest them and still train Hapkido or Judo.

Yeah, but warlock, when it comes to fighting, theres very little time to think, u react. It is the muscle memory which is going to determine your defense and counters. U have more choice in your attacks but if your being fluid with combos again its muscle memory. So while I disagree with your visualization concept, I do agree with the continuos practice of techniques because your programming your body to do these techniques when u don't have time to think. I believe in not visualising anything, except victory. I have to remain completely open and not let pre-conceived ideas lead me into a losing strategy. No mind!

Form reading the links posted by the KK guys on this forum it seems that KK is being fragmented pretty badly from within. How bad is it? Will KK survive the next ten years or will we have dozens of competing schools all disputing who are the true heirs of Mas Oyama?