AngelaG

That is not how we employ pressure point attacks in KSW. They are not "strikes" designed to daze or disorient (much less kill) your opponent. When we attack pressure points, it is to get a predictable reaction to the sudden intense pain as your opponent's body moves to alleviate it. Once you've had such a technique performed on you by someone that has mastered them, you become a "believer" in the effectiveness of pressure point attacks. Think about this for a sec... what is it you are trying to accomplish by punching someone? Inflict pain? Lots of it? Pressure point attacks accomplish the same thing, especially when your opponent is too close to effect a punch. Make no mistake, pressure points attacks are not a replacement for punching and kicking techniques, they are just another weapon in your arsenal. As for relying on them, if you train to make them an integral part of your training, it takes no thought to apply pressure point attacks - the same way you would rely on a punch. It does take a lot of time and practice to master such attacks, and I think that is where most people balk at learning them, because they want instant results and aren't willing to invest the time required to master pressure point attacks. I am going to rely on every technique I have mastered, whether it uses pressure point attacks or not. The point is if you are fighting a proper moving and non-compliant partner you are not necessarily going to get your target every time. I may aim for the gallbladder-liver crossing followed by a GB20 strike, or BAR them across the GB cluster but I may not necessarily get it every time. And if I do miss the point, or get it in the direction where it is less effective, I don't want to be stood there like an idiot waiting for them to get their next attack in. It is not a game of chess. If I was a security guard or cop I know how to use PPs in locks and holds to get the reaction I want or need (Stomach 4 to turn the head etc.). But as I am not in that sort of employment I am more likely to use them in a high pressure SD situation where I am going to be aiming to totally incapacitate the oppponent and not worrying about what they look like after. JMHO

That's great. We are also very much into applications. There are 3 applications of age uke on my site and I could probably think of at least another 10 straight of the top of my head - and a lot more with a bit of time for thought (my instructor came up with 52 applications for gedan barai this year). People tend to forget the basic techniques sometimes. It would be better to describe them as "fundamental" techniques, rather than basic techniques... they are the foundations upon which everything else is built.

The video is mine. The bloke doing the technique is not sucker punching, it's just that we place a lot of emphasis on the hikite hand and making it a 2 handed movement - so he is placing the hikite hand up first. This is how it would be done in line work because the other arm would already be up there from having done the previous age uke. In the application that hand is grabbing my arm and pulling back to hikite whilst the other "breaks" the arm - obviously if he just did the age uke without grabbing my arm all he would be doing is striking my arm up and making me annoyed without actually doing any effective technique. It's done for the sake of form and to let people know that the uke techniques are 2 handed techniques. i.e. there are no pointless moves in training each hand has a job to do. We find that if we don't teach the technique like this people will march up and down the dojo doing "little drummer boy" impressions.

Pressure points are the icing on the cake - they should not be relied on. A person should be hit hard, and in vulnerable places so that even if you don't hit a pressure point you may still incapacitate them. PPS do not replace any other aspect of your training, they are an interesting addition and the last 5% of workable self-defence.

No the arm that pulls down to hikite is the one that is chambering at the hip. So it would be that one hand "pulls" whilst the other one "pushes". The way we do it is that the hikite hand pulls downards to the hip whilst the age uke arm goes straight up and then flicks out. We do all techniques as two handed movements - one with a hikite whilst the other does the move. The hikite is seen to symbolise as grabbing a body part and pulling in, whilst the other arm strikes! An example can be seen at the beginning Here

What were you before?

Hiya I am assuming you mean age uk. We do it so that the elbow meet in the middle (so that the arms are almost in a horizontal position halfway though). One arm pulls down to hikite (imagine a head or hand in there); the other hand shoots up and at the last minute the elbow flicks out so that the arm is at 45 degrees above the head. The flick means that you are using technique to execute the block rather than brute strength!

Wasn't that Brandon Lee, Bruce's son!?!

Winning the Gold medal for the senior division in our in-house annual kata competition. Getting "student of the year" at our annual gala.

I've been training for 2 years and 4 months. I currently train about 4-5 times a week and assist with instructing a further 4 lessons. I love it. It is a strong art and has been great for me losing weight and getting a lot fitter. I've met loads of lovely people and learnt loads... and I can nearly do the splits (on a good day! ). We do loads of application work at my dojo and I love it. Under-educated people will always slag off stuff that they know nothing about. Ultimately it will be down to the teacher and the instruction more than anything else. Find somewhere that you love and it will all slot into place. Karate is karate - all the rest are the trimmings.

To work towards my black belt. To keep my enthusiasm up and keep training as much as I am at the moment. To perfect an ushiro geri so that it doesn't look like a drunken stumble.

I don't know if this is universal but AFAIK "burpees" are different from a "squat thrust". Burpees are a squat thrust with a standing up bit at the end.

Everything. If I want fresh air I can cycle or something!

witch hazel?

I heard somewhere that there was medical proof that constantly doing high tension kata could lead to severe medical problems. Apparently there was a higher case of bowel cancer amongst people that regularly practiced kata like Sanchin.

This is an attitude I TOTALLY agree with! Because I live by the sea we get a lot of joggers running along the sea front. I'll often wind down my window and shout "Walk!" at them

That's cool. Different dojo have different criteria I guess. Kata and bunkai is very heavily concentrated on in my dojo so it takesa lot longer to know the kata to grading standard. However I think we are probably more lenient on the kumite side than other dojos may be. We do oyo as a major part of our grading too - and if some of the retaliations aren't recognizable kata moves you may have an oral test on bunkai as well.

Hang on. Are you saying that in your opinion you were at grading standard 2 hours after learning a kata?

That's not the kind of dips I mean (although those are pretty evil too). I mean when you are on the floor in the push up position and then you take your nose to the floor, then you take you chest and start to raise your head, and finally you end up with stomach closest to the floor whilst the head is raise back... so your spine is curled backwards. This kills my traps and my stomach.

I think it takes a lot longer than that to truly "know" a kata - even a simple one. This means knowing it inside out, flowing from one movement to the next, understanding the changes in timing and rhythm... and why it is practiced like that, knowing we each movement does what it does - (i.e. why does gedan barai go to the ear and not the elbow etc.), knowing good bunkai for every move in that kata, keeping within stance, keeping the hips square or twisted depending on the move, maintaining balance...... well you get my point. As far as I am concerned the list goes on and on. IMO a black belt should still keep practicing the very first kata they were ever taught - if not there would never be any difference between a yellow belt doing their kata and a black belt doing the same kata.

I hate dips.

I do understand the different reasons, but I feel the deeper reasons don't tend to come in until later, when you actually understand what you are supposed to be working on and thinking about.

I disagree. Belts do not hold up pants the elastic band and the string hold up pants, belts keep your gi closed. Anyhow if someone trains for the belt sooner or later he will end up in a belt factory.... that's because he will start to make calculations like the one made by jarretmeyer.... ok maybe he was just joking... but somebody else may not. This isn't true. Some people will only appreciate a belt if they know how hard they had to work to get it - as a true symbol of everything they have achieved. What kind of kick would I get from my instructor handing me a new belt every week regardless of whether I try or not? You can still train for the belt and not lose focus on what that belt symbolises.

Hiya And welcome also from the All Karate forums. Was it a long journey? You know me from there as KaratResource.com, but you should recognise the Angela bit anyway. Cheers Angela

Well, I once nearly fell asleep in Mokuso after a particularly tiring lesson... and once I got really painful cramp in my foot whilst sat in Mokuso,