Hudson

Here's my input: I think it was posted before about being far enough out to block at the wrist. I'm trying to envision this and I know many of the people I train with are skilled enough to roll around this and feed me an elbow. If your range is too far to get inside with any success, then it may be possible due to the inward nature of this punch to slip to the outside of the person. Let's say they are throwing a right hook; since their hips would now be at least squared ducking/weaving and getting to the outside is a safe option, this allows for either a shot to the middle gate (which combined with a rising action could be quite painful). This could also give you positioning for all sorts of shots to neck and head. If the range is closer a favorite technique of mine (Not necessarily the most effective but a bit different from what has been posted) is to step my lead foot past the person, blocking the technique at the shoulder/upper arm (And here this could be anything from a palm to a knife or ridge hand, or even some of the fists) and a grab with the other arm on the same side, on the neck or trapezius. Immediately from this using the person as a "tether" so to speak, you pull yourself in and deliver a knee kick (groin, stomach, or if you can pull it off, solar plexus). You could also lose the knee kick and to step behind and take down. This movement sounds lengthy and complex but it should be done with absolute speed and intensity.

I meditate every day, when I wake up, before and after classes, sometimes at night. Instead of telling you what I am trying to achieve, let me just walk you through a routine process. It begins with me sitting down, usually in what would be known as the "Seiza" position (I find this helps with my knee problems from my ACL tear). I then correct any faults in my posture, align my spine correctly and lay my hands in my lap, and close my eyes. I walk myself through the proper way of breathing in the beginning - in the nose, out the mouth. Collecting in the tan tien before exhaling. That sort of thing. I also make sure that I am not breathing haphazardly if I am meditating after cooling down. I slow my breath down. After everything is regulated, I simply sit and meditate without thinking about anything. I'm not trying to reach a heightened state, I'm not trying to calm down, not reflecting on the days events. I'm just "being." I find that allowing myself the time to drift through a few moments in time without worrying or thinking is a passive way of clearing my mind and returning my heart rate to normal. Basically it's my healthy equivalent of a smoking break.

I'll give you my take on what I have learned from training kung fu. There are plenty of times when, before you understand a movement, it will look completely daft to you. But then when you break it down, you realize that everything you learn isn't the concrete way to do it, it's just the suggested way of practicing. Every movement has varying levels of complexity in ways that you look at it and apply it. Take, for an example, a leopard fist. At a glance, it looks very basic, it's a halfway point between a spear hand and a closed fist. Fancy, but what for? Then when you practice it, and you rep it over and over, you realize things. You realize, hey, this fits nicely under somebody's chin, and if I turn it like this, its an effective way of blocking and hitting a nerve point simultaneously, etc; So now your basic fist just became a swiss army knife, and you go out and rep each application you find until it all becomes subconcious, and then when you find yourself in a situation where they fit they just flow. And then it's really just a basic fist again. Er, I went off on a bit of a tangent there. So, yes, although it make time and hard work to analyze a lot of traditional kung fu's methods, almost everything you do will be practical. Another point I'd like to mention is that there is a large difference between traditional martial arts, which are for self-defense and focus on ending a fight as quickly as possible with little resistance, and some of the "fighting" martial arts that focus on beating another man around a ring for 5 minutes. Kung Fu probably isn't the best at doing the latter, if that answers your question.

I do want to clarify a few things I didnt get in my first post, and that is: Weightlifting is not completely necessary if you are already doing calisthenetics and are not a competitive fighter, but it will give you an edge in the ring, and also, Physical strength is not, has never been, and will never be a replacement for technique.

I didn't even notice this until the 11th, wow! Thanks!

Yes, weighlifting definately helps out my martial arts training (as well as my confidence in myself, which then goes back into my martial arts training). As far as diet, those pills aren't the only thing that will make you rebound once you stop. Look at the Atkins diet... everyone I know who has gone through it and worked carbs back into their life just gained it all back. In fact many people think "diet" is something you go on to lose weight. In reality, it's the way you eat, not for 3 months, but on a long term. I naturally weighed in around 175-180, now I have bulked up to 200 with an actual decrease in body fat (Primarily because a lot of the calories are now being burned up by the extra mass). My diet is something like this: Breakfast: Scrambled eggs over whole wheat toast OR Large bowl of oatmeal Morning Protein Shake Lunch: Grilled chicken in some form, usually with or part of a salad Apple on afternoon break Protein shake after workout Dinner varies a lot. I'm a big fan of vietnamese pho noodles. Also, I love sushi. A lot of the time I'll have chicken or tuna for dinner, but lately I've been falling victim to these chicken filled fried dough dumplings... yes, fried food, I know. Terrible. Also, I drink a lot of water during the day (carry a large water bottle with me all the time) As far as vitamins/supplements: B-Complex, C 500, Creatine Fuel, Amino Fuel, and Omega-3 EFA's

I just thought I'd share this little story on "effective techniques" I study Kung Fu, and if anyone has seen a typical kung fu "bow in" which usually involves raising both hands (in our schools case, one in a fist with the other around, brought in front of the body abruptly) this will make more sense In highschool when I had maybe a half-year of training under my belt, I let my mouth run in front of my brain and ended up insulting a guy maybe 20 pounds bigger then me, more athletic then I was to say the least. We were out in the parking lot behind the school (where the path I used to take home was) and it was apparent something was going to happen, and it did in the form of a wide open haymaker. Of course, nowadays I can think of an unending ways to stop someone as wide open as I remember him being, but back then I did the technique I had the most practice with: my formal bow. So right before I was going to get hit I instinctively hopped into a cat stance and shot my hands out, right into the guys face. Of course, that really didnt put up anything against his punch which landed square on my cheek, but it was far less effective having just smashed the guys nose a moment before. But at least I drew first blood, which was enough to make him stop (or pause long enough to get us noticed by a teacher). I ended up serving a month's worth of detention for that little stunt but I will always strike that up as a victory in my book. I apologize if this story is hard to read, I type like I think. Moral of the story: Most effective technique is the right technique at the right time with the most practice behind it that stops the fight.

Er... If you aren't interested in fighting a Wushu school is fine, and I can guaruntee they aren't the most competant fighters in the world. You already have TKD and Karate practice, so depending on the style you're gonna find that you are carrying over mannerisms from other styles that don't fit quite right, best thing to do depending on what ranks you hold is to lose any ego you have when you walk in the door and pay close attention to the Sifu. Also don't confuse the ability to fight with self-defense... with rules and regulations martial arts competitions aren't exactly true indicators of effective martial arts. (How effective is it if it takes you 10 minutes to take down a single opponent anyway?)

That would seriously depend on what you're teaching. If you're teaching traditional martial arts in true form, no, that's a terrible idea. This is obvious, because it'd be irresponsible to teach the fatal/crippling techniques that martial arts use. I feel that if a kid wants to learn martial arts, he'll go out and find a school, and with a good teacher won't use it incorrectly. Ask yourself if your average gym teacher has the same commitment as an average Sensei/Sifu has to his students. Fighting has reached almost epidemic proportions in our town amongst highschoolers, and I would never teach martial arts to a mass of students like a highschool gym class. I hope this post comes out sounding logical as I tend to type as I think.

http://www.kungfu-taichi.com/servlet/kungfoo/Action/Resource/ResourceKey/452 http://www.kungfu-taichi.com/servlet/kungfoo/Action/Resource/ResourceKey/252 Turned that up from a google. Looks like a contemporary wushu style.

I want to clarify two things: If you're not making contact, are you still sparring? I don't want to come off as a violent person but wouldn't some contact be necessary to be truly sparring? Which, of course, I see as a way of practicing your fighting. Which brings me to my second thought, if Capoeira isn't focused on contact, hurting people, or defending yourself in a serious situation, can it actually be called a martial art? It surely quaifies as an art but if it can't offer offensive or defensive capabilities then it lacks the "martial" aspect, doesn't it?

It would be awesome for an "older" person to come in and win it from some 20-something hotshots.

I've only seen this once and it was just a wushu set for a competition. And truthfully it didn't seem all that special nor did I understand why they called it "Dog" style...

Punch faster. Seriously, take a heavy bag, commit your afternoon to making each punch faster then the last one. After enough reps you're going to notice an improvement in your technique. If you keep telling yourself "This next punch will be faster", you will get faster. So the secret to punching faster then, is to punch faster.

Eat. Eat. Eat. Theres no such thing as eating and eating and not gaining. Believe me, I was like you (6'2", 160) and I thought I was a big eater. When I look back to what I was eating.... I don't think I could survive anymore. Basically, you need to eat every 2 hours or 6 times a day, and not necessarily small. Remember that martial artists who crosstrain and lift weights are getting more than a fair share of cardio and therefore are burning tremendous amounts of calories. I can't stress it enough, it took me a while to realize just how much food I needed to consume to grow. Actually, it took me trying to gain 10 pounds in one week for the arrival of a friend to realize how much food I could consume to maximize my gains.