Hudson

There are some more videos on that site on the instructors page, performed by the instructors.

Yeah - bulking up and doing cardio is sorta going down two roads in one car at the same time. But sometimes you have to - MA's never quit cardio. In this case you need to clean bulk, and get in enough calories without hurting or slowing your cardiovascular system. 4-6 reps is good for big, "puffy" muscles, but it's more of a bodybuilder thing. And it's really more advanced reps as well - you have to know yourself and know your weight limits. As far as protein intake goes - the basic rule is find your lean mass, and that's how many grams of protein you need. (1g per pound lean mass in case you don't understand my rambling) To bulk up, you should try to get 1.5 to 2g per pound lean mass. Also, you do need to eat 6-8 small meals a day, and take in more calories then you spend. So assuming you burn 3000 cals a day (Active) you should take in 3250, or 3500 calories. https://www.fitday.com has an excellent way of planning and keeping track of your nutrition. Take in protein at least twice: When you wake up, and when you go to sleep. When you go to sleep, you need the protein or your body will run out around midnight, and you'll have a deficiancy. That's not good. Ideally you should get 30g protein a meal, or around that.

Firstly and MOST IMPORTANTLY! Check with a doctor to make sure your back pain isn't coming from something else - you don't want to compound an injury. If your family has a history make sure that isn't interfering. With that said, theres back pain can come from improper exercise form when doing crunches. When you get fatigued (Easy to do with crunches), you might tend to let your back do the work and not exercise your abs at all. Focus on the contraction of your abdominals. Remember, when doing standard crunches, at the start the shoulder blades are on the ground, when you crunch, they come off the ground, lower back touches. As far as exposing your abdominals from eating (In your case, as you mentioned "less" or not being a big eater), proper nutrition relies on QUALITY - not the QUANTITY of food.

Was the qouting yourself necessary? Of course women can get hurt from groin shots - the ultimate goal of any groin kick is to smash the pelvic structure. What was a woman getting that hard in the groin for in the first place? In general groin kicks are to be avoided in training even with a cup - but a kick directed with enough force to hospitalize at the groin? Why?

What do you guys think about the training rings TMA people use?

I suppose I'd say it's heart - But my definition would be the curiousity and willingness to learn, never give up, and to put out 120%. So, it's the guy who above all, has dedicated himself to a hopeless ideal (perfection) and strives with all he can to reach that goal (unnattainable or not) I mean, this is all long-term.

Err, I agree, tensing your shoulders is just a habit that you need to break, not something lack of strength causes. If you persist in thinking upper body strength is the cause, let me know, I don't feel like writting an elaborate post right now.

Just a theory but if more fibers contract isn't that harder? I mean - that's the difference between 50 HP and 100 HP in a car motor I really have no clue when it gets down to fibers contracting and what have you, never got into the science of that

Yup. We can't all take 4 years of Wing Chun and expect to create Jeet Kune Do.

You don't need splits. Heck, some people can't do splits because of structure alone. As far as getting lower in this position - it will come over time. Each time concentrate on pushing yourself a little lower to the floor and holding it there - just remember to bend from the waist not in the back.

Shaolinquan - As in Shaolin Fist/Boxing? Will they be teaching a contemporary wushu set or traditional kung fu? Shaolin arts are all over the place, from low stances and quick strikes to high balance and long fisted sets.

Woops, I didn't mean to insult - I just wondered because that's extremely cheap - and around here, the only classes that cheap are cardio kickboxing down at the community center. Besides, don't worry about my assumptions - just laugh at me for knowing my ignorance.

Kick his hand? Does that work? It looked real cool in Enter the Dragon...

Hehe, no real information, but when you said "historical backround" I think of a cheesy movie sequence with Jean Claude Van Damme underneath a waterfall. By water training, you mean in a pool, or lake, etc;, right? I guess its for fun, I know I play around to see how my movements affect the flow of water and to see how much power I can generate underwater - but it's all for fun. But it is fun to do once in a while, to make sure all that hipwork you hear about actually does bring your energy forward.

Err... 11 years total experience, you're 17, and you want to start your onw style? So... you started when you were 6. I don't know how you train and it is possible to get plenty of experience in 11 years but I don't think with an assumed average attendance rate starting at 6 you've really gotten enough of Aikido to understand all of it. Also, why do you want to create your own style? Are you sure you're not just doing Aikido or Muay Thai with slight variation? It's not uncommon to come up with your own way of applying what you've been taught depending on personal needs and preferences.

Well, most of it depends on a good instructor - things like "Will I get better, and know kung fu". As for requirements such as speed and strength, you should be able to build this through training to meet whatever standards required. This more or less depends on you and your convictions. The style or school of kung fu will vary depending on what you want, but almost all of them are effective if trained for self defense, and not for sport. There are certainly more direct styles but this doesn't make them any better. For example, Wing Chun is always thought of as the "practical" kung fu - but any of the southern styles usually take this direct approach. The northern styles will give you more footwork and higher kicking, but don't for a second believe them to be inefficient or too flashy - the nice thing about learning kung fu is most of the tried and true methods have survived with the weaker styles dying off. I think Hung Gar would do you good, it's a good combination of soft and hard, perhaps the only way to compliment it is with a northern style with more footwork.

You're absolutely correct, and actually back is my main focus in training. The first thing I have to say before I expand on training the back is this - you must, I repeat MUST, focus on training your back. Each rep you need to concentrate that you are indeed using the back muscles (Traps, lats, spinal erectors, what have you) and not taking over with the shoulders, arms, etc; etc;. Because to train the back... you gotta train the back. Keep a mental image of the back flexing and relaxing. Secondly, keep your back straight - don't slouch. Alright - I think that's about it. Of course, follow all the other rules of training, don't use too much weight to be impressive, don't cheat (unless you're doing cheat reps), and follow all body signals and make sure you're safe. Now to the exercises: The basic builders of the big backs - say that three times fast - are of course your chin-ups, deadlifts, and rows. So do em'! Pull-ups - Grab bar (Above you please). Use a wide grip. Palms face away from you. Focusing on your back, pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar. Don't let yourself just drop back down - lower yourself correctly. Should work the lats and possibly traps. Deadlifts - Grab a barbell and load some modest weight until you find your proper weight - then, with knees bent, bent at the waist (Do NOT arch your back), lift yourself to an upright position. Focus on your spinal erectors (Think of your abs, only on your back - those are your spinal erectors) instead of your legs, because this exercise builds legs as well (Heck, it builds everything to an extend) and you need to focus on back. I like this more then weighted good mornings because of its ability to get at the lower back without bending it too awfully much. Rows - Plenty of variations. Dumbell. Barbell. Kettlebell. My favorite variation is the dumbell bent-over row. Step one, bend over, to a 45. Pull the weight off the ground, and pull up so your elbow is in line with your shoulder (upper arm parallel to the ground). Now using your back muscles, pull up even farther. This should feel like you're squeezing a lemon between your back. Of course, these shouldn't be the only weapons in your arsenel, but they're a good start. Here's some others to look at as your equipment situation gets a bit better or you just want more - Lat pulldowns - again, using a wide grip, pull down the bar to lift the weight. Should once again focus on your lats doing the work here. Dumbell shrugs - gets rid of pencil neck. Holding to dumbells at your side, pull up the weight by "shrugging" - lifting your shoulders with your neck (The neck muscles called the trapezius do the work - not your shoulders) Theres more I can't think of right now, and most of it's just variation. So you've got the mindset, you've got the equipment, you've got the exercises, so here's a sample plan for back day - Warm Up (Don't skip this) Rows - 3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns - 3 x 12 Deadlifts - 3 x 8-10 Pull ups - 4 x Failure Shrugs - 3 x 15 Feel free to tinker with those numbers depending on what you think works best for you - don't be afraid to push your own limits. Hope you find this useful - you can do almost all of this at home with dumbells at an early stage, minus the pulldowns. OH! And by the way - punching (weighted or not, I don't reccomend weighted punches) will also give your lats a nice burn in addition to your weight training.

Because when you step in you're an unprovoked aggressor. I'm not saying the judge won't let you go, just that it usually is enough to warrant a night at the station.

I will agree that the UFC is the closest thing to a real fight you can watch on TV - but it is by no means a true representation of a street fight. It's far, far from it. A street fight isn't against a guy who will let you tap out, who will only break your arm as a last resort, who won't pull a knife, and in most cases has similar technique to you. Gumbi, let me ask you a question - what exactly is your experience with "t3h d34dly str33t" as you like to call it? As for my experience, most of it comes secondhand from war stories from bouncers I know. It's far too violent a life for me.

Ah I see... so truly traditional wushu refers to all martial arts (Shaolin Wushu was mentioned in that second page) and it is now a sport with two sides, Talou and Sanshou - am I correct or did I read that too quickly?

Where does the sport come from? Is there any combat worth to it at all? Please expand on what you posted as I am very ignorant about wushu myself. I will be back after work to check out your response so please be as long and boring as you need.

Wushu. You know, that stuff that most of those "hardcore" guys call dancing? What are your thoughts on the practicality of the practice of proper wushu? (Ignore the word "proper", I was just sort of rolling with the p's)

Please refrain from using phrases like "t3h d34dly str33t" - I don't say it, don't say it to me. Maybe "childs play" was a bit of an extreme, but my point stays the same - there are rules and regulations in UFC that can't compare to unregulated fighting. I also don't believe MMA's are the tried and true super effective arts the UFC makes them out to be - there are plenty of traditional arts and students in them that are just as street effective.

Exactly. These guys aren't fighting with cocaine addicts, drunks, or armed or multiple combatants, or any combination of that.

Too sporty. UFC is childs play compared to no-limits fighting. I've never seen or heard of a street fight lasting 10 minutes.