thaiboxerken

If an instructor ceases to learn from his students, then his ego has gotten the best of him. I learn plenty from my students, whether it's what not to do or how to improve a little better. That is what is so awesome about martial arts, different people have different energies and perspecitives that they bring with them. I teach in a different way than my instructor does, and sometimes he is amazed at how I can explain things, and the same goes to him from me also. The new, clumsy student will not be able to figure out how to do a certain technique, sometimes.. this is where you both learn how to get the student to figure it out. Sometimes, you find a new perspective when doing this. I know that the more I teach, the more I learn.

I'm tellin ya, baseball bats with your shin, that's impressive. Sheer power, no tricks (such as breaking boards with the grain) will impress me anyday. Don't set the bats on fire or anything, it'll only make it more brittle.

kickboxing isn't a martial art.. Kickboxing is just a sport that several Martial Arts compete in. So.. just like Muay Thai, the only belts are won in the ring.

I prefer to kick and punch on the low-line.. probably cuz i'm 5'2" tall and most people are taller than me. It's great though, if I fight a person that is 5'6" or shorter, I feel tall and can play the big man game.

I train to open my eyes wider when I see a strike coming at me. It is very hard for any fighter to keep their eyes open when an attack is coming, it's a natural fear-reaction. You just have to keep aware and not do it.

Semi-contact is the same as point sparring in my opinion. I mean, how do you really know that a guy is only punching 50% in competition? The first person to hit hard get's diqualified? Or the first person to act like it really hurt wins? Just go full contact amateur and keep on trucking.

Call it KickTV that's catchy.

I saw "Professional" TKD on ESPN2 once.. it was very funny to watch. I guess they couldn't punch to the face or kick legs.. cuz all they did was beat each others chests and throw cheesy kicks. So basically, it's the same rules of TKD, just in 3 minute rounds.

A thaiboxer outside of the ring is a dangerous thing.. Then he can use all of his Muay Thai techniques, headbutts, throws, locks and chokes. Muay Thai is a complete system, not just a ring sport.

I think belts CAN have a significance, but only if the belt system is used correctly. As far as fighting goes, the belt means nothing. Belts are a great tool for an instructor to keep track of his students progress and to give short term goals for students to achieve. The McDojo type of belt system is only good for making money. It is possible to have a great belt system and make enough money teaching martial arts to live off of. There is a balanced to be achieved there, just like anything else. In Muay Thai, there isn't a belt system, but I would wager a pro thaiboxer against a black belt in any system anyday. So yes, people without "belts" can be as good as people without belts, or even better. It's the training, tactics and technique that matters, not the belt.

One thing that them Indonesian people to is not to fight "fair". They carry rocks and knived, and probably guns inside of their Sarong. The Sarong is very nasty when coupled with these hidden weapons. Just the rock is enough to send a person to the ground, permanently. I would hate to get hit with a rock being swung in a Sarong.

Some of the kickboxing matches on ESPN look great. The Muay Thai matches are usually pretty cool. I've seen Alex Gong beat up some guys on ESPN 2 several times. There should be a martial arts tv channel, and there probably will be within a few years, since martial arts is getting to be very big in the USA.

Yea.. i guess that is ok, but wavemasters? C'mon, if you kick and punch those things with any amount of power, they spring leaks and/or tip over. And, I think learning self-defense is more than just hitting bags. Your students might learn good kicking and punching, but they are missing the other 2 elements of self-defense, tactics and sparring. Keep having fun and stay in shape.

It's a K-1 kickboxing fight... basically Muay Thai type of event. It is a seperate match and not part of the 8-man tournament. The fight is this Saturday in Las Vegas.

I personally think TaeBo style workouts do NOT teach effective self defense. It is a great and fun workout though that works to get a person in great shape. Keep doing what you do and just have fun. If those "Suzie's" get in your face again, just smile and say.. "well I'm having fun, what about you?"

Shucks, you should've made plans to visit me in AZ. I'd show you some fun in the sun.. hehhe.

Funny.. I would've guessed a short dog for you ShortDog. hehhe.

So I guess you won't be rooting for my team, eh?

I trained at a Kajukenbo school a couple of times.. hated it, but one thing i thought was cool was that the Sensei had all the people choose an animal to have others call them. If you were to have to choose an animal, what would you think of yourself as? For myself, I would choose the Ox. The Ox is calm in nature and is always strong. When riled up, the Ox just runs it's enemy over. Many of the things I do in my martial arts resemble this. What are the animals here in the forum?

When I meet a 16 year old gal.. I'm 17. If they are older than 18, I'm 27. That's just the way it is.. hehhe. It would be fun to become young again but retain all the knowledge and wisdom, think of it.

My gym just turned out the new Champion, Kuai Kuhipea, of King of the Cage mixed martial arts tournament. Our fighter sent 2 guys to the hospital on the way to the top. The next big fight for our gym is Shannon Ritch vs Frank Shamrock. Wish Shannon good luck at K-1.

Yep, you never want to be one of "those" people that have the belt but not the skill. 3rd dan and stuff like that doesn't matter, it's the journey that matters the most, not the destination. Keep working hard, set short term goals and before you know it, you'll reach your original goal and want to set more challenging ones.

I have seen the Swamies "levitate".. It was hilarious. They were merely jumping using their butts. Some of them could get some good hang time though. _________________ Just kick 'em, they'll understand. Ken Anderson Apprentice Instructor under Guro Inosanto in Jun Fan Gung Fu and Filipinno Martial arts. https://www.absolutemartialarts.com This Message was edited by: Patrick on Aug 6, 2001 4:48pm

Yea, spin your upper body around first, then bring your lower half to meet it. Keep your knee up and shoot it straight out from your body when you are on target. Some people even kick when their butt is pointed at the target.

Nope, no tattoos here. I think the small ones are okay, but a person covered in tattoos just looks nasty to me. Maybe I'll get something in the future, but I doubt it.