thaiboxerken

I can use all of the weapons mentioned skillfully and I've never trained in Kobudo. One you learn a few weapons, there are just small little adjustments that need to be made to use anything as a weapon.

Are we talking about fighting still? Anyway, size does matter, but if you are skilled enough, you can overcome the size. Royce Gracie proved this in the first 3 UFC's. Now, if a person is bigger than you AND has good skills, you'll have a much harder time. Luckily for us many "big bullies" don't train in martial arts so we can compensate with skill.

Wanna see my picture? check out my picture I'm not quite that ripped today, I'm still in great shape though. _________________ Just kick 'em, they'll understand. This Message was edited by: thaiboxerken on Jul 6, 2001 10:39am

Death in professional sports happen. It happens in amateur sports too. The competitors know that death is a possibility before they step into the ring. Nobody forced them into the ring. So as far as I'm concerned, boxing gloves and mouth piece is enough. Heck, if people wanna brain each other with sticks, that's cool with me.

Hehhe.. ok, I won't say it. I won't call you a dork. This time I'm innocent.

You know all the cool words. You must be a master! Wow. Can you do the "Dragon swats fly with tail" techinique?

I wonder if I could do a Ram Muay in one of these competitions and win? Or maybe even shadow box. Hmmm.

Ever meet any of those dorky white-boys that wear chinese kung-fu outfits and try to speak with an accent? These guys are the most fun to toss around, they get very angry and frusterated.

But I'm only 5'2" and a white belt (in BJJ).

Olympic style rules are absolutely stupid. I fought my brother, who was 8 years in TKD and I was 2 years in Muay Thai at the time, and beat the crap otta him (not literally). He kept saying that I was cheating because I would grab him and move him off balance to punch and kick. Oh and my punching his face was cheating too. Olympic TKD is unrealistic as far as self-defense, but it's a hard sport, I guess.

I'm a black belt. And I know a guy named Dan.

Or how about those geeks that come in thinking they are Kwai Chan Kang? They are so over polite that it's sick. But when the training starts, they are back to being Bruce LeRoy. Where do these nut-balls come from? I've found alot of TKD stylists are like this. Maybe it's this "discipline" thing that they keep telling me about. Oh well, I think these people need to stay in the Cobra Kai where they came from.

Have you ever had those Kung Fu geeks come in to train? You know, the guys that wear the kung fu garb everwhere and think they are Bruce Lee. These guys are the worst. They've seen too many martial arts movies and try to emulate the hero's they see in them. The seriousness of their training is so intense that it makes me laugh. These guys get very angry if anyone laughs at them or if anyone is smiling while training with them. I hate these dudes. The Bruce Leroy's need to stay home until they learn that fun is better than none. Oh, they tend to be the worste students with the biggest attitudes and want to always win when sparring. I could go on and on about em. My favorite thing to do is to make them look absolutely stupid in class, maybe I'm just too harsh. Oh well.

Is it a shin-splint? If it is, then you definitely need more water. Also, tieing of the shoes too tight will cause this type of discomfort. Make sure the shoes are snug but not tight. I used to get shin splints playing basketball, but just loosening up my shoe laces a bit got rid of them in a couple weeks. oh.. where are my leg pictures!?

What I meant by "fall into an armlock" is that the traditional japanese styles never deal with what happens if they don't get the arm-bar or lock. They trow people down great, but the ground is something they don't deal with much at all. This is probably because they are more mass-combat oriented. In a war the ground is the last place to be since other opponents can stab you with their weapons. Anyway, it seems that these styles haven't evolved to include the ground fighting. Personally, I think Aikido is very outdated since people don't fight with swords anymore. They tend to train against haymaker attacks more than anything and they keep their face wide-open to attack. And for those Seagal fans.. he's just an actor and not a good fighter.

Have you ever had those students that take martial arts just a little too serious? You know the guys that are gung-ho and never smile in class. I HATE that. These guys are usually the slowest to learn and will never relax. THey get angry if they can't learn the techinique in a day and sparring with these guys is a nightmare. I don't even know why these people are there if they aren't having fun. Usually they last about 3 months then I never see them again. Maybe it's just me, but I don't run a "No Mercy, Cobra Kai" dojo. I love to teach and give out good stuff. I push my students to the limit, but I also keep it a light atmosphere, especially when sparring. This is the best way, I feel. If you aren't having fun, you aren't learning is my motto. Whenever I roll on the mat in BJJ or spar in Muay Thai, I do it with a smile on my face (win or lose). Because to me, we are just training, learning and having fun. This is the attitude that I've always had and I feel it's the best one. It maintains a positive atmosphere that keeps students coming back for more. What are your opinions?

People that are serious all the time tend to learn slower. I think I'll post a new thread on this topic.

Pervert? ME?! I just wanted to get a better look to see how your legs may need help, that's all.

Ram Muay isn't a kata, it's not a training method used to learn any fighting techniques. Ram Muay is merely a dance that is taught by particular schools to help warm up a fighter and sometimes even intimidate the other fighter. Each school has it's own signature Ram Muay. Also the Ram Muay pays tribute to those that have died in the battlefields of Siam, "god", parents and teachers. It is a dance of respect and tradition. Some more "kata" Footjab (stop kick) to rear leg roundhouse to the head. Slip outside of cross, to uppercut, to clinch and knee to Poota Kapala throw, to armbar. Stop kick to shin to Pak Sao, Lap Sao and armbar.

I think "forms" or "kata" competitions are a waste of time. Not just because I don't like forms or kata, but because each style/system has their own "kata" so there isn't a solid, subjective judgement criteria. I bet the Tai Chi guys don't do well at the "kata" tournaments because they moves very slow where-as the karate guys have very dynamic kata that is fast and exciting to watch. To me, if you want to see people flipping in the air, go watch Gymnastics. As far as sparring or fighting, full-contact with very little rules is the best way to go. Then you can actually see the dynamics and flow of combat. Point sparring is a "who can touch who first" type of competition and really upsets the flow of competition. Shotokan guys are starting to compete in full-contact and grappling, which is great.

My long term goal is to eventually make teaching martial arts a full-time career, whether it is working for someone else or owning my own school. For the short term, I am gaining experience teaching part-time and still learning/training in BJJ to become a better, well rounded martial artist. Another short term goal is to get my blue-belt in BJJ.

What's Kobudo? Is it a sword art? What weapons do they teach?

Yea! Hey Kickbutt, wanna spar?

Drink lots and lots of water. Sometimes, especially with kickboxing/boxing footwork, when you are dehydrated the calves are the first place that start to cramp up a little. I like to skip rope to warm up my calves and then stretch them. Other than that, just listen to your body. Oh, if you send me a picture of your legs.. i may better be able to assess the situation.

Yea, just remember you are there to learn, not to prove how tough you are. Tough guys last only a few months at most martial arts schools. Keep humble and never give up!