Ottman

Feels great

Last night I had my first Muay Thai class, which was also my first day back to training of any sort in almost 2 years. Got back into BJJ too, training with a Brazilian Top Team school now, and I'm wondering why I ever stopped. So happy to be back to training, I couldn't help but announce it!

This is by far my favorite kick. It's compact yes, but it's also extremely powerful and if you execute it correctly, you can eliminate telegraphing. I actually practice it in the traditional TKD way, which (as I was taught) is to keep your head and eyes forward while starting the spin to keep your target in site as long as possible. Contrary to other spinning kicks my head is the last thing to turn when I perform this kick. Also, after I throw the kick, I reverse my spin and end up back where I started, which takes a LOT of practice to get down (especially if you're kicking with full power), but I find I maintain much better balance doing it this way than spinning in a complete 360, and I'm also in a much better defensive position if I happen to miss the kick. (I wouldn't recommend trying it this way in competition however, until you've practiced it at least a thousand times and gotten your balance down.) One more qualifying statement: The above method isn't to suggest that performing this kick with a complete 360 spin isn't effective. It works very well either way. Just thought I'd present this alternative method.

He didn't teach me to fight in particular, but he did keep me involved in sports and working out since I was 3, so I'd be fit enough and tough enough to handle myself. He also taught to me stand up for myself, although not necessarily physically. In a sense, he gave me the temperament to defend myself no matter what the method I used was. (He was the one who enrolled me in TKD when I was 12 and paid all the training costs, so, indirectly, I guess you could say he had something to do with it. )

Hey, who says all this philosophical thinking and debate isn't hard work? In all seriousness, I completely agree with him as well, but I've found that it's taken my restless young mind all that thinking and consideration, and over-complication to finally be able to realize that it's the simple, straightforward path that always works the best. Maybe it's all part of the maturing process, or maybe it's just my own individual experience, but with all the mystique and superstition surrounding the martial arts, especially in our 'movie magic' culture, who but a master could bring it back to such a sobering reality? (Or am I over-complicating things again? )

The definition that I was taught and use is that 'internal' concepts focus on controlling your own movement regardless of what is happening around you, i.e. when you decide to move, it is coming from your internal desire and will to make that movement (your will power is focused on yourself), whereas 'external' concepts focus on reacting to outside factors and attempting to take control over those factors as a result of your motion (you're attempting to exhort your will onto to something outside of yourself). While you can focus your training onto one concept or the other, both can and should be used in conjunction with one another in order to execute the most effective strategy and technique, whether it is in the martial arts or for movement in general. This isn't to say that I don't agree with other definitions of 'internal' and 'external' including many of the ones that have already been mentioned in this thread, but I do think it's important to differentiate between internal and external energy and internal and external martial arts concepts (or more particularly: internal and external concepts of motion.)

I completely agree with you tallgeese, and this is exactly what happened to me after just a few months of Aikido (Aiki-JuJitsu to be precise) training. I have 14 years of Tae Kwon Do training and 5 of BJJ, with a few other styles sprinkled in and if you've ever read my posts here I'm kind of stubborn about training for practical self defense. However, I never even considered Aikido training until it suddenly dawned on me that that's what i should be doing. Even though it was a sudden awakening, it was definitely the result of years of prior training that I was trying to fit into my view of an effective self defense system. When I started looking into Aikido deeper and deeper, I realized it was what was missing from my skill set. Since I started training though, it's done more than change my style of martial arts, it's changed the way I think of motion in general (and I'm kind of a physics geek too, so it was a quite potent realization.) Anyway, I do feel that Aikido can make anyone better equipped to defend themselves in a relatively quick period just because of the way the training makes you aware of your own movement in such an effective way. Whereas I've experienced external arts like TKD and BJJ as focusing more on being aware of your opponent and their movement, and how to manipulate and control what they're doing (not that there aren't internal aspects to these arts as well), I think that Aikido and other internal arts shift the focus to being more aware and in control of your own motion and balance, etc. and therefore you'll be more ready to deal with what you may come up against, and less likely to freeze or hesitate as you try to get a hold of your own body and motion. Since Aikido (at least what I was taught) teaches you more about your body's motion in general, rather than just self defense, you begin thinking about that motion as it applies to every movement your body makes, rather than just self defense movements, and therefore, you don't have to shift from casual mode to fight mode. Motion is just motion, whatever is happening. (That's been my Aikido experience anyway (er, Aiki Jujitsu if it makes any difference to those out there reading this) )

Sad, but true.

I'll agree with you there monk, but I also wouldn't necessarily call a head height kick flashy. Depends on which kick, and how you're performing it. I don't think I've seen many head kicks in UFC/Pride/etc. that I'd call flashy. (Most of them I'd call either devastating or sloppy, and even some of the sloppy ones result in knock outs). If you can stick a good high turn kick or front kick (etc.) in someone's face, not telegraph it, and keep your balance and control, I wouldn't call it flashy, especially if you knock them out. Knock outs are exciting and flashy in and of themselves, even if the technique used to get the knock out isn't, and for someone who knows how to kick properly, a knock out is easier with the feet than the hands, so I think the crowd is responding to the near knockout rather than the flashiness of the technique (just my opinion). If you're sticking a couple of spins in there and then taking to the air (maybe a couple more spins while you're airborne) before you kick, then you're being showy for no good reason. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I see it all the time in TKD sparring matches. It's certainly not everyone doing it, but enough to realize that it's become a part of TKD curriculum in more than a few schools, and there doesn't seem to be a distinction made between good sparring technique and strategy, and using techniques that should be for demonstrations only. Here's a converse to your example: have you ever heard the crowd's response to someone kicking their opponent out of the air (with a simple basic kick) when they're trying some overtly flashy, aerial maneuver?

This is definitely something that comes up in every martial art (every art really). There are always those individuals who are more concerned with image than anything else. The culture of Tae Kwon Do (particularly Korean Tae Kwon Do IMHO) seems to give this flashiness a bit more bravado than other styles do, but perhaps that's just my view of things as TKD is my root art and I'm most intimately familiar with it. In any case, TKDers seem very stubborn (to me) about making a clear distinction between demonstration and showiness, and practical self defense. I myself am impressed by the athleticism of it all, but I fail to see how it fits into a system of self defense. However that's not to say that all martial arts are strictly for self defense (especially in our modern times), but I'll have to agree with tallgeese that what really gets under my skin about it are those who falsely claim that the flashy techniques they're hyping in demos are practical and essential moves to learn for self defense. I always have to ask them: "so if I have a 65 year old student with severe arthritis, I should be teaching them 540 kicks as an essential part of their defense training !?!?!?!?" Forgetting even the impracticality, or more particularly uncertainty, of anyone using a 540 kick in a self defense situation. Drives me crazy.

I disagree. Under the circumstances it would be futile to try and teach her. Sorry, just a feeble attempt at sarcastic humor on my part. You're certainly right ineluki.

Very much agreed bushido_man. Thanks for the input.

I'm of the same opinion NE KyoSa, and I've already voiced my opinions about the dive in quality of technique, but my instructor seems to be in it just for the money nowadays, and she doesn't seem to care about quality instruction anymore. It's a real shame because we used to have one of the most respected schools around, and while it's still got a very good reputation in terms of a business, the newer students are really hurting in terms of the level of skill we used to hold as a standard. While I've trained at the school for longer than all but a couple other students, (over 13 years) and I do have some influence and try to clean up technique whenever I can (and to my surprise, students have thanked me for it frequently), but I unfortunately have been busy with my own personal world lately, and have only been teaching/training 1-2 days per week over the past year or so. When my instructor asked me to take over, I thought I'd be able to restore some of the old standards and attention to proper technique we used to have, but again, now that the plan seems to be to switch to this franchise, I feel like leaving the school altogether, unless I hear some really really good things about Mile High Karate. (And even so, I still wouldn't be thrilled with the switch.)

Heh. That'll learn ya. (On the other hand, you're clearly a good teacher if you're advice worked )

Hmmm, sounds like she was the type of black belt who thinks that the skill she has is somehow stored in the actual belt, rather than as a result of her hard work and training. If she was on the street and someone threw a punch that she neglected to block, so it instead made contact with her face, you think she'd be able to stop them from continuing to attack and get them to do any push ups by explaining to them that she was a black belt, and they should never hit her?? (Think they would apologize too?) If she really thinks that the belt around her waist will automatically cause people to never hit her, I think she may need to return to white belt, and start over again. My advice is stay in the class and continue to strike properly. Maybe she'll learn to block if you do, which it sounds like she needs. As others have said, never apologize for landing a strike, especially against someone who should know how to defend.

Anyone here know anything about Mile High Karate? My instructor is thinking of changing our school into a Mile High Karate Franchise, which is quite strange (IMO) since we're a Tae Kwon Do School. I am an instructor at the school, and my instructor wants me to take over running the school, but I'm not sure I want to if it will be changing into this franchise. Our entire curriculum will change, and therefore I'll have to learn the new one if I want to continue teaching there. I've been training with my instructor for over 13 years, and I've branched out into BJJ and Samurai Arts and some other training on my own, and lately our training at the dojang has seemed more and more watered down, with an emphasis on making things fun and easy for the younger students. Quality of, and attention to technique barely exist anymore, and now this potential switch to a Mile High Karate Franchise school has me even more worried. Anyone have any experience with this franchise? Can you give me your opinions on it? Much appreciated.

I've never heard of double hipping either, and when I tried to find it online, I could only find it in reference to bull riding. I would definitely ask your instructor what he means, and what you should do to correct it. I'll echo everyone saying to slow your forms down too. This will help everything, and not just your double hipping problem (whatever it may be). Some students, especially younger students, will try to race through their forms and the technique always suffers greatly as a result. It isn't so much that the higher ranking students are going faster when it comes to performing each individual technique in the form, but they have the form memorized a lot better, and have the technique down a lot better, so they don't need to do as much thinking as a beginner. Just take your time and think about each aspect of each technique in sequence. I.e. -Turn head towards target -Chamber for technique -Step into the proper stance and make sure it's correct -Execute chambered technique with proper power and sharpness. -Re-check for proper stance and positioning of technique -Repeat for next technique of the form. Even the higher ranking guys do this, they just do it all at once, and eventually they do it as second nature and don't have to think about it. Take your time, and eventually you'll get there too. Good training!

I've been watching. It's a decent show, if a little corny. I'm sure that they didn't really have martial artists in mind as the target audience, and it is a much better presentation of what real martial arts training is like than some of those Extreme Martial Arts programs would have you believe. Myself, being a history buff, would like to see more (especially on the history channel) on the history behind why various arts evolved the way they did, but I doubt that would be exciting to the masses.

This is what I hear too. People have claimed to me that it was certain styles of Hwarang-Do, but I have never found evidence of this. From what I understand about Korea (from the history books I have read) it is difficult to raise many horses due to the hilly terrain, so armies from the peninsula traditionally didn't have the ability to mount as many calvary men as their opposer's. If this is true, then strategically it would make sense for them to train their infantry to kick calvary men off their mounts. Especially since they often went up against armies from China and Mongolia who not only had many horses, but were very skilled at fighting on them. I just would love to hear the actual evidence of this if it exists.

Has anyone ever actually heard of the ancient Korean martial art used for kicking calvary men off their horses? I've heard of it a number of times, but have never been able to find out what it's actually called (if it exists). I'll admit I haven't really looked very hard either.

This is very typical in Tae Kwon Do point sparring (and olympic style sparring for that matter). I used to do it all the time until I started training in JKD Concepts and other arts. I'll agree that it is pretty useless, even in point sparring. It gives you the feeling of more rapid motion, and a nice workout, but in my experience, since you have to fit the timing of your strikes into the timing of your bounces, it is very easy to predict what a 'bouncer' will and will not be able to do. It is also very hard to hide and reduce telegraphs while bouncing. I've never seen anyone who bounces who is harder to hit and score on, or who can hide their own movements better than anyone else. (Quite the opposite actually) A lot of the students in my old TKD school would get into bouncing around because of seeing it in tournaments and because my old instructor (who is a poomse champion, but a not a great sparing instructor) used to teach it. Once I changed my style of sparring, I started to bounce less and less, and now I barely ever bounce (if at all). The students who do bounce around a lot have a tough time with me, because they are constantly trying to bounce in and score quick points. Instead, they usually end up getting knocked off balance (or to the ground) because they are losing contact with the ground and are thus destabilizing their balance and center of gravity, and my intercepting and countering techniques become even more effective as a result. Typical to point fighting TKDers, they also think I'm going to back up when they move towards me, and are always surprised when I do the exact opposite and move into their attack. Since they're already off the ground they, can't adjust and end up bouncing straight into an intercepting kick or punch. Even when I just stand still and take the kicks being thrown at me, or block them, my superior balance makes me more of a wall that they are slamming into than a target that they are hitting, and again their own balance suffers as a result. The best thing to do with these guys is to just let them lunge into you. They will bounce all day, even while not doing anything else, so let them waste the energy and just keep steadily, and easily advancing. They won't know how to handle an opponent who doesn't back up. Sure I still have to be impeccable with my timing, but I never saw a successful martial artist without impeccable timing. And if it comes to anything other than point sparring, these 'bouncers' don't stand a chance. They just can't match up in terms of power and ability to take a solid hit. It's a very limiting method, and is only good for one thing (point fighting) if it is a good idea at all (which I submit to you it is NOT.)

Interesting. I'm originally from New Hampshire, where I still do most of my training, and most schools here have their own proprietary belt system. (There's even a school I trained at for a while that uses various colors of camouflage belts. I opted out of wearing them while I was there.) The couple more traditional BJJ schools I've been to in Boston had either: White, Blue, Black or White, Purple, Blue, Black Regardless of the belt system, the sequence and time frame in which you learned the techniques was usually very similar from school to school. (Or at least a lot more similar than all the different belt systems I've seen.) A lot of the schools in NH that I mentioned also taught Karate or TKD or some striking art, and the belt system for BJJ that they used was the same, or very close to the one used for Karate, etc. So that makes sense as to why I've seen purple come before blue there.

I've always wondered why everyone in BJJ is so obsessed (maybe obsessed is too harsh a word) with lineage. I've been doing BJJ for about 3 1/2 years now, and my instructor is a level 9 certified instructor under David Meyers, who I believe goes back to one Gracie or another, but I've never cared enough to check. (And by level 9 I do NOT in any way mean a 9th dan. David Meyers Program is just structured into 9 levels and doesn't really use colored belts. He leaves that up to the instructors he certifies.) No disrespect to the Gracies or any instructor or master, but honestly, why does everyone care about lineage so much? Just because you studied under someone who studied under someone else, who etc. etc. does that say anything about how you, or your instructor for that matter performs BJJ? I know there's a lot of respect in every MA, and the Gracies are revered, and deservedly so, but when it comes right down to it, if I'm rolling/training/teaching/learning with someone, I don't care who they are, or who their lineage goes back to. I'm in it to learn all I can, and I've never known someone's lineage to make them a better practitioner or instructor. Just wondering where the fervor is coming from here.

So you've seen purple belts coming after blue?? Even more evidence that they're just to hold up your pants anyway.

This is exactly why I don't use small joint locks. Not only do I know a bunch of people with double joints that aren't affected, but 4 of my 10 fingers (and I won't say which fingers ) are double jointed and unaffected as well. It just isn't worth it in the vast majority of scenarios because trying to grab a finger or two, especially when your opponent's hand is clenched in a fist trying to pound you, is nearly impossible, and much less efficient than a 'larger' counter like a parry and well placed kick, or a takedown and large joint lock. I don't think we'd see small joint locks in sport MMA even if they were legal. Just way too much other stuff going on, and way more effective means of winning than focusing on getting a finger lock that, if it is unsuccessful, will not damage your opponent, or score points in the match. It would be better to continuously kick and punch an opponent in the shoulder to wear him down, even though points aren't scored for this in many styles of competition.