Ottman

I wouldn't worry too much about the side kicks. Again, you should be able to do these head height in the long run, but especially with this kick, it is much more effective thrown to the chest, or better yet to the solar plexus or lower in the stomach. (Not to mention at your opponents hips and kidneys.) These are tough muscles to target, especially with traditional gym equipment. 'Thigh Master' type exercises (squeezing the knees and hips together or pulling them apart against resistance) are best for developing these muscles, but a lot of gyms don't have weight machines or the proper equipment to give this type of resistance training. That's why I like ankle weights so much. You can target so many different muscle groups.

Right, I remember that scene. Thanks for the description.

Of course it depends on the art/school/teacher these days. My TKD school has taken a turn into being very focused on competition, but that's just because the students want it. We keep self defense training as an emphasis, and separate out our competition training and our self defense training to make sure that we can still get both in, and offer both to those who want either or, but more particularly we want to make that division in our students minds between what is competition as opposed to a real world situation. I think it's very important that students understand that technique used in the ring, is rarely the best option on the street. This way we don't create a false sense of security within anyone. Doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't do both though.

Great description B-man. I was having trouble finding the right words for this. Thanks.

Great point bushido-man. Stretching will help you to develop this strength, as long as you hold each stretch for at least 8 seconds. (And don't bounce back and forth between overextending and relaxed. A full stretch should be a little painful, in the way that lifting weights should be a little painful. If it is so painful that you can only hold it for a second before relaxing the stretch, then you're overdoing it.) But if you really want excellent results quickly, then you must get some resistance training in there as well, even if it's just wearing 2 1/2 pound ankle weights. All this being said, from what I've witnessed and been told about karate, chest height should be plenty high in the vast majority of cases. (That being said, you should still be able to kick head height.) Ok I'm done contradicting myself. Good luck in your test and with your Karate training and welcome to the forum.

Some great ones from one of my favorite coaches: Vincent Lombardi "Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price." "Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence." "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." "If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?" "If you can accept losing you can't win. If you can walk you can run. No one is ever hurt. Hurt is in your mind." "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." "Leaders aren't born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal." "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up." "Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can." "Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit." "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser." "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." (My favorite of all of them) "The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." "The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert." I could go on and on and on with these.

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. ~Bene Gesserit Littany Against Fear From: "Dune" by Frank Herbert

The rebel yell was very effective, but it was done by huge groups of attacking Confederate soldiers trying to incite fear in Northern soldiers in a mob way while blostering their own courage. Kiais are different, in my opinion. Mine too. A war yell is primal and used to raise your adrenaline into a frenzy type level. It's more about the group than about the individual. A kiai is about controlling you energy. It still raises adrenaline levels, but in a far more concentrated, controlled manner, which is focused into a single momentary event. It focuses your whole being on that one fraction of a second. Much different than a war cry.

Not sure what makiwara is, but I'd make sure the cut is properly dressed and cleaned. Infections (especially staph) tend to linger around the gym, so keep any cuts covered and properly disinfect them before and after training to prevent infections. (Neosporin ointment is probably best) If the cut keeps opening back up, obviously wait for it to heal before going back to striking with that area of the body. You don't want a small cut to turn into a much bigger problem by continuing to irritate it.

Good clarification ninjer. Thanks. Goes back to kiais being used defensively, which I am very much in favor of.

Hmmmmm, BJJ moves I would use in a fight . . . Well whatever I need to I guess. Hard to make a top ten list when I'm not sure what I'd be in position to use. I'd probably default to Aiki Ju Jitsu techniques unless things really started escalating. Then it would be all about control of position, and less about submissions and stuff like GNP. No need for me to use offensive techniques if the other guy can't hurt me either right? I'd probably just maneuver to stay on top and let the opponent gas himself trying to struggle his way out. Lots easier to control position if you aren't trying to submit someone. Way less to think about. Also better for a cop to control things this way. As others have mentioned, as a cop, you probably have backup on the way, so just keeping control of the situation until it arrives is all you'd need to do. In the case of multiple attackers: As a cop, I'd draw my gun and wait for backup before getting into a fight. That seems to bring an escalation to a halt, although I'm not sure what the rules are for cops drawing their weapons (must be a ton of paperwork at least) As a civilian, I'd take the shortest route out of there. If that means taking an attacker out who was in my way, so be it, but I wouldn't be sticking around to 'test' my BJJ skills if I'm not forced to.

We do a lot of kiahping in our traditional classes with basics. I am sure that it helps some of the younger students to regulate their breathing, but I could do without so much of it. We do it so much that it loses its point. Exactly. If you suddenly go full force on your opponent with a HUGE kiai...that can be intimidating. Constant yelling however just makes it pointless. Absolutely. Students get complacent about it if they're expected to kiai on every movement. The kiai loses it's power then. Students just start saying 'hup' with no emotion, and no purpose. It's sad to hear the death of the kiai.

(lordtariel, I know this is completely off topic, but I love your signature ) That is true about getting a bigger bag too. I'd start out with a big one, especially if you have to think about sparring gear and whatever else. The heavyweight uniforms are clearly nicer and tougher, but I use so many uniforms per week that I need all I can get, so I keep a reserve of lightweight ones simply because I can transport them around easier and beat them up (since they're cheap.) I like to keep my nicer heavyweight uniforms looking good (unless I'm talking about my Ju Jitsu uni) so I tend to do most of my training in the lighter weight uniforms and save the heavyweight ones for competition, testing, teaching, demonstrations etc. It doesn't really matter what uniform you train with, you can train in sweats and still get the same workout. I'll stick with my first post: 'The uni is only as good as the person wearing it.'

I still slap on break-falls about 50% of the time. Depends on how I'm falling. Being aware of what is going on around you is more important than whether you slap the ground or not in my mind. You can slap, as long as you aren't so focused on the 'break-fall technique' and more focused on getting into the proper position for good defense. In other words, don't force the slap. If it happens it happens. Anyway, much better to make sure that you're not banging your head on the ground. Slapping won't stop this, you just have to keep your head up. Another thing to think about: what if your opponent is wide open for an arm bar on the way down? (or at least is giving you an opening?) I'd grab the arm and control the opponent before worrying about slapping the ground. A little bump isn't so bad when you can immediately turn the tables on an opponent and slap (no pun intended) an arm bar on him, or sweep him, etc. I'd suck it up and take the fall a little harder if I saw an opening to control the opponent. If you land with your weight spread out across your body (trying to let as much of your body make contact with the ground as possible) you should be all right anyway.

You definitely need an obi. It should be long enough to go around your waist four times creating three 'slots' for weapons. The first slot (furthest from your body) is for the Katana, the second for the Wakizashi, and third for the Tanto. Hakama will help too, but it won't keep everything in place. Tying your karate belt tightly will not usually stop the scabbard from falling out. As NinTai mentioned, because it is worn on the waist and is not really wide enough nor the proper material to be worn around the hips, the karate belt will just be cumbersome and the the scabbard, at best, will be flopping around and in your way. Obi is the way to go.

Could be both. Sine wave motion has been downplayed in my school as well in recent years (mostly due to my efforts to de-emphasize it) and I think it's being phased out in most other schools too (at least in my area.) We still teach it, but the term 'sine wave' is no longer used. The motion is just described and we tell our students that it can be used to generate extra power if needed, but we don't emphasize it or spend a lot of time on it anymore. We never used this motion in forms, instead focusing more on accuracy, proper stances, and especially the fluidity of the movements. (I'm not sure why or how this ever crept its way into forms. That's always puzzled me.)

Sine wave movement is an interesting idea, and it does work if executed properly (I have broken bricks and boards using sine wave motion) but I do think that bushido man is dead on the money by saying that it has been misinterpreted and misunderstood. Many TKD forms judges will score higher for the very exaggerated movement shown in the video, interpreting the motion as very powerful, which it is, but as bushido man said, this type of over-exaggerated motion does cut down on the fluidity, and beauty of the form, which are also criteria for judging (at least within USSSA style rules, which I believe are also used for UTA and some other orgs as well.) The thing about sine wave motion, is that it is very easy to learn and use, but it also telegraphs everything, so if you aren't very subtle and quick with it it will give away your movement. It has been argued to me, by more than one, that this is the reason for all of the bouncing in TKD sparring to hide your intent, as Jack mentioned in an earlier post. After 12 years of TKD training I am still skeptical as to how effective this combination of movement really is. I have reserved this type of motion for defensive (forward leg) kicking, and for following up kicks without setting down my kicking foot. Anything else I use it for ends up with too much of a telegraph (for my liking.) Again, this is after 12 years of training in a style of TKD that uses sine wave motion. That doesn't mean I've mastered it, but perhaps it means I never will. I have been slowly adapting my martial arts to weed out the parts of TKD that don't compliment me well, and sine wave motion was one of the first things I got rid of. I now use it only when I need it, and that's just fine with me.

Only as good as the person wearing it.

It's only natural to question things and explore and clarify your thoughts. This is how we progress. First of all, Shotokan is an excellent style, and if your instructor is incorporating boxing and Judo, and is qualified like you say he is, then I'm sure you are getting a good deal of practical self defense training, and I wouldn't stop training it either way, as it is a good standing and striking style and at the very least you will learn great striking technique, balance, movement, etc., etc. When it comes to whether or not a style is good for self defense, that depends on many things, but mostly comes down to how your instructor interprets the art and teaches. Again, it sounds like you have a pretty competent instructor who is already cross training and teaching you defense for real-life situations. Although, here are some things to think about that may help you make the right choices for you: Shotokan is a great style, as I said, for standing up and striking, (and especially for defending people who are standing up and striking) and while it does have a number of joint locks, throws, and some ground work, it isn't a complete self defense system (don't worry, neither is your brother's jiu jitsu.) The addition of Judo gives you a lot more great takedowns, and more ground work and grappling, and boxing gives you even more ways to move and punch and react. Again, your instructor as a sheriff and a control tactics instructor has a lot of experience with real situations, which I hope he brings into his dojo. From what I've heard so far, I can't see any reason why you should stop training with him. This isn't to say that you don't want to also cross train. You are certainly not weak minded for wanting to test Shotokan (quite the opposite), and cross training will at the very least give you a different perspective on martial arts and self defense, and you can take of that what you think will help you most, and leave the rest. Really learning the martial arts can only be done if you take it upon yourself to be constantly exploring and expanding your knowledge of yourself, and in my humble opinion, this self-knowledge is central to self defense, (and pretty much everything else too.) There are many things that would compliment Shotokan well (Judo and Boxing are pretty good to begin with) Jiu Jitsu is very good to get some really strong ground fighting and grappling into your martial arts, but again, any cross training will give you a different viewpoint on martial arts and self defense, and on yourself, and that is always a good thing. If your instructor has a problem with you cross training, I would be very straightforward with him and tell him that you want to stay at his school, but that you must do what's best for you, even if it's going to be awkward. That's better than not trying something and then regretting it later. (Somehow, I don't think he'll have a problem with you cross training, and I would definitely talk to him about incorporating things into the class that you would like to learn about and are curious about.) Now let's talk about your brother for a moment. It sounds like there's a little sibling rivalry going on here, and that, and the fact that it sounds like he is a very inexperienced martial artist are probably why he is talking down about your Shotokan. Jiu Jitsu has always been a very intense style of martial art, with a lot of conditioning work involved in the training, and it was designed specifically for combat in Japan, and later for street fighting and street defense in Brazil, and is a major focus in sport competitions like UFC and Pride Fighting. Therefore it enjoys a reputation of being very tough and street-self-defense oriented, but like I said before, it is not a complete self defense system as it lacks striking skills and defense against skilled striking opponents. (Just don't let your brother grab you or take a match to the ground and you'll do just fine against him ) Also, it is not illegal to teach, and I'd be surprised if his instructor made such a claim, but instructors who embellish things are not unheard of either. I don't know enough about the situation to really comment on the nature of your brother's instructor, so that's something I'd talk to about with him, or your parents, or your own instructor perhaps if you really are worried. Anyway, don't feel like you're the only one who's temporarily lost faith in themselves or their MA. We all have phases we go through where we think, and/or realize that we want to be even better than we are now, and this is what motivates us to challenge ourselves and thus, improve.

I think we've covered about every possible use of the kiai in this thread, and it all goes back to what you're comfortable doing. Someone mentioned that mike Tyson and other boxers don't kiai, but still generate a ton of power. I'll admit I very rarely hear a boxer kiai, but most of them exhale pretty loudly and forcefully while striking and this is the same principal as kiaing. It pushes the air out of your lungs and in the process tenses a lot of muscles that would otherwise not be tensed. This doesn't necessarily mean that there is more power in the attack (although I've heard of studies saying that it can lead to up to 12% more power.) What it does do is focus all of your body's muscles into supporting your strike, and that, I'd assume, would be pretty effective at generating more power, or at least creating a more rigid feeling to the strike as your muscles are all very hard and tense as already described. Also, in the process of pushing all that air out of your lungs, this makes it a lot harder for a strike to knock the wind out of you, (because all of your air is already pushed out) and thus the kiai is probably helpful as a defensive technique as well. While most of us here are experienced and confident enough not to be intimidated by loud noises, as I tell my younger students, most of the time a bully just needs to know that you're not scared of him, and therefore kiaing and going into a guarded, ready stance, may stop the bully from attacking, as they are certainly not looking to be beaten and embarrassed. I save kiai's for those perfect times when I've caught my opponent off guard and want to emphasize my attack. Whether I actually strike them hard or not is irrelevant. The kiai always makes them flinch as they realize how open they left them self. It's useful in this way as an instructor as I can really let my students know, without hitting them hard, where their mistakes are in sparring. (Very useful in breaking too, as others have said, both before the strike and at the point of contact.)

Lot's of good stuff in this thread. I hope I can sum some things up. First off, Jeet Kune Do is far more of a set of strategies for fighting/training/self-defense than a martial arts system that is separate and distinct from Karate (or any other MA.) Bruce's whole point with JKD was not to create a new MA, but to make sure that he never got stuck into one way of thinking with no other option. If you go through your whole training in one art, and never think that there are other ways to do things then you will get stuck thinking about MA only the way that your instructor and/or style of MA teaches you to think about it. This is important for beginners learning the basics as they need to focus on learning the basics. Once you have mastered those, and know how to kick and punch and block properly, and your knowledge of your own body starts to come into tune, then it is time to build on that foundation. Kante, I think this is the point you are now at in your training. Keep in mind that your basic root art should not be abandoned. It should be enhanced by your cross training. If I never branched out into BJJ, Capoeira, and Aiki-JuJitsu training, and just stayed in Tae Kwon Do, I'd still be thinking about self-defense and fighting from a TKD standpoint only, which isn't necessarily the best art for self defense, but more so, my body type and temperament are not suited for TKD. I'm a short, stout, stubborn type who would rather remain grounded and use my strength, balance, takedown, and blocking skills during a fight, than bounce around, executing high, spinning, jumping kicks like are taught and emphasized in TKD. I'm glad I train in TKD, and continue to do so after 12 years, it has helped me to build a nice foundation and has actually helped me greatly to develop the weaker points of my athleticism, but, without my cross training I'd continue to get my butt kicked, even in TKD style sparring. Again, my body type and the way I think about fighting are not what is emphasized in TKD. Since I started cross training, I have become far more confident in myself on the whole, and even more successful in TKD tournaments as I now have a much better idea of my style of MA, which includes TKD, but is not limited to it. While i don't always win on the point side of things, my opponents who train strictly in TKD have no idea how to handle me not backing up, slipping their attacks, not bouncing around, staying in close, checking their kicks and punches. It's a whole different world for them, especially because I understand their style, but they have no grasp of mine. So, to cut this short, I encourage you to cross train, broaden your MA horizons, learn more about yourself, but don't let that lead you into abandoning your Karate, in fact, if your instructor is OK with it, you should be bringing these new techniques and strategies back to your Dojo so that you can share them with your fellow students. This, to me, is the real way of Jeet Kune Do.

Yeah I hate those long legged guys too. I just stay in and cramp their style though. However the crescent does tend to favor tall people, unless you like to stay in close and then throw the kick from a different position. I've found that if you can get yourself positioned so that you're perpendicular to your opponent's hips and then throw the kick targeted at the opponent's nose, pushing his head back rather then to the side, it's a lot more effective for us shorter people, especially because even if you can't get high enough to kick to the face, you still end up with a solid shot to the body rather than kicking the shoulder or the arm of the opponent. (Or getting your leg hung up on your opponent's shoulder, which I hate sooo much ) I know I'm gonna hear: 'why not just throw the turn kick?' And I would usually throw a turn kick, but sometimes it's nice to be able to control the opponent's body, and be able to push your opponent around, and while the turn kick generates a nice smacking blow, the crescent gives me more torque after the initial contact of the kick, so I can just keep my foot on the opponents face/chest and continue to push him with my leg. If I pivot enough I can change the position of my leg and end the technique in a front kick position, creating a good chance of being able to use the kick to 'push' the opponent all the way to the ground. Again, a nice thing to have in your arsenal in my humble opinion, even if the opportunity won't come up very often.

DO NOT fight this out with him. I'm glad you've said you're not willing to. Do not play his game, that is exactly what he wants. I personally would ignore him and talk to the instructor about it as everyone else has mentioned. Just go about your normal training routine and act as if he isn't there. Don't let this type of drama play out in the Dojo. As you know this is just disruptive to the rest of the students and the school. This guy is clearly not fit to be teaching/coaching anything, and your instructor should be the one to handle this situation. If you try to take matters into your own hands he will just escalate the situation, exactly as seems to be his plan. I think you know what to do here Kid. You've been trained well.

Sensei Tom has the right idea. I personally love the crescent kick, although I don't use it much in sparring. I actually think this is an advantage to the crescent as you can surprise people with it if you get your timing down well. It can be used suddenly from a range of distances and as others have said, if can be very effective as a defensive or blocking technique. I found that you really have to practice moving your whole body into the kick and executing it as you move away or into an opponent's attack for it to be effective as an attack. You can also generate a ton of power with a crescent if you learn to move your hips and center with it. However, instead of a traditional strike, I've had a lot of success using the crescent to push my opponent around to a position that will open him up for a nice follow up like the crescent/side kick combo that Tom mentioned. Also using a crescent to push your opponent to the opposite side of your body and following up with a quick roundhouse from the other leg works well to. Never discount a good tornado kick (spinning jumping inside crescent) as a nice knockout blow. You have to be very quick with it, but it appears that you're executing a back spin when you start the move, so if you do it right, you can give your opponent a false sense of security and draw them into the attack. It's really a very versatile kick with some great applications, and just being able to move your hips in the crescent motion is very useful. I recommend any martial artist to keep it in his/her arsenal.

Great posts here. Whenever I sense a threatening situation, my first reaction is to drop my center of gravity so that it is all the way down in the center of the earth somewhere. My hands don't necessarily come up, but they do gravitate away from my body and rise as my opponent gets closer to me. This movement is done very slowly, but kind of matches how fast or slow the threat is moving towards me. I'm a huge advocate of training to develop proper range awareness, both of your own range and your opponent's range. I'm a little shorter than average, so I tend to like to crowd my opponents and use my strength and balance to dampen their attacks and capture their momentum. It's been my experience that if you develop perfect timing, and great awareness of range as described above, it becomes easier to neutralize an attack, without having to counter with a strike or even a take down, even if you aren't expecting an attack. Most people will expect you to back up and get out of the way if they are threatening you, so they tend to time their attacks and distance with this in mind. If you instead remain in place, or better yet move forward, deep inside the range of an attack. You can throw off an attacker's timing and sense of his range and take advantage of the lack of balance relative to your position that this creates. Believe it or not sometimes standing still is the best defense. At least when no is expecting you to stand still. Also, your stance is sort of dictated by your own balance here so there's no need to think about whether you should have a passive stance, etc. If you become aware of your balance and distancing as second nature, you'll be much more prepared to deal with a sudden escalation in a situation, and won't have to be worried about your stance at all. It all happen instinctively. Just my 2 cents.