ps1

Thanks for the word. Was it by KO?

Well done. You came to the foot of another mountain and instead of turning back you chose to climb up. Thank you for being an example to those who look up to you and of what the Martial Arts are about.

I agree, the theory section is great. The book does a great job of explaining what BJJ is all about. It was honestly a difficult transition for me when i first started. I was so used to the rigid customs of the Japanese arts. When you walk into a BJJ academy everything is so casual. It took me a while to come to grips that, while they pay homage to the Japanese who brought them the art, it is pretty much an art that is Brazilian in custom and many if not most of it's techniques were created there.

Thanks for your corrections.

Now for my answer to the original thread. Sorry I was so long winded above. The effectiveness of a strike will have little to do with the extension of the arm in so much as we assume it is neither fully extended or fully bent at the time of impact. As Alsey pointed out earlier, there would be no motion occuring at these points. Alsey also pointed out the importance of follow through, which has to do with impulse (the relationship between force and time the force is exerted). I'm not going to beat the dead horse any longer. Based on the formula for kinetic energy (see above), mass and velocity are going to be the important factors. Since I've never seen anyone instantly change their mass before a strike (I realize proper body alignment will increase mass into the strike, but not your overall mass), we're really talking about velocity of the movement. This is totally controlable. The point when you are at peak velocity is where the strike will be most effective. This can be an inch away from the start point of the strike or two feet away. You can controll how fast your arm/ leg/ hips/ torso move. This means you can completely control how much energy you deliver upon impact at any particular distance and level of extension. It just takes training, lots and lots of traing to get faster and, therefore, hit harder. This means the other key factor, as Jiffy pointed out, is timing. To get timing down properly takes training and lots of it. In general, a good sence of timing can not be taught. It must be aquired.

I like where you're going with this. However, to say Power is the relationship between mass, inertia, Muscle tension, and effiecncy is a bit redundant and not exactly proper. Here's the reasoning. 1. Inertia is not quantifiable. So it's more proper to speak of momentum. 2. The formula for momentum is p=m*v. Here, "p" stands for momentum, "m" for mass, and "v" for velocity. Since the formula contains mass, it is redundant to say it again or remove it from the equation for its own purpose. 3. You actually want to talk about kinetic energy and potential energy. Kinetic energy of a system is found by multiplying one half mass and velocity squared (.5m*v^2) Or, using momentum, kenitic energy of a system is momentum squared divided by twice the mass (p^2/2m). The law of conservation of energy says that energy can be neither created or destroyed only transfered or transformed. So when we strike something, it's really going to become our kinetic energy trying to overcome the potential energy of the object. For example, when you strike a hand pad, it moves. This means your kinetic energy was sufficently large to overcome the potential energy of the bag and your energy transfered into it causing it to move. If, however, we strike a brick wall, our kinetic energy is not suffiecent to overcome the potential energy and therefore the energy is transfered back oun us, usually resulting in damage to the kunuckles and lots of pain. Next you wrote about muscle tension. You didn't expand on your thoughts here so please for give me for doing a little assuming. I would venture to guess you mean that the mucles of the body should not be tense, rather relaxed throughout the movement . As it's impossible to move without contracting muscles (for anyone who doesn't believe me here, just buy a biomechanics text), what we are actually telling our audience is to make the contraction of the mucle as fast as possible so the muscles can relax throught the majority of the movement. Now we're talking about power. Power is the change in work with respect to time or W/t. Work is force multiplied by distance traveled. In short, this means that we want our arm or leg to move from point a to point b as quickly as possible. Obviously, this means generating great velocity at the point of impact which takes us back to what we said above. Lastly, I would assume effectiveness is talking about where you strike. For example, bending over and using a palm heel strike to your opponents shin is not as effective as simply kicking the shin. I think this is an extremely valuable component of your idea. Sadly, it's also something that can not be quantified, so you go with the major targets. So, for what it's worth, here's how I would change your list. "A strike's effectiveness is directly proportional to it's kinetic energy, type of strike, and the placement of the strike." The reason I put "type of strike" in there is because the surface area with which you strike is going to be important when it comes to transfering the energy. For example if I use the point of a kinfe (which has a surface area that approaches zero) and strike you with 10 lbs/sq. in. it will penetrate the skin. However if I use a 6ft. by 6ft. piece of sheet metal and strike you with the same force, you probably won't be injured at all. This is the differance between using a punch with the knuckles and a palm heel strike.

ditto!! You're a white belt! That's fantastic!! Promoters made novice divisions with you in mind! Go have fun!

So is it basically team kickboxing? Sounds odd.

To throw a hook kick should be easy for you to learn. Simply throw a side kick and rechamber it as you would a roundhouse kick. The contact is made with the heel on the rechambering action. That's the most basic way to do it.

Very much so. I saw your kata on another thread. I found it interesting because at one time I used to compete against some Parker Lineage Kenpo students and they ran kata very similar to ours. They even had a form of our Bassai Dai. Anan is very cool. It's not in the Shotokan system but I have taken up learning it because I like it so much. It's like Jello, "there's always room for kata."

That is a very good book. It's great for beginners. I wouldn't follow its guidelines as far as rank stuff goes. By the time I earned Blue in BJJ I knew every technique in that book plus stuff it doesn't begin to cover. Additionally, it does not go into great detail in some places where it should. It's great for reference and if you don't know anything, but I would keep attempting to find a qualified instructor. All of the books of it's type are great. In general, look for any books co-authored by Kid Peligro and you'll have a good one. He does a great job in that all of the pictures are high quality and full color.

I was just thining. I bet if all those kyu ranks stopped paying for testing fees and dues, the orginization wouldn't last very long. Someone may want to remind them of that.

Sounds unfair. There are plenty of orgs out there. Just find a new one. I know that may sound harsh, but discrimitation is not ok...and you should not ignore it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8840350406353724468&q=anan Here's a great video of it.

I have a feeling, this is the exact reaction your Sensei is expecting from you. Now...just do it. I would offer you good luck, but I have a feeling you do not need or want luck. Best wishes in your grading.[/u]

In my area, the average fee per month is between 75 and 100 USD. What is it where you're from?

He's a big guy. But he doesn't look too fat. I mean...he looks more like he's built like Bolo Young. Large chest and arms with a body that matches. I think the thread is talking more about guys who are just fat outright.

Cathal, I was competing for the national grand championship once. I was up against all kata winners in all Black Belt divisions for that day. I had won the soft style (kung fu) division and was up against the winner of weapons, traditional, and open divisions. I went third and had the highest scores thus far. So when I saw a gentleman come up to perform his Tonfa kata, I really didn't worry much. He then proceded to do the most crisp and correct tonfa form I have ever seen. Nothing fancy, nothing special (aside from it being near to flawless), just a good kata. He won. My point is that Kwan Ku Dai and Bassai usually win because they are pretty fancy as far as traditional kata go. But if you feel your Hangetsu and Gankaku are good, do it. It will add variety and the judges will admire your courage and spirit to perform outside of the normal mold. Good luck.

Azula, After 21 years in Karate, I find that practicing my front kick, lunge punch, and reverse punch is still the most important thing for me. Do not worry about doing the same thing over and over again. You've only trained for 4 or 5 months! If you stopped today, and were attacked in 10 years, the muscle memory for those techniques would no longer exist! My point is this, learning new stuff does not necessarily make you better. I know many here have heard this and you may have also. There is a famous saying: "I do not fear the 1000 techniques you know. I fear the one technique you've practiced 1000 times." When you repeat a drill you've already done...think of it as one more chance to improve upon yourself and ensure your safety and the safety of your family in the future.

If it's not black and blue, it's not a bruise. It may be the same type of feeling though. Additionally, if it feels like you're stepping on a rock, that means something is either swollen or chipped or broken. You should go to a doctor. An x-ray will determine if it's a chip or break. Most likely just an injury to a tendon in the ball of the foot. In which case rest and some anti-inflammatory (motrin) meds will do the trick. The most important thing to remember is when it begins to feel better, pamper it for another week or two. It's still weak during that time and that's when people usually re-injure themselves.

Different arts are built with different doctrines. Therefore the strategies and tactics that different systems use are also different. It is the instructor's job to teach those strategies. Otherwise he/she is not teaching the art, just how to kick and punch. You are correct. The same kata are taught in several different arts but the applications are sometimes very different. That's not obvious in anyway. At advanced levels (5 or more years of training usually) the job of the student changes. He/she begins to figure out which strategies are best for him and take those into his own personal use of the art. But the overall doctrine does not change.

Agreed! Don't get me wrong. It's terrifically impressive and if the opportunity presented itself, I wouldn't hesitate to learn it. Just wouldn't call it martial arts. It's not used for fighting/self defense.

At this point I agree with everyone else. The bo is the better competition form at this point. Everything is just more crisp. Personally, I agree that you should try to deepen the stances on it and make more distinct footwork. That would add to the scores I think. I did a search and saw others performing the same three section as you. Theirs even had the butterfly kick and fancy fall and spinning the thing under their body while on the ground. I still didn't like it. The form seems to lack pace. It seems to hodgepoged. That's not your fault, probably just the nature of the weapon.

you could always ask your instructor

I realize this is off thread a little. But how do you "master" something to a "reasonable degree." You've either mastered it, or you haven't. Not trying to be cocky or rude here. Just wondering what you mean here.