ps1

My soft style (Chuan Fa) forms were always fun and had no verbal kiai (kihap). I won many tournaments but, indeed, always scored lower in "traditional" divisions, which I competed in only when "soft" was not available. This forced me to compete in the "open" divisions. Never seemed fair, but I still won the state championship and took 2nd in the national standings. So I guess it was cool.

Nice post. Took the words out of my mouth.

Nice to meet you

These guys don't look that good to me. I could be wrong. But I'm not impressed by people just hitting each other hard. Anyone can do that. When it shows clips of the actual fighting, I'm not impressed.

The video has been removed by the user. Do you have another link?

I don't mind destruction techniques. I just find them hard to pull off for the reason you mention. Not impossible, it's just hard to train them in an effective manner and still let the partner go full speed. But when they are pulled off, they are quite effective.

This is a truly enlightening post. Thanks for sharing that information likeke34

You've been given good advice. Good luck and have fun.

Link? (To your article) http://www.karateforums.com/what-forms-are-good-for-vt28231.html?highlight=benefits+kata

You accentuate my point. The reason many athletes (football, boxing, basketball ect...) take dancing is for the athleticism it fosters. However, there are no football players, basketball players, boxers ect. that will tell you dancing is the key to their sport. It's exercise, nothing more. LBJ's shooting ability does not come from dancing, it comes from countless hours of shooting and innate ability. In sharp contrast, I spent a great deal of in class training time doing kata and forms. While they have likely contributed to my athleticism, they did not contribute to my fighting ability. In fact, I could argue that they hindered it with bad habits that I'm still trying to break. Time in class should be spent with partner drills, IMO. But this is a little off thread and not really the discussion I want to get into here as it's been held countless times before.

Congratulations

I'm not sure how things work in the UK. But in the US we have home repair (Home Depot, Lowes) stores that sell 1 inch thick planks of pine in almost any length. When I was doing this, I would just buy a plank and cut it. Worked out perfectly. It's important to cut so the grain is going with the break.

There is some grappling in most forms of karate. However, it is usually not practiced very much. Just depends on the system and instructor.

I'm not sure about you, but I know the stuff I do works because I have to use it every day in class against people who are actually trying to stop me. I feel this is the best way to know for sure if what you're doing works. The problem you have is that with striking, this is hard to do in a safe manner.

Good post. I agree with it 100%.

Couldn't agree more. I studied TMAs since 1985 and have learned at least 20 to 30 different forms. Can't say any had a hand in making me more skilled in combat. As Bushido said, they tend to be more of a curriculum filler.

This is reasons the I'm seriously considering it. Good instruction from great teachers and ther isn't a Gracie gym for about 100 miles. It may be your only option then. Make sure you have a consistent partner for practicing.

Double leg sweep:

It sounds like you have the basic jist of it. Mitsuyo Maeda (bio- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuyo_Maeda), a high ranking and talented judoka and direct student of Kano, traveled the world and, among many other things, prize fought. The rules of many of the contests varied and there are numerous unconfirmed stories of them. By the time he ended up in Brazil, he was highly skilled and well tested in his fighting prowess. In return for some political help he recieved from the family, he taught the eldest gracie son (carlos Sr.) an art he called Jiu Jitsu. The time frame in which he taught Carlos is up for grabs; but is generally believed to be between two and four years of continuous private training. In turn, Carlos taught the art to his brothers (except Helio, who was considered to frail to train). Helio, however, watched his brothers every day and, apparently in secret, learned the movements of the art. One day, a student of Carlos' showed up for a private lesson but Carlos was unable to make it on time. Helio jumped in and taught the student. When Carlos came in and apologized, the student politely asked if he could learn from Helio from that point on. Over time, Helio adjusted many of the moves that he felt required too much strength. He either removed them or made sure they were done with proper leverage. That is how the Gracie style of BJJ came into being. As far as Japanese Jujitsu goes...there are several different types. Most are made up of techniques that stem back to the traditional koryu of ancient japanese warriors.

You send it in. But I've seen vids on youtube of them grading them. They are super serious about it and it's extremely detailed. This made me feel good because I was very afraid they may be watering down the art. But I really don't think they are now.

Nice little story.

Just a different interpretation of the language...semantics. The two are no different. Because of that... I didn't vote.

The most respected online school would be the Gracie University. Rener and Ryon put alot of time into it. Grading is extremely strict, arguably more strict than grading in person. I have seen several of the training vids and feel they are extremely good. That said, I'm really on the fence about it. I've never met or trained with anyone who does the program. Until I do, and am impressed with their skill, I'll probably always be on the fence. Still, if you don't have a good school around you, this program is really your only option.

I agree! When many people are talking smack about BJJ, the most common thing I usually here them say is, "why would I want to be on my back in a fight?" I think they mistake the extensive guard game for a desire to be on the back rather than seeing it as a tool to get on top.

It never ceases to amaze me how you can do something for so long and never really understand what it is you're doing. The other night, while teaching some defensive moves from the guard, my teacher said something that I had never really thought of before. "When in the guard your options are to submit, sweep, or get on your feet." This seems like a rather obvious statement. Afterall, there's nothing else left. However, the statement is much more profound than is immediately apparent. From any particular guard position (closed, open, half, butterfly ect...) you should be prepared with one or more options to do all three. That is to say, you should know how to submit, sweep, or get on your feet from any given point in your guard game. Moreover, you should be prepared to do any of those three at any given time. Think about it, can you do those things from any given point in the guard? If not, you have a hole that can and will be exploited. Any thoughts on this?