ps1

Hi ps1 not too shabby at all. The only thing that I would make comment on, was on your "mai-ai" (or lack of it) on the first set. Could be just particular to your school, but I thought you were a little close to you "uke" when performing your counter techniques Shotokan seems to be quite a rigid style and for this reason probably there wasn't a lot of hip rotation in the counter punches and there was not a great deal of fluidity in the techniques. That said I think you are being faithful to your style and you performed the katas well. You're quite right Zanshin. I was close. Mainly because I wanted to be sure we stayed in frame for the camera. After shooting I saw I had plenty of room and actually asked Jonny to move in unnecessarily a couple of times. This bothered me more on the kicks than the punches. I like to follow up punches with take downs, so I like to be close. I practice my hip rotation more in sparring and kata (which I did not perform). But, to avoid running my fist through my opponent's ribs, I do not do much of the rotation on my Ippon Kumite.

Wow. I never realized this was an issue in some schools. Of course I've seen the kids do it. But never the adults. It's always gone in order of rank and time. It's always been well known who is the higher or more senior rank. If I was ever in doubt...I just went made sure there was plenty of room for people to get "ahead" of me in line. Then, if no one took up the space, I would just close it up when it was time to bow in. But this was only an issue at seminars where I may not have known everyone.

You know this is a really good question. I think that most of the responses are on the right track. Most people take offense to the idea that "martial arts" is in the title. Some people try to rationalize XMA to be more than what it is. They try to say the movements are used for self defense. I have also known and competed against gymnasts that have NEVER trained a martial art. They just adjust a floor routine and put kicks into it and yell alot. I was forced to compete in the "open" division quite often due to the lack of a "soft style" division. I would strike up conversation with the competitors and was amazed one day when a guy told me he didn't study martial arts. I was pretty surprised and kind of offended. Anyway, I'm not against XMA at all. I'm gonna be teaching a seminar on some of its techniques at the end of the month. But I made sure the attendees are trained martial artists first.

I agree! If you get taken to the ground in a multiple attacker situation...you're dead. It's a very bad situation no matter what. But you can at least move if you're on your feet.

Hey everyone, A friend of mine and I made these vids as a reference for some of the students within the school. I figured I'd post them for everyone to watch if you want. Some of the techniques are a little sloppy (especially the spinning kick). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzpUY4T_Rvo Here are some Kick-Punch ippon kumite. The attacker throws a kick followed by a punch. My personal fav is the second one against the side kick. When you hit it right...it really takes a person by surprise! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awa_zcGkiM8 Enjoy! Let me know what you think.

By that logic...neither is Judo. I don't consider the phone book to be a valid sourse of defining a martial art. I am defining it as a system of combat that can be used for self defense. To answer the question I'd have to say: 10 Silat 9 Kick boxing (MT or other) 8 JKD 7 Kung Fu (usually a form of Shaolin) 6 Boxing (western) 5 Judo 4 "American"/Freestyle Karate 3 Japanese/ Okinawan Karate 2 TKD 1 Wrestling Sadly, I agree that BJJ isn't up there yet. At least not in my Area of the country (ohio). It's close though. Another 10 years and it'll be in the top 5. We have alot of people coming up through the ranks. Combine that with it's popularity due to MMA events and it's the next big thing.

I looked up the site for it. It could be good. Although, the "soke" looks to be a little over the top. The system has only been in existance for a short time. I am always skeptical when I see someone that is only a 6th dan (still very respectable mind you) in a recognized martial art but holds a 10th dan in the one he created. The instructor's credentials are as follows: 6 dan Judo 1983 3 dan Aikido 1974 2 dan Karate 1983 1 dan "chuck norris system" 1980 1 dan Ninjutsu 2004 And he "earned" 10 dan in his "Manabi-Masho Jujutsu" in 1994. Here's the website where I found the info: http://manabi-masho.com/TriCitySchoolofMartialArtsChesapeakeOH.html Honestly, try a class out and tell us how you liked it. I'm skeptical, yes, but I've been wrong in the past and could be wrong now.

Ok guys. I did a seminar class for a local Karate school last night. I taped the techniques I taught. They are very fundamental and basic. But necessary knowledge for controling the ground fight. They include: Escaping side control (only 1 method is shown) Holding side control (2 basic methods are shown) 1 choke from side control ( a good choke for when the opponent puts the arm down) Enjoy. Let me know if you have any questions

Yeah. This one would likely be the one that simply ends all physical conflict and allows us to utilize our minds to resolve dispute. There you go...it's perfect.

Agreed.

It looked pretty good. I do it a bit differently, but I still think it looked good. Do you remember your scores and the scale on which you were scored?

I'll be facing this in the near future. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm gonna need to stay very disciplined to keep going 3 nights a week.

No problem. I enjoy it.

Hey guys... My instructor, Tony Rinaldi, is in these videos teaching a great halfguard sweep and a good North-South choke. He demonstrates them no-gi. But they work the same with the go on also. http://www.fistfirstfighting.com/ext_player.php?id=90&cat=72&gym_video=1 There are some other vids listed below as well. I think the one that will load initially is a tour of our school. Simply click on the second option (below the main viewing window) and you'll see the choke. Click the 5th one for the sweeps. The rest are some basic drills and, like I said, a tour of the school. Hope you enjoy.

Nuclear medicine technologist and Fitness Specialist. B.S. degrees in Exercise Physiology and Radiologic Imaging Technology.

They compliment each other very well. Many grappling champions have studied both arts.

It's the same in Ohio! We have strict regulations here as well. But as close as Pennsylvania and Indiana there are none. Seriously...none. You can fight under a false name in Indiana. One of our guys actually went to fight in Indiana and lost. To avoid it hurting his record he just gave them a different name. We gave him hell for it...but that shouldn't be able to happen.

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out!

Wow. What strange movies...was that Christian Bale? To address "gun kata." Clearly the one in the movie is completely unrealistic. But, in the military, you do alot of "dry" practice with weapons. The goal is to master the fundamentals of shooting. That way when you actually load the weapon, all you have to do is follow the habits you've built. The same goes for practicing your layered defense tactics with weapons training. So...in a sense...it does exist.

Find a new school. If you feel that ALL of the higher ranking people are bullies, then there is a fundamental problem in the school. You don't want to pick up their bad habits.

You read my mind! I was in the school this morning shooting some of the things I will talk about in the article. I hope to have hyperlinks in the article that will link to video. They will be used as a visual for the harder to describe stuff!

Specifically, the angular set-ups. Too often I see people fighting very linear. They go straight in like a bull...maybe land one hit...then get taken down or countered. In Karate...the novice student fights linear, the advanced student fights at angles. This is all set up by footwork. My kicks are strong...much stronger than most people I deal with. Because my boxing is weaker...I use my front leg almost like a jab. Short, low line round houses and front kicks to the thigh and hip joint tend to keep the opponent where I want them. Then I can use my hands behind that. Another thing I use is the short combinations of Karate. In boxing, combos can be long. But this isn't good for mma due to the ability to clinch and take down. So I use boxing strikes with short combos that are usually set up by a kick of some sort. There's kind of alot to explain. Perhaps I have just discovered the topic of the first article I'll write for the forums.

What kind of changes specifically?

That is the one thing that Boxing does teach you to deal with well. You can, and will, be hit. I think it helps to develop determination and drive to resist. No doubt! This was a total shock to me when I started training BJJ and MMA. I always believed that my Karate skills would keep me from getting hit very often while standing. That was foolish. Now, though, I'm in the process of using the Karate tactics and footwork in MMA and doing a good job of it as well. Aside from my instructors... I can hold my own against most of the guys in the class. Just to avoid misrepresenting myself...I do NOT fight in MMA bouts....just practice the sport in classes. If I ever fought in an MMA bout I'd be more worried about what my wife does to me when I get home than what the guy in the ring is doing