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Good points. I also think that the utility of the move isn't as good as other moves. Most knife hand strikes are going to come in the form of either a downward strike, or in an arc from the sides, with the palm up or down. I think that the hook punch is probably more effective in this case for MMA fighters than the open hand would be. This is what I was going to point out. The angles that make a knife hand effective open you up for takedowns while in the clinch. In clinch work you need to remain very compact. The general rule is not to cross your body with a limb while in the clinch (it allows your opponent to take your back). This is why you see more knees, elbows and uppercuts from this position. They are short and don't give the opponent alot to work with. In general, because the atheletes tend to keep their chin tucked and shoulders up, a shuto (knife hand) isn't going to be very effective in MMA. You would be more likely to end up hitting the outside of the shoulder or top portion of the side of the head. I do believe that it's great against the lay person who isn't trained to keep the neck and chin protected.

Yes. A typical board for breaking (12x8x1 I think). It bruised the tip of my middle finger though.

They should compliment very well. When a person starts getting hit, they tend to respond in one of three ways. 1. Get knocked out/ down 2. Run away/ back off 3. Rush in a grab The third situation is the one you want to constantly think about when training Judo. Once you have a good feel for the throws, try to start training the ones that lace well with your strikes. For example: Jab, cross (the guy comes in to grab), turn and perform uchi matta (inner thigh throw). Besides that, isn't part of JKD philosophy about using anything that works for you?

Not much. The average pro mma guy makes about 600 per fight. We have a guy who is considering some fights in Mexico because they guarntee 2000/fight. In the UFC the purses are much higher. I would imagine several thousand for each fighter. Being a pro fighter is tough work and unless you're really good, you don't get much pay.

Yup, crappy rule. Clearly made to keep the tournament more flashy. Sorry to hear about that.

It's hard to answer your question because your question is so general. That is, there are so many tournaments with a wide variety of rule sets. Give us a better idea of what the tournament rules are please.

And that puts you ahead of many millions of other practitioners who just train and don't know why. Now you are truly free to work on mastering the art and making it part of you as opposed to copying someone elses movements and thoughts. congratulations.

When I was studying Yagu Ryu, Viol Sensei would make the same points. It was a great philosophy for me at the time (I was still in the army then). It really put the warrior philosophy in perspective. I'm glad you brought this up. Thank you.

I know what you mean when it comes to switching styles. I went from being a 3rd degree in Kung Fu to training as a white belt in TKD at one point (even though they would have allowed me to wear a black belt). Additionally, I enjoy revisiting the basic techniques and concepts often to make sure they are still solid. Kinda like checking the foundation of your house for leaks and cracks. With BJJ (and every martial art I've trained) I hit plateaus. You feel like you're getting no where. Then, sometimes suddenly, you just figure something out and you get way better. So I see it like this. If you go from one ma to another, you start over. When it's training within the same ma, it's just revisiting. You go back to the basics and look for the subtleties you missed the first time around.

No doubt, he certainly has a unique style.

I agree 100% with everything here. Especially if the only reason a person practices is for self defense. A small number of techniques (movements/habits) that cover a broad number of situations is best. It gives them less to choose from in an actual defense situation, which can often be a problem.

You're right. They are paying to learn martial arts. What's it matter if they learn a reverse punch from a black belt or a green belt? As long as it's taught properly.

That type of system has merit. However, it is certainly not for everyone. I grappled a guy who was attempting to use it a while back. He was an Eddie Bravo purple belt. All he did was make it annoying for me to pass the guard. He just wasn't flexible enough to make the rubber guard work for him. As far as the half guard stuff...I prefer Saulo Ribeiro's methods.

In ideal circumstances it might take 2-3 seconds to work, but in realistically it would probably take alot longer with a setup, then struggling to sink it in etc. And that assumes you sink it correctly. All time that you could be getting stomped by his friends, allowing him to pull a weapon if your commiting both hands/arms to the choke, or you could spend it doing something else like getting up, or striking to cause pain/compliance instantly. In a high danger situation, perhaps. If you have the presence of mind and finesse to pull those off, then i can see how they would work. But consider a bar fight, does it really warrent causing ligament damage or breaking bones? Or a group attack, or 1 guy with a weapon, do you have the time, situational positioning to perform such a technique? When you could be getting back up and increasing your chances of escaping? I certainly understand what you're saying. However, the same argument can be made about any type of technique. This is why we train over and over again. Boxing punches are probably the best way to punch an attacker (they can be easily modified to use palm heel also). However, just knowing them isn't enough to make them effective. They must be trained. Many people like to use the natural startle reactions of the human body. That's a great idea and works. However, what you do afterward must be trained. No matter how you cut it or what system you choose to study, it is always about creating and utilizing habits. You want to get rid of the poor habits and re form what are considered better habits. In the end, whoever has the best habits will win in a one on one situation. Having good habits such as avoiding being out by yourself, not being impaired, avoiding bad situations make your chances even better. As far as sinking in a choke...it's not difficult. Very large guys come in all the time and always want to demonstrate how tough they think they are. Now this is far from a deadly situation of course. But I find the chokes are the easiest thing to get. Many people have the natural habit to turn away from strikes, which gives up the back. Within a moment I can have a normal, untrained, tough guy incapacitated. Start us on the feet and it happens even more quickly (one good low line round house can often put them on their 4th point of contact). As far as breaking bones/ harming ligaments in a bar fight...yes. That's one of the most dangerous situations to be in. Bottles flying and an unknown set of enemies...you need to dispatch with threats quickly on your way to the door. I'd prefer not to go to the ground in that type of situation. To that end, it's not really fair to ask about ground grappling when you're talking about a bar fight. Clinch work is probably more effective in that situation. Keep in mind, a smart Jiujitsu fighter only uses ground techniques when he's on the ground. And they are easily used against someone who doesn't understand the art. I really understand where you're coming from in your arguments. 10 years ago I actually wrote a 12 page paper on "Why grappling is ineffective." That was before I actually experienced it first hand. Now BJJ is incorporated into my personal fighting style.

I think that, overall, the familiarity with being on the ground is a great psychological advantage if you end up there. I would say that chokes are certainly more effective than any other submissions. The reason for that is they can completely incapacitate the attacker. It takes only a few seconds for a properly applied choke to work. The second types of effective submissions would be kneebars, ankle locks, toe holds and heel hooks. This is because they are performed at distance from the opponents grip and leave the opponent with a very limited capacity for movement afterward. As you've already mentioned, the understanding and ability to gain superior position is the most important thing. That's why there's the saying, "Position before submission." As Bushido mentioned, knowing how to get up is important as well. From the wrestling standpoint: knowing how to defend being taken down is important. It develops an excellent base. Of course, the reason any of it is effective is because it's all practiced at 100% effort.

Lots of good info here. But you would be surprised how big a differance adrenaline makes. Your basic feeling of being tired will go away very fast. I'm willing to bet you could get into one of the places inside the complex. A general rule is to attempt to always run before confronting an enemy. Especially if there are more than one. If you have the option, run.

To start, it's important to remember how new the belt and dan system is. Jigoro Kano created it in order to better standardize how to know a person's skill level. As Kano was the founder of the art (Judo), it was decided that no student could ever outrank him. As more and more students earned black belt, the dan ranks were added in order to keep their teachers above them (regardless of actual skill level). Kano finally halted the insanity at 10th dan. His students wanted to elevate him to 11th dan, but he refused. Since that time, nearly every martial art has adopted the rank system in some manner or another. For the most part, the dan ranks up to about 3rd or 4th dan can be used to determine who is actually more skilled (usually because these people are still in their physical prime and able to execute a larger range of techniques with a high degree of skill). As you go up to 5th degree and beyond, the skill level is usually (I repeat usually) not necessarily higher. However, the insight into the finer points of the art are often better understood by the higher ranking people due to a larger experience level. I hope that helps a little.

I think that RBSD training, especially as Cross has presented it, is great training. Perhaps my experiences are rare, but of the 4 schools I've trained in, all of them did this and none were called RBSD schools. One was a Kung Fu School, two were shotokan schools, and the one I'm at now is a BJJ school. There's a huge problem with this training, however. It's intense. This is what makes it both effective and not for everyone. It's fair to say that not everyone who enters a martial arts school is interested in this type of training. Many want to THINK they can fight and defend themselves without ever REALLY doing it. Because of this, the type of training on cross' videos is usually only done by a small percentage of those who train. That said, especially here in the states, that type of training, while effective, is not very marketable and gains only a few students. I actually get together with a few guys from other schools to do it. For those who ask what good BJJ is, look at the knife drills. At one point the shirtless guy uses a crucifix neck crank. When they are mounted with a knife, knowing a modified elbow escape would get him out of they guys legs (with positive control of the knife). Too many people watch MMA or tournaments and think that it's what BJJ is about. The fact is that BJJ was developed for the streets of Rio (which are still extremely dangerous). Dealing with knives was an everyday thing. I actually get annoyed when I see a BJJ school focus on nothing but sport applications. To answer an earlier question, for an attacker attempting to stab you (standing) an armbar wouldn't be so great. But a kimura or keylock are wonderful.

To better clarify my first post: Aikido has alot to offer. Excellent command of your body, body shifting (tai sabaki), footwork, distancing, and it has a calm and scerene philosophy. However, I feel it's weakness is in the total compliance of the opponents. There are a few times where the tori completely misses the uki and the guy goes down anyway. That just doesn't make sense to me.

Lots of training on how to fall will be first. You'll also learn some basic grips and several drills for overcoming your opponent's balance. If you fall well, they may begin to teach you some basic throws. Judo is lots of fun. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

While it would be cool to train with Steven Segal,...It looks very fake to me. Not unlike the "chi master" videos. There's not reason for the guys to let go of him when he just shrugs his shoulders.

It's all about strategy. Good job. Way to gut it out.

Bushido, You could always affiliate with one of the great instructors out there. Then you could bring them in once or twice a year and practice their stuff between that time. As far as who to go with... it's hard to mess up. Machado, Gracie, Sauer, Ribeiro, Maguilla ect... Just do some research. Some are pricier than others. It's worth while and most will be happy to come to schools that are primarily Karate schools. If something like that were to interest you...

That's Awesome!!! Sounds like fun. I love the Machado Brothers. If I'm ever on the west coast, I will surely look them up.

ATA is the American version of GKR. They do not go door to door however. It is a system of Tae Kwon Do. They specialize in working with children. Many people do not like them because they are expensive and they promote extremely fast. They also have a program for XMA. I will admit, however, I went in and asked what thier mission and goals are. They said, "we want to promote physical fitness through the use of martial arts techniques." So, IMO, they are pretty up front that martial skill is not a huge priority. Here's the website: http://www.ataonline.com/