wingedsoldier

the best thing to do is to know your opponent and know yourself. when fighting another martial artist, it is important to remember all the techniques and skills you've learned and developed over your training. apply all your knowledge and use good strategy. as martial artist you have to be prepared for any attacker no matter what his style or level of training.

well, what about the guys who are just tall.

in the end, it's all about training and conditioning. strength and conditining take over where knowledge and technique end. many street fighters are well conditioned, and that's their advantage. it is important to have both, as well as mind free of anchors that hold you back.

does anyone have good strategies against larger, taller opponents in sparring/actual combat? i'm fast, but i have trouble breaking through their long reach.

actually, though the ninja came from japan, probably one of the first ninja to appear in that region are the mosuh nanren of china. The original ninja.

i can see where you are coming from. i asked the same questions before i started but i have no regrets. kenpo and kempo are basically two ways to say the same thing. Kenpo utilizes both solid and fluid movements and teaches you defense in a practical and effectiveway. there are different types of kenpo, but i'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess it's the ed parkers system. it's different from karate as far as stance, katas, and techniques go, but the basics are very similar. kenpo is very fast but that is up to the student. i've seen pros and i was amazed at there speed, accuracy, and the amount of vital areas they could strike in under 5 seconds. it sounds like a good school. if you you go i'm sure you'll love it. it also covers you in areas that not many karate or tae kwon do dojos i know of do, such as grappling. but check out the school for yourself and decide if it is the art for you or not.

in the end, a martial art is only as good as the person using it. if the person using it sucks, your martial art will suck. if you're good, there are others just as good or better than you in your art or another.

to answer your question on length, my preference is more midlength, like wakazashi or kodachi because it's more compact and you can sneak around easier. kodachi is also a good defensive weapon. katana is good for melee and gives you a long reach. the smallest is just knife or tanto, and there's a lot you can do with it, but you wouldn't really use it as a primary weapon unless you specialize in knife fighting.

understood. it's a rule that accompanies all techniques i've been taught. so, when you strike a point, is it more of just applying a little pressure or do you strike hard.

i study ed parker system, and i wanted to combine it with dim mak. can you describe the right techniqes for using pressure points and how to apply pressure, speed, etc.

how are you training bone breaks? As for wearing them down, that's a valid strategy in the ring, but sucks for the street. you want to end it ASAP - before any other factors can come into play. not exactly breaking bones. whenever i train at my dojo i like to direct a lot of strikes at the joints. i gotta be fast, accurate, and unpredictable, but it's well within my ability. i'm only and advanced yellow belt so i am still a beginner, but at white belt, he told us where to hit and how hard to hit. never really taught us any techniques specifically, but i know all i need to do it.

true. but i said it once before. a fighters greatest strength may not be the art he studies, but his ability to adapt to the situation and to the opponent. if you can do this, the combat system you study will provide you with the knowledge and capability to handle the problem.

i've been spending a lot of time thinking on how to take on larger opponents. big muscular guys have more stamina and like human tanks. Larger, chubbier opponents can take strikes easy and are harder to take out with pressure points. my main strategies are bone breaking and wearing them down and waiting to strike when i see an opening. each strategy has its weaknesses and leaves me with few options in combat. can anyone make suggestions on what to do.

that's why you take 'em down nice and fast. it's important to get it over within a few seconds rather than prolong the fight. it's dangerous to let a fight continue, even for a skilled and confidant fighter no matter what combat system you use..

i was wondering what would happen if you kicked a boxer. they don't get much practice with downward blocks if i'm correct. wouldn't that be a major weakness?

i wonder what it would be like to combine dim mak and ninjutsu weapons with kenpo....

spar him in medium contact and show him what the martial arts are about.

i prefer to dodge, parry and catch. as soon as you weave, parry his blow, than catch. From there, you can break whatever joint is in the way, put him in a lock, etc.

at my school, advanced students help teach the newbs as assistant instructors. of course, that's not the case right now since we are all beginners.

at my dojo, we have a system where there is and advanced level (avanced white, advanced yellow, etc.) between every new color. are there any other places with such a system?

definitely look in to kenpo. like doubletwist said, it does teach lots of good defense techniques. and depending on what school you go to, you can learn how to even use weapons pretty early on. i'm only an advanced yellow and i'm already fairly proficient with kempo sticks which can be applied to any object with a handle. there will also be knives and defense against knives. but be sure you like the style before you get in to it.

at my school, most of the people who like to fight won't ever strike the groin area. since they probably don't know how to defend against it, they like to shrug it off and call it a cheap shot. that it's not a fair fight. most martial artists i've come across however completely regard it as paranoia on their part. does anyone else here know people like this?

sorry, i misworde it. yes, decrease. i said increase because i was referring to my "ability" to react fast.

i'll post pictures later, but if you want effective hand positions that gaurd your body, i urge you to look into kempo stances. i think jeet kune do also gaurds pretty well. anyway, if those stances were ever seriously used, they wouldn't last too long, i can tell you that now. the time it takes to lift your arm and block will result in a black eye or a broken jaw....

kenpo strikes are fast, hard, and contact your most vulnerable areas. each strike is designed to exploit the weakest areas no matter what stance or form your in. that's it's biggest advantage when used in a fight. i don't see how they can be inneffectine since most targets are close to dangerous or sensitive areas. inneffective is most definately the last thing i'd use to describe it.