Bretty101

Hi all, So what would be good (free body) exercises to compliment Press ups and sit ups? ie work your back, rear deltoids, lats etc Bretty

I've been doing ITF TKD for years, done WTF for 2 years and Thai boxing for 2 years. Thai boxing is fighting orientated, very powerful, very practical. my trouble is i can dish it out but i can't take the pain. WTF great fast powerfull kicks (not as fighting orientated as thai as it has other factors kata etc) useless when against someone who will punch you in the face. ITF Fast, flicky not as fighting orientated. considered a bit weak as it's 'semi' contact. I'd say do TKD as your foundation art and steal the effective THAI moves and combine the 2. Thai thigh kicks are the most effective kicks i've ever learn. Bretty

Erm... General fighting, anything goes, fighting stance- Feet apart like I'm stood on a bus one foot slightly infront of the other with 50/50 weight distribution. or TKD Bending ready stance. lead leg knee up high sofrom this position i can throw any kick Bill Wallace styleee. Bretty

erm i'll have a go... Always keep your feet parrallel avoid torsion of you knees. ie don't go from front to back splits into side split and vise-versa while you muscles are under tension! I'd recommend sitting on the floor when stretching rather then standing. although you don't have your body weight assisting your stretch it takes a lot of the pressure off you knees as they are supported against the floor. Keep you back straight!! ie chin to toes rather then forehead to your knee. I'd also avoid assymetric and dynamic stretches. Tho they are sold as a get flexible quick method, the price is increased pressure on your joints. Oh and really don't mix jogging with a stretching routine. I think this is the worst thing i ever did to my knees running. Try skipping as an alternative as the shorter range of motion with bend leg tightens/supports the knee. Just what works for me. I've got hyper laxity syndrom so i notice the more dangerous stretches which put stress on my ligaments coz they hurt... Bretty [ This Message was edited by: Bretty101 on 2002-04-16 18:00 ]

So have the official rules changed? I just searched about and got excited when it said new rules but they still say no punches to the face? http://users.primushost.com/~jmont/wtf_rules/#permitted Bretty

...erm, in some ways Okay just my findings... Every muscle in your body has an antagonistic muscle. Basically if one muscle pulls a joint one way, there is another muscle to pull it back. obvious example, bicep/tricep. Bicep bends your arm tricep straightens it, great! Now the problem... In the majority of martial arts you regularly do press ups, obviously pushing away and using your chest n triceps. However you never pull anything to wards you to work your back! Another example a million sit ups but very rarely do you use the muscles in your back to bend the other way! I think these excercises promote an imbalance. So when people wonder why they have back problems and bad postures. maybe this is why! What do you think? I appreciate a lot of instructors don't do any back excercises because of the dangers of damaging peoples backs but do you think they should? Are they important? Does this highlight a need for weight training to compliment your training to give a balance? What would be good excercises to do? Your opinions please Dribble Bretty [ This Message was edited by: Bretty101 on 2002-04-16 06:04 ]

Also worth mentioning... Sit ups especialy ones which stress you lower abs also stress you back. So be very careful, warm up, support your back where you can and avoid jerky movements.

This is quite common as training you upper abs takes less effort then your lower abs. Crunches are easy, sit ups with your knees raised are easy and as well you get a nice burn and it feels good! The lower abs are more difficult to train, as reommended leg lifts take more effort but are what you need or sit ups with people holding your legs so you sit up keeping your back as straight as possible. I've found tho developing my lower abs makes my stomach stick out funny and slightly restricts my kicking often leading to cramp in my hip flexurs when i kick a lot. I'd say try the leg raises (lay on your back and raise both legs straight) ans straight back sit ups. Bretty

The funniest thing i ever saw (i guess you had to be there) Had a bloke turn up claming he'd done boxing while he'd been away from the club anyway he was saying how good he was . Any way later we startd sparring and he takes up a guard with both his gloves just off his chin. So anyway i'm sparring him and realised each time I connected with his forearms he punches him self in the face!! I then punch his gloves and he knocked himself out!! The moral of this story: if your gonna have you hands around your face make sure they are above your chin, or if they are your hands are open so you don't punch yourself out! Bretty

Gum shield and groin guard i refuse to spar without either of them. I keep chipping my teeth and the amount of times i've been kicked in the groin by beginners!! ramcalgary, My best advice to you is stay light on your feet and moving, be like water? I fink if you stay relaxed rather then tense and rigid you'll be able to move far easier with the strikes and not get hurt. As for being afraid, It's sensible to not want to get hit! Bretty

What punches to the face?? Or just to the body pad (thats always been allowed hasn't it?)? Bretty

have a look at Paul Vunak's videos. I watched one of his videos. I think it was called real self defence or something like that. I really don't think it gets more simple and effective then his system. He also teaches the military. I've looked at Kav Maga, but i think a lot of it is just ju jutsu passed off as Krav Maga (i think KM is a bit of a buzz word at the moment). I have friends who are Israeli Para's and they claim a lot of the self defence they are taught involve defending yourslef with an unloaded rifle and defence against the 3 most common arab knife attacks, probably not really what your looking for! Bretty [ This Message was edited by: Bretty101 on 2002-04-15 07:24 ]

Fair enough! the same excercises don't always work for every one! I Got really bad knees mate and i find if i keep my leg straight at all times i don't feel any pain in my knees. I totally agree that doing leg extensions with ankle weights on is really really bad as it's easy to hyper extend. The worst thing i have found fo my knees is unsupported stretches which stress the ligaments in your knees. ie standing stretches and a lot of assymetric stretches. Bretty

:lol: It's okay it's merely a demonstration of flexibility and strength!! Bretty

Bad luck! I just poked Medial Collateral Ligament into a search engine and got loads of nasty looking pictures. Hopes it's not too serious. Don't know what to suggest, I know how you feel tho i've had more then my fair share of injuries just recovered from a really bad ankle sprain. As you know complete rest will make the difference between a recovery of weeks or months. Bretty

I've noticed this too. WTF rely a lot on 45 degree kicks. In which case i rely on my elbow blocks and suddenly they don't kick any more? I think it's coz WTF fighters used there hands to generate torque throught there body to get more power, also by keeping your arms in they contribute to your body weight and make it harder to move. Watch peoples arms when they bounce they move in time. Also part of the reason you keep your arms up is for a fast jab and punchs and also to protect your chin. As WTF has no punchs it don't matter. Let use know which one you find better, arms up or down? Bretty

Top exercise :up: Excellent for balance!! Bretty

Anyone heard of Bill Wallace. :brow: He is all off one leg double kicks and everything. At one of his seminars he explained to me that you aim your first kick (with your toes like using the ball of you foot) right to your opponents knot on the belt. This is right on the bladder and very uncomfortable no matter how many sit ups they've done. This will mean they will have to make an definate effort to bloke it and there's you opening, now bring it up to the face. Lovely. Another one i use. Where you like do a rear leg turning kick but you turn firts then bring the leg up and turn your hips into it so it's like a lead leg kick but from the rear, (i'm getting all confusing now ) Anyway dumby a rear leg front kick to the groin like a big gestured kick but turn it at the last minute into turning kick to the face. This always sees both there arms drop to block the groin kick and you land the turning kick on there chin. Kinda cheating but works a treat. As for how to develope power, practice practice, practice Try it on a kick sheild. Bretty

Bouce for speed and plant you feet for the solid powerful shots. So a bit of both. I bounce coz when i stand still i intimidate my opponents they then tend to tense up and i find it hard to open them up to pick the shots. Good footwork beats everythng!! Bretty

I find when showing people the blitz they tend to try it too square on and wonder why they can't get the acceleration coz they are just trying to run forwards. Try to do it starting form a side on then step over. Another thing this will give you so much speed but will feel really poo at first. Don't push off your rear leg instead bring your lead leg backwards so it's behind your centre f gravity, your body will naturally try and fall forwards, now push off the lead Leg and accelerate forwards at like you said 45degrees. The blitz is my new toy i'm playing with at the moment. Try also not to do your backfist as an arch but straight forwards into your opponents nose then use reverse punch just to set them up for big lead hand ridge hand. If you really want to impress the crowd Keep the ridge hand going round and fire off a reverse turning kick or back kick. Mind you if you a points fighter like me try not to do it too hard Bretty

Hi all, I'd be really suprised if it was easy for an ITF fighter to get the opportunity to compete in the olympics. Lets not forget this is politics-kwon-do we're talking about!!! ITF Bretty

Me well i'm a bit odd. Being a points fighter i fight very side on. Left handed tho being a tall kicker fight at a distance and use it as a good stiff jab. So punch left side forward and flick to right leg forward to kick off my lead leg. I think i'd be amazing if only i had a good right jab. I find it so hard to move me right arm as it always protects my right kidney/ribs. Having got really badly injured fighting years ago i got this unconcious block that won't let me move it. Bretty

I don't think vitamins will effect you stretching as it's a nerve reflex which you are training to over come. It might help with the strength work tho i choose to just eat like a horse. In answer to whether or not this effects my fighting ability i'd saw a big yes! Tho obviously the posing is just for show. with strong legs i tend to kick with just my leg and not my whole body, less effort and quicker recovery. I also rely heavily on downward kicks hook and axe kicks being my 2 most favoured and effective kicks. incoomiiiiing! I've found it helps my punching too. just throwing the leg gives me a quick recovery to follow in with my hands and i also punch and kick people pretty much at the same time. Check out Bill Wallace amazing kicker all from the same raised knee position lightening Bretty

Going off thread me thinks... Scientific method = Assimetric stretching 6-10weeks possible if your highly motivated. My experience Assymetric take effort and space (and my joints don't like em), static stretches are easy, you can relax (which is what it's all about) infront of TV and stretch out no effort or bother, easy ...anyway. back on topic Pelvic alignment. very important!! There is definately a difference between men and women. my observation, Womens splayed hips seem to allow them to go beyond the 180 splits. Me thinks. I think the trouble with pelvic alignment is people arch there back when they stretch. Forehead to knee style. I always recommend people stretch down chin to toes. It straightens the back and although it looks like a less impresive stretch will promote correct pelvic alignment and be better for your back. Dribble Bretty

This is me http://homepage.ntlworld.com/benonline/articl4.jpg can hold that there for just over a minute, balance is the hardest thing. I achieved this using Ankles weights and stretching. Flexibility gives you the potential and range of motion to get the height and strength allows you to hold it there. Every other day Stick your ankle weights on, hold back of a chair (till you get the balance) and slowly raise and lower a straight leg first to the side (foot parrallel to floor!) 20 times. Then to the front (foot upright) 20 times. 3 sets and well the skys the limit. and try and keep your body upright. Oh and my other legs not to bad either http://homepage.ntlworld.com/benonline/articl3.jpg Odd sox Bretty [ This Message was edited by: Bretty101 on 2002-04-05 05:24 ]