Dragn

Yeah that sure is fast, but is it usefull? Theres no power in those strikes. Even if he did connect with them, theres no force behind them to be of much effect. I think some MArtists get caught up in this kind of technical prowess and forget about the realistic applications of technique against a resisting opponent. To me its impressive but pointless. Just my opinion.

Have a look at the wmtc website. They have a camp in Koh Samui which would be a good place to start with your experience. There was a good site called muaythailand.com but its down at the moment. I had a bunch of links but lost them when my computer crashed. Not much help am I! Maybe take a look at axkickboxing.com. Might find some info there. Otherwise just do a search for muaythai camps. There are quite a few with English sites, and any of them will take you on regardless of age. They want your money! Lots of people of various ages and ability are training in Thailand. Go for it, its a great experience.

Yeah alot of sports trainers are starting to say that aerobic training just isnt really a priority for intense sports like ours. It can possibly be detrimental in some areas. Sparring and bag work is a good example. If you always spar round after round pushing to the limit, till you're fighting tired and sloppy, then thats the kind of movement your body remembers. You develop sloppy habits. I'm speaking from experience on that one! Better to include days where you keep it short, sharp and intense for just a few rounds. I'm trying to develop a more scientific approach to my training these days . Problem is that theres just so many conflicting opinions out there. Even the experts cant agree.

Its going well. I cleaned up my diet and cut back on a few callories. Added a bit more cardio, and started eating dinner early, before training. I used to eat a big meal after training at around 11pm and go to bed. So everything was turning to fat. In only a week I'm already down to 71kg. The fights been moved forward to July 30, but I'll be fine. I was planning to drop the weight training next week. Its just too hard trying to keep up a weight program AND train 4 days in the dojo AND do extra conditioning work to prepare for a fight. For me stamina is more of an issue than strength, so I replace my weight workouts with anaerobic bodyweight drills and interval training. Theres only so much time in a day. Not long enough to do everything I want. Trying to put together a good ballance of skill/strength/stamina workouts is a real art, which I'm still learning to understand.

Yeah I'm gonna have to do something about my poor diet arent I. If it means less time in the sauna suit then its worth the effort. I've had my own weight room set up for over a year now but hardly ever used it. Then I started using it to rehabilitate a couple of injuries last month and got into the habit. I'm not pushing it too hard though, mainly working on strengthening connective tissue. I was planning to knock it off 4 weeks before the fight to focus more on my stamina. Thanks.

My teacher is a 4th dan in Daidojuku, and previous All Japan champion. Hes also a liscensed boxing trainer and has spent at least 10+ years training and fighting Muay Thai.

Why do you advise nothing too strenuous? The weigh-in is on the day of the fight, so I dont think the sauna is possible. With my back tattoo they wont let me in saunas here anyway. Its an anti yakuza policy that screws anybody with tats. I know many fighters drop alot for fights. I'm just trying to avoid all that jumping rope in a sauna suit every day leading up to the fight, during the blistering hot summer. I see one of my sempai doing that and I feel less and less enthusiastic about the whole thing. Thanks for the tips.

No, this time I'm fighting amature kickboxing again. In between Daidojuku fights I try to get experience in kickboxing. The more ring experience I get, the stronger I get, so I'm trying to compete every 3 months. Groin strikes are only allowed in Daidojuku in the open weight division when there is a significant difference in the size of the competetors. I must say I'm REALLY not too fond of that rule! I'll be competing in the daidojuku open in October. I'll have to try and put weight on again for that!

I've always been a lean 70 kgs, but the past year I've put on the extra 4. Some of its muscle, but I could definately lose some fat from my waist line. I dont have that hard cut core that I used to. Not taking creatine. Heard it will put the weight on. Just taking multi vits for athletes from the colgan institute, and BCAAs after training. I'm doing a pretty hard 2 ~3 hrs in the dojo 4 days a week. Shadow, pads, techs, sparring, heavy bag, grappling, abs,etc Jogging 3 mornings Just started weights again last month.3 days a week. I dont really follow a diet. I'm terrible with food. Lots of convenience store "bentos" and fried food. Basicly I've just started cutting down on the amount I eat.

I've got a fight at end of August. I'm 73~74 kgs. I want to fight in the under 70kg division. So I've got 2 months to lose 4 kgs. Has anyone got any tips for dropping weight for a fight? Interested in hearing experiences about this as I have none. I've spent most of my life trying to gain weight, so this is a bit new to me.

My teacher put a newspaper clipping up on the dojo wall the other day. A good friend of his, Mr Ono, just won the Japanese feather weight Kickboxing title. He started training at 29 and now ten years later hes the champion at 39. Never give up on your dreams. Or you risk spending your life wondering if you could have done it, and feeling the emptiness and regret of never having tried.

I basicly agree with the original post. Here in Japan thats pretty much the accepted view. Each way is classified by either a do or a jutsu, or as kakutogi (fighting sport). Then there are hyoen( performance) styles, and action teams(stunt, action martial arts) There really isnt 1 all inclusive term to recognise them all together, like the English term Martial Arts. Thats why I find arguments over "what is a martial art" , based on English dictionary definitions of the term "martial", somewhat amusing. There are different expressions and ways for different purposes. And its so much easier when they have their own defining term. Of course problems do arise when a certain art has elements of 2 or 3 ways all combined. Then its just up to you on which term you use. My training has encompased aspects from all the diferent groups, but when someone asks me what I do, I define it as Budo.

I dont understand why it has to be one or the other. To be an effective fighter you need to be able to move in all directions, according to the situation at hand. Including backward. Limiting yourself to just one method of movement makes no sense to me. I hate it when some kyokushin fighters stand pushing up against each other refusing to move back but unable to grab either. Like a couple of bulls refusing to give ground. It just looks so rediculous to me. Kazumi sensei is a kyokushin fighter who used sabaki well. I really enjoyed watching him fight.

Theyre obviously trying to mix TKD and Muay Thai. But they werent very skilled. Looked like typical amature kick boxing, with a strong TKD influence. Lots of flayling arms and lack of balance. I can see plenty of that watching old videos of myself.Haha. If they are supposed to be pros then they obviously need some better trainers.

If you plan to teach over here then having a university degree will really help in getting a job as a teacher. Doesnt have to be a teaching degree. Anything is fine. So aparently if you have a BA in engineering it makes you more qualified to teach English. If you dont have one then I suggest you look into what the Thais can put together for you while you're there. Theyre quite accomplished at making fake imitations of all kinds of things. Beleive me it will really make a difference to your prospects here.

Comming to Japan? Where do you plan on going over here? I'm in Tokyo.

The idea that the karate punch has more power than a boxers straight right is not true. I remember reading that A famous karate master was quite depressed when they tested the power of his punches compared with that of a boxers and found the boxer could hit harder. I couldnt verify that though. But from my own experience in both arts I'd have to agree. Both use pushing off the floor to drive the hips. But Karate keeps the rear leg straight and foot flat, which actually limits the amount of hip you can get into the movement, whereas a boxers straight bends the rear knee allowing for better hip rotation, and therefore more power. It also uses better shoulder drive. Karate styles tend to snap the hips back on impact, whereas a boxers straight has more drive through. Add to this the fact that karate punching from the hip requires you drop your hand leaving you open and making it slower. These are some of the reasons why modern full contact styles use boxing style punches rather than traditional.

The tournament was yesterday. The day before my fight I found out that my opponent had pulled out and got word that his replacement was to be a French guy who was a green belt. I was really thanking my lucky stars! Then on the morning of the fight I was offically notified that my opponent would in fact be the Osaka area champion. An experienced fighter and Japanese rep in the last world champs. Probably one of the toughest guys in my weight class. Out of the frying pan...... I had been pretty nervous even before I heard that news, but after it, my confidence started to go down hill. I tried to stay positive and determined, but what my head was saying and what my gut was feeling were 2 different things. Even when warming up on the pads I couldnt seem to get my usual power. Body felt weak and ran out of energy real fast. I dont know if the sleeping pill I took the night before to help my insomnia may have had a bad effect or if it was just nerves. When I got in the ring I just wasnt feeling confident. In retrospect I had lost before I even began. I didnt do too badly though. I actually managed to land a few good blows and we were pretty even in stand up. But on the ground he was all over me. He managed to get on top of me in the mount pos and score a point. I wasnt able to land anything solid enough in retaliation and so I lost. It isnt so much the losing that bothers me though. Its more the fact that I let my nerves get the better of me, and didnt do what I was capable of. I dont know why, but I threw a bunch of spinning back kicks, and hardly any round kicks. What was I thinking!?':roll:' Everybody said I just wasnt fighting like I usually do. I was stiff and hesitant. Pressure got the better of me. My opponent ended up making it through to the finals where Ono sempai from my dojo defeated him and won. Ono has been competing in this national champs for 10 years now and he finally got 1st place. So he and everyone from our dojo were totally stoked. He had some really tough opponents too. 1 a pro shoot fighter, and another was last years champ. There will be more than a few celebration beers chugged down this weekend! Well anyway I'm glad I got to compete this year. It was a real learning experience. Some other fighters actually gave me some nice complements.Even though my performance was very poor for me. Next year I'll be back stronger and more experienced to give it a real serious bash.

Well I havent been able to train as hard as I would have liked. My busy work schedule has been a bit of an obstacle. I havent done as much running as I should have. But I have managed to put in a good hard 3hrs a day 5 days a week, at the dojo. Really pushing myself past my limits on the pads and heavy bag has done alot for my stamina. Getting pushed to the point where it takes a big effort just to keep my hands up, and throwing a hard punch or kick is painfull, and then getting forced past that point , to where only shear will power and kiai keep me going. Something snaps inside and I almost go into a state of rage, a surge of energy rises up, pushing me past what I thought my limit was. After which I'm almost ready to pass out from exhaustion. It takes all my effort just to stay standing. I know my sensei would force me to stand even if I keeled over anyway. Sparring has been hard too. Some days sparring everyone in the dojo, each one fresh. Other days just going really hard with my sensei and Ono sempai. Both of them totally out class me, but by pushing myself towards their level ,my skills have made a very noticable improvement. Other sempai who inspired me with their sparring skills when I first joined, are now finding it difficult to match me in sparring. The difference between those who actively compete, and those who dont, becomes noticeable. When you know you are going to face a top class fighter in an upcomming fight, the drive to excell pushes you beyond the efforts of your piers. Even just for that reason alone, competition can be of value. I've also received alot of personal instruction from my sensei, which I wouldnt have had if it wasnt for this competition. All my sempai have been really supportive in helping me prepare, offering valuable advice and acting as sparring partners. I just hope I can put on a good fight. I hadnt expected to be competing in the Hokutoki this year, so I feel somewhat ill prepared. If only I had pushed myself just a bit harder the past year! I've found out that my first opponent is the Kyushu champion. A former prodege' of my own sensei and a veteran fighter. No easy challenge! But I'm determined to get in there and beat him. Well as the total underdog in this tournament I've got nothing to loose and everything to gain. 1 week to go.....

I've never heard steroid use mentioned in my circles, and I train with a number of professional kickboxers. But then I've never brought it up. Personally I dont feel the need for it. If you train hard but smart you shouldn't need to resort to drugs. Too many negative consequences, and just not the way of a true budoka. Winning isnt everything. Its the experienced gained from competition which is truely valuable. The only situation where I can see steroid use being necessarry would be in Professional MMA heavyweight divisions where its important to put on the bulk while maintaining high intensity MA workouts, which is not easy to do. For most of us the most difficult thing is constant injuries from sparring, interfering with our training. As far as I know steroids cant stop you from getting injured.

Sap certainly is very big and very strong. But his skills are pretty poor. His stamina is terrible, and he lacks fighting spirit. Still he did take out Ernst Hoost, 4 times K1 champ. That shows how far size and power can go. Then Cro cop took him out with a right hand that ruptured his retina. I've been watching his fights for years though, and I'm pretty tired of these big guys with mediocre skills that K1 brings in for spectacle value. I wish he would go to the UFC! You gotta hand it to him though, he really made a fortune here.

Nah, Its nothing. I've never felt scared to walk anywhere at any time. The most dangerous part is Probably Roppongi where all the foreigners hang out. I occasionally got into fights with drunken navy guys there years ago when I worked in bars. These days I rarely go there. That incident with Genki was pretty rare. Every once in a while you hear about some guy going phsycho with a knife in a train station. But most of the violent crime is aimed at women and young children.

Man that sucks! So many people get injured in scooter accidents over there! Oh well enjoy your holiday anyway. So how would you rate the level of instruction? Were you getting lots of advice on technique? Are there any good fighters training there? I'm considering Phuket for my next trip, but I havent heard any reviews about the camps there. So I'm interested in your impressions. Thanks.

I havent been in a street fight in 10 years. Living in Japan its not exactly a very dangerous society. I think I'm probably the most dangerous guy around my neighbourhood.LOL! So self defence isnt that big an issue in my training anymore. But I just love to train and to push my boundaries. Competition is a big focus for me right now as it provides an intense chalenge, forcing me to overcome my limitations and really discover my potential. But after I retire from competition I'll still keep on training. I'm hooked for life.

Yeah we're all eagerly waiting to here about your little adventure Ben. Whats up? Has the training got you so beat, you cant move your fingers over a key board?