baronbvp

I'm interested in training in shoes for practical and hygienic reasons. Does anyone have any favorites?

Like everyone, I prefer not to get hurt. When it happens during training or sparring, so be it. But I won't break any marble slabs or things like that for any test. (Not that I'm anywhere close.) It simply is not worth the risk. Besides, I don't believe in attacking innocent rock...

Have you ever asked him about it point blank? You should. I believe in handling things at the lowest level. Ask him why he doesn't complain when anyone else hits him. If he says it's because you hit harder than anyone else, pat yourself on the back in your mind and graciously offer to help him with his defense.

That's an interesting article. I don't know that I want to leave my pinky out there now, but I might consider it if I get good someday.

Why keep any of your body's weapons unused? I'd do whatever it took to win.

I went and looked at another BJJ school nearby last week when I was choosing one to attend. It is actually conducted in a TKD dojang in Manassas. When I walked in, they had all kinds of modern weapons made out of wood hanging on the wall: pistols, knives, etc. (no skateboards ) They also had the traditional stuff. Made me realize that most of us don't train to the current threat. That is a mistake.

Awesome! I'm stealing that one. I've also heard: "What do you think of (fill in celebrity martial artist here)?" Or my favorite: "Free your mind, Neo."

No graphic discussion, please; I'd like to stay within the user guidelines. I was wondering if any of you change your "routine" when you train. I know some guys abstain, others like to combine activities, and others don't care one way or another. Any preferences, and if so, why?

I could lift heavy on this awesome Hoist Fitness composite motion leg press machine (the CF-2355). I used to lift sets of: 360x12 450x10 540x8 630x6 720x4 540x10 Once I maxed out at 1050 lb, but I had to push on my thighs at the beginning to get the sled moving and avoid knee blowout. Don't be too impressed - I'm slender, 5'11", 175 lb with bird legs. It's all in the weight belt.

Sohan, how do you do burpees with a medicine ball? (And WHY?)

Something else I just thought of: have you ever regretted going afterward when you made yourself go? Not me. That is the greatest inspiration when I'm lethargic, whether it's for class or to workout at home - after I train, I'm always glad I did.

This morning I felt like not going to my Muay Thai class. But I went anyway. My instructor was not there, so I trained with the only other three guys who showed up. In a way, it was better. We trained what we wanted, when we wanted, with each other without the pressure of oversight. I got a lot out of it.

Weightlifting is one way. Add strength and power exercises, even to your aerobics. For instance, do punching with dumbbells. Ride a stationary or regular bike with ankle weights. (Don't run in them, though, because of the pounding.) Do situps or crunches with weight on your chest. I'll bet if you Google "anaerobic exercise" you can find a lot.

I just bought the book Stretching by Bob Anderson. It looks great and I can't wait to try the stretches. One nice feature is a section that shows quick stretches to do before and after various kinds of sports. There are a couple of pages for martial arts. I will also use the hip, groin, leg, and back stretches from the front of the book.

I can't even side kick a hip! I can't do side kicks to save the world. My flexibility sucks too. I just bought the book Stretching by Bob Anderson. Now I have to do the work...

You may also do them better due to increased dynamic stretching of your muscles over static stretch. My static kicks are not as good as the dynamic ones. "An object in motion tends to remain in motion."

Just came back from Muay Thai class, but the instructor wasn't there. Only four of us showed up, so we all just trained together for over an hour. 15 minute warmup including running, shadow boxing, and lots of stretching. Focused on my hips - ouch! I suck. When sitting with the soles of my feet together, my legs are at 45 degree angles off the floor. No chance of touching my knees to the floor. Man. It will get better, but I have a long way to go. We took turns punching the standup floor heavy bag for a minute each to get started. I also practiced your gouge, Bushido Man, on how to practice my low round kick. If I turn my hips correctly, I can only kick about a foot or two off the floor. When I kick higher, instead of contacting with the shin bone at the 12 o'clock position on my leg, I hit with the inside 1 o'clock (left leg) or 11 o'clock position. Ineffective! However, I realized as usual that form is more important than anything else, so I will focus on correct technique. Right now, I can kick the top off of a daisy perhaps, or maybe kick off a sprinkler head. It hurts to roll my hips like that, but I focus on pivoting my support foot and rolling my hips and keeping my kicking leg stiff as I swing toward the target, contacting with the knife edge of my lower shin bone after the apex of the circle. My teep kick is good, though. I can also do a spinning back kick, but I need to improve my coordination. After the minute each on the heavy bag, we paired up and did jab practice against a partner for two minutes each, switching stances after the first minute. Your partner calls out randomly how many jabs to throw (from 1-3) against their glove. It's fast. We followed that immediately by low kicks to our partner's thigh for a minute each side, each stance. That shin bone hurts when used correctly! Great for toughening up the thighs and practicing contact for the attacker. Bruises, schmoozes. We then sparred light contact against a partner for 2 minutes each, switching stances after one minute. Glad I had my cup and mouthguard. I connected fairly often as did he. Among other things, I took a good punch to the face. Got a great round kick to his body about four feet up - yay! Immediately took a punch to the body, then punched him in the chin, then we clinched and kneed each other followed by some hooks to the body. Connected with my first uppercut. I like this! We then did pyramid against the heavy bag: 1 minute, 1.5 minute, 2 minutes, etc. We started with one minute of full contact aggressive attacks with almost constant assault. Cycle in the next guy. Next turn, we did 30 seconds of punches and elbows, followed by 30 seconds of kicks and knees, followed by 30 seconds of full combinations. I did some back elbows and backfists that these guys hadn't seen - thank you, shorin ryu. After this drill, I was whupped. The other three guys were all 17-19, so this 45 year old stopped after an hour and 15 minutes. Snow is forecast to come Tuesday, so I hope we have class on Wednesday. In the meantime, I will look into buying a standup heavy bag for my home gym to practice my kicks. Thanks, Bushido Man. VR, Baron

That would keep your chin down, which is good, but I don't like looking down that much.

I hope that works and they are successful.

Exaggerated works for me. I can worry about not telegraphing it once I've learned how to do it. That sounds great, I'll give it a try, thanks. My instructor says to keep your guard up when kicking, but the instructors at the new school are more into swinging the arms to add power and swivel to the kicks.

Good call on both counts.

No way! Guys do that too? What is wrong with people? MMA isn't any more brutal than boxing.

I'm still finding it difficult to get my hips into my kicks, even the low kicks. Any advice?

Bummer. Is there nothing you can do in your area other than TKD that would be easier on your knees?

I would say yes, but you'd better grow a varsity mustache like the guys from the 20's.