DKizzle

Joe Lewis is coming to my Kenpo school and doing a 2 hour seminar next Wednesay! Only 30 bucks too. Not sure exactly what the seminar is on but I'll surely be going. Anyone else ever learned from him?

Yes, this sounds quite suspicious. The 2nd ranking instructor at my school is 7th Dan and has been training for 35 years.

It does not require state of the art technology to speed up one part of a video. You film the trees moving for the correct amount of time with nobody there, then film a guy in front of a green screen and use the trees as a background. Really easy to do, I've done it for school projects. However, I can believe this is real.

It looks very similar to Kenpo, only the guy's form is really not very good. He doesn't sink into any of his stances hardly at all.

That was hardly a fight. He was crying like a baby. Kind of pathetic. It was a freaking pillow. I've taken stomps to the groin and not cried.

I agree with all that's been said to some extent. Running is good if necessary, but it will not solve your problem. White Warlock makes a good point about sticking to what you know. And I find myself in a (somewhat) similar position. There is a kid at my school who was at one point physically and verbally harassing my girlfriend. I waited for him outside his homeroom and calmly told him that I wanted him to stop, or there would be consequences. He stopped for a week or so, and then resumed the harassment. I then waited for him again, and told him (much less nicely) that I was going to beat the crap out of him if I ever heard that he laid a hand on her again. Then he starts sizing me up whenever he sees me, and I think he's going to try and do something. Main difference is this kid is small and wimpy and not at all initimidating to me.

Hopefully would never find myself in that position. I'd probably run. If I had to fight, I would try to get my targets lined up by moving around them before going in and out with quick, powerful thrust attacks. Maybe knock a trash can at them or something, anything to get them distracted so I could run. But seriously, if you're lower than 6th Dan and think you can fight 3 people, 2 trained, and win, you're deluded.

When I began in Kenpo, I was lucky if I could do 3. Unfortunately, I never really worked at it much, but have just recently started doing them nightly. I'm up to 25 now. At my school, people my age (15) get push up awards for 35, 50, and 70 (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced). So I have a long way to go.

I agree with the things you have said. Yes, those people at my school are utterly convinced they are right, and are given a "dose of humility" by the teacher, often quite painfully. I was using the 'considerably higher ranked' thing just as a general description. I would describe someone who has studied 30 years as highly ranked, as that is almost as long as my teacher has been studying (35 years). I just used that since most systems use the belt ranks. As for testing what you have learned with people who have not been trained, I do that as well. In school I will ask friends questions and work stuff with them, same with my siblings and parents sometimes. But I can't remember a time that something was just clearly wrong or ineffective. Maybe my style is just really good, I don't know. I do know that the teacher I learn from is not one of those martial artists who end up getting beat by some guy, as I have personally seen him be attacked in public, and it did not end up well for the other guy. So, perhaps my advice was drawn solely from my personal experience, rather than what would work for most.

My whole point was that if they are considerably higher-ranked than you, you're not. And I said asking questions was fine. Just don't be a jerk thinking you're the one who's right, not the 7th Degree Black Belt teaching you. We have a couple of clowns at our school who like to think they're right.

I agree with Number 1, but not really Number 2. Just because a style has 12 belt ranks before Black does not make it inherently bad, though it is often the case. And #3, there are plenty of good American martial artists. Ed Parker (Hawaiian, technically American, right?), current Kenpo Grandmaster Larry Tatum. This last statement is just ridiculous. So people that are American shouldn't be promoted past 8th?

Our school, as far as I know, doesn't require you to do anything to keep your rank, but if you leave for a long time you are required to attend a certain number of lower rank classes (though you can still wear your old belt). And we have had students demoted or Brown Belts made to wear a White/Yellow/Orange Belt for a couple weeks.

I'm completely for asking the questions, but in my case that means being prepared to learn how they work. And my point was that if they're considerably more advanced than you (Me = Blue, Instructor = 7th/8th Degree, depending who's teaching), don't believe that you're right.

The way some people seem to talk it's as if you'll be attacked 100 times a year. Fact is, unless you live in the worst neighbourhoods in the world many will never face a threatning confrontation ever and even less a life or death situation. So those who put the red light on enjoyable things (no matter what those things are) in life for fear of such a situation to happen might miss some fun moments. If you choose not to drink, great for you, but I hope the reason is a more valid one than the one of being on guard all the time with 100% of your reflexes ready for action. You guys will die from stress!! You should learn to relax a bit. I do relax. In fact, I preach that very message about the need to relax instead of getting worked up about stupid things (like 10 question fill in the blank quizzes, which some of my friends stay up all night studying for). Or, better yet, never getting worked up over anything. But you don't need alcohol to relax. Alcohol is for people who can't handle reality or want to escape it. It affects your judgment and reflexes no matter what. It's not just in preparation for a fight. I can't stand loss of control of my own body.

It would depend on who this upper belt is. From my experience, if you find yourself disagreeing with the Sensei, you are wrong. I have never seen anything to contradict this. Whenever someone in our classes has a question, the instuctor then demonstrates it on the person who asked. It usually hurts, and the teacher was always right. Bottom line: If you want to say "That wouldn't work..." or "I would just do this or that if you tried that against me", don't.

Man I really wish my school had Martial Arts teams.

I am glad that I was fortunate enough to receive 2 private lessons from a 6th Degree (now 7th) Black Belt before I began Kenpo. Thankfully, he told me that, starting in my teenage years as I was, I would have problems like these. And I did. I couldn't even do a shifting punch properly until some way into Yellow Belt. Now at Blue Belt, I have received a number of comments from instructors about how much my coordination has improved and I can now perform complex footwork with little effort. Advice: Stick with it, coordination will develop.

I know that. But I know people who don't believe that "visualizing" helps anything.

That would be my guess, but then you always get the clowns who say stuff like "There's nothing other than physical force, no energy! LOLZ!! ".

I know the board was no less weak than a normal board for breaking. He did it with a punch, and it was slow motion. That's what has me most intrigued is the slowness. I don't even know how that's possible.

Looking to impress someone in fight usually precludes you get'n beat half to death...or worse. Save flash for demo's when you're trying to recruit. If your school is teaching flash as a self defense technique, I feel sorry for you. Did you even read my post? I said IF YOU CAN NAIL IT PERFECTLY, as in, if you can do a showy move as well as a regular one there is absolutely no reason to not use it. So if I can do a jump spin crescent kick as well as I can do a front kick(and I know people who can) and I still get beaten to death, I would have no matter what move I used. That being said, if you haven't gotten showy moves nailed, don't do them.

Just this past Wednesday I attended a big Black Belt Promotion here. Two of the instructors at my school went up to 7th Degree. At the end of the show, the head instructor of our school, Jim Clapp (8th Degree) demonstrated breaking a board in slow motion with an egg in his hand, then with a lightbulb. How is this done? I don't expect to learn it or anything, but I'd like to know a little information about the principle.

Yes, you will generally tend to use more frequently the moves that are most comfortable for you. At first, I found my self doing a whole lot of heavy roundhouse kicks. Though they'd hurt you, it was predictable. Ask your Master for advice or just try to work moves you're less comfortable with.

I have a friend who's grown up in some bad circumstances and he, until recently, was into all kinds of trouble all the time. Fortunately, he's now better, though he still lives downtown, he's studying and getting really good grades and all that. Anyway, he's been in his share of street fights, and I can always get a pretty good gauge from him on what he thinks works and what doesn't. It's good to have the perspective. I find that Kenpo is really good with practical application, with a bit of showiness mixed in. After all, if you can nail a spinning hook or crescent kick perfectly (or with a jump = even better), there's no reason not to use it. It's impressive when done right, and if you're good at it it's no different than any other kick.

I like to avoid adrenaline really. I hate the heart beating hard and all that other stuff. I'd rather have my mind clear and able to make the judgments necessary for any situation, fighting or not. I'm like White Warlock, adrenaline makes me feel weaker sometimes.