DKizzle

I have never done anything outside of class to improve reflexes, mainly due to the fact that I never knew any drills. But we must be doing something in class that helps since my reflexes are real quick and I used to be nothing like that. I do juggle sometimes when I'm bored though. That might help.

I also do that sometimes, I find it's quite good.

I'm not an expert on this, but I've always found my punches are far more explosive if I have the heel of my back foot off the floor, braced, and ready to spring.

I am against learning board breaking at too young an age. Now, whether 15 is too young is a debate I don't have an opinion or any real knowledge on. All I know is that when I was younger I did 4 years of TKD at a McDojo, and at some point, either I was taught wrong or messed up, because I have occasional wrist problems which I never had before "learning" to break boards there.

I began Kenpo in May 2004, and just got my Blue (White Stripe) belt last month.

Yeah, I absolutely refuse to allow myself to lose any of my reflexes or judgement or whatever. That's a good way to end up in a bad position.

You are definitely my favorite user here. I completely agree. That being said, I completely despise alcohol, marijuana, or any kind of drug at all. My Master, Jim Clapp, told a story at a Promotion Ceremony once about a good friend of his. He was an excellent martial artist, and also enjoyed the occasional beer. Master Jim also did at that time. However, one evening, his friend had been drinking (he wasn't drunk or anything, probably in the first stage on that chart above. He was walking home, and was mugged. He tried to defend himself, but being impaired, ended up dead. Master Jim has not drank since then, and that is why I do not nor will I ever drink.

When I started sparring, I didn't win a match for several months. It was really hard to keep going back to Sparring Classes, but eventually I got better and now I usually win.

Our typical Kenpo class is as follows: 1) Bow, recite philosophy 2) Meditation 3) Stretching, Push-ups, Crunches, etc. 4) Basic Combinations (Back Knuckle Reverse Punch, or strings of kicks). Sometimes we'll run too. 5) Review self-defense techniques, discuss and practice at least one basic principle. 6) New Self-Defense Techniques (for your belt rank). 7) Kata 8 ) Either kicks or work with pressure points or joint locks. 9) Sometimes we'll finish with a whole lot of shifting punches. 10) Bow out, recite Black Belt Oath. Now, there are always some random things stuck in there. Like Saturday morning classes, if the previous day was a Belt Promotion ceremony, we'll do the Gauntlet, in which everyone forms two lines. One by one, you go to the front and turn around while the instructor picks random people to attack you (you don't know who or how they'll attack) and then you walk down the line.

I train under Jim Clapp, who was trained by Ed Parker. I still haven't learned anything about Revenge of the Fish, but Master John (the 2nd highest rank at my school) is getting promoted to 7th Degree next Wednesday, and I'm going to the event. Maybe I'll get lucky and this will be one technique he has to demonstrate. If it is, I'll describe it here. One minor correction: Earlier in the thread I said Leveling The Clouds was a Green Belt technique. It is actually a Blue Belt Technique. Must have missed it before.

Yeah, I'd never put 2 white belts together or a Yellow with a White. Brown should be the lowest belt to spar a White for the first time (going easy, but good enough to beat them).

Kenpo has probably hundreds of them, all with cool names.

Don't armbar if you are outnumbered, unless you put the armbarred person in the way of the others.

Honor is a meaningless thing when in an honorless fight wherein someone is trying to take my life or harm my loved ones. Simply put, I have no problem curb stomping, eye gouging, groin ripping, or wacking upside the head with a 2x4 with a nail in it to someone in a given situation. I also would hope to show that I have the self control to inflict as little damage as necessary when in a hostile confrontation. I don't intend to cripple or kill some drunk at a bar. It all depends the situation. Well of course if it was a serious life-threatening situation, I'd bite, eye gouge, whatever it took to get them under control. There are better ways of keeping someone submitted than stomping their face into the ground. The Martial Artist needs to control himself and not sink to the level of the attacker with that kind of move. If you get them in a good enough arm bar, you can keep them on the ground for as long as you want.

Ones that actively train, probably 15 or so.

Kenpo, White Yellow Orange Orange-Stripe Purple Purple-Stripe Blue Blue-Stripe Green Green-Stripe Brown 3 Brown 3-Stripe Brown 2 Brown2-Stripe Brown 1 Brown 1-Stripe Black

I have no problem with the term, just the principle of hitting a man when he's down.

I get a lot of questions about Martial Arts from friends, and this is one of the most frequent discussed. And I always tell them that neither style is a shoe-in to win. Your best bet is to train in both. Then you'll be much harder to beat. And I hear a lot of that "curb stomp him" crap, on this forum and in life. And it's my personal opinion that nobody who calls himself a Martial Artist should ever consider so dishonorable a technique.

White Warlock, one of the best posts I've read in a while.

As most of the fights a normal person will be involved in are school fights or whatever, and considering that schools are real tough on fighting, a quick takedown is probably best. It won't get you in trouble and it can be demoralizing if done correctly.

The best thing, IMO, to do against a push is to not resist. When pushing, you expect them to resist and push against it, so you work with that assumption. If, being pushed, you just step back farther, they'll get off balance real quick and you can easily take them down.

Yep, we practice those kinds of moves all the time.

Yes, that is why I am not a fan of point sparring. At our school we do either point or continuous, it's up to the people who are sparring. I always choose continuous. I don't feel too constrained by the rules since we're allowed to do most things except neck/intentional groin strikes.

Actually, an eye gouge can be effective in a number of places other than grappling. It's an unexpected move and can quickly end a fight if you're in trouble, as can a thrust to the Adam's Apple.

I go to the same dojo as JoeDeezy. There are promotions every month, and if the instructors believe you are ready to move up, they will put you on the list. It's more of a ceremony than a test, the tests are in class.