JusticeZero

https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/12/parkour-class-50-plus-aging-fall-prevention-exercise/577900/ Can Parkour Teach Older People to ‘Fall Better’? LINDA POON DEC 19, 2018 Interesting idea. Breakfalling, balance, and the like seem particularly important, more so than proper punching form, in terms "How likely will I need this?" Thoughts?

The thing about Capoeira's martelo do chao (and mea lua de compasso, which also gets the exact same commentary) is that the style uses snapshot positions within that movement for other techniques and footwork. You see a large telegraphic kick with a long setup, I see a common stance change in an art that makes very frequent stance changes, a bit of footwork, then one of the several kicks or movements that comes out of that position.

Well, the issue is that one, probably about half the clothes I am acquiring are restrictive enough that kicking to the abdomen is iffy. We don't usually kick above the floating ribs, but we don't do leg kicks either, and kicking to the abdomen can behave oddly in a skirt. Even if it is not too restrictive, it creates a tether connecting the ankles that takes space which has to be cleared. There's probably some neat ways to take advantage of that, but I cannot think of any. Plus, it changes how the base feels. We have throws, but not a lot of work with them. Mostly just a couple that are unusually obvious based on tactics.

I have years invested into an art that is very heavily based on the use of midline kicks at the abdomen and rib level. At the time, for various reasons, my normal clothing and such worked well for that, and the climate and such was suited for the other techniques and such in the art. Now, because of somewhat different reasons related to changes in my life and the like, I spend the vast majority of my time wearing long skirts that, while being pretty comfortable and nonrestrictive for footwork and deep stances and the like, are a little bit too restrictive to do midline kicks in. We use very nonstandard breakfalls and the like, so there is no easy way to switch to a closely related art for more work on throws/takedowns. Suggestions?

Agreed. That said, 10 is pretty low T. I mean, so far I only have mine down to 24, which is lower than most of the women around me. Regional lower stakes competition can probably use a more lenient standard. By means of comparison, my husband's T is at the upper end of normal, not uncommon for an athlete, and is slightly above 800.

http://www.outsports.com/2017/2/20/14670616/transgender-wrestler-mack-beggs-texas This article is about high school wrestling in Texas, clearly martial arts related in this regard. One of the wrestlers is a transgender boy on hormone replacement therapy, and as such receiving testosterone supplements to bring him up to the normal levels for a boy of his age. According to Texas's rules on wrestling, he has to wrestle in the division associated with his assigned sex at birth. He would rather wrestle boys, but that is not allowed. He is very good at wrestling - what portion is testosterone related and what portion is skill I leave for the grapplers, but I assume it is a mixture. He wins. This creates a controversy that is a bit silly. Probably something to look out for proactively in your own organizations. The Olympics etc. already made inclusive policies to cover situations like this. I don't know how much of an issue this might be for other groups, but with gender identity being an issue for 0.6% of people these days and median transition age dropping, it is likely to become one eventually.

Chest strikes are effective when you are delivering heavy, acceleration type compression strikes to the lungs. Not all strikes have to be soft tissue peak impact soft tissue injuries. My win conditions for self defense are completely agnostic about damaging the attacker. A strike that temporarily diminishes their threat or moves them out of position is an effective one.

Has this changed by the time you joined at his club or was it the standard when you started? Thank you for your reply, in regard to your first question, yes the emphasis on body dynamics has been in place since I started at this dojo. Sometimes it appears excessive, as I wondered if the constant break down of techniques would hinder our performance of the techniques at full speed/power due to too much thinking. I teach the same way your teacher does. I expect students to internalize the form as they learn, and have proper form in their mind slowly etching its way into their movements. Applications need applied practice. Forms are for form. What other aspects are you expecting to find? Also, I see no reason to shy away from training in a heat wave. You should be able to recognize dehydration and stay hydrated and ration your exertion for the heat. If you can't, you need to learn, and this is how.

A lot of taiji teachers are just bad, because they believe the wrong parts of what they are taught. Taiji has problems, but it works as advertised because.. Well.. Back in the 1800s, there was a geologist who was studying geography and found evidence that the continents move over time. He collected all sorts of evidence and put together a book detailing how continents move over time, what to look for, how it affects geology, and so on. But the question was, "But how do the continents move?" "Well, maybe ?" As a result, he was sneered at and his results discounted. But continents DO move, just not for the silly reason he suggested. Taiji form and methodology demands relaxed movement, highly developed structure and balance, and uses a lot of nervous system hacking to develop those aspects quickly. The nervous system hacks involve a lot of visualization exercises and the like to make people more aware of their balance, core body function, structure, etc. as well as how to move with minimal adversarial muscle tension. People look at the way that the exercises are described, and start believing that they are Doctor Strange, and completely lose the actual point because it is not well explained on account of there not having been a good language to describe it way back when.

Well, where did the stance for Western boxing originate? The way boxers position their bodies does not reflect how most anybody not exposed to European martial arts would throw a punch.

The forms competitions? They mostly demonstrate athleticism and balance. I don't care how many times I can throw my foot out. I am not trying to rack up the high score. It's not like I can throw a video game juggle combo at some thug and do a victory dance. If I am making percussive attacks, I am probably going to be the one going to jail. Rapid fire kicks are to train peak impact percussive strikes, and I simply don't have the privilege to be able to use those freely anymore. I just cheered up a friend of mine who is still recovering from the trauma of an extensive stint in solitary confinement after defending herself from three attackers at once, one armed, using nonlethal techniques. Techniques should always work towards escape and repositioning for better tactical positioning to flee a situation. I really can't trust in the usefulness of drunk uncle techniques in many situations anymore.

Yep! Looking forward to hearing more. Same as far as being open to questions. My husband probably would have a lot more, but he doesn't have a martial arts background at all, alas, and cannot do mine because of a badly healed foot.

If I had to guess at the low number, it would be to correct for people taking antiandrogens right before their test. I remember in high school when we would game with one of the guys on the wrestling team, and he would be annoyed before every match at having to both fast and dehydrate himself before every weigh in. Some days he would visit and grump a lot at being hungry and thirsty but not being allowed to eat or drink until after weigh in for a match. This seems no different.

Transgender men are starting at the level of cisgender women, and there is no category where cisgender women are more muscular than cisgender men.

http://www.theestablishment.co/2016/12/13/no-female-trans-athletes-do-not-have-unfair-advantages/ This hits a lot of points, most of which apply to the cis population that you see in class more. Lots of links. It covers the basic issues seen in competitions recently where transgender athletes are competing.. Including the fact that that they actually have a disadvantage because the best rulesets so far restrict testosterone levels tightly (completely reasonably), but those restrictions aren't present on cisgender athletes who often have natural testosterone levels that are above "normal". This was most highlighted by Caster Semenya during the Olympics; there is no good way known to equalize competition to be a pure test of skill when people with wildly outlier biology come into play. And then there's always the potential nightmare of a nonbinary intersex person with ambiguous biology trying to enter athletics. I'm not sure that a solution will appear if we simply wait for such cases to come about to think about them.