Aodhan

Footwork, footwork and more footwork. I spend at least an hour each week, working on switch steps, double steps forward and back, sidesteps each direction, and slide steps forward and back. I also work on "V in V out", zigzag stepping. Oh, and bounce the entire time on your toes. It helps with endurance, and with responsiveness, since it slows you down some to come from a flat footed stance. I also do laps around the dojang, running forward, back, side stepping and grapevine stepping. Aodhan

Heard this from a judge when I took a tumble at a regional as a brand new black belt. I was sparring in tournament at a conference center (Carpet over concrete). Every time I front kicked, the guy leaned forward and x-blocked. So, I set him up a couple times, then when he came in for another x-block off my front kick, I brought my right leg up and over for a crescent kick, bringing both feet off the floor. Well, he saw this, tried to bring his arms around and up to block, bringing my lower leg with it, turning me upside down, and then crashing down upon my head and shoulder. All I remember is the center judge muttering "Oh please, don't be dead." I just started laughing when I heard that, they thought I had been knocked silly. Aodhan

One of the things I've been working on in sparring classes lately is an axe kick from behind into the face. I'll see if I can explain it. 1) Done as a counter to a reverse kick, slide away from the kick so that you end up standing close behind them 2) As I slide, I try to put a ridgehand into their chest. Not really trying to score with this, it's more a means to temporarily keep them close and their lead arm down/wrapped. 3) The leg that is in the direction I moved (So if I moved to the left, the left leg), I bring either under their left arm (Since we are facing the same way) or just alongside it, straight up in a stretch type straight leg kick. With decent flexibility, this should come up and whack them in the face. 4) If #3 doesn't work, I do a jump hook or jump round kick to the side of the head. Often they duck from #3, and it makes it easy to smack them again. Aodhan

He did kung fu originally, I believe, then moved into kickboxing. He fought in the....... uhm....welterweight? division? Somewhere in the middle weights. One of the best MA's of his day, which also included such standout MA's as Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace and Chuck Norris. On a side note, I had the privilege of doing a 10 board elbow break in front of Mr. Wallace, and still have one of the board pieces signed by him. Really nice guy!! Aodhan

In our school, we train with: Gum Do - Korean sword Jangh Bangh - 6' staff Single and Double Ssangh Jeol Bangh - Nunchaku Single and Double Bangh Mangh Ee - Escrima (3 foot) sticks) Jee Pang Ee - Cane Ssangh Nat - Kama Sam Dangh Bangh - 3 sectional staff And, our federation (ATA) is currently developing the Sai and Gum Do curriculums, they are relatively new additions to our weapons training. Aodhan

theadric- While it seems a tad expensive, it all boils down to the value YOU place upon the training. Do you wish to train under a proven, good instructor? Do you think the training you receive will be worth the money that you pay? Additionally, what are the living costs in your area? I know a lot of North Carolina is resort type territory, that will make everything more expensive. My fees are $100 per month, unlimited classes including instructor classes and extra weapons classes. My testing fees are around $35 per midterm/test, and rank testing (I'm a 2nd degree now) is around $100. Another school in the same system in a more affluent area of our city is almost double that. It all boils down to you. To me, it seems a tad expensive, but if you offset that with the quality of instruction, it might not be a bad deal. Aodhan

It's subjective according to the art. In the ATA, you are eligible for the title of Master once you reach 6th degree, but it is a yearlong preparatory process. Additionally in the ATA, there are requirements about number of students promoting under your teaching, how active you are at national/regional events, etc. to be able to rank test for fourth and up. Senior master is our 7th degree, chief master is 8th, and 9th is Grandmaster and head of the art (Only one at a time). Aodhan

I think what they are referring to is the stitching of the name/korean/japanese symbols into their black belts. Aodhan

Personally, I can't eat before a workout. Makes me ill. One of the side effects of intensive training is that your stomach will shrink up. If you've stuffed a lot of food into your gullet, and then your stomach shrinks, well, there's only really one good place for the food to go, and it ain't down. Find out what works for you. Some people swear by carbs, others protein, others a mix. Like everything, try it all and keep what works. However, protein within 30 minutes of an intensive workout has been shown to be very effective in repairing torn down tissue. Aodhan

1) Stay away from heavy lifting. Concentrate more on getting the form for every lift correct first. You have plenty of time to start hoisting cars. If you are confused on a lift, get a trainer to show you the correct method. 2) Stay away from supplementation. I personally use Creatine and protein powders, but you shouldn't need it at your age if your diet is adequate. Just like your MA, start slow and build correct form first. Aodhan

Congratulations!! I just got my instructor certification, so I should have a new crop of white belts ripe enough to promote in about 2-3 months... Keep going!! Aodhan

Pro force 50/50 heavyweight in size 5 Shureido 100% heavyweight (NEVER AGAIN!!!) in size 5. Tournament sparring - Regular century foam dipped hand/shin/foot/head gear, chest protector, cup by revgear. Street/defense sparring, cup and shin pads. Aodhan

As has been stated, XMA is not a martial art in and of itself. XMA is a style of presentation that was developed by Mike Chat in response to what works on the open forms circuit. To develop this part of it (The 540 kicks, acrobatics, yells, "flash", etc), he created the XMA program to be an ADJUNCT to a traditional MA program. While it does help, I see traditional forms still place highly at national level open events. I see the XMA applications being of more use in the weapons competitions, simply because it teaches the flashy, street useless moves such as the hand rolls, release moves, tosses, etc. However, to get to that point, you also have to have a basic mastery of the weapon first. Same thing for the MA part of it. One of the basic forms that they present has a sequence of round/hook kicks done at three different levels followed immediately by an axe kick. 7 kicks in sequence without putting the foot down, you better have the kicks already good and under control, or you ain't making it. XMA is a stylistic addition to a traditional MA program. The ATA has it licensed to use in all their schools, and in the kids that are doing it, I see an increased sharpness in their traditional MA, as well as a higher level of excitement about coming to class in general. Aodhan

But, do I have ENOUGH time... The tournament is October 29th... Also, do you think it would help my flexibility if I HELD the splits for like... 5 minutes on each side?No. The most you should hold any single stretch before moving is around a minute. There are muscle responses to continuous loads that can injure you if you stay in a stretch for long periods. You may be able to get some small gains in flexibility in two weeks, but nothing major. Balance, same thing. Do a google search for "balance exercises" and "stretching", and you will find a wealth of material. Aodhan

Well, I'm sorry you had a bad experience at your WTF school. I enjoyed my time in the WTF and got a lot out of it. As far as the bullies, if your techniques only made them mad, then you probably didn't apply them properly. Any technique done properly has the power to impede/stop an aggressor. I also think you might be exaggerating just a bit, I know of NO school, even the worst mcdojo where you are "3 levels from a black belt" after two months in a school (Unless the next 3 levels are 6-8 months apiece ). I won't even discuss a "10 year old" having as much power as a full grown male. Aodhan Also forgot: If you use a point sparring technique in a street fight, then yes, all you will do is irritate them. That's why every school I've ever been in (Kenpo, ITF, WTF, ATA, Shotokan) teaches the difference in techniques between street and tournament. Aodhan

Well, I'm sorry you had a bad experience at your WTF school. I enjoyed my time in the WTF and got a lot out of it. As far as the bullies, if your techniques only made them mad, then you probably didn't apply them properly. Any technique done properly has the power to impede/stop an aggressor. I also think you might be exaggerating just a bit, I know of NO school, even the worst mcdojo where you are "3 levels from a black belt" after two months in a school (Unless the next 3 levels are 6-8 months apiece ). I won't even discuss a "10 year old" having as much power as a full grown male. Aodhan

Well, after finishing my 300 hours of teaching, lower belt knowledge tests, teaching fundamentals, etc etc etc., I went to my 3 day instructor certification camp for the ATA. Friday: Got to camp about 1 pm, helped set up mats, tables, chairs, more mats, cabins, more mats. Checked in at 5, dinner at 6pm, first training session at 7pm. That ended up going until about 11:30 at night, doing nothing but going over 6 different blocks, breaking them down into minute details, and going over the variations and why one might be better than another. As instructor candidates we were excused from the Honor workout, but a schoolmate of mine and myself went, and had a good time. Finally in bed about 12:45am Saturday: Up at 6, self review of forms and onesteps. (For the first 5 belts, we have 3 sets of moves per belt to introduce sparring concepts. White belt #1, partner punches, you step back and high block, reverse punch midsection, punch midsection, reverse punch face, step back and low block). Breakfast at 7, lunch at 12:00, dinner at 6:00. The ENTIRE rest of the day was breaking down each of the 9 color belt forms into details and correcting/interpreting the reasoning behind the moves. Interspersed with that was 3 one hour sessions of going over basic kicks and breaking THOSE down. After dinner we spent 1 1/2 hours going over one steps. Somewhere in there we had to write a basic class planner to cover a 45 minute class. Bed, about 11:30pm. I woke up at 3 am due to snorers in my cabin, couldn't get back to sleep, so I went up to the restroom to review my forms and one steps again. Sunday, up at 7, breakfast at 8, testing at 9. Basically, in front of the senior ranks (2 senior masters (7th degree), and two masters candidates (6th degree)), we get put with 5 campers from the recertification group, handed our class planner, and told to teach it in 5 minutes (30 second warmup, minute on forms, minute on drills, etc etc.). Along with that we had to have 7 of our 10 class management skills touched on. (Referring to students by name, touch, setting mood of class, etc). That part I absolutely rocked on. Then came the review of lower ranked material. Your evaluator picked 3 forms at random, and you had to give the # moves in the form, the form meaning, and perform it. Not so good here. My middle belt form I kind of scrambled with another form. I was so tired and stressed at this point I couldn't see straight. Also memory blocked and couldn't remember a one step, but was able to do it after being prompted for the first move. So, one week later I was back in the local Senior Masters dojangh, and went through the form/one step review again. Managed to do them well this time through, and was told I have completed all requirements for full instructor certification. Now, it's just a matter of waiting for that nice little letter from Headquarters... :D WAHOO!!!!!!!! Aodhan

Our style (ATA) has a recommended rank before 1st dan. It's basically a time to review all lower rank material and make sure you have it down before you test for decided rank. Aodhan

And how do you know that what they want and what they need are two different things? And not to be offensive, but if you are in an ITF school, then you are getting the ITF view of things, which will be biased in the ITF's favor. Personally, I think there is no need for ITF or WTF, ATA has it all covered. And I've been in both WTF and ITF at various times. Aodhan

It might help you to read the Terms of Service. Belittling someone for their spelling abilities violates it. Aodhan

Depends on how you do them. If you do dips that are fairly upright, then you mainly work your triceps, with very minimal involvement of the chest. You need to lean way forward to emphasize the chest in a dip. Contrary to popular opinion, the main movement of the chest muscle is not to "push" the arm out from the body. The main movement of the chest muscle is to bring the humerus (Upper arm bone) towards the center line of the body. This is why fly work emphasizes the chest more than a press. The main movement of the triceps is to straighten a bent arm, so when you do traditional bench presses, you are emphasizing the triceps as much (if not more) than then chest muscles. Aodhan

Not if you are doing just as much training in the dojang with sparring, drills, etc. If ALL you are doing is weightlifting, then using light weight/explosive drills will help train the fast twitch. If you are doing regular dojang training, I wouldn't worry about it so much. there is something call obsessiveness... :D Aodhan

Muscles are made up of two types of fibers, type I and type II. Type I - Slow twitch - Characterized by slow contraction times (Relatively speaking), and high resistance to fatigue. They also generally have lower creatine reserves. Type II - Fast Twitch - Characterized by fast contraction times, and low resistance to fatigue. These are further divided into two types, FTA or IIA, and FTB or IIB. IIA are kind of "transition", and are between IIB and I fibers. Moderate resistance to fatigue. These are the fibers used in things like 400 yd sprints, etc. IIB have the lowest resistance to fatigue, these are the ones used in things like short sprints, shot puts, very short explosive type movements. Aodhan

Actually, the more relaxed you are, the less damage you will incur. This is why a lot of drunk idiots come out of car crashes with minimal injuries, because they don't tense and fight the forces around them. As far as blocking a punch with your forehead, it's similar to heading a soccer ball. You need to hit higher on the forehead, so you "duck" your head so they hit approximately around the hairline. The danger with this, is that a really hard hitter can compress your spine at that angle. Best to try and "roll" with the punch to minimize damage. Aodhan

Because they build up their muscles to the point that their fast twitch muscles and slow twitch muscles fight against one another. Generally (if you don't also train for speed) they've only trained their muscles for slow, steady force production. Not quite. They don't fight against one another, since slow and fast twitch muscles in a single group (Such as the quads) are all designed to do the same thing. However, when you train for heavy weights, you are emphasizing the slow twitch muscles much more (Especially considering the length of most bodybuilding type workouts, fast twitch get exhausted easily and early). Aodhan