TopGun

Did anyone attend the recent Long Beach tournament? If so what events did you partake in? I only did point sparing 18-29 blue purple and green division I got 7th out of 9 lost by a point in my first match but it was fun!

He also claims to have been out of American Kenpo for 9 years which totaly throws off the math. I think it is unfortunate that people have to lie about their martial arts abilites, especially when it is such a show me your good don't tell me your good kind of a deal. So you can talk a big game but if you don't back it up you just look like a fool. I know a bunch of black belts and when you talk to them outside of class you don't ever hear them mention that they are black belts however when you have someone that thinks they are all that and a bag of chips and they let you know. Most of the time they turn out to be just a bag of chips and stale ones at that...

I take American Kenpo and as Ed Parker said (not exactly his words) something to the effect that in Kenpo we aren't going to kick to an opponents head while they are standing up, we will take out their knee and when they are at waist level kick to their head. I thought that fit this line of questioning very well as it shows that kicks to the head are devastating but they don't need to be high kicks....

I have a problem with my hips in that there are a couple of different ways in which I kick that cause both my right and left hip to pop. Not out of joint but it is an uncomfortable pop that doesn't feel natural. So I am curious if there is anything that I can do to help this, is there anyone out there that has this problem also? If so what do you do about it? It only seems to affect me when we try and do slow kicks or excecises, when we spar or do techniques fast they very rarely pop. Thanks in Advance

When I started out I got beat by a girl, but as with getting beaten by a man I took from it what I could changed some things and went right back out there and perfected what I did wrong. If your style allows groin kicks and she is just going to hang her leg out there then sidestep (as was mentioned before by someone) and give her a good ol cup check. If nothing else make her miss a bit more and wait for your opportunity to strike you don't have to agree with her and fight every time she comes in. I dunno I am just rambeling now, learn and have fun thats what you should do....

It is 3 in my school, they teach them techniques but it is a slow progression for most. They give them a half whit half yellow belt at the mid point so that they can have some sense of achievement. Also due to their short attention span the class is greatly reduced in time, so that way no one gets bored. I have seen a couple of kids that really have a lot of focus at such a young age not to say that they will be black belts at 7...

At my karate school we had 1 student put 2 holes in 2 different walls in the same week. Once because he tripped and the other he was pushed during sparing. Both times it was only his heal that went into the wall but the holes are still there to this day. We plan to fix them when we get ready to paint the whole school.

I just started learning long form 2 and I know short 1/2 and long 1 pretty good. However I have seen all the other forms and I feel that long 4 sums it all up. That seems to be the tournament kata for BBs in kenpo at least the bbs that I know.

I along with members from my school will be attending.

Our school also does line drills to start the class. We usually start with the line drills first excpt on mondays which are sparring days.

What happens when someone takes a ground fighting MA because they saw it on UFC and they get in a situation where there are 2 attackers? So they suceed in getting one attacker to the ground but there are no rules saying that the other one is going to fight fair so now that person is tied up on the ground..... the other attacker is free to kick and punch as the please, I mean they could even take their time and choose their targets. In a real life situation I would prefer to be upright fighting for my life then on the ground. That is just a personal preference.

In my art (American Kenpo) we use a weight distribution of 10% front and 90% rear.

I feel that there are exceptional children that do move through the belts faster but it is hard to believe that 6 and 7 year olds can truely be black belts at the same level which is expected of an adult. I help to teach the childrens classes at my school and most 6 and 7 year olds must be taught the same technique many many times before even grasping the basic hand movements and contact points for their strikes let alone the stance changes and positional checks that the technique contains. I say throw them through the ranks but wait a bit on the black, I think even the Jr. Black belt is ok just not a full black belt. As exceptional as they are I havn't met a 6 and or 7 year old let alone a 12 or 13 year old that could take any of the adult black belts. just my 2 cents....

I pratice American Kenpo karate.

At my school we are put up for our tests by our instructor so it is when she feels we have met or exceeded the requirements for the next level. I have taken as long as 5 months on a belt and as little as a month. Thats with me attending every single class with an occasional private lesson. Which is part of the black belt club which is a 2 year commitment that helps to keep you on the track to getting a black belt. Our school is greatly aimed at meeting the needs of each individual so if it takes 2 month it takes 2, but for some it can take much longer and its at no fault to them.