Kajukenbopr

simple, they are not athletes.... you train in tai chi chuan not to fight but to enter in harmony and health, the last thing you want to do is get yourself into a dangerous or "hostile" environment like a full contact tournament. being as they are, not many tai chi chuan practitioners focus on training for fights, rarely would you find one. Also, many athletes like the ones that compete in Full contact tournaments dont find Tai Chi Chuan as a means to be an effective fighter in a short time...they look for faster results.

too much star wars

Thats the problem that uneducated fans of mixed martial arts have though- they see someone who's labeled a "striker" and easily defends against the clinch attempts of someone who's labeled a "grappler" and assume that its just that easy. All of these fighters are excellent in all ranges of combat and have had extensive private training by top professionals in each area of expertise. These guys have people like Randy Couture teaching them the basics of the clinch and Chuck Liddel teaching them the basics of the striking game. These are guys who are pros in those areas and havent just been exposed to it. I was under the impression that clinching was a muay Thai/boxing/kickboxing technique not a grappling technique. Clinching is referred to as close proximity fighting. Grapplers use this close range scenario to take down the opponent. --someone could probably explain it better than me--

so is it ok to use japanese words in class instead of korean?well, some schools(Tang Soo Do) throughout the United States use English words. Some masters prefer to use Japanese words(And I've heard them, though rarely in schools). But as long as it is Traditional Tang Soo Do, Korean is the language spoken.

nope, actually,its a bit funny about that- you learn Kung Fu and you study the animal parts of Kung Fu(dont know how that is called). When you learn Kung Fu you end up with a bit from one style, a bit from another style, but it is all Kung Fu. take Bruce Lee for example, he trained in Wing Chun before he became famous, after he became famous people began to say he took jujitsu, kung fu, some boxing.... he only trained in Kung Fu- Wing Chun. Do you honestly see a shaolin punch that much different from a Hung Gar punch? kicks are the same... height might be the only difference..... just use whatever necesary

yeah, we kneel to meditate a bit. dont get frightened...

escaping a clinch is not impossible it can be done, and an experienced fighter will get free easily. If you are an Ultimate Fighter Fan, as a lot of people in here are, you've seen people trying to clinch and getting either an elbow or a knee. I dont really follow that show, but I do practice for self defense and we are taught to use clinches but not all the time as a good striker or grappler will take advantage of this.

be it as it is, it is still a "Do" ,and other forms like Tae Kwon Do are also considered a form of karate not for being art forms from Japan but for how it is done: how they train, the schools,etc. Everything is done with MOSTLY Japanese (and some Chinese) influence. Traditional tang soo do and Traditional Tae Kwon Do schools are pretty similar to Japanese Karate Schools.

wow, heavy thai training.... do you compete often?? --sorry I took so long to answer--

I dont see why someone taking Shaolin Kung Fu wold need to start training in WC specially if they want to train in something different- Dont u see you can master Shaolin and keep improving? you dont really need to train in something else, just take different points of view when in training. Wing Chun and kenpo or Kajukenbo would be a waste of money not because they are not competent but because you would be trying to mix stuff that works well on its own and by mixing those 2 without the needed experience/knowledge all you do is make it harder on yourself when you train. You end up learning bad WC or bad Kenpo and bad Kajukenbo. Look for a style that not only gives u excercises but leaves you comfortable with what you learn so you can be confident that what you learn is enough, so IF you have to use it someday it will come out "perfect" or as best you can. The best option I see is getting together in the week with someone who practices WC also, so you dont get left behind.

That's not what I meant. I was talking about meditation and all that stuff. The Chinese MA schools here in Denmark do not care about this. The Japanese and Korean MA schools do however care and do practice it. Since I'm a Christian, I want to stay away from Buddhism and all that. Therefore I will only go for Chinese styles because they don't do stuff like that. Funny thing is that I feel uneasy when in Kajukenbo schools because of their strong ties to the Christian faith, and little prayers that they do before classes. Irony Comes with the territory. If you practiced Chinese Martial Arts in China, you'd know somehting of Taoist phylosophy or Budah at the very least. Our founders come from a place where being christian was very important, and also, it helps keep in mind there's something bigger out there than us(its more like a protection prayer than actual praise). In my school, we dont really pray to the christian god but leave the prayer or meditation open to whatever you want to leave that time to. We know different people believe in different religions and phylosophies.

wont that hurt? You dont have to use the ankle wieghts. But the ankle weights i use are only like a pound. but it is on hell of a stretch. my sifu told me about that kind of stretch , I tried it for myself, but it ended hurting a bit- maybe I did it wrong....

if it hurts, stop immediately.This will only mess u up and make u sore. and as for the method your'e talking about,kind of sounds like PNF stretching.Well, I searched around.... no stretching that took long periods at a time seemed to work without hurting or tearing a muscle. I finally found a site, which you could probably find at google.com which explains that all you do for stretching right is: 1. stretch a bit(not too much) 2. warm up excercises 3. Stretch again- as I explained in my last message, for 15-30 seconds, stand up straight for 30 seconds(to relax the muscles completely if you are trying to do splits), and stretch again goign further down15-30 seconds. 4. repeat the stretches for 15-30 seconds with the pauses for relaxation and you will be able to reach better stretches. Some other stretches might work, but I would rather stretch without hurting myself. What does PNF stand for?

For high speed encounters and self defense I think WC is one of the best styles out there. they MIGHT have some trouble with some high kicking styles because with kicks, you can make more space.--no trouble for an experienced fighter though--

5 Styles from which we take the name "Ka ju ken bo" 1. Karate-tang soo do 2. judo-kodenkan danzan ryu 3.jujitsu- se keino 4. Kenpo- Kara Ho Kenpo 5.Chinese BOxing(kung fu)- Sil Lum Pai Kung Fu

Its generally the other way around. BJJ fighters typically do rather well against wrestlers because of their better finishing skills on the ground. Even though wrestlers win the takedown game, BJJ fighters typically win the submission game. Wrestlers do well against sprawl and brawl standup fighters who are not very proficient at ground fighting. With takedowns that are second to none, its very difficult for many strikers to keep the fight on their feet. The Sprawl and Brawl fighters generally do rather well with BJJ fighters. Known for having the weakest takedowns among grapplers, BJJ fighters often have trouble bringing the fight to the ground, and against an experienced striker with decent takedown defense, this is often a problem. Well , I'm more of a striker myself and I dont usually have trouble keeping my fights on my feet. Hardly do I let anyone get close enough to take me to the ground and if I get close enough I will strike like a Muay Thai fighter with elbows and knees and that pretty much keeps them from taking me to the ground. Of course, with the udo knowledge I have and some Jujitsu locks, I am not so helpless on the ground either and yes, I agree, BJJ fighters do best on the ground than other fighters

Careful, all the knowledge you are looking for is out there. However, if all u want to look for is how to hurt another, you wont get the best out of martial arts.

sadly, you are mistaken. Tai chi doesnt do all those forms to improve stance and correct posture. By learning the movements, you learn to move your body the same as your mind. When you reach a level where you practice fighting in Tai Chi- your controlled movements and overall senses will make you be able to stay ahead in a fight. After you master the art, the fighting comes naturally

welcome, Enviroman

Krav Maga and KAjukenbo train only in self defense. we have different approaches but you can see clearly that both styles are "self defense arts".Both could be said to be the best or the closest to being the best at self defense.

Krav MAga is easier to learn and it is effective always. Wing Chun, however, is pretty good for self defense too. Kali takes longer to use for self defense but its principles can be used for Wing Chun or JKD.

I second that, but I think I'll be a bit more constructive in my criticism Train in Wing Chun/Tsun and focus on it. Don't just do it every once in a while, and take something else that completely contradicts the theories presented in you Wing Tsun class. Instead of becomming good at both, you'll merely be mediocre at best with both and will most likely frustrate yourself. If you're training to straight up fight and want to work on everything, I'd say drop the Wing Tsun and find a JKD or MMA school. If you're training for the art, and want a deeper understanding of how to better yourself as a martial artist than the typical "I wanna brawl" MMA type guys then I'd say pick something you like and want to learn and stick with it for at least a few years. I second your opinion, train only in one style to become really good at it. or find a style to fight instead of art.

Tai Chi is really good for self defense. of course, only if you know how to use it for combat will it be effective, while most schools of tai chi teach only the movements and the art, not how to fight. If tai chi taught how to fight, we would all have heard about them in fights. But that is not the point of tai chi. Tai chi is taught to grow and develop a balance of chi in the body . It teaches to heal instead of how to hurt. It does however, turn into a devastating art when it is taught as a fighting art. I've read and seen the results of this type of training and it is truly amazing.

u need more ab workouts, clearly you dont have enough fat to be all flabby so its basically a result of lack of core excercise.... try turning your training up a notch.maybe even twice as much as u used to do(abs)

elbows and knees what about you? what do u use for your training?