elbows_and_knees

Well when put into such empathis, if one person only practices kata, and you judge them as doing the "wrong" thing, you must look at thier motives and why they do their style. There are MA that only have kata, I believe their ideals should be heard and should have just as much say in a situation, usually. That's true. Actually, MOST MA originally only did kata - most asian MA, anyway. It's no secret that it was rare for the old jujutsu schools to spar, as they didn't think they could safely train their lethal techniques. It's also no secret that karate exponents like funakoshi were blatantly aganst adding sparring to the style, as they felt it would water down the art. Coincidentally, it DID water it down, but that's because of the point format, not because of sparring itself.

it's hard to say without knowing you or how you fight. I could tell you to brush up on your infighting, but if you are an out boxer, then that wouldn't help much. so.... 1. what kind of fighter are you 2. what do you know about your opponent

what's the closest big city to monroe, and how far are you willing to drive?

if I HAD to get one of the two, I'd get Bob. both suck for developing power, but bob is great for training hook and uppercut accuracy.

he sounds like a newb. I agree with AoG though - call him on it.

I do agree with you there, gymnasts are pound for pound the strongest around. I have always attributed that to plyo type work though, not isometrics.

the 3 ranges are covered, just not on those terms you either train for them, or you dont, that depends on the person. most Kung Fu schools I've seen dont think much of the clinch because they dont see it very often, fights are fought from outside because if you get too close , it hurts too much. some cross train and add the clinch and groundfight(which WC has), but like I said, is rarely seen. chinese styles - with the exception of shuai chiao - tend to trap instead of clinch. however, these days most fights enter clinch range at some point, so this range should be trained, IMO.

hughes is powerful, but how many times have you seen royce get KOed? One thing I have to give him props for is that he can roll with a puch as well as a boxer. From a striking standpoint, I don't think hughes' power will be that big of a factor. this fight will be settled on the ground.

yeah, I understand that. But what it looks like you're saying is that you are using kata to make your reactions second nature. That's what I disagree with.

I wouldn't say that had much to do with it at all. as I was stating earlier, back in the day, most styles either had no forms - like shuai chiao - or had few forms - like taiji. having multiple forms issomething that happened over time for various reasons. Also, jujutsu has no verifiable link to china and they use pressure point attacks - so I wouldn't only say chinese medicince. you are correct about the big difference between eastern and western medicine though. The forms weren't thrown together and that's it - like I said, they are a series of technique drills. They catalog the system, make it easier to teach, demonstrate proper footwork patterns, give the practitioner a means of solo training, etc. But I don't think they intentionally hid anything in the kata. They may have intentionally not shown people applications, leaving them ignorant, but that's not the same thing.

yeah, you will be able to maintain. The big factor in that maintenance is in your diet though. As for slowness, I really wouldn't worry too much about it. at 5'9 and 225, I haven't been in a ring, judo match, street etc. with someone much faster than me - not so fast that I can't hit them. look at big boxers...tyson is my height and weight. the whole "size slows you down" addage is a myth. You have to be HUGE in order for that to be in effect. among machines it holds true - a porsche can move faster than a semi - but humans don't have as extreme a degree of variation.

traditionally, isometrics are done without weight. Done with weight, yes, you would have that progression. this goes back to specificity. Does your body stay in one position when you punch? no. the whole body is utilized as one unit. in terms of efficiency, your weight training program should also reflect this. by doing an isometric motion, you are only improving your explosiveness in one set position. for strength without bulk, plyos and isometrics would be far inferior to heavy weights and plyos.

This is just my philosphy, however its what many great martial artists and fighters alike belive in through history so I find it effective and a good reference. I would consider in any combat situation that if you want to dominate your opponent, you should be setting the timing and pace of the situation for yourself and him. This way, you are unpredictable and many other factors will come into play. Regardless if you knew this or not, I felt it was nessacery to send the point out. I don't disagree with that. you want him to fight your fight. but kata begins with defense - that implies that he attacked you first.

I'm in nap all the time. matter of factly, I will be there in may for a few days. We should train sometime. What's the name of the school?

that wouldn't make them the same technique. I use a hook kick when I fight. If I practice a jump spinning hook kick, that's really not helping me with my application and timing of my hook kick.

definitely. you're doing the right thing.

dunno. he told me this about three years ago though.

I can tell you are not a traditional japanese stylist. My comments are not meant that application doesn't need to be practiced because it does and alot to become very good. Application requires your reaction to be second nature. you would be wrong. my first style was korean, my second japanese. I trained under a guy born and rasied in japan. He merely called it "traditional japanese karate". He believed in kata, but believed more in application, so we did a lot of drills and sparring. He knew all of the shotokan katas (he helped me with the katas I was learning from my american instructor) and knew katas of other styles as well, but he only taught taikyoku shodan and sanchin - he thought that those two were most important. I fully understand the need for reaction to be second nature - that applies to ANY style. however, to visualize yourself fighting multiple attackers is, IMO, not the most efficient way to make your technique second nature. sure, the repetition drills it into you, but since there is no real attacker, YOU are setting his timing... there is a fundamental flaw there.

bingo. good post.

yeah, but the attackers attack pretty much the same way every time... shadowboxing would allow for greater and more varied visualization, as you are moving spontaneously.

perfect example. is that technique intentionally hidden, or do you think that it may not have been shown to a taller person because he couldn't use it anyway? Once you understand the principle behind a technique, you can find a lot of different applications if you look for them. I don't think that means that they were intentionally hidden though. Out of curiosity, does anyone have any verifiable documented evidence stating that techniques were intentionally hidden for various reasons?

sure it happened, but not because they decided to make multiple forms and hide techniques in them. people began learning multiple styles and started teaching the forms they's learned from various styles and instructors. It eventually also became a form of preservation - look at longfist for example. it's got forms from styles that would be extinct had someone not saved a couple of forms.

you definitely want an instructor. I will admit though, that's impressive. I've never seen online thai instruction that im depth. I see a mistake (at least from what I've always been taught) though. In one of the animated gifs, there is a pic of a guy doing a leg check, but his toes are pointed toward the ground. This is incorrect - his foot should be flexed and his shin turned outward. It's shown correctly in all of the other pics and is also explained.

kendo and iaido go hand in hand. iaido is the art of drawing the sword. This is where you will learn katana kata. kendo is the application side of it. This is where you will fight in armor with a shinai.

I'm a gracie fan also. Regardless, I think he will get schooled. I don't think you will see a royce that has worked his striking. A few years ago, he told me that he doesn't consider himself an mma guy and that he really doesn't train striking. He said that he was only a bjj guy who competed in mma.