Menjo

Really, it is all about people's perception. Those who have never been in a fight for their life would maybe call it cheating; the others would call it surviving. Sorry to be antagonistic but: Thats terribly black and white, not everyone who has been in a real situation throws away thier morals. Not to say i think that using different technqiues is cheating at all by any means. And not to say that honor is the same thing as morals. But the implications, reply to both sets of words. Just trying to create a colourful multi-facated discussion.

Never said any of that. The implication of the post is different than black or white opposing views, the words are similar but in different order from the reply I see.

hmm, well there is a lightweight divison, so that would fit around that wieght. Its just not as popular, and when it is, the champion gets caught with steroids and screws it up.

Lousy training day. 4k run Circuit training for 20min. then went to work...

I agree with you here. I don't think that fighting (on the street like this) is about honor, but about surviving. I would not have held back. Perhaps they had a "gentleman's agreement," but who knows. Just wanna throw this in: When Matt Hughes beat Royce Gracie with a huge amount of grappling domination, there was no question that matt won that fight, and he had completely destoyed his opponents confidence and game plan. Its not nessacerly honor, but winning through sheer domination. Had Hughes won with striking Gracie would have gotton some respect, but instead he got demolished. Watch a street fight anywhere and youll see, if one guy pulls a clever tactic or technique that won him the fight, people would say "oh that was nice" or attribute some skill to them... now if one guy grabbed the other guy and pounded his head in with their fists alone, they say "he beat the *stuff* out of him" and the other guy losses in every aspect. Seeing a ring fight, and witnessing something like this are two very different feelings. Seeing this would seem brutal here, I think. I don't know that bystanders would allow it to go on that long around here. Actually theres a fairly famous clip with a police officer fighting a criminal while people stood around even when things got really ugly. Like 4 feet away they just watched, it was sick really.

Yeah guys' your points are great aswell, but in no way did I mean that just flailing or not using strategy was a good way to fight, if thats what I implied in anyway.

Isn't that what true fighting is though? They had a problem, a solution, and consider the type of fight. Sounds like the fight was about who was better, not who would win with tactics. So switching to kicks might show that maybe the other guy was not condifdent to punch, and switching itself would be losing...like two rams smashing head on until victory. In a way, it sounds like a really honorable fight, no tricks, no numbers, just fighting in its bare form. By fighting its its bare form I mean not only just punching or whatever, but the absolute collision of two opposing forces without giving way to gain ground such as switching tactics. And honor really isnt something about dignity in this post, what i mean is that its proving your own abilities by sticking with them when the going gets tough. Does a rock climber studdenly construct an elevator to reach the top? Of course not, realisticly its not practical but you can see the idea. Its about development, and if one isnt willing to develop even through difficulty, and even in a seriou situation, I can say from experiance, that this type of person will be limited to the typical martial artist losing any skill at that moment. "O that wont work, gotta change that" and this is a waste of time in a heated confrontation, the fighter who wins on the street not in the ring is the one who takes down with the opponent with thier own set of skills, thats why brawling is effective agaisnt MA who cant understand what the goal is, not to down the oppoonet, but to demolish them. The saying "spirit but no skill gets you halfway, having skill and no spirit leaves you with nothing". People who havnt been in street fights look to fighting events for answers where the technqiues may work, but the mentality is never truely there, anything but thinking "i have to win at all costs" and knowing your body will followe is detremental to surviving. As stated once before on this forum, watch two boxers at a pre-fight confenence and you can see the difference as all the skill goes out the window parlty from stated above. Ideally, its about going into a situation knowing to yourself, I will win, get away or survive with the ability I have. For most, switching tactics is thier main tactic as thier used to accepting others strength above thier own in certain fields, the ones with those strengths are the ones who acknowledge themselves or their technqiues. Thats why people rave about this master or sensei so and so, while the master has complete confidence in their own game plan and know how to employ it, and have proved it through difficulty.

What I strive to be.

I read once in some article that weight lifting without proper breathing in the long run can lead to eye problems, due to how blood flows. I don't know how valid the statement is though.

Not with your eyes you can't. The stimulus or test is the entire world, and how they react with everything around, and with proper judgement, put the puzzle together. Testing them with your influence corrupts a true understanding of what they are really like, In the famous Art of War a qoute goes along the line of 'Invunerability rests with self; Vunerability with the enemy." By testing them, you are limiting your scouting info. By letting them show themselves through the natural order of things, you are only limited to how much you can scout. As nature doesn't have a biased mind, you can analyze with less bias or confusion.

Got up early today and decided to train even though its supposed to be the day off. My new program is Power training, so its more weights than usual. 4k run 20min break (breakfast) 2k run Weight Training: Jump Squats 3X10 Power Cleans 3X12 Dumbell Military Press 3X10 Push Press 3X12 Leg Press 3X8 Bent-Over Lateral Raises 3X15 Standing Flyes 3X12 Standing Calf Raises 3X20 Then Swimming continously for 30min in a lane. 10min break 7laps Walked Home.

front kick... but for show id choose the axe kick!

Not necessarily, you will just have to accommodate your plan. Take in mind, its much easier to over train weightlifting than it is for heavy bag work or more skill directed training, so doing both in one day isn’t a bad idea, its just having a balanced plan is a better approach. When you work the upper body, instead of the heavy bag, try kicks. Lower body, then work the heavy bag..ect and you get the general idea. As long as you get enough sleep and nutrition there shouldn’t be a problem.

Thanks bushido_man. The embarrassment is the worst pain haha, and its impressive you never had to have them done! American actually, do you also play?

No work today and; Had a really good workout today considering my wisdom teeth operation really set me back in terms of progression. Made a new 4 week training program. 4k run 10min break for breakfast 2k run to the gym Track training non-stop for 30min , Push ups, Sprinting, Jumping, Pull ups, Sit ups...ect Weight Training: Barbell Bench Press 3X10 Incline Dumbell Bench Press 3X12 Wide Grip Pull ups 3X failure T-bar rows 3X10 Cable Cross Overs 3X15 One Arm Dumbell Rows 3X12 Dips 3X failure Behind Neck Pull Downs 3X12 Later that day: Swimming with a friend ended up being a race across the lake. Then went to football practice.

If your both into fitness, rock climbing is a exellent choice. It covers trust, excitment, and something that is fun to look back on.

I had work for the past few days so training has decreased, however I my body grew alot over the time I wasnt training, and I thought that was odd. 4k run 20min break 2k run 7 laps(1 mile) pull ups(palms out) (10) push ups (20) sit ups(30) dips(30) 6 laps pull ups (palms in) (10) push ups (20) sit ups (30) dips (30) 2min break 5 laps pull ups (palms out) (10) push ups(20) sit ups(30) dips(30) stairsprints(3) 4 laps pull ups (in) (15) push ups (25) sit ups (40) dips (35) stairsprints(3) and so on until 1 lap and then 7 laps, and 2k run home.

Do you mean damage to the foot? If so, I disagree. The ball of the foot can take and do great damage if trained properly. True, not only that, but you can try kicking a concrete wall with the ball of your foot and there isnt much pain at all if you actually try it. If anything the since the shin doesnt give way at all, personally I would break my shin faster than foot kicking a hard surface, and had training in both types.

Huge improvement in all techqniques so I spent the day between and after work having fun with it. 4k run Basics for 1 hour Basics in stance for 1 hour Basics for 30min Kata for 30min Weight training Basics for 1 hour. 800metre sprint X 3

Thanks bushido_man! haha, no car and got tired of taking the bus! But really, I figure if one can survive the horrors of running then they can survive anything...except I dunno how you teach so much since teaching is probably the most rigorous of any training. Plus, having lots of intense weight lifting training to throw trouble makers out must be nice! Today was nothing new in terms of exercises. Morning 4k run 20min of kata 30min of basics 10min of shadow boxing 800metre sprint Afternoon 1k run Speed bag for 3 min X3 Heavy bag for 3 min X3 push ups sit ups pull ups 10 X3 with palms out, in, anf side to side 1k run push ups, sit ups, pull ups Jumping in the aire while bringing knees to the chest(20) 800 metre run Evening 2k run pull ups 10 X3 with palms out, in, anf side to side sprinting up some stairs suicide sprints 1k run push ups, sit ups, pull ups 800 metre run

Had work but still got training in today. 7 laps is equal to one mile 1 hour of kata in the morning. 1 lap push ups sit ups jumping while bringing knees to chest sprinting up stairs 3 laps at a faster pace push ups sit ups suicide sprints knuckle push ups 7 laps at a regular pace push ups sit ups 800metre sprint

This sounds much like the way that Thai fighters would absorb the kicks they take, as opposed to actually blocking them. hmmm, actually thats a good point, my karate instructor teaches that mindset. You know how the block starts from the foot and moves up and through, well one idea is being able to stop that energy(momentum, body connection, whatever) and use it in your shoulder or where the impact is being taken, its well known, yet rarely ever used right. I think karate is alot less...specialized in its technqiues than alot of people think, its really just everything and only limited by the instructor or student. Its a better alternative to the common idea of "i would never use that in a real situation", as learning a real block is learning how to connect your body.

Karate blocks are about understanding your body, and when you think about that, if your not thinking about your own body at that very moment then why think youre aware of it in the first place... theres no point grasping at words and facts. Karate blocks, strikes, or whatever technique are all designed for complete development of your fighting ability, not increasing potential, unfortunately, things that increase potential are weights or running or stuff that increases power, speed..ect are not practiced, without that balance of alot more potential aided with ability devlopment the balance of being able to use a block is out of the question. The idea isnt motor skills or specialized testing, its being more than average, being more than average excludes you from average statistics. Its really a simple situation of "noone ever got great aiming for good". If you know your body, make it work, if not, dont. The whole "do this" for this attack is a huge misconception and is rarely understood. Thinking otherwise just limits your own confidence in yourself to what others can do, not what you can do better than them.

Impressive weight training, bushido_man! Forced myself to take yesterday off which made me miserable and I felt weak, but when I got up today, I was really happy with the results. So today: 1- 4k run 2- 30 push ups 3- 30 sit ups with weight 4- 10 pull ups (palms out) Repeated exercises 2 to 4 for 30minutes with 1min breaks and increased push ups by 5, sit ups by 10 until I reached my maximum and started over, and pulls ups stayed the same but alternated between plams out and in. Then practiced shotokan basics for 30min, and kata for 30min. 2k run (to get to the gym), usually just walk. Weight training- Starting to use free weights alot more, I like how it takes more control through the whole motion without the machine guiding you. Then hit the heavy bag for 3min, speed bag for 3min, shadow boxing 6min, 800metre sprint, then started over again for 5 times with 20 second breaks between each.

Well said, the big one here is being able to take shots. be confident enough to just take the hit in a spot which wont really hurt at all(shoulder), or large muscle groups. If your agressive enough, block the kick and force the momentum agaisnt your opponent, it shouldnt be hard considering they will have one foot off the ground while you have two firmly planted and ready to smash his head in with your hands.