Zaine

Musashi is, to put it lightly, the authority in this kind thing. Meditation (for those who don't practice Shinto or Buddhism) is still a great way to calm yourself before and after practice. I recommend to anyone who struggles grasping something in any Martial Arts. Sometimes our minds get so clogged by all the information that we are supposed to remember that certain things don't "click" until we are able to sort everything out and a good way to do this is through meditation. I would definitely look into it if it's something that you're interested in.

To be fair any system will allow this, including Tai Chi. There are no rules in a street fight.

Bill Wallace's stuff is pretty cool. Really nice gut too. My school did a seminar with him a few years ago. The best part was hanging out at Burger King afterwards with him. lol. I've heard that guy likes his hamburgers. I think he would be fun to train with.He is fun to train with. He has a great sense of humor. He also does really like burgers.

That's a pretty safe assumption. You probably got all of that when you were first starting out, it's just not as prominent now that you have more control of your body and can know what is hurting a little more acutely.

I've seen people fail, but I have never failed.

Talk to your sensei about it a little more, he can't make you do it. Also, maybe go get some physical therapy about that knee. That can be a big problem.

Ideally you would knock on out so that you really are fighting one person. However, in a classroom setting the barrier strategy is the best. Not only does this create one person to fight but it also keeps both of them in your line of sight. Fighting them both at the same time gives you a huge disadvantage. Especially if you're trying to fight them multi-directionally, that way one of them can get behind you and tear you up. Definitely go with the barrier strategy.

You hit the nail on the head. It's a game of tag. Points can be scored, even if they would have done little or no damage to your opponent. I watched a high-level JKA tournament where 3/4 of the fight was nervous bouncing back and forth, by both finalists, waiting to score a single point. It was maddeningly boring and pales in comparison to the effectiveness and watchability of say, a Kyokushin match. I guess for kids, though, it's ideal. -RB It can be called that, sure, but it can have it's purposes. It can teach you to look for openings and it makes you use combinations to get there. We had to points spare for our 6th, 5th and 4th kyu so that we could demonstrate that we knew how to create openings and opportunities.

I feel like that comment takes away a lot of the legitimacy of the cane, which isn't probably what you were going for but it's what it comes across as. I personally love the hook part of the cane, it's what I think makes it unique and not just another stick.

I find that it's easy to become stagnant as a black belt, especially since I don't have a dojo at the moment. The biggest challenge for a black belt is finding a challenge. We find that we're often cocky, what you said about your Dai-Soke pulling you off your pedestal is funny to me because we find that we need to be humbled. There's a certain cockiness that even as black belts, who know that we should handle it, we get because we're higher than others. To answer you're main question: it's hard for me to answer since I don't have a dojo. However, as a black belt there's a certain bar I set for myself that I keep on pushing higher and higher. It is necessary for a black belt to continue finding the next level and finding new and interesting way to push yourself in ways that make you uncomfortable because uncomfortable is good in this sense.

I can't lie. This topic makes me blush a little. You guys flatter me. What I mean by this is all of those things you listed. For me Martial Arts isn't just physical, it's mental and a strong mind is a strong body is a key concept for me in every aspect of life, not just martial arts. For a person to be a good martial artist they should study in every way that they can possibly imagine for me.

Not really.. it's a lot like cracking your knuckles. I may go to a doc... would this be a general doctor? It might not be that big of a deal if it doesn't hurt, but it might still be worth the trip. Yes, just whoever you usually would go to.

Does his personal life affect the truth value of his argument? Don't let someone's bad personal life get in the way of learning something that could genuinely help you.

Welcome to KF!

You probably need to go to the hospital, you might have some fluid in your knee.

Does the cracking hurt? It might be worth the trip to the doctor to try and get it checked out.

Lol that's a great way to look at it.

I disagree. Adrenaline can over power the bulk of the pain from a strike to the testicles, in which case all you've managed to do is anger the attacker even more and make them more determined to attack you. A better thing would be to go for the throat.

That makes a lot of sense - we had a continuous kumite session 2 weeks ago, only 34 rounds but enough to shake off the cobwebs, and I really noticed the difference. I wish I knew more about the mechanics of this, but all I can really say for sure that it has to do with the speed of extension that your limbs have.

Also, as an add on, when you're doing it, make sure that your technique is tight even when you're tired. You don't want to develop bad habits, and exercising when your body wants to stop is a really easy way to develop bad technique.

Doing those things until you're tired, and then continuing to do them. Speed as far as striking goes is governed by tendons, and by doing those things until you're tired your working those tendons more than when you're going from an at rest situation. Also you can always do the conventional wrist and ankle weight training, that does well to work the same tendons.

That sounds amazingly intense. By which I mean awesome.

My sentiments exactly. Who cares if they're not a great fighter, as long as they're teaching me right I'm all good.

On the one hand yes, you want something that's going to last. On the other, I prefer middle weight. It's a little more maneuverable, cheaper, and if you take care of it, it will last just as long.

I have a hard time saying that you were wrong. Yes, it probably would have been better to bring it to the attention of a teacher or school official, but if a former student of mine had done that, I would have explained to them how there were better ways of handling that, but there probably wouldn't be any further repercussions.