ShoreiSmurf

I don't know if changing is the ultimate answer, but I also don't know how you feel. Here is why I say this: I have trained for many years, I too have felt this lull. You just have to keep going. And either it is going to come back or not. If it does not come back where you are at, then how is it going to come back in another school. It maybe fun at first, but what happens when it gets boring there Remember: the difference between a white belt and a black belt is the black belt never quit In my school, cleaning up is all the doshi reasponsiblity. You use it, you clean it. You drop it, you pick it up. You sweat on it, you wipe it with the clorox wipes. That's that. However, making it a requirment for your belt. I don't know about that.

I never have been able to do this kick. What I need to know is how do you teach it. I have a student that wants to learn to do it.....but

I have to say, I never seen the third one. I was bored with the second one. I thought it was the same story all over. However, I really liked the first one. Not for any other reason, than I thought it was well done without over doing the fight senerieos. As far as the acting and script goes: Well, you get what you pay for. Except for miyagi, Pat rocked that roll

lol....so that is where i messed up. Taking speech classes

Not a tournament, In-house sparring for self-defense training. "Half power" or "time spar" is very prodominate in MMA training. Matt Hughes, Jemery Horn, and Rich Franklin all use it, as well as many other UFC fighters. One thing is for sure, you have to trust your doshi or someone is going to get really hurt.

That is what I figured, as well.

Actually I never said full speed. When I use the term full power, I am talking about in full tension during exercises like with Sanchin or Tensho exercises. You can not do a move in full tension and have a great deal of speed. Like I said earlier, I dont know when we started in about full power equals speed. Yes, I know Newton's second law. However, power does not always use speed. However, I disagree with you about endurance does not build power. I do agree that you need resistance to increase and build power. I also agree and understand the importance of heavy and speed bags. They are a vital part of any MA's training. I guess first, and should have from the start, is define the meaning of power. Is it strickly strength and force. Not strickly in my opinion: power is the ablity to have more endurance, more control, and more will over your attacker. Speed, strength, and force are also very usefull and neccassary tools and can also be defined as power. PS: I dont know if JusticeZero post was up on that other thread or not. However, it goes back to my point of extention on techniques. Yes, I agree if you are going to do kicks and punches at fighting speed: nothing is greater than bags.

granmasterchen: AMEN It is highly possible that it is, but I am not sure. We just had a guy join our dojo. His father was in the military and they spent most of his teen years in Korea. He holds a second dan in TKD, and I think he is only 22.

I run my own school, and still train at another school. I am a 3rd degree in a different art. At the other school, there are three teachers a 4th dan is the head teacher, a 2nd dan and a first dan. I am only a brown in this style. Most often when people say this, they mean Okinawan Karate.

I have to agree with everyone else on this. Train harder, and be ready for his attack. There is the old adage: keep your friend close, and your enemies closer. Think about it

Wow, what a topic. This is how I see it. My school is part of the little dragons program for kids between 4-7 years old. Their promotion is strickly on a time basis only. When they turn eight, they can joing the karate class. No matter how long they been in, they still start at a white belt. It is normally the parents who freak out about this. So we tell them, "They are learning a far more superiror form of karate now. It is no longer tumbling and games mixed with basic karate. It is karate". In our school, you have to train for five years to become a bb, period! This would make an 8 year old 13 by the time they can test. However, our state athletic commision, Utah, does not reconize a black belt at tournments until they are 16. We still test the student, and promote to a Junior Black. If they have earned it, but anytime they go to a tournament they have to enter as a ikkyu, or 1st degree brown. (Sankyu = 3rd degree brown and Nikyu as a 2nd degree). Once they turn 16, we test them for their Shodan. However, I think it is important as an instructor that we always make sure the youth are ready physically and mentally to hold such an honorble rank. It is our duty to teach them this from the start that it is truely an privleage to hold such a rank and not a right. just my thought

Okay, let me tell the whole story because that made it sound like I was counterdicting myself When my knee hyperextended, it was not my kicking leg, it was my support leg. I was about 17 at the time and had a lot of troubles with my knees buckling from a car accident I was in the previous year. I was scheduled for knee surgery and thearapy before entering the military. I was doing a thrust kick / push kick depending on the style to my opponent. He jumped back, and because my weight was shifting pass the point of its original and intended point of contact, my support leg buckled and hypered the knee. No it was not a hard kick, just as you said about your cage fight: the intended target moved and threw the mechanics of my body off. Second Now I'm confused: I thought this is what kata work was all about and the point I was trying to make, but not I guess That is why you punch and kick at the air is for the "stance training, repetition of technique, the calesthenics". I thought you said that they were unable to build power because they offer no resistance, and here you say they do because of these three things. Like I said earlier, I think we agree, but just are not communicating it to each other Kieran-Lilith: you said what I have been trying too, but must have missed out on the part of speech class that you took to commune it.

There are too many factors to constatue what right and wrong is when dealing with that type of individual. I, myself, moved around a lot, and we normally lived in the mid-class sections of towns. I too was faced with many bullies, some easily dealt with, others were knuckleheads like this kid. Even though my personal philosophies say it is wrong to strike first, and exspeacially from the back: but there are times you have to do what you have to do. However, it is you that has to live with the consequences of your actions. As long as you and his instructor are teaching him this, who are we to judge your son. None of us were there, none of us no the tourment and saddness your son felt. But for his sakes, I hope he knew that was his only way out and feels bad for having to do it.

It was both, however, the matches ran at about 50% of full strength and speed. All the students were over 20. I think you are right, there are too many various deffinitions. Like our style of "no pad" in kaju meant half speed and power. This was strickly regulated by the three upper most rank students and the instructor.

It is funny how we agree here, but when it come to kata work: we dont seem to see eye to eye. That is cool It shows how one subject can bring different points of view, while other bring similiar points. Yet, both opinions come from the same people

Okay: I went back to when I first started on this thread. I do not know where the meaning of Speed equals Power came into play. Speed and Power are two diffrent, but useful tools, in our arrsinal as Martial Arts. Yes, we train to use them together. I am also sure that my point of tension brings power is being misunderstood as well. Yes, they are smaller, and more cut, but just because their muscle is not getting bigger, that does not mean that it is not getting stronger. The reason why body builders do workouts where they lift little weight with more reps is to bring out the def. in their muscles. It also strengthens the muscle, because dense muscle mass fibers are stronger than loose muscle fiber. This leads to less tearing while training and (lol) looks as impressive as all h*ll to the judges. Of course resistance is need to build muscle, and doing a technique in tension does offer a small amount of isosemetric resistance. Of course not enough to turn 10 inch arms into 24 inchers, but still enough to strenghten them. Also, I said I never hyperextended a joint while doing kata work, not during a fight were the intended target moved. These are two different senerios that do not relate. I too have been in a fight where, lucky for me, my attacker hyperextended his elbow trying to hit me. I have also hyperextend my knee while kicking during a sparring match. However, these cases are not kata work. I do not know what you were/are being taught, but I was taught by all my past senseis/ sifus that you never fully extend in kata work because of the fact of hyperextention. There is a difference between fully extending and over extending. Those that are hyperextending during kata work seem to be over extending. This is not saying they are ametures and don't know what their doing, but exciement makes you forget many things. Who has not been doing a belt test and skipped a part in a kata and had to start over because of their nerves? Right or Wrong? My only conclusion to this is: We have been asked to discripe the same coin. Only you see heads, and I see tails. Neither is wrong, but we just can not seem to get the other to understand that we are truely looking at the same coin

Yes, I know he was trying to support your statment, but honestly I think It supports mine more. Awesome you don't take offense, and that means we can talk honestly with each other and learn to understand eachothers point without arguing. I put this because this is not the only forum I go to. One forum must be full of hotheads that are just out to argue and try to prove their point of view is the only one that matters. I am not UseoForce: you did nothing. I was using your post that is all. Yes, but if I'm not correct. You are trying to make the point that bags are the only true way to develop power. That shadow boxing and kata work will not, and are a useless tool of tradition. I dont know I may have misunderstood you Like Menjo said: I have done kata and form work for years, and never once have hurt myself. Kata was meant to build power through the use of tension. Flexing muscle will build muscle, you don't always need to lift weight. Lifting weights, is like the heavy bag, they excelerate your training. And as far as I know, all styles do more than just kata work to excel, but that does not make it worthless. Right?

I too was a bouncer at a nightclub. Someone ealier made a comment about avoiding places where the bouncers are overworked and underpayed. This is true in many asspects, but no matter where you go, if drinking is involved, egos follow. Unfortunately, sometimes those egos are in the staff. There are plenty of muscle-heads that want a job like that to simply bash heads. I did it for extra money. Because of this, I often was the one asked by the manager to handle the rowdies. Most of the time I was able to end bad encounters with no fights. There is a lot of wisdom to making the choice to maintain a cooler head. The rule of thumb that was taught to me about avoiding a conflict was 1) talk your way out 2) walk your way out 3) fight your way out One should never fight in the streets for anything less than self-defense. If you want the rep of being a surpirior fighter: go to the cage, knuckleheads

elbows_and_knees: Okay, First of all, lets not assume because there is a white belt under my name, that I am a white belt in real life. Not only that I have sports med. training. It just means I am new to the forum. I have been studing martial arts for 15 years and own my own dojo, as I am sure there are many here that do too. However, that is why we join these forums is to share, to learn, and to expand our training. I know there is a use for heavy bags and speed bags. However, you can only go 100% on them for so long before you actually do impact injury to your joints, even using the most perfect technique in the world. Second, you can go 100% with grappling for the most part, but you never put on an arm bar, shoulder lock, knee bar, or ankle lock on to the point it actually snaps out of joint. How would your doshi be able to continue training without suffering permanent injuries Getting knocked out and hurt is one thing, I believe this is great pain and body conditioning, even though it has its effects on the body too. I hope none of this is making you mad, and as I stated above: I know many of us are experinced artist, so I am only talking with respect to you about your opinions. But in the end UseoForce supports my philosophy about kata training being the only place you can do truely 100% power Here is how: "there's not much benefit to hitting the air at full power. if you want to hit full power, get a heavy bag. that will benefit you more and injure you less. if you are grappling, yes, you can go at 100%. sparring, you can get close, but you shouldn't do it any more than a few times per month. If you go more often, only go about 60-70% - still enough to KO someone,making it realistic."

Don't get me wrongL I do believe in peaceful resalution, and I never use my pride or ego as a factor to decide if it is time to fight or not. However, I agree with UseoForce feed when he quotes Tim Larkin: "Viloence is rarely the answer, but when it is, it's the only answer."

When I was in Kajukenbo, we never used pads or a point system either. However, it is true: it depends on what dojo you go to and what the instructor wants his/her students to do

I agree to the fullest. Where else to you get to put 100% of your full self and power in to actual work. Not during sparring, you may kill your doshi.

Depends on the situation. In point sparring: I grew up a boxer, long before my "martial arts" training. (I don't know if others concider boxing a martial art, but I do) I like using my boxing gaurd. In a street fight: I grew up with 7 other brothers, experience always says go to the ground. It is hard to grapple with fist

I"m not meaning this rude, and say it only with respect: I use to work as a bouncer in a nightclub in California for several years. The first time some rowdy walks up and threatens to hit you in the head with a beer bottle for no reason or provacation, then we will see if you think there is no need for violence. After all, he has not hit you yet, so there for it is not "true" self-defense. Is it

Years ago, we had some new-bies come into class. The upper doshi wanted to show them that we knew our stuff and that they needed to fear us older guys. So, we all break out into our best, flashy kicks. I decided I would show them how dangerous I was and started into a flying side kick. It was going perfect, recieving its desired affect with the new guys: "Ohhh" and "Ahhhh". Just as I landed, my ankle rolled, and SNAP it broke. I was out for 6 weeks