lordtariel

Situational awareness is crucial to self defense. It gives you that much more time to act. It saved me one time when someone tried to grab and dash. I am really surprised more places don't teach this stuff, because little changes can make the difference from being an attractive target to being someone who is too much trouble to deal with.

I believe he's referring to someone who practices Iaijutsu/Iaido. From a weapons sheathed starting point, I believe the Iaijutsu practitioner might have an advantage since I don't know if there was a counterpart in western sword fighting. If there isn't, the knight might not be as likely to be expecting a strong technique right out of the sheath.

So then it's not bad sportsmanship if you beat the tar out of your opponent for taking your queen on the last move?

So I'm going to be going to the US Virgin Islands for a couple of weeks this year. Anyone know if there's anybody or anything of note there in the martial arts world? Don't really think there is but you never know.

Well, if you have a dress code you have to deal with what you have. Try practicing in clothing similar to what you have to wear and see what works and what doesn't. Then really drill on the stuff that does and don't worry about the stuff that doesn't. I do know they used to make "Chuck Norris Action Jeans" though that had the seams designed so you could kick in them. Don't think they make them anymore, but you could look around. http://www.denimology.co.uk/2006/09/chuck_norris_action_jeans.php

I feel blocking has it's place but it's better to get out of the way. I would never in a million years use a formal block in fighting. They are like all other formal techniques, they look all spiffy, but don't look anything like how you would use when fighting. How many people fully chamber a reverse punch when they're sparring? Very few, but people still use the reverse punch.

It depends on the year and model of car. Generally the average is about 15K-25K miles a year on a vehicle. Some vehicles run great at high mileage and others fall apart. How it was driven also is important. I would rather have a car that was only driven on the freeway with 150K than a car that was driven in town for 100K miles

I actually record what we do sometimes in class in a journal. That way I can take the journal with me when I travel or have vacation and essentially do the classes that I really enjoyed. If you don't have that though, throw in some kata, do some single person sparring drills, and cover your basics and you've got a pretty solid practice. Remember, even practicing for a half hour once to twice a week is far better than not practicing for two weeks.

So are you referring to exhibition style katas like xma(actually tossing the weapon and such) or classical weapon katas such as you see in okinawan kobudo. Suprisingly a lot of the techniques fire dancers use work are the same types of techniques you see with the people who twirl. You might want to see if you can find some tutorials on that as well.

Maturity isn't necessarily a result of age though. I think being skilled should include things such as teaching others and not just technical ability.

So where do you prefer to practice? The answer doesn't have to be where you train, but instead where you'd like to.

They can if you're not careful. It's easy to hyper-extend your body when you're using weights on your wrists and feet. On top of that, you have the momentum of the weights pulling on your limbs even further. I use light weights and only when I'm working on slow technique.

congratulations

Interesting. Perhaps that would happen if you took things to extreme, but I would think it would have to be REALLY extreme before you came into problems.

Business casual for me since I seem to wear that the most. Even when I'm not, a pair of cargos and a tshirt is pretty close to the same thing. I can't stand tight clothing.

Try baiting him. If you keep a high guard, odds are he's going to go low, if you keep a low guard, he's going to go high. If you know where he's going to strike, you've already got an advantage. Odds are if he's got a technique that consistently works for him, he'll probably use it until you start showing that you're expecting it. Then the game begins all over again.

There's one I know the kids at our dojo like. You have them line up, then bounce one of those inflatable yoga/stretch balls towards them(one bounce, it should be about chest level when it reaches them). They do a reverse punch or kick from a static guard position and if they do hit it correctly, it should fly straight back to you. It works great to figure out distance and timing since they're not allowed to move. Another variation of this is to sidestep out of the way or sidestep and punch so they learn to sidestep far enough to avoid getting hit. I noticed when they were supposed to just sidestep out of the way, technique goes out the window and they try and just jump out of the way. The object is to get them to sidestep so they can attack, not just get out of the way. You have to be careful with these drills though since hitting one of those things with a bent wrist can really hurt. So with the kids you may want to use a smaller ball and bounce it slower.

I use them from time to time. Something to note, make sure you can move your ankles when you have them on. The first pair I got tended to slide down so I couldn't, and made practicing difficult.

I've never heard. I know a couple police officers and I'll try to remember to ask them. That's interesting. I personally don't see the difference, but I'm not the law.I think it's because you can cause significantly more damage with a kick than with a punch.

Just because you can't kick that well in them doesn't mean you can't do other techniques.(I've ripped pants practicing as well ) In a fight, things falling out of my pockets would probably be the last thing on my mind. If you get it off fast enough you can swing it or throw it as a distraction. Try keeping the straps looser so it's easier to drop it. If you're learning to defend yourself, you need to do it in what situations you'll most likely be in. If that means practicing in certain outfits, so be it.

Welcome to the forums. Good luck on the test.

What about the legal ramifications of using kicks in a fight? Somebody told me a long time ago that punching someone is assault, but kicking them is assault with a deadly weapon. Of course, this could just be myth. Can anybody clarify this?

It's supposed to be controversial because it's going mainstream now(It's been on the news several times and books are coming out with it), and because he's telling people not to get any cardio exercise. Bodybuilders and athletes usually already have a good idea what's going on health-wise, but the average Joe on the street who needs to keep his heart healthy is getting caught up in a fad and neglect that aspect. I'm not saying that it's bad, but I believe a combination of the two would be best.

I agree as well. I don't know the practicality of headhunting in self defense, but as a technique, it's quite useful.

I sort of agree with this. If you're doing something for usefulness in martial arts, then aesthetics has no part in it. If you're doing it for your ENTERTAINMENT though, then it's no big deal.