powerof0ne

As I mentioned before I tried out Finney's a couple of times while I was in St. Louis on business and the workout was great! It wasn't Muay Thai, though..it was definitely kickboxing. I remember calling up a gym that was somewhat affiliated with Master Toddy that I was going to train at but I got too wrapped up in work. Unfortunately I forgot the name of this gym. When I was their I remember Finney's being at a Mall in an Athletic club...

Pivot that supporting leg...it's that simple. the more you pivot on the ball of your foot to where your supporting leg heel is almost pointing at the target you're kicking the more hip you will have put into your kick.

All I can say is I'm never getting a silk belt ever again...sticking to satin. I'm still working on my silk belt that I've had for about 2.5 years now and it still looks pretty freaking new, I hate it. While I'm on the subject I know a Karateka that took his satin belt an dliterally took a knife and started scraping it up so it would look older. I have never took such steps but this silk belt is kinda ticking me off in how stiff it is.

Keep this in mind, Holland will cost more then Thailand but in some ways it is worth it. When training in Thailand prepare to rough it if you want good training, generally speaking some of the best training you will get are in the camps with the worst accomidations. If you want to live in comfort train at Fairtex in Thailand Generally speaking the "dutch style" will work boxing more then the thai camps will...but not always.

Meijiro Gym is very helpful from my own experience and will get back to you pretty quick with all the necessary information you need.

If it was necessary I would just kick against the knee... In sparring/copetition doing a dtae or a kao to the thigh is the way to go. Kicking against the knee cap with a sidekick/front kick or to the side of it...ouch.

If they're drinking it's probably smarter to attack them in the gut Just watch out for the vomit! I know when I used to go clubbing you could hit me anywhere...but the stomache!

It is more of a JKD school guys..the Muay Thai is under Ajarn Chai Sirisute for crying out loud...look at the other programs, typical of many of the JKD under Inosanto these days. The head instructor is under Larry Hartsell who is a big name in the JKD world. From a school I know of in my area that is somewhat similar to this in classes...students in Muay Thai don't spar for at least a year(typically) and hardly if any students ever compete in Muay Thai. I'm not sure if all of them are like this but I have talked to students that told me they quit because they never sparred after a year+ of training(which is odd for Muay Thai).

I was thinking the same thing about uppercuts..I personally don't prefer the rear hook but some people do it... I usually would only throw a rear hook to the body, not to the head because if I'm that close I'd rather clinch/neck wrestle and knao/knee. To each is own though, some people like the rear hook.

When I was in St. Louis I remember calling one that I think was to some degree anyway...I also trained once in a place called Finney's at an athletic club? It wasn't Muay Thai but I gotta say the conditioning/workout was great with a lot of medicine ball workout and such..good boxing skills..defnitely not Muay Thai though.

Honestly, full contact can mean different things to different people. To me IT SHOULD MEAN legkicks, knees, punches to the face, headkicks, etc. allowed but it doesn't in most "full contact" schools I have gone to. I don't kow if your Chong Nhu(sp?) will be benificial for you if the techniques I mentioned above are allowed...I mean no disprespect but I've seen some Chong Nhu yudansha/black belts spar and it's nothing like Kyokushin/muay thai/etc. But you probably will learn some good stuff training in this atmosphere that can help you grow as a martial artist.

I wouldn't say that shorin ryu is the closest to "kung fu" of the okinawan/japanese styles. You have to take in account Goju, Euchi, and Ryuei/pangai noon; and many others.

broken a few noses(in competition), bruised opponent's thighs so they couldn't stand up with leg kicks... To myself, busted knuckles, black eyes, suprisingly no broken nose on my end, bruises just about everywhere, fat lips, and I think that's about it.

Honestly, the info is available but like someone else was trying to say if this is early into your training this might do you more harm then good. I have a very good video kata collection of almost all of my shito ryu kata when I feel I'm getting rusty and need a reference tool but remember that videos/books/etc. are just reference tools and are not your sensei.

Seido isn't focused as much on knockdown/bareknuckle as Kyokushin, Enshin, Seidokaikan, etc. but it still has it. I would say it focuses a little bit more on kata then many Kyokushin dojo and is harder then a shotokan, shito ryu, wado ryu, "more classical" karate dojo is. Seido tries to use body shifting/footwork to avoid and counter more so then Kyokushin typically does. I'm speaking from my own experience but good luck in finding a dojo that works out for you.

Male vs. Female, and female vs. female? Well I would run from Lucia Rijker for whatever it's worth. I also know a female brazillian jiu jitsu brown belt that can kick my * on the ground.

Well..this can be a tricky subject but train with the heavier gloves on bag work/pad work but do proper technique. Shadowbox with just your hands and work on your return speed as stated but I must stress focus on proper technique..don't start cutting corners to increase speed. If you do this you will more then likely be lacking power and just have speed..this is "good" if you're going for points but in the big picture of reality it's a waste. I will state again..do not cut corners on your technique to increase speed.

I really am not sure, I would have guessed hyperextending but it could be tendonitis in the elbow, aka tennis elbow. Either way, it sounds like you should go to the doctor if this keeps up.

In regards to getting fairtex equipment, I really think it depends on who you order it through and if you bug them about it...I've ordered stuff from fairtex and only once did it take longer then 2 weeks to receive. Whenever I order windy, twins, fbt, thaismai, or inter I can expect to wait at least 3 weeks. A friend of mine ordered some custom twins shorts a year ago or so and they screwed up on his address so long that it took at least 2.5 months until he got them. Another time at my old school we did a big group order and our order got held up in customs for whatever reason and it took a long time..I think this was for Twins equipment too..but this could have happened from any brand coming from Thailand. I'm not sure why Windy is more expensive..I think it has to do with not being as popular anymore as it was 5+ years ago? Not really sure...I still have some Windy shorts and gloves...You can usually get Twins stuff on sale a lot but with anything coming from Thailand I would expect to wait 3 weeks to a month and a half. That was my whole point about fairtex because if you're in the USA and order from their warehouse here in the states and they have it in stock it will be much QUICKER... Personally I don't train at fairtex and never have, so I hardly have any of their gear... I'd reccomend Ultra(master toddy's brand) but it's kind of expensive too but very similar in quality to Windy..I still have a pair of my Ultra gloves from 97! I'm not going to say they're in perfect condition but they're in better condition then some other brands that I only had for a year max.

Yes these styles can both compliment eachother but keep in mind that they both have traights that go against eachother too(i.e. not kicking much above the ribs in wing chun/ving tsun and many others). I read a few years ago about a noted wing chun instructor that also has a background in Muay Thai and trained/fought in Thailand if memory serves me right. Not only would wing chun help out your Muay Thai but your wing chun would help out your Muay Thai. I am a firm advocate of Muay Thai but am well aware of possible "weaknesses" in the art. I myself am mostly a karate and Muay Thai practitioner. I would suggest getting a firm foundation in one art before continuing on and doing another simultaneously. I had a shodan/1st dan in Karate before I started Muay Thai and I think this helped me out a lot more then others that I have seen that have only a month or two of a striking art and try to do another striking art at the same time..they get too confused and start to get bad habbits/form in both arts. If you want to do a primarily grappling art such as bjj and muay thai at the same time before spending years in another this shouldn't be a hindrance to you because they're night and day. This is just my two cents worth but also things I have noticed in my experience.

In many styles of Karate you have shodan-ho which is basically to make sure that you don't quit right after you get your shodan. I can see how some would see this to make more $ but in the dojo I was at that did this you didn't pay anything more to get your shodan. What was funny to me was how one individual that I went to HS with quit right after getting his shodan-ho and told everyone at school that he was a shodan...I would go around and call him a shodan-HO! while emphasizing the HO because he quit Awww...fast times at ridgemont high..heh

I'm not being picky but... If ATA TKD is your "ultimate" MA, then why do you need to feel that you have to fill in the gaps? Surely the fact that you feel you have to look outside the ATA system means that it is not actually your ultimate MA? (Please don't think I'm being picky or getting at you, I'm not! ) ATA TKD fits me. I like the forms, I like the sparring, self defense, etc. I've tried aikido, kenpo, shotokan, ITF, WTF, a very little bit of kung fu and and muay thai. ATA TKD fits me the best, so it is my ultimate art. Here I am applying the definition of ultimate as being "Furthest or highest in degree or order". It is my first order art, so it is my ultimate art. Is it totally complete? No. No art is, IMHO. However, this one fits my body style, personal taste and physical capabilities the best. It provides me the best chance to defend myself with something I am comfortable with. However, like many striking arts, it doesn't have a lot of emphasis on grappling type situations, so I add that when I can. ATA TKD is still my ultimate art, the rest is just details. Aodhan In my experience it doesn't take long for someone to get their black belt in ATA TKD...for example I know of a local instructor with 15 years in the ATA that is a 5th Dan. To me 15 years to get to 5th dan is insane unless you were training privately and living with a master.

If we're going to use the same logic you're using here, then I'd say there's no need for the ITF..or the WTF either for that matter. Why isn't there just one TKD organization? Or just one automobile? Or just one of anything you can name? Or just one governing body for Karate Not just the JKA, WKF, AAU, etc.

Well I can't argue the logic that if you "destroy" someone's lead leg that it will definitely be in your favor but this is a lot easier said then done. In a lot of gyms/camps your lead leg is taught to be more of a defensive leg, meaning that you do a lot of your checking with your lead and save your rear leg to dish out the power kicks. At least this is how I've been taught in a few different camps. So while I agree with Mr. Green in saying that if you can destroy your opponent's lead leg it will definitely hinder them I don't think this is that easy of a feat on anyone with 2+ years experience. If you do insist on trying to go for someone's lead leg I reccomend going for the inside of their leg...

I'd pay attention to superfoot and probably pm him if I was you in regards to finding a good kicking art/school. I have to agree with him 110% about Savate, it is very overlooked(for some dumb reason)and has some very good kicks. When I'm sparring Muay Thai rules against someone that's allright at Muay Thai and is too accustomed to my Muay Thai kicks I will resort to my Karate kicks to throw them off. With Savate and how many of us knuckleheads don't train in it you will learn many effective kicks not really seen in other martial arts that will throw a lot of people off. What I will say about TKD has allready been kind of said..I used to be one of those people that thought all TKD was crap but this isn't the case. Just, sadly for TKD's sake that many dojang are too commercial. If you can find a school that is an offshoot from the ITF(international TKD federation) in someway I would definitely look into them because it's not olympic style TKD. Now you can learn some awesome kicks in Olympic style tkd but probably won't learn how to do them with much power. I'm all about flashy kicks but I guess maybe my own personal preference is to be able to tko/ko someone with a strike that I'm throwing. I don't do gymnastics, I do martial arts as a way to get in shape, have fun, and be able to defend myself...throwing a 720 arial kick that has no power is ridiculous..on the other hand if you can modify a butterfly kick with a whip kick to the neck or do it low and connect with a muay thai leg kick to the thigh...more power to you mate I love flashy kicks with power, hehe.