bushido_man96

Our school has adopted the ICHF curriculum, although we haven't done it in a while. Some of the guys got to go to a GM Pellegrini workshop, and they said he was a blast to work with. Have fun!

Hey, I like ribs!!

Thanks, abel.

Definitely. I enjoy his books, and have 4 or 5 of them.

I have seen 4 month testing cycles, 3 month, and 2 month cycles. It just depends on the style and instructor. Most instructors will be observing you more closely than you realize, and will know if you are ready to be at the next level or not. Usually, if an instructor sees that one does not meet the reqirements by the time the cycle is over, he will hold the student out until the next cycle. Now, you may feel that you are not ready, but that is mainly due to inexperience. Your instructor can tell if you are ready to move on or not. Trust is his/her judgement, he/she knows what they are doing.

Never heard of him before.

You are right, Sohan. The cool down is a very much neglected part of a workout. I have to admit, that I am guilty of it myself after lifting weights. What many don't realize is the gains that they can gain from stretching after a tough workout to cool down.

When I was in the ATA, I had to go to Instructor Certification camp. That is where all ATA black belts that want to become certified to run a school and teach have to go. It is a week long seminar, and the Grandmaster at that time, the late H.U. Lee, was there. At the end of every evening, he would hold and hour and a half long workout with the blackbelts. On the first night, we did the white belt form the whole time, and it is only an 18 move form! We spent over 30 minutes working on just the first 3-5 moves of the form!!! It showed me how in-depth one can go into learning everything there is to learn about even the most basic things. It was a real blast.

I liked some of VanDamme's fight scenes. I know he is a terrible actor. His biggest mistake was probably Street Fighter. Dolph did a movie with Brandon Lee once, I think it was Showdown in Little Tokyo. It was alright. Dolph's best performance, hands down, is Rocky IV. Man, he was ripped.

This is an awesome point. You hit the nail right on the head!

I did notice that. I guess he ran out of money or something. I'm not sure why Van Damme gets grouped into the same category as Seagal. He's never made a good movie ever. Granted Seagal has gone way down in quality in the last 5 - 10 years, but again, his early stuff was great. Oh, I agree, I am not saying he made bad movies by any stretch. I loved Fire Down Below, The Glimmer Man, Hard to Kill, Above the Law, all that good stuff. I even enjoyed VanDammes early stuff. I think that part of the problem is that I hear Segal isn't the nicest guy in the world.

How cheap is it to train Muay Thai overseas? It would be cool if I could afford to stay for a year!

Our organization is the Traditional Taekwondo Association, and our Grandmaster is Chae Sun Yi. He is a ninth degree. When we do a black belt testing, we go to the headquarters on the Friday night before, where we have black belt class. It is kind of like a pretesting; we do all of the forms, all of the one-steps, and a few other basic form requirements that we have to know in order to be allowed to test. He demonstrates a little bit, but for the most part just directs the class. He holds a seminar for black belts every year as well, but I have not gone to one yet. I may go this year in February.

Yes, It is. The Forms are different and there are some slight differences in chambering and some blocking. I noticed some of the technical differences in hand technique and kicking styles, but I had to adjust some things when I went from the ATA to the styel of TKD I do now.

Yeah, him and Van Damme have gone down the same road lately. Incidentally, did you notice that in the opening scene of "Into the Sun" had former NFL running back Eddie George in it? Thought that was interesting.

Is there a source that you could reference me to so that I could look some of this up? It is very interesting to me, and I enjoy studying history.

Ahhhh, I see. Is Thai footwork and boxing footwork similar, or are the boxers a little more mobile?

No it can't - the judges won't let it. In my karate days, I was training under a guy from japan who didn't believe in point sparring. it was hard contact. However, I was also training at another karate school (american) and they entered tournaments. I had point taken away from me for excessive contact on several occasions. In my experiences with point fighting, at the higher ranks, anyhow, the contact got a little intense sometimes. But, every tournament is different.

I understand, but no, the intent is no different. In both situations, I want to end the fight as quickly as possible, as long as we are talking about full contact fighting. if it's point, then yes, the intent is different. Ok, I'll go with the difference in point and sport. But, do you think the intent is different between an MMA fighter and a boxer? Or do they relegate about the same as well? I suppose they should be the same.

This is true, we live in a super-sized society.

So, these are time frames in the development of the art we are talking about here?

I know that Thai boxing does not move the feet quite as much as TKD does, but could the TKD footwork lend to the mobility of a Thai boxer?

For the most part, my medieval combat consists of sword and shield. I am hoping to add quarterstaff to the mix. The only people I have to work with are some SCA affiliates, so there are some limitations. I have some friends who are willing to experiment, however, and I think we will start experimenting shortly with other weapons, and adding grips and such. I know this isn't the proper way to learn, but I have been reading my eyes out on Medieval combat books, to try to learn new things. No instructors in my area, and the nearest seminars are always in Texas or something like that. So, I am doing what I can with what I got.

What you bring up is the difference between training each technique, and training for fighting. When we train each technique on its own it is with the intent that it is all we need to end a fight, but a large portion of training is dedicated to combinations, timing, zanshin, and the other issues that are critical in being able to defend ourselves. In fighting it is extremely difficult to land a perfect punch, we understand that and practice accordingly. ("we" refers to all like minded martial artists) Ok, that clarifies things. I thought that was the direction you all were going, but wanted to make sure. I don't like to assume anything. Thank you.

If this was true, then I would not hear so many negative things about sport TKD. I consider sport TKD and point (touch) karate to be exceptions to the rule. What is the rule? Judo, boxing, BJJ, MMA, capoeira, freestyle/folk wrestling, Greco, Pankration, Muay Thai, kickboxing, san shou, and catch to name a few.Why would sport TKD and point Karate be exceptions? Points gained in sport TKD are gained through body displacement, which means that you have to be able to deliver a fairly strong blow. It is also possible to win by knockout at sport TKD (Olympic). And in "point" sparring, contact can get a little rougher than you would think. There is no reason to seperate these two cows from the rest of the herd.