bushido_man96

We use Korean terminology when doing basics and board breaking in our school. I've got a lot of TKD books, and I notice in reading them that the terms we use are different for many of the techniques. Not sure why, as I don't speak a lick of Korean, other than the terms I use in class.

Self-defense starts with self-awareness.

I think a lot of MA schools that run a cardio kickboxing program do so in order to expose more people to the possibility of what MA training can be. Through that exposure, I think most have the goal of trying to bring some of them into the actual MA classes. Himokiri Karate, thanks for sharing that information. It sounds like a good story, indeed.

I've heard the name, but never seen a school, or spoken with any practitioners.

Congrats!

Happy Happy Birthday! Hope its a great one!

This is really cool! Thanks for sharing this with us, Bob! Its great when KF members can get together, meet, and hang out!

I think OneKickWonder makes some good points. Human beings have been fighting since day one, and since that day, human beings have been working on becoming better at fighting. Whether that be with weapons to increase damage output, making items like armor and shields to protect ourselves better, etc. As a race, we've been at this for a very long time. With all that said, systems like Karate, TKD, BJJ, Wrestling, etc, are all focused efforts at improving our ability to attack and defend ourselves physically with our natural weapons. They are systems created in an effort to help us kick, punch, block, counter, etc, all in a more efficient and effective manner. So, in a sense, OneKickWonder is right on the money in his approach. We study these styles in order to make us better at some of the things we already naturally do. These systems also help us to refine what we do physically, and the focus of some systems can take us beyond the physical and into a more mental and spiritual aspect of our training. But, it all starts with the physical aspects. Now, with all that aside, and to provide a more direct answer to Oresti's question, yes, Shotokan Karate can be very useful in a self-defense situation. It all depends on how you train. If you train at a school that spends a decent amount of time on the self-defense aspects of the style, it can become a very useful and effective system of self-defense. If there is a healthy amount of partner work with some realist attacks and defenses practiced, or forms work with applications that are reasonable and efficient to perform, then any style can be very beneficial in self-defense (I assume that is what you mean when you mention a street-fight). The reverse can also be true. If the school isn't run well, and the curriculum isn't taught well, and no self-defense is ever worked on, then it could be tough to make it all translate. In the end, a lot depends on how the teacher approaches the training, and what kinds of things are focused on in class. Speak with your instructor to find out what kind of focuses he or she has in training.

Very cool, indeed. The ability to teach and translate skill is paramount for a coach. Not whether they are male or female.

The problem is that Wrestling and BJJ are not the same. Sure, the BJJ person will likely pick up things quick, but picking up the nuances of the sport will take time, and those who have actively competed will have an advantage. There are some other factors to consider, too. BJJers are comfortable working from their backs. Wrestlers aren't afforded that opportunity. If you hit your back, your pinned and the match is over. If a BJJ guy goes to his back and then decides he is going to "go to work" to reverse, he will find himself pinned. Therefore, Wrestlers tend to be very aggressive. That's an adaptation that a BJJer would have to make. Another aspect of it is the takedown game. This tends to differ from school to school, so it will depend on if a BJJer is skilled at takedowns or not. If a BJJer gets taken down and tries to pull guard, he probably just gets pinned. Another adaptation to make. Then there's learning to work from Referee's position...a whole other monster... ...and now that we've addressed all that, we haven't delved into what style of Wrestling we are even doing here. I'm assuming Folk Style, the style found throughout the US in Kids, Middle and High School, and Collegiate Wrestling. What if we are talking about Freestyle or Greco/Roman? More very different beasts to look at. The biggest bugaboo I have with your question is the lopsidedness of it; only one year of experience for the Wrestler. Kid's Wrestling is huge in the US, and "Kid's" is a bit misleading...high schoolers still participate in Kid's Wrestling. It is very possible that by the time a kid gets to his or her freshman year in high school they already have 8 years of experience in Wrestling. I'm not trying to discount a BJJer's knowledge at all. But its way different than Wrestling. What if the question was asked this way: "Say we have a BJJ black belt join a Judo club. Is he likely way better than those Judoka that have been training for a year?"

There shouldn't be. That's not the point of the thread. The question is, at different life stages, do different styles offer greater suitability than other styles. Would it be fair to sell a kicking style to someone that is never going to be a good kicker? When I phrased the question, I was careful not to ask, are there different styles for different age groups. We all pass through different life stages at different points in our journey. Except at the very beginning and very end, age has no bearing on it. I'm coming in late here, but I think I see the gist of what you are asking. I feel I have good experience here. I've been doing TKD for the better part of 25 years. Its a style that emphasizes kicking, and its Olympic style sparring tends to be benefit someone the more athletic they are. Being a short, fat guy for most of my life, I have first-hand experience in trying to compete in a kicking-focused style with tall, lanky, athletic kickers. Its tough. Now, physical talent and athletic ability aside, there are many facets one can focus on in TKD. Being older now, with my knees hurting the way they do often, I'm pretty well past my prime when it comes to doing the fancy jumping and spinning kicks, the 360s, etc. I'm not jumping around much any more. Which sucks, because when I test for 5th dan, I'll be required to do a flying side kick over three people.... However, there are many aspects of TKD that I am still able to perform. All the basic standing kicks are in my toolbox. Standing spin kicks are still within my ability to perform. Hand strikes/blocks are locked in. What I find now is that I spend more time focusing in on improving basic techniques and working on self-defense, if only in my head, especially through forms. So, over the years of training, I've adapted to listen to my body and keep on training and improving. Now, if someone my age with my current physical state was going to start looking into training in the Martial Arts, I'd tell the person to find what interests them, and do it. A good instructor should see what their students can and can't do, and help them along as best they can in their journey.

hey, singularity6 have you watched a film yet? pink Not yet. Eventually, though! I recommend jumping straight to Enter the Dragon.

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!

Things are going great! Good to have you back, G95champ!

I think as a teacher I need my students to want to be better than me. This drives me to try to keep moving forward as well. Yes, I want them to get better than me, but I want them to earn it, as well.

I like the list, but the internet seems like quite a jump forward in relation to the first four you list (but it is definitely a big part of it the last decade or so). I'd say that Black Belt Magazine probably played a large role in it, as well.

As much as we talk about it, I'm not so sure that passion actually existed to the extent we think it did. We see a lot of great stories from "back in the day," but if we look at the stories from our own "day," I think we'll see similar amounts of stories. The things that seem to change are the things people dedicate themselves to. Anyways, just a thought, but I digress.... Who wrote this book you read? It sounds like he has quite the interesting story.

It's a bit worse than that in my case unfortunately, as if worn cartilage is not bad enough. I had an accident and few years ago. Unfortunately the x ray technician failed to spot the damage. The conclusion in a very busy A and E department was that nothing was broken, just badly bruised, and a few weeks of rest to light activity would fix it. It was about 2 years later when the problems persisted that an MRI and further xray analysis revealed that in fact the two joint surfaces had actually caved in. Fragments of broken bone from the smashed joint surfaces had moved and reset in the wrong position. If we'd realised this at the time, there's a chance that key hole surgery could have saved the joint. As it's all now well and truly set in the wrong place, it's a case of management until it either fuses or possibly a joint replacement. As grim as all that sounds though, in about 50% of similar cases, joint degradation stops, and it gets no worse for years. Wow! Yup. I'd defiantly move to an art with less trauma on the feet. Does kicking bother your feet, or just being on your feet in general? It varies. Most days, if I behave myself within my ability, then I'm fine on my feet. I'm also fine kicking most days. But I have to be a bit careful with the type of kick. Kicking to strike with the ball of the foot is a bad idea for me. To be honest I think ball of the foot strikes are a bad idea for anybody. It's basically arthritis waiting to happen. But many people get away with it. Not me. I can still do all the kicks in our arsenal, but I have to be very selective and when and how to use each. I'd never present a front kick as anything more than a distraction for example, because if I deliver it with power, it's going to potentially leaving me limping for a couple of weeks. The bizarre bouncing footwork characteristics of the likes of taekwondo and some styles of karate is out of the question for me. I can do the kangaroo bounce, but if I were to do it for more than a few bounces I'd be limping for a week. So in short, I can still do everything, but whereas many can do everything without thinking too much about it, I have to constantly think about the price I'll pay in terms of foot pain over the next week or more. I'm sorry to hear this. Its got to be rough, training with that kind of pain. It sounds like you are very aware of it, though, and do a good job of training around it. I think, for the most part, you don't have to worry about bouncing around a lot necessarily to be successful in TKD. I used to bounce a lot more, but now I don't. What I work on being better at now is using short, sharp footwork steps to get to the positions I need to attack or counter or avoid an attack. I think of the movements as more like Tai Sabaki, like in Aikido or some Karate. From what I've seen you write here, you've adapted your training to suit your body's needs. I don't think that will change no matter where you go train (accept maybe for BJJ; that might be a good option).

This is a good approach to take. Take your concerns to them. At least that way you know that they know. I would also mention that if you have trained over the course of several years, it can become more and more difficult to see the improvement. We all reach a point of diminishing returns, and as Martial Artists that means we force ourselves to work even harder to see just a tiny bit of improvement or change. Anyways, food for thought. Please keep us posted as you move forward in your journey here, and what course you decide to take.

Been training 25 years... I know I don't train nearly enough, that's for sure!

Free sparring is useful for learning and practicing strategies. The two sparring can agree to working on certain attack/counter strategies, and get lots of reps in doing it, without worry about the "break/point" stopping the match. This is super good for training. It can also be a great way to warm up or just blow off some steam with a buddy. Its great for drilling. Point sparring is important for applying the strategies you work on in the stressful environment where failure can happen.

Congrats!

Great question! Does my gym make profit? Yes. Could I live off it if I didn't have a day job? No. That's the reality of it. Now, this works out fine since it's not a primary income stream. There's also the fact I'm not paying tuition and the gym picks up my continuing education such as seminars etc. I think this is how 90% of the MA gyms around end up operating. Most of us do this as a hobby, and if we can get the hobby to pay for itself with just a little left over to play with, then we call it a win. I do agree with your opening post, Danielle. I don't have any issues at all with an instructor making money by teaching Martial Arts. Being able to cover expenses is great, but pulling enough of a profit to upgrade the school and even pay yourself as an instructor/owner is even better.

Thanks, Bob. I'm glad that made sense...I wasn't sure it did...