bushido_man96

I apologize for not being as active on this thread as I was earlier. The truth is, each of these posts takes me quite a bit of time to put together, so I need to have a big open time slot to make the posts as good (hopefully) as I want them to be. So, with that said, let's do some 5th dan evaluation of forms! 5th dan ITF tuls: So San: Se Jong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dsD2_4tvBE Tong Il: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXro0R2CmzU So San: 72 moves, a long form! This follows the + pattern, as well. This form has some interesting footwork, with forward double step-slide turning, which can be seen around move 50, if I see it right, and in move 55. We also see some stepping backwards at move 66 to perform a left scooping block, and then shifting forward to punch in move 67. The form starts by shifting/sliding back wards to block, then stepping forward to strike. After opening, we see some blocking and striking at angles similar to those seen in Yoo Sin. There is also some tricky segments where a twin knife hand strike is delivered out to either side, and then with the arms held in position, their is a high side kick to the right, followed by turning to do a round kick to the left (moves 9, 10, 11). This is repeated later, as well. Move 17 is double low block, followed by a grab and releasing motion in move 18, and a strike follows in move 19. There seems to be a lot of shifting throughout this form. After move 50 with the forward double step slide, we jump back, turning, and execute double guarding blocks. This repeats at move 56, as well. Overall, there are some challenging aspects to this form, but it also seems to focus on some smaller shifting motions and not quite as many athletic motions that we saw in earlier forms. Se Jong: 24 moves, in a stacked I pattern. Our association does this form at 3rd dan recommended. This form tends to move rather quickly, going one way and then another after just one move, and there is no repeating in the form. I liked this form because I feel like I can move rather powerfully with it. At move #8, for some reason, in our style, we step all the way to face the opposite way to punch, as opposed to just a 90 degree turn. I have no idea why, but we end up facing the right way at the end. At move 20, we do a single palm pressing block, instead of the double. I like this form because it has a fast, powerful feeling to it that appeals to me. Here is the version we do in my school: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCNaSl1b0fU&list=PLon1GNgZPzV52Ef_tAanXfcPXyraURw2I&index=3 You can see where the differences are at moves 8, 9, and 10. At move 10, we get back headed in the right direction, and the form finishes properly. Tong Il: 56 movements, in a straight line. This pattern is supposed to symbolize Gen. Choi's desire that Korea become unified, and the stamping motions symbolize his frustration of Korea being divided. This form starts off in a slow, rather smooth rhythm. There are quite a few of slow move performances in the form, as well. There are also some interesting strikes with the top of the hand, what I've heard called an ox-jaw strike, but here are called bow wrist upward block. We see downward kick, outward vertical kick, along with some target kicks. I like the way this form flows, with slower, powerful segments mixed in with faster segments. And that brings the ITF tul portion of the thread to an end, for the time being. Also of note is there is no GTF pattern to add to the 5th dan ITF tuls. But, just because there aren't any more new patters in ITF, doesn't mean we won't revisit them as we go along! WTF/Kukki 5th dan Poomsae, Sipjin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGOPx0P1aKU 31 moves, in a + pattern. Sipjin symbolizes the longevity humans derive from the everlasting elements of nature, and follows the line of movement that is the Chinese character for 10, symbolizing "the infinitely multiplying nature of the decimal system and the endless development of life forms in nature," (from Complete Taekwondo Poomsae). This is an interesting pattern, and again, seems to have that Poe Eun feeling to it at the beginning, moving along the line facing mostly forward, but turning around to face the other way with the open mountain block at moves 4 and 9. The motions starting at move 2b and continuing through move 3c, with the augmented middle section block, pressing forward and opening the hand, and then to a horizontal spear hand thrust with the opposite hand. This segment repeats, as well. At move 15b, we see the first of several boulder pushing blocks, which press very slowly and cover a large area, and they move more upwards than the way I have done them, moving across. We also see some twin forward punches in this form, done in pairs from opposite stances. This is a very interesting form. I noticed in the boulder pushing block, the front stance appeared to have the feet on one line, instead of shoulder width apart, which would be a very awkward movement for me. This form also runs a mix of fast move combinations with slower segments of power and tension. ATA 5th dan Poomsae, Chung Hae: 95 moves, in an hourglass pattern. The form starts with a rather abrupt series of retreating steps and blocking before becoming offensive. The complex ATA kicking keeps up, with an early front kick then consecutive side kick to the opposite side. There are also lots of long, circular blocking motions, both fast and slow, and some more single hand striking combinations. We also see a triple repeating kick set (side kick and some round kicks, as near as I can tell), and a jump spin hook kick. There is a challenging section with a jump front kick followed by a jump spin outer crescent kick, followed by some retreating and blocking, and then it repeats. This form has a lot of moves in some long stances, and lots of movement, taking series of full steps forwards and backwards. There is a very odd circular square block. Later, we see a retreating and jumping spin outer crescent kick, followed by a jump spin inner crescent kick, and prior to that, he was working from a one-leg stance. We see a nice combination that has a stomp kick, followed by some downward striking and then a low kick to finish a downed opponent. That is a long form! There we have it, 5th dan forms. As we move up the ladder, the lists of forms will likely get shorter, and hopefully, I can still find links to all the form that are out there. Until then, thoughts, opinions, observations, and tips for any form performances are appreciated!

I wholeheartedly concur!! In BJJ, is it a good thing or a bad thing to be always moving? I ask that because we're taught that it's a bad thing to always be moving for the simple reason that... "Each time you move, you open up other possibilities to your opponent to capitalize upon; don't be moving just to be moving: have consciousness while moving" ~Dai-Soke I'd say its always good to be moving, but you have to move with purposes. Like fighting on your feet, if you stop moving, you become a statue for someone to spool up on. Especially if you are trying to improve position, which is paramount. Once you obtain a position of dominance, the other person will likely try to move out of it, so you have to move to keep position.

True, you may not hit the point, but striking the arm in that manner will surely remove it as an obstruction, opening the path to send your strike home. Getting pain off the strike is just bonus coverage.

Martial Arts classes tend to have a rather high attrition rate. People either find it more challenging than they thought, or just find its not for them. But, it could be a slow week, too, and the class could fill back in.

I thought that was the theme on it. Very cool!

I actually think the opposite is true. Ronda's popularity has crossed into the mainstream, and there are lots of people who know who she is but don't follow fighting. She's gained that kind of notoriety.I think she is one of the most-searched topics on Google, as well, so she has some drawing power. I do think it odd that Walmart won't carry her book in stores, but will sell it through their website. It doesn't make sense. Nor does it make sense that they refer to her as "too violent," but sell the Game of Thrones DVD series, which, if they follow the books well, and I understand they do, are quite a bit more violent than any of Ronda's fights. I think it smacks of hypocrisy on Walmart's part. Either way, I don't think it will affect her book sales that much.

Welcome to KF! You will find no lack of passionate Karatekas or other stylists to converse with here!

Welcome to KF, Juan! Have you considered joining any dojo's/clubs in your area to get some live instruction?

This is a great idea. I think one of the best things you could do to develop your strikes is find a partner to spar or semi-spar with. Working with Boxers would be a great benefit, but many times they train with big gloves on, which will affect your ability to use your hands in your defensive techniques, and thus affecting your transition to offense. If you check out some of stonecrusher96's videos in the Chinese Martial Arts forum, you'll see some great drilling ideas, but you will also see how they can be nullified once you start training with Boxing gloves. So, with that in mind, what I would suggest is to get some nice MMA style gloves with the open fingers, and some good, Boxing type headgear to absorb blows well, and do some light to medium contact sparring where you try to apply your defenses on the attacker in a live situation. And don't just spar, drill/spar. Have him start with a jab, and work on recognizing it and defending it. Then work up to a jab/cross combination you defend. The better you get, the more you can start doing some more spontaneous sparring sessions to see how you've come with your drilling. That's what I would recommend. Please let us know how it goes, and what you learn!

This is exactly what I thought of, too. If this is the case, then you should probably rest and ice the joint, and when you get back, slow your punches and striking down so that you can finish properly. As you get the feel for how you should finish, you'll be able to build speed back up. If this is not the case, please let us know!

Brian, Working pads like that is an awesome way to build spontaneous response. Nice work, keep posting! Thanks, Alex. We've been working on it more and more often, and I really enjoy it. We've also been padding up with headgear, boxing gloves, shin guards, and sparring with a bit more contact, too. This has also been rather enlightening. 3/30/2015 Defensive Tactics Club: 1:30 - 3:00 pm. More Thai pad work, and some self-defense review. 4/6/2015 Defensive Tactics Club: 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Did some self-defense review, then some Thai pad work. My son came along today, and I did some focus mitt work with him, too. He seemed to enjoy it, but I think he just liked playing with all the equipment more. After I held the Thai pads for one of the Wrestlers to work some striking, we padded up and sparred a bit. Some of the contact was pretty good, and I took some shots from this guy, who is a collegiate athlete and in really good shape. But, he said I had plenty in on him, too, and he enjoyed sparring with someone who was more willing to stand in and strike, where some of the other guys who aren't as experienced in striking tend to retreat a lot more. So, since we have all this great equipment, we will be doing more and more sparring. I'm wondering if anyone has any kind of good sparring drills that can be worked from that kind equipment? Any and all suggestions will be helpful! Me and my oldest son also started up in the weight room today. Gym: 4:00 - 5:00 pm Squats: 95x3x5 Press: 45x3x5 Deads: not sure how much really, but it was pretty light weight with just some training plates on it, mainly helping Kendall get the technique down. Stretched later on. We are following Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program, so I spent time really focusing on training Kendall on the proper squat technique. There was a thick wooden staff available, so we used that as the bar to work his squats, and for his last set we put 2 1/2 lb plates on each side. We did the same thing working the press, and used the lightest bar we could find to work on dead lifts. I'm excited about being back in the gym lifting, and I hope that Kendall starts to pick up on it, too, so we can do it as a father/son thing, along with working on Wrestling. He was picking up the technique really well, and I think pretty soon we'll get into some progressive loading.

I side with the others and recommend seeing a doctor about this. I don't know if it could be some kind of exercise-induced asthma or something, but definitely look into it.

I'm not a Karate student, so I can't offer much in the way of advise. But, I did see nice hip movement in your hand techniques, which gives you good power. The only thing I thought was that it looked kind of like you were rushing through to finish it; you might experiment with different pacing on some of the combinations, but that's just a thought. Nicely done!

Nice rundown, especially with getting out of a bad position. And I like how you are always pressing about moving up the "positional ladder." Its just not enough to say, "don't get caught in this position," because its going to happen. Great stuff, Alex.

Man, that was quick! I'd love to work in that kind of coordination. I'd like to see it broken down a bit more, then I could try to drill it.

Nice. I've seen some concepts like that before, using that point on the arm. I don't recall the name of that pressure point, but it can be useful at times. Its such a small point to hit, though.

I think that it just depends on each person. True, most people are right handed, and when they design drills, this will play a roll in it. But, I don't think this necessarily means the left-handed are at a disadvantage in performing. Where something might need tweaked, though, is where the right hander drills with a right hander, and then moves into drill with a lefty. Its important, I feel, to let the lefty drill on his comfortable side, so it would be important for the drill designer to have a lefty handy to work his drill, and see what things would work differently for them. I think where the lefty is caught in a disadvantage is when they have a right handed instructor whose only solution to answer all lefty questions is to say "just mirror it" or "do it the same on the opposite side," when the solution isn't always that simple. A good instructor should be able to work and explore more with the lefty experience, so that when the challenges arise, they are better prepared to work with it.

You're welcome. Again, I thank you all for this wonderful gift!

Congrats, cathal!

I think I was the only person here with two underscores in the username....

Welcome to KF!

3/25/2015 Defensive Tactics Club: 1:30 - 3:00 pm. Put full pads on and did a bit of sparring. Working head punches and kicks. 3/26/2015 Defensive Tactics Club Special!: 12:00 - 3:00 pm. The defensive tactics club had a TACP Air Force crew come in to talk with the students, and one of their guys was a gentleman named Dean Johnston, who is their combative's instructor. He Wrestled since he was 7, did some TKD in my association with my instructor years ago, and also has some pro fighting experience, and he was a great guy to work with. In the first session, he covered some ground fundamentals, working on passing guard, and then switching and working on keeping the other in the guard. After working these, we had to compete with each other, trying to pass guard or retain guard. In between sessions, he put on some Thai pads, and I got my first taste of Thai pad working, which was a lot of fun. He worked leg kicks on me, too, which was different, and something I will work more on defending. Here's a video of part of it that one of the club members took: In the second session, we worked on the standing clinch and weapon retention. We worked to double underhooks and pushed the bad guy away, then drew the weapon. He also showed us a gun disarm with the pistol held to the head with the hands up. It was a good disarm, and although it was different than some I've done in the Krav Maga system, it was still a good technique, and followed the same principles. He also showed a standing Kimura for retention in the holster that finished with a takedown and control. It was a great training session. Its always fun to learn from someone with experiences like that.

Yikes, this is becoming a pattern....but funny!

I'm just guessing, but I'd bet its because its that rank where you are transitioning from being a beginner student to an intermediate student, where more will be expected from you, and the visible improvements you make will start to become less and less. When students don't see as much improvement as they had before, it can make things tougher on them, and some don't accept the challenge very well.

Nice, short and sweet, and to the point. I like it for use on those quick combos. Thanks for posting it.