bushido_man96

Pretty cool. I'll bet that gi is heavy when its soaked. Probably why its easier to stay under.

This past week, Sun Yi's Academy sadly lost a member of its black belt family, Mark Selbee. He was a TTA black belt, and a former Kickboxing Champ under the International Kickboxing Federation. What I was told was that he was at the lake with his kids on a boat, and one of the kids dropped a toy over the side. He went in after it, and drowned. I'm not sure why. I didn't know him personally, but my instructor came up through the ranks with him, and they competed at a high level at local tournaments for several years. Mr. Selbee went on to compete at a US Open tournament as well, and then into his Kickboxing career. My instructor felt this loss greatly. RIP. Here is the local new story: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/26/5047983/hillsdale-drowning-victim-was.html#

According to articles posted on https://www.mnmmanews.com, Kiser is recovering: http://www.mnmmanews.com/minnesota-mma-news/1266-update-kiser-continues-to-improve.html The main question right now is how much rehab he is going to need to do. It appears that the bulk of the damage was done by a few upkicks he received during the bout.

It just depends on what and how we view things. Troy Aikman retired from football years ago. Won 3 Super Bowls with the Cowboys. But, is he still a football player? No. Should we look at our time in the Martial Arts the same way? I'm sure football was as big a part of his life, and meant just as much to him, as our Martial Arts mean to us. But, can we still call him a football player? I don't really think so. It just may be that when we retire from the Martial Arts, the same happens to us.

Congrats on your progression and upcoming test! I would suggest (to help your conditioning) doing other exercises outside of karate. If you do too much of one thing you will plateau to the point where the exercise doesn't do as much for your body as it did at first, this is why a lot of programs change up what kind of exercises you're doing after a set time period. If you're wanting more endurance, the heavybag workout is a great way to go, but don't discount a nice jog/run. I agree with Zaine here. Although Karate can be a good workout, and help you lose weight, it probably isn't the direct goal of your instructor to design the classes around weight loss. Take up some jogging or other cardio exercises to supplement your training, and I think you will see the results you are looking for. Good luck, and let us know how the testing goes.

I will try to look into that, tallgeese. Thank you. 5/26/2014 TKD class: 6:00 - 7:15. Taught this class, and only three kids in today with it being Memorial Day, but we have testing this week, so we went ahead with having class. I did basics, then forms, and each student did their own form at least 3 times, working a little things here and there, giving them pointers to sharpen up on. I had each of the colored belt students do one-steps once through at least with a black belt, so they could get them all in using the testing format. After one-steps, I had them spar in round-robin fashion, as all three of them are going to the organization's annual tourney in Topeka this weekend, too. 5/27/2014 TKD class: 6:00 - 7:15 pm. Basics, with a few change ups in the combinations, doing punch and consecutive round kicks, and another doing punch, back leg front kick, back leg side kick. Stretched, then did my form, Choong Jang. I'm getting better at it, but need to put more solo work in to really clean it up. For one-steps, I did run-throughs with a white belt, and then a high green belt. No sparring, but after class, I worked with some brothers, the high green belt and a low blue belt, on some sparring drilling ideas using the hogu and a target pad for drilling combos, and talked about a few different combo ideas and setups to try working on.

Rank can be fairly subjective in many cases. No two black belts are the same, even if they are the same rank. In regards to how they achieve the rank, though, that's an integrity issue on their part. You could bring it up, but who will listen? Also, are you basing this information off what someone told you they heard, or do you have irrefutable proof that this is the case? Your other option is to call them out personally the next time you see them. But, the only problem with this tactic is how it makes you look to those around. Depending on the audience, who knows how you will be received? In the end, this just kind of sucks, because its no fun to see someone gain rank they don't deserve, or haven't earned. But, a lot of higer rank stuff tends to get political in nature, and as much as we would like to, we will never be able to filter politics out of the Martial Arts. If we did, we'd lose this great sub-forum to post in....

From MMAJunkie.com: http://mmajunkie.com/2014/05/new-ufc-background-checks-ask-fighters-for-criminal-history-release-of-medical-records Found this, and thought it would make for some good discussion. What is the community's thoughts on this? Good idea? Should it have been done a long time ago? Is it too intrusive? Personally, I think it is probably a good idea, if the UFC is wanting to protect its image, in regards to the criminal background checks. But, it appears that they have a lot of leeway with it, and don't necessarily have to base their actions off of a lack of a conviction. But, I can understand this, too. Anyone else have any comments on this?

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you!

I like it. I think there is a lot of truth to the meaning of it, too. No matter for how long we train someone, we will help shape their Martial journey in some way or another.

Thanks for the info, tallgeese. Is it decently priced? Where is it typically held?

I think training both is a great idea.

I don't if its the ref's job to stop the fight at that point. The guy could actively defend himself, even though he was doing a poor job of it. It wasn't a safety issue in the sense that he couldn't mount a proper defense. I'm not sure what kind of leeway the ref would have in that instance. I agree with sitting back and coasting, though. The fight could have been an experience for both of them. The superior fighter could have worked on some different skills, and the inferior fighter would have gained some valuable ring experience.

Someone really good at takedowns is probably going to bail on the shot if you drop to a horse stance, and instead just pick up one of the legs, switching to a single-leg takedown.

ps1 mentioned being technical, and that's where you want to be. If you can gain sound technique in BJJ, you will do well. In my limited experiences with grappling, the longer-limbed guys seem to have a bit of an advantage when it comes to setting in submissions. I have shorter, stumpy arms and stumpy legs, so getting my arms around someone is sometimes hard. I don't think being long and lanky will be an issue, honestly.

I don't see why you couldn't. I studied Aikido for about a 6 month period while I was doing TKD, and I found spots in techniques where I was thinking to myself, "I could put a kick here, I'd do a strike there." I think they would compliment each other quite nicely.

Wisconsin fighter Dan "The King" Kiser is in critical but stable condition after an MMA bout in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota: http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/444222/Wisconsin-fighter-in-critical-but-stable-condition-following-title-fight/ Scary deal. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his loved ones. What do you think? One of those freak things that can happen on a choke out? The article stated that surgey was performed to relieve pressure on his brain. Scary, for sure.

I can't answer that! He should've, but he didn't for his own reasons. I can only suppose that quitting for him isn't in his make-up to do so because no matter what the outcome might've been, he was going to continue until the fight ended on way or another. And to quit, to bow out, would've been worse for HIM than for him losing the fight at the hands of the superior fighter. Again, I'm only guessing!! I suppose that could be. It could be as simple as pride, too. Either way, the fighter's actions were commendable, but not necessary, in my opinion. Is it truly Bushido? I don't know that it is. I think it was a compassionate gesture, to be sure, but not much to do with Bushido, in my opinion.

A very nice break down. I like seeing the why's to it. Thank you for sharing another great vid.

I have some bitter experience of this lately, the first lot of graders were a mixed bunch of good to ridiculous with some only having a few hours in a dojo, the last lot were nowhere near purple or brown belt level but were allowed to pass because they had good spirit... Watching a 2nd kyu miss bits of a kata and still grade was painful, it was more painful to see a once respected Sensei smile and pass them. I understand you here. That's on the sensei, and if that is the route he is choosing, there is not much to be done for it. One could ask him about it, but it might not garner much.

This is such a good point, and so true. Its a parent's job to raise their kids, not an instructor's, or even the school's. Structure has to start and be maintained at home, or not many others will be able to help. Sure, there are always stories about how someone is touched by an instructor in their life that helped to change their ways, but by and large, they probably wanted a change, and just didn't know how to seek it out. There are a lot of people out there that don't want to be changed or moulded. This, I'm not so sure about. I don't think a lot of traditions are necessarily grounded in scientific study. I'd be interested to know how that tradition got started.

I think, as a rule, as we get older, our 100% effort changes. My 100% is not the same as an 18 year old's 100%. I understand this completely. I also know that when I give 100% of myself to basics, forms, and one-steps throughout the course of a class, my sparring energy levels suffers dearly. So sometimes, I make sure to pace myself throughout a class, that way I have some energy left at the end of class when its time to spar those younger kids. Another factor is that my knees hurt a lot more now than they used to. All the kicking in the air with snap, lockout, and no impact, takes its toll on the knees. So I don't always kick as hard as I used to during basics. My body just can't take it. So, as we get older, sometimes we have to give a bit less than 100% so we can make it through a week of classes.

I agree with Zaine. Well said. Some people have different goals and objectives with their training. With that said, I think that once someone hits the black belt level of a style, they should be well versed in it. If they are not, then the problems lies in how they learned, or how they were taught. The thing about this subject is that most of us tend to have ourselves attached to a style that we have committed quite a bit of time to, or have taken up a style that we intend to spend a lot of time in, because we feel a certain amount of devotion to it, either because of the experiences we have, or due to an instructor, or both. So, when others take a different approach to learning a style just to the black belt level, then it appears odd to us, perhaps because we think of what they "could have been" if they stuck to a style we might feel more of an inclination towards. Just remember, their journey will be different than your journey. But, as long as they journey on...

Congrats on hitting this milestone, Patrick! Every year goes by so fast! It shows how good of a job you've done at putting this community together! Its been an honor and a privilege to be a member of this community.

I see what you are saying now. The way you define "submission wrestling" helped out there. Good points, very well made. Thank you for taking the time to elaborate a bit.