bushido_man96

It all begs the question "what's in a name?"

Nice find. This is the first I've heard of it. Maybe we will hear from a few practitioners.

I'm hoping to get a few MA titles this Christmas. No one else in my family is a Martial Artist, except my son, who is Wrestling, but he wants toys and games and stuff...

I have issues backing this claim. I don't think that a style can embody a certain life style. I think that, at the most, a style can embody some sort of discipline but that is up to the teacher to impart and/or the student to internalize. However, no style inherently implies some sort of living standard. Any fighting style is exactly that; a fighting style. Any philosophical ideas passed learned in a fighting system are coming from the teacher's ideas and philosophies. Its basically someone trying to influence you to their way of thinking. The fighting system, in and of itself, can't do this.

I think combat training will build those characteristics important for being good at combat. The idea of building the characteristics of integrity, courtesy, etc, is the role of the family unit, and to seek it through MAs is ok, but I don't think it should be pushed as the selling point that it often is.

Perhaps the fist developed as it did as humans began punching straight, and not slapping with arced strikes using the palms.

It did seem very one-sided. The guy in the long pants didn't really throw anything.

Welcome to KF! I've got a friend that works in Lakewood. Maybe you go to the same TKD school!

I disagree with the berserker mode thing, the problem is in todays day and age we have uneven surface such as sidewalks as well as people with cell-phones. So in these situations when you lose control two things will happen: 1. You will go crazy and destroy the guy and if a witness can get it on camera then your gonna have to explain to the court your blood thirsty behaviour and not to mention the fact that you used ZERO martial arts since its impossible to do so in that mental frame of mind I find it difficult to believe that there can be a "fight" with no "Martial Arts" in it. Not every person trains in the Martial Arts, but they can still end up being in a fight for their life at some point. Just because one does not train in Martial Arts doesn't change the fact that fighting is a Martial act. Someone can still be a good fighter without having trained in any Martial Art. Not every fight is going to be a refined sparring match or demonstration of bunkai. Fighting is chaotic, and it gets ugly. You do what you have to do to survive. If that means summoning some inner strength and boosting your own morale with a blood-curdling war yell, then so be it. Everyone needs to learn when to stop, but between start and stop points, holding back can get you hurt or killed. To me, berserker mode doesn't necessarily flailing around. Everyone in the fight has to be concerned with their surroundings. Sparring in a dojo, in bare feet, with no obstructions except walls, doesn't really teach this.

My brother signed up to run a half marathon this year, and told me about an app that trains for it, called c25k. Gives a workout plan to follow that supposedly doesn't kill you. He wanted me to give it a try, but that isn't likely to happen.

Looks like some fun training. The punching on the bags seems a funky style, but with lots of power. I think that video has floated around before, too.

Welcome to KF!

Sparring and fighting aren't always the same, and the feeling one has when sparring and fighting aren't always the same, either. Berserker mode can actually work well for some people, as long as they rein it in when the bad guy goes down.

I agree with tallgeese and Zaine. It depends on if the value you can gain from them is worth putting up with their character flaws. If you really can't take associating with someone that you have problems with their morals and ethics, then its time to part ways.

I'd recommend scanning more, as well. With decreased range of vision, it may help to track more, to take more in.

12/17/2012 Warm-up: rowing 2 min. One-steps: 1 - 30 Do-Kangs: 1 - 4 White belt: Chon Ji, one-steps 1 - 7 Orange belt: Dan Gun and Bo Chung, one-steps 8 - 14 Green belt: Do San and Won Hyo, one-steps 15-21 Blue belt: Yul Kok and Joong Gun, one-steps 22-28 Brown belt: Toi Gye, Hwa Rang, Choong Moo, and one-steps 29 - 30. 1st Dan: Kwang Gae 2nd Dan: Poe Eun and Gae Baek 3rd Dan: Se Jong and Yoo Sin. Left hand knife hand strikes on BOB, 4 sets of 5. Working on focus and technique for board breaking. Stretch

Well done! Way to stick with it and persevere!

Thanks, everyone. I will keep his progress posted here as the season wears on.

That's a really good point. Not many athletes go into their 40's and 50's still doing hard contact sports. Martial artists are different in that respect. I'm also willing to bet that a lot of pro football, basketball, etc. players would have similar problems if they continued on the same level of activity. I was told by a co-worker and avid football fan that the average NFL player only had a career of 5 years. May have been 3 years. Either way, most people competing at a pro level in sports are done by 30. I've seen several writers talking about pro boxers passing their "peak" at 30 and if they aren't in title contention by that point it's time to hang up the gloves. We keep pushing past that point, accepting injuries and moving on. It isn't about poor development of basics or a lack of proper warm ups/stretching. It has a lot more to do with the whole body nature of the training. I take throws, sweeps and take downs on as a regular part of my stand up training. Along with joint manipulations and locks. I get kicked, punched, elbowed and kneed from my hair line to my feet. Then I put on a thicker gi and get tossed, locked, twisted and stranged for ground work. It's rough on the body and it builds up over time. I agree with both of you. Many adults aren't active after they get out of high school, and then more after being done with college. Injuries sustained in the younger days end helping us become predictors of the weather as time goes by. Its just the nature of physical activity. I won't quite, I know that.

Martial Arts in general is rough on the human body.I'm not a fan of negating foundational basics. Sure, it's boring, but important enough to bust out every class. It's also surprising how much farther you can go in a shorter period of time because of basics. Basics and foundational exercises are always important, and I don't think many schools really slack off on them. Not that I've seen, anyways. As far as adding more physical activities, like ballet or yoga, to already doing the current physical activities, will probably just put more wear and tear on the body than anything else. Its just the nature of physical activity to sustain injuries through overuse after some time. It just happens, and the best way to avoid injuries of this type, is to not do anything at all. But then, you run the risk of sedentary, and all the risks that come with it.

I agree Bob. That's what's great about this book. It doesn't give hard and fast applications of kata, and then says they are "the one." What it does is layout a process for those who are wanting to delve into kata bunkai to do so and come up with applications that are efficient and meaningful in regards to the methodologies, strategies, and tactics of the style they do. Since these two authors have lots of experience with Goju Ryu kata, that is the framework that they use to get there points across. But any stylist practicing forms can benefit from the process layed out in this book.

"My friend here, he's a little bit country. I'm a little bit rock'n'roll."

Welcome to KF! Glad to have you!

The Way of Kata by Lawrence A. Kane and Kris Wilder. I have quite a few MA books, and will read just about anything on it. But, there are a few authors that come along that I read, and just really think hit the nail right on, and do a great job of presenting their material, writing books I just have to get. These two are some of those authors. The Way of Kata is a great guide for those who study forms/katas, and are looking for ways to evaluate the applications that can be found in them and really make the most of them. They lay out a set of principles and rules to follow when studying what they refer to as kaisai no genri, the method of deciphering bunkai from kata. They also talk about making sure the applications line up with the strategies and tactics of the style, thus making sure everything lines up well. They present a lot of material for consideration, and do a good job of organization and presentation. They cite various authors like Rory Miller, Iain Abernethy, and Loren Christensen, to name a few. After laying out all the principles involved, they show some ideas of deciphering some different moves using some moves and applications from their own katas as examples. They also include a checklist to make copies of and mark off the components of the applications discovered to see how well they line up with the rules, principles, and strategies and tactics of the style. Forms aren't for everyone. But for those looking for ways to find out how to dig deeper into their forms study, this is a great book to look into.

...started with its first tournament today (12/15/2012). He Wrestled his first year last year, and had fun, but an early arm injury held him out for 4 weeks, missing a few novice tournaments we were going to hit. But, he came back and finished the season working hard, which is what was important, and had some good matches, and a win. Today, his second season began. He is Wrestling 6 and under again this year, and he was at 70 lbs. He had 3 matches at this novice tournament, 4 kids in the bracket, and they did round robin style bracketing. First match was with a kid in our home town Wrestling Club. I hate it when they have to compete against their buddies, but such is life at times. Our club had the most kids there, so it was probably inevitable, and will probably compete against this kid a few more times this year, which is cool. He won his first match on points, going all 3 rounds, and won 14 -5. Second match he won by pin in the 1st round, and 3rd match, he won by pin in the second round. He did a great job of listening for one thing, and working hard for another. I told him I just wanted to see him give his all, and work hard, and no matter the outcome, I'd be happy. He shot good takedowns, worked half-nelsons, and did good at staying chest to chest and staying heavy on the other competitors. He needs work on keeping kids from standing and escaping when he is on top, but, all in all, he's got some positives to build on. Being the proud dad that I am, I'll probably keep updating here as the season goes along. We plan to hit some open tournaments as the year goes along, so he'll get to Wrestle some more skilled kids as well. I told him there will be days when he won't win them all, but its important because he will still learn some good things, and he'll still be Wrestling.