bushido_man96

Social spar is always a good time!

Yes, Danielle, pretty well. I'm just not tied by either to a specific target or movement. Like the first one you discuss, it doesn't necessarily come off the back leg in a front facing stance. I'll try to put some brief videos on youtube, link them here, and see if that helps.

That's what they were designed for, really. When you can see your accomplishments recognized that way, it puts a sense of desire to achieve other goals in you as well. The belt system is basically a reward system, along with being a rank system. Great minds think alike! We differ here. I don't think MMA is merely a product. I think it is an art form/style, just as much as any other out there. I think we've been fortunate as a society to be able to watch how this style evolved and developed right before our eyes into the style it has become today. That's part of what's exciting about MMA, to me. None of us got to see the process that took place when Funakoshi came to Japan from Okinawa and began to establish Shotokan the way he did. But, what he did isn't a whole lot different than the way MMA has changed along the way. But everyone excepts what we have in Shotokan as a style and somehow legitimate, but not as many people want to see what and how MMA is becoming what it is becoming and give it the same credence.

Its too bad some clubs can't be more flexible on when they schedule their gradings. I understand how you feel, but in the long run, it won't make too much of a difference. Its ok to rant about it to, though. It shows you feel confident, which is good.

That guy's an incredible athlete. Lots of fun to watch. I imagine he's likely on the far end of the talent spectrum. Always fun to watch things like this.

This is what I was taught early on, as I think a lot of us are. Long, deeper stances had more stability, but sacrificed mobility; higher, narrower stances sacrificed stability for mobility. So, when its all said and done, it does appear to be teaching methodology that is the issue. Perhaps some things changed along the way, and just like the initial intentions behind the forms, the initial intentions of the stances lost their way, too, and training hasn't made up for that yet. When we do our basics in class, we are moving from front stance to front stance quite often, but its in a straight line, for the most part. We also land the foot at the time the technique is performed, which kind of lends a bit of a pause to allow the technique to penetrate with that mass behind it. Perhaps this causes a bit of a slow down, I don't know, though. I am impressed by the physics lesson you gave, JusticeZero. Nicely laid out, and it opened my eyes some (as well as had me scratching my head a bit....I'm not a big science/math guy). You've given me something to think more about it my training. I'm going to experiment with moving from stance to stance more, and not think about doing techniques with it, for now. It should help build the legs up, too. Your opening post starts in regards to discussing a small person using these stances to gain power. But does a larger person suffer the inverse of not benefiting as much from a deeper stance, or do you feel its down to practice?

Well, this is an interesting topic. Do you have a name for what you plan to put together, or do you have a main curriculum of what you plan to teach will contain? Have you taught classes before, and do you feel confident in doing that? I just ask because teaching is a whole new ball game, and I don't recall from any of your previous posts if you have teaching experience or not. As for "bread and butter" techniques...back leg round kick is fun for me. A good front kick is useful, and side kicks are good, but require a bit of setup, in my opinion, but I don't discount them at all. Wrist locks are ok, but shoulder locks are nice, too. As far as how I like to learn, I prefer to have a lot of two person work going on, going back and forth on various defense and offense, working a concept that way, with varying levels of resistance so you really learn how to make it work. Finally, best of luck in your endeavor. I won't tell you not to begin teaching your own style, but I will say just make sure you've got a good plan in place to teach your curriculum, and that you are solid in all of it. Whenever someone mentions creating their own style, there are many that become dismissive of the idea.

Congrats!

And likely with your back turned to them...

11/2/2012 Cardio Treadmill: 20 minutes, 1.34 miles. It was tough today. Bike: 1 mile cool down, 4:16. Stretch Forms Toi Gye x5 Choong Jung 1 x5 Stretch Toi Gye is the first brown belt form in the TTA curriculum. The dominant feature of it is the mountain blocks, which go from a sitting stance, swinging the back leg up almost like an inside crescent kick to gain momentum and twist the body, then landing down into a sitting stance with the blocking hands up. The goal is to keep the hands up high in the blocking position for the most part, not dropping them as you turn. You do two to the left, three back to the right, and one back to the left. The form layout is a modified I pattern. Choong Jung 1 is the brown belt form in the ATA. It has 44 moves, and follows a rectangle along the bottom half of the Songham Star. This form is unique in that it goes backwards first, in a series of techniques facing forward, but moving to the rear. Then it goes along the bottom right half of the rectangle, up to the top, all the way across to the left edge, down, then back to the middle of the bottom of the rectangle, and back up to the start position. Unique to this form are tension moves, done in 5 second counts, back leg front kick/consecutive round kicks, and jumping side kicks and outside crescent kicks.

Well, I guess go after it and have a good time.

I doubt Choi Kwang Do; I don't think they emphasize any contact at all in their sparring, from what I've read of it.

I can understand where you are coming from when you talk about the experience of it. The issue comes from the wording - with it being a goal. I can totally relate to learning from the experience if it ever happens; like if an LEO has to shoot someone. to call an experience like that a goal for an LEO, kind sends out a bad vibe, if you know what I mean. I think I understand the intentions in your thought. I think your choice of wording is just maybe not quite right.

That's what I do when I get the chance to train Aikido. I see little places here and there in between the spinning and misdirection where I could toss in a kick, or a strike, or just make the whole application a bit bloodier.It also gives me different movement options that I don't get in TKD or Combat Hapkido, which helps when I look back on those styles, too. Those styles have also helped me to see little hints to applications here and there in my TKD training, especially in the forms.

GM John Pellegrini is the founder of the Combat Hapkido system. I hold rank in the style, and I've found it is very effective for either civilian self-defense goals or LEO style restraint needs. I wouldn't get too caught up in the "Combat" label. He needed a name, and he wasn't along the lines of a more traditional Hapkido style, so he calls it Combat Hapkido. He made some changes, esecially along the lines of the kicking, where he only does low line kicking, instead of some of the higher, more TKDesque kicking seen in more traditional, Korean Hapkido styles. He also is heavy on the idea of using distraction techniques in order to facilitate the Hapkido; every technique application begins with a distraction technique of some kind; punch, palm strike, low kick, etc, to loosen the attackers grip or to distract them, then allowing the opportunity to seize a limb to take control, or counter grab and defend with a lock or takedown. There is also a focus on a finishing technique at the end of the defense. It may be a strike, or a break if necessary, etc. Another difference is that Pellegrini has worked with other stylists to incorporate other concepts into his system for a broader range of defense options. He has a trapping system that I have enjoyed working with, but its not trapping to the extent seen in arts like Wing Chun where trapping is like a whole world of techniques. There's enough to get by and get into a different defense; the focus isn't on trapping for the sake of trapping. Those are just a few things I can elaborate on Combat Hapkido. I don't have any experience with Krav Maga, so I leave that to someone else.

Totally agree. I don't think there's a pure style out there. Mine is a mix of at least 4 of the styles I practiced throughout the years, so although I state Ashihara Karate, its technically MMA. I think that when the term MMA is mentioned, we all conjure up the same basic idea of what it is based on the exposure we've had of since the early 1990's. That said, I think what we have come to see from the UFC and other companies is this MMA product, so the term has kind of grown into the name of the style. I think when you talk about other styles being "mixed" styles, though, you have to look at the extent to which that mix is taken, and how it mixes. I've learned different kind of joint manipulations from early on in my TKD career, and have extended that knowledge into Combat Hapkido and Aikido. But that doesn't really make me a "Mixed" Martial Artist like we think of in the sense of MMA. Honestly, nobody really cared about this "mixed" label until MMA really came into its own, and we saw the integration of standing and ground fighting like we have. Finally, I think when it comes to the MMA label, the main consideration is in the training methodologies of the MMA athletes and gyms. They work on actively mixing all those components from the beginning, and the focus is on performance, and not rank. They have all the faculties available for the standing game and the ground game, with various coaches specializing in the different aspects, but the overall goal of the gym is the focus on MMA competition. I really think what we have in MMA is the rebirth of Pankration. But, that name is already used now, too, so that leaves us just go with the name MMA, I think.

I completely, 100% agree with this. Are you sure you want to do this? I TOO agree with this, a friendship to me, is more important than "who can beat who!?!" I agree with these concerns, to an extent. But, I've also fought with my brothers in our yard before, giving one of them a nice bruise along his cheek bone. We're still family, though... I'm curious as to whether you and your friend are going to carry on a friendly sparring session to learn, or are the two of you planning to fight it out and intend to win by the score cards or knockout at the end? If its the latter, then I think MasterPain brings up a good point: This would be the way to go. You'd have a referee to make sure the rules are followed, at least. Maybe each of you could sell tickets to family, friends, and training peers from you schools to raise money for some kind of charity along the way. Also, I'd say know the rule set, and train for the rule set from now until the fight.

Well, its been back for several weeks now, and we are nearing the halfway point of the season. How is your team fairing? I'm a Chiefs fan, so, its been a tough go this year. Hoping for a win tonight against the Chargers.

11/01/2012 Cardio Treadmill: 20 minutes, 1.53 miles. I hate running. Bike: 1 mile cool down, 4:18 min. Stretch Forms Joong Gun x5 In Wha 2 x5 Stretch Forms today were 3rd gup colored belt forms. Joong Gun is the high blue belt form in the TTA. Anslow refers to this form as "the elbow breaking pattern" in his book, and the opening sequence is indicative of that. Both this form and its ATA counterpart have upward elbow strikes, along with crossing X blocks; this form has high X blocks, and a particular fun series of moves going from front stance and double forearm block, back leg side kick and landing in another front stance (very tough transition for me), double forearm block and another back leg side kick into a fighting stance. There are also U shaped staff blocks, and a hook punch. I get a decent pace with this form, and has some palm pressing blocks that help give it power, as well. Joong Gun's floor pattern comes back to the familiar I. In Wha 2 is the blue belt ATA form. Also consistent between these two forms are ridge hand blocks. Both forms have a considerable amount of open hand blocking. The square blocks in this form are open hand this time, too. The kicking sequences become tougher, with a repeat hook kick/round kick combination on each leg, and a side kick followed by a step together hook kick combination. A front leg jumping front kick from a parallel stance also makes an appearance. This form has 42 moves. This form follows the stacked squares pattern of the purple belt form, but movement is to the right from the start, as opposed to the left.

This would be the way to go, for sure. Any time you can do some conditioning work and work that is directly applicable to what you do, then that's bonus. Doing rounds of kicks, punches, and then mixed would good, I think, just depending on what your focus would be.

That's just nuts. I'm sorry that your experience turned out this way. There are good TKD schools out there. I hope you keep searching.

pittbull, its good to hear you've set and met some of your goals in your training. But, in regards to this one... Kind of weird. I've got kind of some mixed feelings about this. I can understand what you are saying about hearing it and feeling it, but I kind of relate it to the feeling of shooting someone. I know its not the same, but I hope it kind of illustrates my point. If it would have been your limb that had been broken, would you have considered it goal met?

Along the lines of what ShoriKid is suggesting, look up Tabata drills. Those would fit in nicely for you, and I think you can do just about any movement with them.

For those of you in the path of Sandy, stay safe, and I'll keep you all in my prayers.

I'm sorry to hear this. As a TKD instructor, this kind of behavior irritates me. I don't know if this guy thought you were trying to come in and prove something, or what, but the tact he took was completely out of line, and very disrespectful. Did you inform the instructor of your prior experiences? If so, then like I said, I'm ashamed of his approach here. If you didn't, then I think this guy has some issues with how he runs his school. At any rate, I hope you don't judge every TKD school to be like this one, because we are not. Again, I'm sorry to hear about this experience for you. Its a shame your exposure to TKD had to be negative.