bushido_man96

I've had an instructor move away years ago. It sucked. I consider the guy a great Martial Artist, as well as a friend, and he is doing very well now; better than I am in a Martial sense, anyway, but he was always better. But he taught so much, and I always enjoyed it. I'm still under an instructor now, and I hope to be so for a while yet.

It depends on opportunities, as well. I could probably have a branch school under my instructor's, if I wanted one, but the issue is I would have to drive at least 40 to 45 minutes one way to hold the classes in a different town. I just don't have the resources or desire to do this, with work and family and all that going on. During my ATA days, when I ran my own school, I was on my own, and had to train on my own for the most part. Now, that I get to do the training, I think its much better for me, as I always enjoy learning, and I do better when I have someone else pushing me and a class to compete with.

10/9/2012 AM clinic session - 45 minutes.

I guess it would depend on the manipulations involved, or what the goal of the situation is. For LEOs like myself and tallgeese, when the simple answer would be to punch someone out, we don't always have that option, due to use-of-force issues. Therefore, we have to facilitate a different route to get to our desired destination, which could be getting a hand behind the back, either standing or on the floor.

Insecurity, fueled by ego, I think.

I agree, Zaine. Power comes through technique, and as technique gets better and more refined, it becomes more possible to add more speed to the technique, adding more power.

Your previous response below reads: Here, you said "swords." That is what prompted the wording of my response. I don't think anyone is claiming that MMA has reinvented the wheel of Martial Arts. What MMA has done, however, is look at the way training is done, and how it can be done to focus on Martial success in the competitive environment, as well as in self-defense. I disagree once again. I don't think the lack of a forms curriculum in MMA, or other more "traditional" training aspects degrades to mere brawling. The athletes involved spend way to much time training for it to be considered brawling. The reality of combat is chaos, and this is seen in the competitive MMA environment; its rarely pretty, in either sense. The beauty is in the intricacies of subtle movements that shift weight, targets, and hence strategy just enough to tip the balance of a fight to the favor of the victor. Another important point is the need to realize that in the higher levels of MMA, the competitors are so advanced that the lay person may not understand the intricacies of what the combatants are doing in order to get an advantage on the other. I would also note that there is no reason the techniques MMA fighters learn wouldn't work for self-defense; there have been several articles posted about demonstrating how some fighters have defended themselves successfully. As far as teachers being like fathers goes...that's up to the interpretation of each individual for themselves. I don't really want a father figure as a teacher; I'm a grown man who doesn't really need to have my views and philosophies on life altered by another. I want a competent teacher that teaches well, and knows his stuff, and is an above-board type of person.

However, the rules/regulations governing these venue's prohibit many techniques that would normally be used by karateka's trained in them. I agree, Bob. That's why I think you end up with the few-and-far-between types who choose to eschew some of the more "traditional" techniques in favor of the standard set of punches and kicks, along with more Boxing related defense, and then focus this skill set on the pads, bags, and in sparring practice. Like I think Machida has done with his training.

I don't think his understanding of it came from his being African American, if that is what you are getting at. There are so many more African American fighters now and during the time he fought, but they didn't show those same traits. I think Clay's ability in the ring had less to do with some DNA connection to African MAs, and more about his natural speed and his focus on moving a lot and avoiding contact in fighting.

I don't agree with you here, Shango. There are quite a few systems that don't use weapons, but I would still consider them Martial Arts. And swords can hardly be considered as a practical self-defense option in today's world. Not many people conduct muggings with swords. Hand guns are going to be more popular weapons for both self-defense and crime perpetration than other Kobudo style weapons.

10/8/2012 Back to the gym today, even if it is only for cardio... Upper body cycle for 6 minutes; 3 forward and 3 backward. Treadmill for 20 minutes, walking/jogging (with more walking than jogging). Covered 1.2 miles. 1 mile on bike to cool off. Stretch.

I think the way we will be seeing most Karatekas entering MMA right now is through the exceptionally talented and/or hardworking practitioners who achieve a high level Karate background, then move into the MMA environment through an MMA gym, and then end up spending less time in the Karate environment, and more in the MMA training environment. But, they will have that "Karate background." I think this is how we will see the few and far between Karatekas pop up, like Machida, that the more traditional Karatekas will want to see more of in MMA. Yes, Machida is a good example of a Karateka in MMA. But, he also has those other credentials. And when you watch him fight, there really is no doubt he is a Karateka first in the ring. But, Machida doesn't train in the traditional way that Karate schools do. If he did, his training schedule would be crazy, and that alone demonstrates how hard it would be for traditional Karatekas to find the training time to prepare for MMA competition. Most of us have families and jobs to do. ShoriKid, that was a great response. The one thing I would disagree with you on is that I think Kyokushin stylists might actually have a leg up on other Karate stylists, due to the level of training and contact they have in their fighting style. Thanks for the replies so far, everyone. Great discussion.

I think the goal should be to facilitate the training so that when "the moment" comes, you've practiced and practiced enough that what you have practiced comes to the fore, and that it has been researched and studied enough for the body to know it is a fluent and efficient technique. That's the goal, anyways, in my opinion.

We differ here. I don't make this distinction when kicking with instep or ball of the foot. My base foot still rotates the same amount, close to 180 degrees as I can make it go. If I don't do this, my ball of the foot kick will not have as much power, because I won't be able to get my hips and body as engaged in the kick.

I actually think that's great that you're not making your son join MA. At our club we see a lot of kids who get signed up by their parents who also train but the kids don't really want to be there. Thanks, Danielle. Its kind of tough, because I really want to share the MAs with my kids, but I don't want them to feel forced to do it because of me, and then not enjoy it, and put a bad taste in their mouths for the future. I've seen that happen firsthand at my current school, and there are some pretty miserable practitioners there that you can tell most of the time don't want to be there and are not enjoying themselves. I figure they'll come around to it if they get interested enough to. I've at least got a foot in the door with him enjoying Wrestling, and he is already asking when Wrestling starts up again.

Kudos on your breaks, jaypo. That's exactly the point I was trying to make to the students in our school, and seeing it like you did really sends the point home, I think.I think a good way to think of performing techniques in forms is in the manner you demonstrated, that if a board just happened to appear in front of a technique, that the student would be able to break the board with that technique, and not have that moment of anxiety I see so often during board breaks when the student sees the board, then gets all wound up about breaking the board instead of performing their technique.

That sounds like a cool deal. My DT partner and I would watch the Combat Hapkido videos, and then train back and forth for reps and discuss how we liked or didn't like the techniques. With experienced and dependable partners and some MA experience to go with it, video learning can be possible.

Although there is a spiritual aspect that is usually portrayed in Karate practice, it is largely up to the practitioner to observe and follow said philosophies. Many still have a desire to participate, and many of the past greats, like Norris, Wall, Uriquedez, and Wallace, were all great competitors, but that doesn't mean they didn't adhere to the philosophical aspects of the art.

Thanks for the response here, ps1. No worries on the delay!

I'm not sure what kind of boards they brought in, but I've never had boards break by dropping them. And I've seen bounces by moderately sized adults with bad technique that I would have been ashamed to call a technique. But, everyone has different experiences.

Its a good article, and written by a very knowledgeable Karateka, but I don't think it totally discounts the ability to use high kicks.

This was a reply I made to this comment by judobrah in this thread: http://www.karateforums.com/for-kyokushin-karatecas-video-vt43815-10.html I felt this topic deserved to have its own discussion thread. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this. i couldnt agree more,i hope one day i will get to compete in knockdown karate there are still good figthers with a karate backround in mma(like gsp,lyoto machida e.t.c),but whe dont see karate being that used,even too its proven it can be very effective Part of it has to be the desire of the Karateka's to want to compete, and then dedicate their training schedule to do so. Those who have, have altered their training to be more MMA'esque, and have basically dedicated the time needed to train in a competitive schedule. Its less basics and katas practice, and more sparring, pad work, bag work, conditioning, and then the added grappling element needed to compete. The main hindrance, in my opinion, is the lack of established MMA gyms by a Karate based coached. By and large, your MMA gyms are Thai/BJJ based, or some derivative therein. The secondary hindrance is that when many folks come into MMA gyms, they are competition driven, and the gyms are competition focused. You don't have customers coming into MMA gyms saying they want to earn their black belt in Karate before they start competing. So, if more dedicated Karatekas wanted to see competitors in MMA do things "the Karate way," then you'd be looking at a Karate school that teaches a Karate-based curriculum, holding gradings and moving the students through the ranks to black belt, and then perhaps to 2nd or 3rd dan,(because a 1st degree black belt just means they have the basics down), and then once they achieve a suitable rank, put them forth in the competition world. And that's assuming the Karate school has been able to provide the grappling background the competitors will need to survive a round in MMA competition. So, in order to see more "Karate style" MMA fighters, you have to either be content with the occasional arrival of a diamond in the rough like Machida, or some Karate schools are going to have to make some changes to the way they promote and train students in order to prepare them more efficiently for the MMA ring. That's my take, anyways. Thoughts?

I'm not sure I see what you mean here. Could you elaborate some, please?

That is really great! I am waiting for when my kids get interested in it enough to want to do it on their own, as opposed to force them. I think my middle son might be willing to give Aikido a try, but Wrestling season is rolling around, and he really enjoys that. As an instructor, I love seeing a group of juniors that are pumped to be in class, and really listen well to corrections and do their best to achieve their best.

I think that's the "heavy hips" thing. They get good at smushing you.