bushido_man96

In lew of finding a school to train at, using equipment at home to keep your techniques and skills up is a great idea, and highly recommended to retain skills. Not having a partner is detrimental to timing and such, but not training at all is even more so.

I agree. The key here is to not out think the room. Just taking the time to slow yourself down, breath, and re-hydrate, would probably fix the issue.

I've seen that done. Also, there is the holding onto a rail slow-mo kicking drill. I really think the best way to start is kicking at knee height in slow motion while holding onto something. That would be my next step, I think. Even with holding onto something, newbies will still wobble around a bit, I've found. Hell, I still wobble around a bit when holding onto things and kicking. I want to take balance completely out of the equation for the first few runs through, if I'm given the choice. But then moving on to slow-mo kicking on the wall or using a chair would be next. My first instructors called those "concentration side kicks." For the record, they suck.

I've found when kicking with the heel, that I don't have as much range of flexibility as I do when I kick with the ball of the foot. Therefore, it slows my kick down a bit, and limits how high I can kick. I have done both, but when it comes to preference, I prefer ball of the foot.

I've said before that the bane of a good side kick is the round kick. The reason I say that is because after someone learns a round kick, they cheat their side kick by not doing a complete chamber. I was telling this to our class just this week, giving an example of how to just practice the side kick chamber, to get the leg and body into position to do a good side kick. Side kicks are just tougher than round kicks, in my opinion and experience, in teaching and doing them. A round kick seems to be more natural, bringing the leg around in an arc. The chamber is easier to me. The side kick, on the other hand, to be a good one, has to have a good, tight chamber. Then, when you kick, you should pivot and thrust with the hips as pivoting and kicking. Its tougher to align, and tougher on balance. Just tougher all around, I think. I've often toyed with the idea of introducing the side kicks and round kicks while lying on the floor and kicking upwards into the air. That way, the students don't have to worry with balance, and can focus more on the chamber positions for the seperate kicks.

I'm happy for you, tallgeese. To have two BJJ schools to make a choice between is a great problem to have, and I envy you for that. It sounds like you've done the leg work, and made an informed decision. With gas as expensive as it is, saving that cash is hard to beat. Especially with all things being equal.

Congrats, ps1!

That is very good news to hear!

Welcome to KF, whitegi!

Welcome to KF, Nick!

Welcome, and congrats on being awarded your black belt! Glad to have you here.

Welcome aboard! Great to have another TKD stylist with us!

5/18/2012 Texas Method - Intensity day Front squats: warmup: 45x5, 135x5, 155x2, 185x2, 195x2; 210x5RM Hamstring curls: 105x3x10 Stretch: hip flexors, hams, quads, chest, shoulders, tris 5/21/2012 Texas Method - Volume day Front squats: warmup: 45x5, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2; work: 195x5x5 Lying triceps extensions: 42.4x5x5 Straight bar curls: 49.2x3x10 Hamstring curls: 110x3x10 5/23/2012 Texas Method - Recovery day Front squats: warmup: 45x5, 135x5; work: 155x2x5 Back extensions: BWx5x10 Stretch: hip flexors, quads, hams 5/24/2012 Range day: 1 pm - 5 pm. Did some fun, quality work at the range. We sited in our patrol rifles, which started out kind of crappy, but in the end, was going well, and I was enjoying what I was doing. We did some pistol shooting from the 25 yard line, working on trigger control, with some dummy rounds thrown in for fun. Then, we did a drill where we were advancing with the patrol rifle, shooting to the left or right target on command (2 shots each way), and then after six rounds and still advancing, we slung the rifle, transitioned to pistol, and had 4 rounds to knock down a pepper popper. We did that drill again, but with dummy rounds in both the rifle and the pistol. It was all really great fun, and I really like working with the transitions and the malfunctions. Then we did some group competition shooting with rifles, where there were 3 water balloons strung up at varying long distances, and a "boomer" to shoot last. Captains picked an order for each person to shoot in, and we ran up from 25 yards, took one shot, then had to drop mag, put on safe, and replace the rifle, run back, and the next person went. Really good time, although I didn't hit jack. After that, we finished with some more pistol shooting from the 25 yard line. Great day overall.

Wow!!!

Wow, that would be quite the ordeal. Here goes... Depends. If he is gone to jail, and if the style has ousted him, then I would consider staying, if the replacement can be trusted as being a better person. But, assuming we didn't see this coming the first time around, it shows how much we really think we know someone. If there is no replacement, then I guess it would shut down anyway. Yes. Those are mine. Would you get rid of a car you bought if you found out the salesman did the same things? See above answer. They are mine. No. See salesman reference above. You might. People are going to think what they want to, regardless of how much or how little they actually know about a situation. Let them think. I think as long as I keep walking my path, I should be fine. I don't think it would be necessary. If someone says, "Hey, didn't you train with that slimeball that got thrown in jail?", then I'd just answer yes. Some peole will never forget, some may never know. In reference to the above answer, I can't really "unwalk" the path I've walked to this point. So it is what it is. Nice Q&A here, Bob.

I disagree. A level of flexibility is important to prevent injuries, no matter what MA one is doing. I do agree that doing the splits isn't likely as beneficial for an Aikidoka as it is for a high kicker in TKD, but it is still important, and won't hurt an Aikidoka at all.

I agree.What you should do, is find a list of the schools in your area, and start visiting them; a different one every night, if you can. If you get some instructors talking to you, which you should, tell them about your experiences, and your goals. Now, most businessmen out there will want you to sign up, so when every one of the schools is telling you they have what you want, take that with a grain of salt. Ask about class scheduling; maybe someone has a dedicated sparring class. Maybe come to the same school and visit a few different times a week. Also, ask how much sparring each one does. You should get an honest answer. Also, WTF schools would likely do a lot of sparring, especially ones with a heavy competition focus. Just another thought. Good luck in your search.

You will be trained in a "use of force ladder." This will tell you exactly what level of force you can use and when you can use it. Don't try to reinvent the wheel or go into this thinking that you know what you're talking about. You may be educated, but you don't "know" what you can and can not do. Worry about which techniques to train once you've graduated the academy and are actually a LEO. Good luck! Not to be too picky, but we were trained more along the lines of a UoF continuum, the idea being that the ladder concept lent itself to going up and down one rung at a time, and in the chaos of a situation, things don't work out that way. So, we use a continuum that works better, in my opinion, in allowing smoother adjustments when things change. I know, its probably semantics, but I wanted to chime in with that. Like mentioned earlier, you probably won't have to make as many adjustments as you thought you would. There are plenty of former military officers that make a transition to the LEO career, and they do a pretty good job of making the transition as well. I'm sure you'll do fine.

Rank and title have their places and their merits. I'll admit that when I was a younger student, the next rank meant the world to me. Working towards the next rank was my motivation, and I loved being awarded my new belt and certificate after a testing. Now, I see things differently. I don't hold against anyone who desires to increase their ranks and such; for some, that's what it takes to motivate them. When I work with my students, though, I try to relate to them much the same things you do, Bob; that the journey is what is important.

Agreed. This unproven legend (not proven fact) has also created a kind of monopoly on the whole creation of Martial Arts, and the perception that all Martial Arts come from the Far East. You'd be surprised to learn of the number of people out there that wouldn't constitute styles like Boxing and Wrestling as "Martial Arts," because they didn't come from the Far East. A constant source of irritation to me...

This is a great summary. I also think that at times, bad teachers, or poorly informed teachers, can make a style appear ineffective by the way they teach it. Its tough for a bad teacher to make any system look good, and thus trasmit it effectively. Overall, I would tend to put more on a practitioner at first glance than a system. However, there could be some quacks out there spouting foutains of crap in a style they put together, which could make for a bad style.

I agree with ps1's assessment; shoulder follows the trunk movement, and everything starts from the ground.

Catch-up time... 5/14/2012 Texas Method - Volume day Front squats: warmup: 45x5, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2; work: 195x5, 190x4x5 Lying triceps extensions: 41.2x5x5 Hamstring curls: 100x3x10 Stretch: quads, hams, shoulders 5/16/2012 Texas Method - Recovery day Front squats: warmup: 45x5, 135x5; work: 155x2x5 Back extensions: BWx5x10 Straight bar curls: 48x5x10 Stretch: quads, hams, hip flexors, arms, shoulders

Congrats on 11 years, Patrick! I know that KF has meant a great deal to me in the time I've been here, and my time discussing here at KF is just as valuable to me as my actual training time on the mat. Thanks, Patrick, for creating and maintaining such a great community.

Congrats on 5 years on staff, Danielle! Its been a lot of fun working with you!