bushido_man96

Great analogy! I never did like Shakespeare. So to me, all that would be empty, anyways. But, to each their own. I know some do enjoy it, and you can tell those that do, and those that don't, by how they recite. The Martial Arts are the same way. Its important to give it all you can, and to be "into it" when training, whether you are training at full blast, or just doing a walk through to get the grasp of something. Thinking of flow, thinking of what's next, and then putting it together so you don't have to think.

If you want a contact style, look into Kickboxing or Muay Thai. They may not be exactly what you are looking for, but sometimes you have to make due. You said yourself due to your parents, your options are limited due to distance from your home. Look at what you have available, and make a decision there. I'm sorry to hear your previous school didn't pan out. It sounds like the instructor must not be into it all that bad if he kept bailing on classes. But perhaps he had other issues to deal with, as well. Life kind of does that to us. Hopefully, you find something to suit your needs.

I highly suggest reading the law on self defense in your state. Killing someone you could have spanked is murder. Killing someone you could have escaped is murder. Martial implies military, but most of us train for civilian defense. It is a very rare case where killing is necessary to be safe. Even when escalating to lethal force, the idea is not to kill, but to stop an attack. When someone resists arrest, a cop doesn't just put 2 in his chest and 1 in his head. I was once threatened by a guy for talking to his girlfriend. I did not prison-style shank him. Either of those would have had lifelong repercussions. "Losing" the meaning is one thing. At times, we may not realize we don't even know the meaning. Very good post, Master Pain. The only issue I have with your illustration here is that you point out its use in regards to how it translates from another language. I don't think we should bind ourselves to the translation of another language in defining a word we use in our native tongue (whichever that may be). I think non-violence is a great thing. However, it shouldn't always be the first answer. Here's my word of choice tossed into the mix: "traditional." I was just telling the class I was teaching the other day how I hated that word. I think it tends to get overused, misused, and abused.

Hey hey! Congrats to Liver Punch! 2/29/2012 Deffley B Dead lifts: warmup: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3; work: 355x5x3 Romanian dead lifts: 185x5x5 Forms: Yoo Sin x 3, after the weights. Boy, that worked my legs! 3/2/2012 (Finally into March!) Deffley C Squats: warmup: 45x5, 135x2x5; work: 205x3x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5, 95x5, 115x3, 120x2; work: 132.4x4,3,4 Push press: 166.2x4,5,4 Front squats: 150x3x5 Seated good-mornings: 145x3x12 Back hyperextensions: 25x3x10 Assisted pullups: 3x10

My thoughts as well. If we use the math symbolism, then self-defense is its own math equation, and forms is a seperate one. You don't need forms for self-defense. The extrapolation from the forms is not nearly as efficient as doing the self-defense, and building on it.

Thanks tg.

2/24/2012 (Still cleaning up February here...I've been behind) Deffley C Squats: warmup: 45x5, 135x10, 225x7, 5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5, 95x5, 115x3; work: 132.4x5,4,4 Push press: 165x3x5 Working on technique again on squats. Dropping weight and making sure I'm sitting back more on the way down, and keeping my knees in line with my feet. I also had my third stall on that weight for OHPress, which would be my 3rd deload, so I think I will be switching to 3x3. 2/27/2012 Deffley A Squats: warmup: 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 245x2; work: 275x5, 245x2x5 Bench press: warmup: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x2; work: 245x3x3 Barbell rows: warmup: 115x5, 135x3, 155x2; work: 188.6x3x5 Incline bench press: 135x5, 145x3x5 Seated good-mornings: 145x3x12 Back hyperextensions: 25x10x3 Assisted chinups: 3x10 Stretch: standing/kneeling quads, front/twist/side bar stretch, toe touches, chest/tris/bis. Switched to 3x3 on bench press, instead of deloading for a 3rd time.

Have you done a Google search of the area? I'm sure something will jump out at you that will meet your needs. Happy hunting!

Thanks, Patrick. We had our last tournament of the season last Saturday, and he won 1, lost 2. Still lots of things to work on, but he has learned a lot, and most important, he wants to go again next season!

Bill Wallace's stuff is pretty cool. Really nice gut too. My school did a seminar with him a few years ago. The best part was hanging out at Burger King afterwards with him. lol. I've heard that guy likes his hamburgers. I think he would be fun to train with.

I think you'll see some familiarities in the forms, for sure. However, I'm not sure what you'll gain by doing both at once. But I won't tell you not to do it, because it would probably be fun. TSD may focus some more on kicks, and you may do higher kicking, as well. Keep us posted on what kind of differences you notice, and how they effect your training.

I agree with Ueshirokarate and Kuma. If you are only doing these high rep workouts because you are not in good shape, then there really is no need to do it that way. If too much weight is a concern, start with an empty barbell, and do the lifts Ueshirokarate mentions, 5 sets of 5 reps. Rest the next day, then add 5 pounds to each exercise the next session, and do 5x5 again. If the weight is too light, add 10 pounds until you start to feel it work on you, then back it off to 5 lbs. If 5 lbs is heavy, you can even by some 2" washers and microload. If you are still injured, then get therapy, and don't lift until you are cleared by the therapist to do so. Otherwise, I'd drop all those reps, and do more of a strength training regimen.

I think it was a course put together to prepare instructors to go out into the world spreading Karate, but I thought it came along sooner than the '70s. I'm not sure it really even happens now.

Thief: the major issue with requiring tournament competitions as a part of ranking is you put more of an emphasis on winning/losing during the performance, and not what is learned. It also starts up the whole sport/self-defense debate. And we still haven't dealt with the point-based tourney issue, or more of a knockdown style of tourney. You also end up with an age bias, as younger, more athletic participants are likely going to have an advantage over older participants of the same rank. It may be easy to look past these if you are younger and stronger, and already good at point competition, but for those that are older, have other comittments, and don't want to commit to a competition schedule, puts a damper on what they can attain as a Martial Artist.

No, I have never had that happen. It does not sound like something I'll add to my to-do list, either. I hope everything is ok for you.

Who is in charge of you? You or this sensei? Answer seems easy to me. If you don't want to compete, then don't.

If you're facing Roddy Piper in a falls count anywhere match, then yes. Ah, yes, Rowdy Roddy Piper. Loved that guy. Did you know he was born in Canada? Kind of ruins that whole thing, doesn't it? This is how I try to do mine. Short and loud, more like an audible exhalation. In defense of the drawn out screams, though, the Vikings were known for their war shouts as well. War yell followed by butt-kicking and plundering would probably work for intimidation purposes.

The main issue I have with kata/self-defense is that its more of a roundabout way of learning self-defense. You can learn self-defense without spending time on kata.

Katas themselves tend to not have much in the way of grappling, as far as being on the ground goes. More standing grappling/joint locking would be found there.

Congrats, tg. Nicely done!

This is why I really never liked the drill. I know it can be useful, but not being terribly athletic, and now that I'm getting to be the older guy in the class, the running around and all doesn't really work well for me. Like the others have mentioned, I think stacking is the best way to go, and that is what I try to do. However, we spar 2v1 with TKD rules only, which makes it tougher, in my opinion, because there is no clinching allowed. Nor am I allowed to knock anyone out. So I try not to get too caught up in whether I "win" or "lose," instead, I just try to use good tactics, expect to get hit once in a while, and evaluate myself as realistically as possible afterwards.

I know Wu-Shu has become quite popular, and it is supported by the state in China. I believe they were even pushing to establish it as an Olympic sport. Since it is state sponsored, everything else will have a tough time being recognized, and the state may have suppressed them.

Boy, that something else. At least you still completed the move! It would have been like a double loss, KO/Tapout.

Sounds like a great experience. You were a lucky one, for sure. So what will you take with you and try to practice and retain the most out of the session?

All good advise. Something you might consider doing is breaking the kick down into its component parts; the chamber, the kick, the re-chamber, and the return to the floor. After doing it piece by piece, using a wall or chair to balance if need be, try going from chamber to kick to rechamber, and just do lots of reps. See how it feels, and related what you see out of your leg to what you are feeling when you kick. Then try to isolate that spot, makes some changes if you need to, and work the reps again. It should get fixed in no time. I'm not sure if ps1 is describing a Muay Thai version of a shin kick as compared to a more "traditional" round kick, but it kind of sounds that way (please let me know if I'm off, ps1). If that's the case, does you shin kick only go belt level and under, or do you kick higher with it? If it is a difference in kicking height, then that could be the issue. I think its harder to do the Thai style shin kick higher, but that's from my experience, having short and stubby legs. That could be a spot to check out, too.