bushido_man96

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.

Congratulations!

Welcome to KF!

Welcome!

Welcome to KF!

http://www.usjf.com/public/rank_requirement.pdf I am sure they are pretty similar around the world. I view the world of judo as a completely different animal than that of karate. In the style of karate I practice, we don't really have tournaments/competitions, etc. The founder Shoshin Nagmine was vehemently opposed to them. Thanks for posting this. Very helpful. With all this in mind, using tournament performances as a guage of rank, it can put a hamper on the rank one is capable of attaining. Should an inability to be competitive be a standard regarded in rank promotions?

That sounds like a lot of fun training, Liver Punch. How did you get your family to go along with it?

I read in a Black Belt Magazine that he got to play the lead in the Broadway rendition of Road House. I'd go see that show.

I wouldn't worry about that too much, Bob. It may not be something your Dai-Soke would have wanted, but, things are different now that he's gone, too. So, changes may be in order, whether he would have approved them or not.

It would be nice to have a black belt focused class at out school, but we don't at this time. Mainly because we don't have a whole lot of black belts. Its nice to be able to get to spend class time focusing on black belt forms and the like, as opposed to colored belt curriculum.

Good advise. I think going to school and exploring options is better than something that tries to specialize in the MAs as a field of study. There are also the Health and Human Performance areas to consider majoring in, along with business, especially if one wants to pursue the Martial Arts afterwards.

I wouldn't start a kid off in the MAs until they are at least 6, and even that won't apply to every kid. Anything younger than that is probably going to lack focus enough to learn and retain anything.

2/15/2012 Deffley B Dead lift: warmup: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3; work: 350x5x3 Push press: warmup: 45x5, 95x5, 115x3; work: 163.6x5x5 Rack pulls: 395x3x5 2/18/2012 Deffley C Squats: warmup: 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 245x2; work: 300x2x2 Box squats: 235x3x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5, 95x5, 115x3; work: 132.4x3x4 Incline bench press: 145x3x5 Front squats: 145x3x5 Back hyperextensions: 12, 25x5,10 Assisted pull-ups: 3x10 Missed Monday's workout due to a road trip. 2/22/2012 Deffley B Dead lift: warmup: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3; work: 350x5x3 Rack pulls: 395x3x5 Romanian dead lift: 45x10, 95x10, 135x5, 185x3,5,5,5

Yep that was what I meant pulse the leg by gripping the muscle to raise it. Ah, ok. I see what you are saying now. Didn't mean to steal your idea there!Heh no, great minds think alike Is it coincedence that we both do TKD? I think not!

What are the standards?

This seems like a point to expand upon, as the whole polyester pile concept just seems awful for everyone involved. Although I do consider rugby to be a great spectator sport. I've been involved in one of those piles. Not fun at all, and the one I was in on started standing, and ended up in me getting partially tased...not fun at all.Coordinating defensive tactics with multiple good guys to one bad guy should be a priority, that way we can practice communication and better coordinate our tactics.

Again, you are only learning a small part of the culture, and the fact that one uses their native language to refer to techniques does not detract from the philosophical aspect one is trying to learn.

Ok, so, what's the tournament standard to go by, then? Do you have to win to attain a certain rank? What does 2nd place get you? Let's play with this example a little bit. We use tournaments to ascertain rank. Obviously, wins is going to be the important issue here, so we won't concern ourselves something silly like losing. So, we establish that winning is what's important in determining if our rank is true. What levels do we have to fight at? Are we talking point tournaments, or knockdown or even MMA rules? After all, MMA rules will be the most all-inclusive rule set we could find. Now, if we must have wins in MMA to substantiate our ranks, then what kind of record would be sufficient enough to deem one a legitimate 1st dan? And then 3rd dan? Are the only "masters" going to be the ones considered champions, winning title fights? If we don't want to go with MMA rule sets, then we can perhaps stick to what is more commonly thought of as Karate tournaments; point sparring, where there is a break called after a point, and then competitors are reset, and start again. Proving yourself over and over again against regional competition will only take you so far, so you would have to consider national and interantional level competition to rank yourself higher than 1st dan. And I'm sure there are no politics at those levels, either. What happens when you retire from tournaments, then? Notice how guys like George Foreman are always referred to as "former heavyweight champion?" If you stop competing, then you effectively stop your path to higher rank, and deem yourself a "former black belt." We haven't even considered crossing over into grappling based tournaments, unless you consider MMA a close substitute to that. So you see, I don't think that tournament competition is necessarily a good way to try to ascertain whether someone deserves their rank or not. Yes, my arguement here is a bit extreme, but once you open that can of worms, where do you stop it? Then you get into the whole "competition and self-defense are two different things" arguement, and start back at square one. I hope this clarifies the point I've been trying to make.

Next time, tell her you did control yourself, and that she can tell because she could walk out under her own power....

Thanks for this information, Danielle.

Sounds like fun, even with minor bruising. Let me know how the training goes as you evolve with it.