bushido_man96

I've never done it (I don't own a school currently) but have heard of it, and heard it worked fairly well. Just depends on your student base.

I stretch after I do squats at the gym, and stretch when I'm warm after some TKD stuff. I haven't been to TKD for the past few months, so I haven't done the kind of stretching I like to do. I stopped worrying about trying to do the splits years ago. I just try to keep my ability to kick my head level, and anything else is a bonus.

We did something similar a few weeks ago. We worked on "countering an ambush," and fired from positions like being seated in a restaurant, after being knocked down, starting from the ground on our backs or bellies, and on the run, etc. Really good stuff. 10/31/2011 SL 5x5A Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 135x5, 205x3, 225x2; work: 275x3x5, 315x1 Bench press: warmup: 45x5x2, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2; work: 240x5x5 Barbell rows: warmup: 75x5x2, 95x3, 105x2; work: 175x2,3,3,3,3 Stretch: standing/kneeling quads, seiza, front/twist/side bar, reverse hurdler, butterfly and glutes, seated knee hugs and back twists, toe touches, chest/tris/bis. 11/1/11 White belt material: ATA and TTA forms and one-steps. 11/2/11 Switched to a different gym routine, and now do dead lifts on Wednesdays. Dead lift: warmup: 135x5, 175x5, 210x5; work: 360x5x3 Wow, did that feel good, too! My grip was good the whole way, and really felt like I had good work on dead lift. I may have to stick with this plan. We'll see how the other days go, as I will be set on the lifts I do on each day, instead of each switching each session.

I don't think a bunch of bobbing and weaving will help you in most situations. Just like throwing perpetual front kicks won't help you either. I'd recommend one bob or weave used in conjunction with an entering strike or takedown attempt. While you're down there you might latch your hand or teeth around his reproductive organs - it's pretty useful. Like a different type of Tai-Sabaki. Good idea. I think bobbing and weaving likely evolved more as Boxing continued to evolve, and therefore, doing extensively is more for ring strategy, where as in self-defense, it can be of great use, on a smaller scale. But, I think you see some similar things happen in Karate when you look at how Karate competitions are fought. You see strategies used there that you wouldn't see to the same extent in self-defense.

Thanks for asking. The term has a couple of meanings. Generally it means "finishing blow". It can also mean something more along the lines of "disabling an attacker" but "finishing blow" is the more common intent. I train traditional Shotokan. Nishiyama school. The goal is develop the ability to go from zero to kill at the moment of kyo and do it every time. Maybe it isn't the best thing for the streets. Doesn't matter to me. Its the art that keeps me coming back. That and the fact its at the top of my list for lifetime activities. Thanks for the clarification. I think the idea of a finishing blow is a valid one, but, like tallgeese, I'm also a proponent of the idea of combination striking. I think each strike should be performed as a finishing blow, but never singularly. I want to finish the guy with this blow, and this blow, and this blow...and so on, as tallgeese mentioned, until the threat is neutralized. I think of it the same way I think about a lethal force situation involving a handgun. I'm not going to shoot a lethal threat once, and then check to see if he/she falls down. I'm going to keep shooting until the threat is down.

I agree with what you say about getting paid in Muay Thai/MMA as opposed to paying to fight in Karate and TKD tournies. You mention the popularity of Karate compared to MMA now. I'd be interested in seeing a study of how many Karate schools are still out there in comparison to MMA gyms. Perhaps Karate hasn't lost too much popularity, in as much as it has just lost some attention?

I think I read somewhere that the first influence of a roundhouse style kick may have been from Fillipino styles, but I'm not sure.

That's pretty neat, too. Did you get to meet Barnett at some of those fights?

GM Chae Sun Yi, Master Scott Biskie, Me. I'm not sure who taught our GM; I think he was WTF before he branched off on his own, so I am unsure. My ATA lineage is a bit tougher, but if I take some time to look back at it, I can come up with something on it.

I think kicks are good, and are most valuable, when used below the waste. I do think, however, kicking above the waste can be useful, and beneficial, but like anything else, it has to be done right, timed right, and strategized right. Its a particularly tough skill to aquire, kicking to the head, and speed is the best friend, next to technique. Like I said, its especially tough to get good at, but, it can be done.

Congrats!

Congrats to the Cardinals! And to La Russa, going out on top. A great career.

You will have to fill me in on what "todome" is. I'm not well-versed in other languages.

Can't wait! I'll see if I can get it approved by our department.

My point is that squared of with an old master gloves off no rules winner takes all I honestly don't think a bunch of bobbing and weaving is going to do you a hell of a lot of good. He'll be out to punch you once and go home and probably will. Poking him a few times would just help him get his bearings. "Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth."

Let us know how you did!

Montana is right. As you progress, you will notice minor skill improvements over time. This is when you really have to kick it in gear, because this is where the little things start to show, and seperate you from others. Stick with it, and just make sure you keep enjoying what you are doing.

Just make sure that when you have the situation under control, you stop. Don't get mad and go overboard, and get caught up in "teaching them a lesson." That's when it gets bad for you; it no longer is self-defense.

I'm fairly shy most of the time. Conversation isn't always a strong suit for me. But in class, I tend to do ok. Its easier when I shout out technique, the students do it, and I comment, correct, or whatever.

Get your students to do recruiting by offering them a discount on their membership fees for bringing in a new student who stays for x amount of months.

If there is nothing for you to do as a black belt, then that is the fault of your instructor for not preparing a curriculum for you. He should at least have a class set aside for high ranks to work out together to push each other. But, as you do get higher in rank, it becomes more of you pushing yourself on then leaning on an instructor to do it as much as he can with colored belts.

Ok, I see what you are getting at, but I still don't think its a "fad." That would indicate that it would have faded out by now, and it hasn't. I'd say that it has grown and evolved since then, and it still does. I'm sure there are some fighters out there who don't represent it well, and there are things that people don't like about MMA in general; i.e., that its not "traditional." But, I stand by my statement that I don't think its going anywhere.

Karate has evolved with the times, and keeps evolving. Techniques change over time. If you keep practicing techniques the way they have been practiced for the past 50 years or however long, why? Those techniques changed quite a bit before, why should they stop changing? I'll call it karate, if karate is my base and I incorporate boxing techniques into it. If you want to say otherwise, my style (Kyokushinkai) has many open tournaments that you can enter to show your superiority of just using karate techniques only. This is no challenge, just a simple fact that the "proof is in the pudding." Many Japanese karateka have, and still do crosstrain in boxing. It's just over here in the Westernized countries that we get silly ideas never to let your obi touch the ground, never wash your obi, never use techniques outside of karate even if they're very effective.... I agree with kcshuffle here. Just because Karateka does some bobbing and weaving doesn't mean he isn't still a Karateka. Its like saying the same thing if a Karateka uses a jab.

Hey, that's pretty cool!

All listed above would make for a great library. I have quite a few books myself. Some, I could do without. Some, though, I like to have on hand just because they have different ideas I don't think of. I love to read, so I tend to go a bit book crazy at times. I don't think its necessary to have a huge library, but, I like to have as many as I can, just to reference different things, or study up on something I'm not familiar with. Then I can bounce questions off others here who have experience with the styles, and they can lend their take on things. Helps make for good discussion at times, as well.