bushido_man96

I know this is an old thread, but since it has been posted on some lately, I thought I would address this. Weapons are useful because, as tallgeese would say, they are a force multiplier. Someone who isn't a knife fighter can still cut you in a fight with a knife. Skill is great when it comes to weapons, but not necessary when it comes to doing damage. And most people who get cut in a fight, don't realize it when it happens. If the sword is drawn when the encounter begins, start looking for something to use as a shield. If you couldn't run, for some reason, then start looking into your level of situational awareness. If you have to engage the weapon, then you would likely want to get inside the weapon's arc, which means you want to get to the hands of the guy holding it. Then, you have to get it away. Hopefully, the sword bearer concentrates on his sword more at this point, and you can rain down blows about his head and shoulders while he is trying to cut you or get you off his weapon. End it fast, get them distracted, and then get away. Hopefully those would work for you.

What constitutes "traditional," anyway? Just this year, the football coach at my daughters high school started a "new tradition." So, it has to start somewhere, and then it has to go on for some time and be upheld (for lack of a better word) in order for it to become tradition. Right?

9/7/2011 SL 5x5B Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 135x5, 205x3, 225x2, 295x5; work: 305x5x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5x2, 70x5, 90x3, 100x2; work: 135x5x5 This was my previous stall weight. Dead lift: warmup: 135x5, 175x5, 210x5; work: 325x5 Assisted pull-ups: 11,11,10 Stretch: standing/kneeling quads, front/twist/side kick bar stretches, toe touches, seated knee hugs, seated back twists, chest/bis/tris.

These are the lifts I do right now. Squats, bench press, barbell rows, overhead press, and dead lift, with power clean thrown in, and dips and assisted pull-ups as well. Those are the ones you should be doing. If you want to take it to the next level, learn the snatch, clean and press, they are a step from the power clean as you probably already know. If you put a solid lifting program with these lifts, you really don't need to do squats, bench press, etc. Olympic lifting can replace them quite well. If you have a chance try these Olympic moves with a sand bag. They simulate the awkwardness of manipulating a body, as opposed to a nice neat barbell. They are also killer for grip training when you don't use straps. I prefer rubber mulch for my fill, as it is much bulkier than sand and a whole lot cleaner. Rubber mulch filled bag also makes for a good throwing dummy and inexpensive striking bag. Here are some great instructions on making one: http://www.rosstraining.com/sandbagconstructionkit.pdf These few lifts that I do right now already require quite a bit of gym time, with the recovery time between sets and all. As I progress, I'll be dropping some of the sets as the weight gets heavier, so it may allow me more time for other lifts as well. There really isn't anyone around who does much Olympic lifting, so coaching on those will be tough. I like the power clean, but its really just an add-on at this point, with the other lifts being the focus right now. If I get more time, I will try to add in lifts to supplement the power clean, like the Romanian dead lift, hang clean, front squat, etc. As I grow stronger, I may be able to add more to it.

Do some research, make them aware of the safety measures, and give them an idea of how much work goes on in the gym, and how much time is alloted to bag work, conditioning, sparring, etc, and give them a layout. When you say you want to Box, and you see all the gym time, bag work, mitt work, conditioning, and the sparring. Your parents probably just see you getting the snot knocked out of you buy semi-pros for 90 minutes straight in the gym. So give them a good picture of what it is you will be doing, and see if it changes their mind. Good luck!

Yeah, it would be tough to relate everything we touched on. Some things we did briefly, and some extensively. But, very productive overall.

Very nice.

In many ways, the "warrior ideal" has become just that, a set of ideals, and not all the ideals really have anything to do with being a warrior, from my point of view. Take these points from chien fu, for example: These are all very admirable qualities, and most of us like to see these things in the people we associate with and have in our lives on a daily basis; we like to know we surround ourselves with good people, and are good people ourselves. However, I'm not conviced that these qualities have anything to do with being a "warrior." Its as if the concept of being a warrior has been romanticized like the Samurai has been for the past 100+ years. I think the concept of the warrior is much simpler than being a good person. You have to be good at war. You have to be able to fight, know the tactics of personal combat with natural weapons as well as manufactured weapons. And a warrior has to be able to execute the necessary actions. You don't have to be a good, nice, well-balanced member of society to be a warrior. There are probably a lot of "bad guys" out there that would be considered "good warriors." Many who train in the Martial Arts claim to uphold a "warrior creed" of some kind, and it holds a pretty romantic idea in their minds. Audy Murphy was a warrior. I wonder how romantic of an idea he thought it was?

I think we are going to the same place here, but just arriving from different directions. I agree the technique should be taught right first. However, the pre-pivot doesn't make it wrong; its just a variation. So what I do is evaluate how each person I teach the kick is performing the kick. If they do it with well by pivoting without issues, then I let them go. If I see someone having problems with kicking, especially that pivot, and I fear for injury, then I'll let them in on the pre-pivot idea. It can be done on a case-by-case basis, according to the abilities and needs of each student. It was a good experience to tinker with. At first, Bob didn't care for the idea much. Then, he wanted me to look at his round kick, and as he began to chamber up for his kick, he did a pre-pivot. I said, "there it is, you've been doing and haven't realized it." It was a fun moment, and we both tinkered with the concept a little bit.

I'd say no, as a general rule. Too hard to fix later on. If the technique is that hard for beginners, then I'd say its best to wait to introduce it when they have the necessary knowedge and technique to train it safely.

I'll say that your grip strength hasn't suffered any, Bob. I've never seen anyone with a grip like that before. Very unnerving to be grabbed like that!

Sojobo, I don't disagree with your points there. But, if someone wants to stare at my foot to see if I pre-pivot, then I can use that to my advantage as well. A feinted pre-pivot would prove quite strategic in some senses. Also, if you are in a heavy self-defense situation, I don't think its as likely to be picked up on as a telegraph. In a match fight, its different, though. Also, the pre-pivot doesn't have to mean that the entire pivoting motion happens before the kick. On the side kick, it had in the past. But for the round kick and the front kick, it just starts the pivot motion and makes it less stressful on the knee to complete the pivot as the kick finishes. Its not for everyone. But as one gets older from decades of kicking, and starts to feel the stress on the knees, it might be a change that can add another decade or two to the MA career.

San Diego should have a plethora of schools and disciplines to choose from. I'm surprised to see you have such terrible luck in finding and maintaining a place to train. Perhaps by expanding your search, you may stumble onto something that is right up your alley.

Some clubs make you start at white belt again regardless. There are a lot of variables at play, so it just depends. Not every club will accept other club's certificates and rank.

I think you are on the right track. Throw in the idea that those who began it will begin to throw in their views on how life should be lived and other ideologies and personal philosophies, you'll get into the "traditional" ideas of the internal facets behind the art.

8/26/2011 Weekly stats: Weight: 254 lbs BF%: 30.9% BMI: 38.6 SL 5x5A Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 135x5, 205x3, 225x2; work: 295x4,5,4,5,5 Bench press: warmup: 45x5x2, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2; work: 230x4,3,3,4,4 Barbell rows: warmup: 75x5x2, 95x3, 105x2; work: 145x4,2,4,3,2 Time to deload. Power clean: 155x5 Dips: 9,5,4 Stretch: standing quads, front/side kick bar stretches, seated knee hugs, toe touches, bis/tris. 8/29/2011 SL 5x5B Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 135x5, 205x3, 225x2; work: 295x5x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5x2, 70x3, 90x2; work: 125x5x5 Dead lift: warmup: 135x5, 175x5, 210x5; work: 315x5 Assisted pull-ups: 11,10,10 Stretch: standing/kneeling quads, front/twist/side kick bar stretches, toe touches, seated knee hugs, tris/bis. 9/2/2011 Weekly stats: Weight: 256 lbs BF%: 31.6% BMI: 38.9 SL 5x5B Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 135x5, 205x3, 225x2; work: 300x5x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5x2, 70x3, 90x2; work: 130x5x5 Dead lift: warmup: 135x5, 175x5, 210x5; work: 320x5 Assisted pull-ups: 11,10,10 Stretch: standing/kneeling quads, toe touches, seated knee hugs, back twists, front/twist/side kick bar stretches, chest/bis/tris. Hitting 300 lbs on squats was one of my lifting goals with the Stronglifts program. It was tough, but it felt great afterwards. The dead lift felt good, too.

Congrats!

Welcome to KF, Kevin!

Welcome to the Forums!

Not much, lately. Work and family take lots of my free time. But, when I get around to it, I'll do forms, hang the heavy bag and work it over, sometimes I'll lay on my side and do different kicks in varying sets, reps, and combos, punch using dumbells, and different things like that. One thing you can do is grab a chair, and use it for balance to do slow kicks, kick over the back, do dips and elevated pushups on it, and all kinds of stuff.

8/24/2011 SL 5x5B Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 135x5, 205x3, 225x2; work: 290x5x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5x2, 70x3, 90x2; work: 120x5x5 Dead lift: warmup: 135x5, 175x5, 210x5; work: 310x5 Assisted pull-ups: 10, 10, 9 Stretch: standing quads, toe touches, front/side kick on the bar, seated knee hugs, bis/tris. Forms: Naifanchix3; Poe Eunx3 8/25/2011 Range: 1:00 - 3:00. Qualified on KS C-Post, and shot 45 out of 50. Not too bad for me, but the farther back I got, the more everything got slapped to the left. Have to work on that. I also got asked by the Undersheriff to put together a basic takedown and cuffing class for the department. Whoo-hoo!

I was in the ATA. I began my MA career in the ATA. I also remember failing a black belt testing because I didn't break a board. Not all ATA schools are created equal. There are those out there that are not very good, and I will not deny that the philosophies of the ATA are what cause it to produce some schools that are questionable in nature. I will say this, though; my time in the ATA wasn't "easy, breezy, Martial Arts time." I worked hard, and earned each rank I tested for. I wasn't the best out there, that's for sure. But I worked hard, and took it seriously. Yes, there are the flashy kicks that TKD is known for. The flashiest I ever got to really was a jump 360 side kick, which is nothing compared to what is seen at XMA competitions today. Yeah, I do spinning kicks from time to time as well. But, there is a science to throwing and landing a good spinning kick. I will not deny that the exclusion of hand strikes to the head in TKD competitions is detrimental to the Martial Artist. It is very much so. That's why it is important for instructors to address this in class training time so that students can become accustomed to blocking head shots.

I think starting Kung Fu would be a great idea. I'm sure with the input from a good instructor, you can figure out how to work around your flat feet, and have a great deal of success. But, it won't happen if you don't give it a try. Good luck!

I will do that, Bob. I also wanted to thank you for all the kind words you said in the post, and thank you for posting the picture. I learned a great deal from you, and Tuite was a great experience. I've always done the joint manipulation stuff with the "cooperative" uke, and you've shown me a way to approach it with more aliveness. I am greatful for that. And there is no question that there were times when I was made uncomfortable during Tuite, and it was very revealing when that happened. So much good stuff to take in. I've also been polishing up on Naifanchi kata, too. You're welcome, Jeffrey. I plan to have an 8x10 framed and hung at the house. Absolutely, MP, and sorry for taking so long to get back to this. My computer at home went on the fritz, and I had been pretty busy at work. I demonstrated this with the stepping side kick first, and then with the round kick. In the stepping side kick, you are taking the back foot, and stepping it either up to the front foot, or past, however you would do it based on your style or situation. The way I've done side kicks lately, is you step up/together/past the lead foot, then chamber, then pivot the foot and thrust the kick out at the same time. With a pre-pivot, you have the pivot completed when you finish the step-up motion. So, when doing a step together side kick, the base foot is pointed in the opposite direction already, and then the kick is thrown. Now, what we derived from this way of kicking is that it tends to take the hip drive out of the side kick to an extent, relying more on the power in the muscles of the leg and butt to power the kick. To alleviate some of that loss of hip drive, you could step up into a partial pivot, where the foot might be at more of like a 45 degree angle, and then drive the hips from there, but you still don't have to do the complete pivot motion. The goal behind the pre-pivot is to save the knees in the end. After years and years of pivoting on that knee, it can start to wear out. What I've also seen happen a lot in class, especially with beginners, is that instead of using the pivot to bring the kick around or drive the hips out, instead what happens is they focus on the kicking leg so much and end up "dragging" the pivot foot along with the kick. So, you get the pivot happening as a result of the kick motion, and not the other way around. And any time the knee of the base leg is playing catch-up to the kicking leg, you are looking at developing a potential knee injury. So, for a round kick like this, I teach the students to start the kick by opening up the base leg foot a little bit, then have them start the kicking motion, and make sure they pivot to generate the kick, not kick and then drag the pivot. I do this with front kicks, round kicks, and crescent kicks. My instructor does his front kicks with the base foot pointing straight forward, and I can't fathom how he does it that way. He has also had some knee surgeries done, too, so that might answer that question. Pretty windy answer, but let me know if I need to clarify further. I hope that demonstrates what I'm talking about.

Many did start out that way. But, many grew to find other goals and had philosophies of their own. Funakoshi's intentions probably didn't completely match those of Itosu or Azato. I disagree. The goal of internal peace doesn't have to be present. One could argue that Karate has many "essences," and those have been and will continue to be molded and shaped by those who hold them. Not everyone holds the same "essence." I will not discoun the usefulness of past wisdom, but, I will say that change isn't always a bad thing. Being ready when walking down a back alley is important, wouldn't you agree? What good does "internal peace and betterment" do you if you can't defend yourself when your life depends on it? Again, I would not say the "true" reasons are internal struggle and self-betterment, but they are some reasons. Everyone has a different reason for themselves. Also keep in mind that although many of Funakoshi's students disliked tournaments, they continued to organize and hold them. The early university teams of Shotokan were very much in competition with each other, and used the tournament layout for their inter-collegiate matches.