bushido_man96

Heh, on my birthday! I joined on March 31, 2006. I was at home searching for an MA chat room when KF popped up.

Kudos Bob! I remember the days of the other forum, and you have come a long way since then. I'm glad we were able to hook up there, seeing where it has led.

I am going to try to attend. If anything, I should be in for a bit on chat. I have Skype on our laptop, but am unfamiliar with it, so I'll will be getting lessons this week!

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. When I signed up at KarateForums.com on March 31, 2006, I was initially looking for a martial arts chat room to connect and interact with other martial artists. I was looking to network with others sharing my joy of training in the martial arts. My youngest brother was familiar with chat rooms, but I was not (and I’m still not, for that matter), and I was looking for the ability to interact with other martial artists in that instant back-and-forth messaging format. So, I went searching. I never did find a chat room for martial artists, but KarateForums.com kept popping up as one of the top searches, so I checked it out. I’m glad I did. KarateForums.com has meant quite a bit to me over the past several years, and it will for the years to come. KarateForums.com allows me to come out of my martial arts box and learn about the experiences of other martial artists and their styles, training methods, and philosophies. KarateForums.com allows me to compare what I do and how I do it with other martial artists from various styles and training backgrounds. You might say that these same things can be found in books and magazines, and you would be right. But I don’t want to always hear from the popular or published guys, or the professional martial arts athletes. I like hearing from guys and gals like me; people I can more readily relate to. Logging into KarateForums.com is like plugging into an extended local dojo discussion. It’s being able to openly and comfortably discuss what I love with like-minded individuals in a relaxed, constructive environment. KarateForums.com has also become the opportunity I wanted to be able to network with other martial artists on a global level. I have had the opportunity to interact with individuals from other states in the U.S. as well as individuals living in Korea, Germany and England, just to name a few. And just as valuable as the diversity in nationalities in the members of KarateForums.com is the diversity in the styles these members study. Now if I have a question or an idea to bounce off someone, I can go to KarateForums.com and put it out there and I know I will get suggestions and comments from various points-of-view that will help me become better. I’ve received advice on various topics, ranging from Karate practitioners helping out with power generation in the hips for striking, grappling advice from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners and weight training advice from various members. There are several people I have met through my time at KarateForums.com that I consider my friends and through interaction at KarateForums.com and social media outlets such as Facebook, I’ve been able to become even more acquainted with members of KarateForums.com. Patrick and I were actually able to meet in person for the first time at Podcamp Topeka 2010 and I hope that I get the opportunity to meet more KarateForums.com members down the road as well. When I joined KarateForums.com, I never thought I would become a member of the staff. Being given the opportunity to be a staff member by Patrick has been great. I enjoy being able to be a part of the process that keeps the quality of the discussions at KarateForums.com so high and being what sets this site apart from other sites. In conclusion, what KarateForums.com means to me is that I have a place to come and share my thoughts and ideas on the martial arts with other great martial artists. I also know that whether these other contributors agree or disagree with me, I know that the praise will be genuine and the criticism will be constructive. KarateForums.com means I always have a place to discuss martial arts when I want to. KarateForums.com is like my martial arts supplement. I feed my body in the school and I come to KarateForums.com to feed my mind more. KarateForums.com is as much a part of who I am as a martial artist as the martial arts are a part of my life. Thank you, Patrick, for creating this great community and making it what it is and thank you to all of the great contributors for bringing the value to this great community.

Nice, thanks.

Both sets of videos are good videos. It shows two things of importance: 1, being ready; 2, knowing how to properly deploy the weapon you have. I know tallgeese preaches it quite a bit, and I believe him, when he talks about being able to deploy the weapon is as important as being trained to use it. That was one thing Inosanto had on his cop trainees in the first video; he can obviously pull his knife quickly. Fixed blades are great that way. I've even seen some folders out there now that are engineered so when you pull them, the back edge of the blade catches on your pants and unfolds the knife as you draw it; fantastic knife, and I will be searching for one of those. The guy with the 9 mm is also good at deployment. He also recognized the situation pretty readily (likely a product of knowing what he wanted out of making the video), but still, it proves a valid point; be prepared.

Some will say not to modify, and others will say its not a big deal. What is important is if you body can't do something, then don't try it. I would say to not make slight adjustments due to what your body can handle is asking for problems, especially as one gets older. On the other side is making sure to try to do it the way its taught, and if you have to make adjustments for individual practice and applications, then do so.

Yeah, we do that, too. Always towards the thumb for the weak link. The GM described the spreading of the hand as spreading out the bone structure of the hand and wrist, to get the grabber's grip to spread apart just that much more. How much it adds, I'm not for certain. Sorry to bring this one back, but had been goofing around like I do and it brought my attention back to this. Try this, MP. Holding your hand in up in front of you, grab your wrist with your other hand so you can see where your thumb and middle finger are on your wrist. Now, do "live hand" with the grabbed wrist, and watch how the thumb and middle finger of the grabbing hand spread out just slightly more. That may help for visualization purposes.

For some people, not necessarily pertaining to me or you, 'line' is simply where a person projects an attack from, or where he is 'squared off to face'. So I think considering, if you make someone get off his or her own line, your making your line change pertaining to where you attack would have to end up, especially if you have to then alter your body to 'face off' again if need me. Maybe not though, I just like to hear other people's thoughts on this. I myself have been in a few fights, mostly in highschool...small minor fights, it was only in college that I had a small knife pulled on me. Nothing really serious then, because I got off the line..and it seems everyone with a knife seems to lunge forward (and not just in movies as it seems, unless this person seen one to many Chuck Norris or Steven Seagal films). I guess there really isn't any right or wrong to this whole thing, simply it stands with the standards of the 'confrontation' dealing with the aggressor, and 'us'. But I do agree with you on the body movement (you mentioned foot play) In my school we refer to any movement of the body as tai sabaki, and that can also be similarly thought as moving 'off the line' or onto a new 'line' The general idea is that if you are getting off the line, you are doing so but still maintaining a good postition to attack from. By jumping to the side and maintaining an athletic position, you can still have a good attack line on the opponent. We train this kind of thing for DT all the time. It can be as simple as taking someone who is facing you and talking, and moving to their 45 degree angle while they talk. It gets you slightly off line, and better prepares you to see them make an overt move.

Just half? Slacker.... just kidding! .....this is starting to become a habit, tallgeese.....

Same thing, but with a 30 min freeroll added. Even with the same soundtrack, GroinStrike? MasterPain: how did you get those soundtracks, praytell? I love the old Nintendo stuff... 5/19/2011 TKD class: 6:00 - 6:45...smaller class today, really buzzed through basics, then light stretch, forms, one-steps, then two crappy rounds of sparring. I was so dead tired when it came time to spar, and I really just couldn't do much. I have to get something going in that department. Then lifted after class... SL 5x5A Squats: warmup weight: 45x5x2, 70x3, 90x2; work weight: 165x5x5 Bench press: warmup weight: 45x5x2, 95x3, 115x2; work weight: 140x5x5 Barbell rows: warmup weight: 65x4, 2; work weight: 80x5x5 Squats are getting tougher, but I can still finish the sets. Hip flexors are sore, too. I like the new bench press technique, and I love the barbell rows, too. Really enjoying this StrongLifts system so far. Evening stretch: squat to stands, seated straddle stretch reaching middle, left and right, butterfly and glutes, hip flexors. My left side is noticibly tighter than my right side.

There are several styles out there where you learn good contact levels, good muscle memory, and learn to push through when your body tells you to quit. Styles like Muay Thai, MMA, Kyokushin...lots of these practitioners become good, tough fighters. They also train smart, and know that blasting someone's mouth into pieces on the first day probably isn't the best training idea out there. But through time and training they become tougher, more confident, and are able to maintain their training throughout the years because they have good training methods. Many of them also train bag work along side their other drills, and it serves their purposes very well.

I understand what JusticeZero is saying about the self-defense aspects here, and they do make sense. I also agree with TG and MP that at times, it may be necessary to know how to do it. I don't like "closing the gap" in sparring, mainly because I'm not exceptionally quick. It also becomes a big telegraph for me. I like to instead use some footwork, just gradually moving closer to them, and see what they throw along the way. If I get close enough before they throw anything, then I'll start my attacks. I think we see the "close the gap" concept more in competition settings, and that's how I view the concept for the most part.

This is good stuff. What's important to note her is that just having a gun isn't the goal; being versed in deployment is. Just because you can't use the gun right away, doesn't mean it isn't the option you shouldn't train to get to. Onwards and upwards. Considering the differences we are discussing here between "ranges" and "phases", the use of a "range" requires parameters of distance to be set, thus limiting your thought processes, which wouldn't be good. If you adhere to a "punching range," then when you feel you are in that range, then the punches are your only option until movement to kicking range, or closing to grappling range, or vise versa. However, I notice that most of my low round kicks I can throw from inside my punching range. So a kick lies inside my punching range. I've also seen good kickers be able to throw an inside crescent kick at head level standing within punching "range" or the clinch "range." Seeing things in this manner, I do think the idea of "phases" fits a better model for analyzing what happens when and where in a fight.

I believe Tony Blauer's training systems are based off honing these natural instincts, isn't it? I remember reading a bit about it, and you're right; it just makes sense to work on honing these ideas instead of training them out of us.

Thank you, ps1.

Cool, thanks for the info. I did see a few of them for the push-ups and sit-ups, and I think squats. They were free, too, which is a bonus.

Yeah, its just semantics, really. He did technically jump, although not very high. So, you could call it jumping, or just skipping. Pretty much the same kick.

Ah, ok. That helps a bit more. I had never hears Master Thor talk about teaching in such a way, and our school never did that. We always broke up into rank groups and worked on the forms for our belt, and the instructors would make the rounds to help and teach. I kind of like the way this sounds. In my opinion, you can never work too much on the sparring aspect, and two months is more than enough time to dedicate to forms, since there aren't any applications to learn. And the extra two months gives more time to straighten out all the technical aspects of the forms as well.

I agree; not many of us like to be hit. Along with upping the intensity as time goes by comes the knowledge and experience for the student to learn how to recognize and intelligently defend the attacks that begin coming in harder. It is a process, and throwing students to the wolves won't yield very good sized classes, and fewer training partners.

I hadn't really thought about it this way, but you are right. We practice some brush/trap/strike in Combat Hapkido, and do a similar block/pass/pin with our DT work, and it always starts with a block that allows for a different follow-up.

Sounds like a good book. Reading your explanation here, I'd have to say I agree with Renzo's ideas of phases instead of ranges; the reasoning behind the explanations just makes sense, and its obvious that striking and kicking aren't necessarily limited to the "ranges," like you mention above with your examples. These phases make more sense and actually do a better job of defining the possibilities in combat.

Thank you, sperki and Alex.

Ok, still confused. By block systems, you mean the two month testing cycles they did? Do you have a different testing cycle now?

I think the reason Posada isn't catching anymore is because his legs probably can't take it much anymore. Either that, or management is being proactive about getting younger guys in there to replace some of the older guys still around. Let's face it, Posada, Jeter, and Rivera are all getting up there in age, and their time with the Yankees is probably more limited now than one might expect.