bushido_man96

I would suggest from a purely self defence pespective less is more. Mastering and understanding the five Heian kata should give you more than enough from kata. Certainly learning higher kata from a book or CD will only give you the asthetic moves. I agree with the less is more ideology. If you overload your brain with 100s of techniques to choose from, it causes problems when its time to react. What you want to do instead is learn tactics that you can apply various techniques to in given situations. Thinking in the terms of tactics will be less binding than thinking in terms of techniques.

RIP, Macho Man. I remember seeing him in a few Walker episodes, and he even fought Peter Parker in the first Spider Man movie.

Welcome to KF!

All of these organizations have come along and taken things that were changed in the past into something that has become set in stone and given a label: "curriculum." Now we have the curriculum, and it cannot be changed, because this is how the great master X did it, and he was the great master, so you can't change it, because who the heck are you? (the answer is you are NOT the great master X!!!) I hope everyone can see through the satire there, but it really is what has happened. Funakoshi ended up doing some things differently than Itosu, and Itosu probably had to modify some things he learned as he got older. I do things differently than my instructor. Its the nature of the beast. But when these curriculums became more set as a syllabus, it really clamed a lot of practitioners up, because they don't want to rock the boat, when it was a lot more likely that things changed more often in the past. What I would say is this; know how it was done when you were young-know the original way of doing it, and teach it that way. And make sure your students do it that way while they can, or at least can teach that way to others. Then if changes have to happen for reasons of getting older, then make sure you the teacher let others know the reason you do x is because you are y years old now, so young pups do it the original way, if they can.

I can see what you are saying here, and I don't disagree. But many people are goal oriented, and when there are visible, set goals they can see, and know what they need to do to achieve it (objectives), it helps with motivation. I would just mention that this is the other side of the belt systems.

Many times its a body shift and blocking motion in our one-steps. In sparring, and on bag work, we will do some footwork and kicking, like a 45 degree forward sidestep, followed by a switchfoot round kick to the body, and other things like this.

5/21/2011 SL 5x5B Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 95x3, 120x2; work weight: 165x5x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5x2; work weight: 60x5x5 Dead lift: warmup: 65x5, 75x3; work weight: 120x5 I forgot to add weight to squat this day. Oh well. 5/22/2011 Mile walk. 5/23/2011 SL 5x5A Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 95x3, 125x2; work weight: 170x5x5 Bench press: warmup: 45x5x2, 100x3, 120x2; work weight: 145x5x5 Barbell rows: 65x5, 2; work weight: 85x5x5 Squats felt good today. Also checked body fat and BMI for biweekly recording: Body fat: 31.1% BMI: 38.6

Hard strikes and kicks are practical. And the body conditioning should be gradual, so it won't be a major shock to your system. It wouldn't be bad for self-defense, either. Best of luck finding a place to train!

Nah, its not complicated, its just the nature of people evolving and adapting. The reason some things change is because not everything works the same way for everyone. Sometimes changes are philosophical or even methodological in nature.

I think it will depend a lot on how the school uses kata for its curriculum, as well. In TKD, we don't do any kind of bunkai for forms at my school, or my previous one. So forms are part of the testing syllabus. In that case, more forms won't be as bad. But when you increase what you have to learn as far as applications are concerned, then fewer katas and more reps on partner work would probably be more beneficial.

I can see the sprawl possibility. I also can kind of visualize what Bob is talking about with his 3rd explanation.

I agree totally. Bad idea to let yourself get put behind the 8 ball. However, I don't think you have to close the gap first to be pre-emptive. I also think that most of what JusticeZero is talking about stems from the fact that most self-defense scenarios start with the attacker already being within range to make their attack, and if it is someone who is meaningfully wanting to engage a target, then they likely aren't taking the chance to warn the target by posturing first.

I'm not familiar with it. You might check with your local library and see if you can get it through some kind of inter-library exchange. You might check at a site called Alibris.com. They are able to locate hard to find titles, and offer lots of used books at good deals. Check there.

Thanks, Jay and Heidi. That means a lot!

Happy Birthday KarateForums.com! I wish I had found this place when it kicked off, but as has been said, better late than never! I plan on being around for another 10 years, as well. Congrats on a fantastic community, Patrick!

KF to me has been a place that has opened my eyes so much to different aspects of the MA world. I didn't really know what bunkai was until I saw the word kicked around here at KF, and have learned so much over the years from all the helpful members of this site. Its a great place that I feel extremely comfortable sharing any and all of my MA experiences.

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.