bushido_man96

Mine either. I have trouble saying what I mean at times.

You probably couldn't go wrong if you added firearms training as well. Good second style.

So true, Bob. So true...

The school of hard knocks.....

Guess that XMA stuff does work, eh?

I can see at the beginning, when the rising punch comes under the chin, then grabbing hair, pulling in to strike, then how the stepping back to the low block position would be used as essentially throwing the opponent over your leg and down, basically discarding him and moving onto the next. I don't know if I like the idea of going to a knee against a kick at the beginning. I'd rather keep my feet.

The problem with TKD is basically the North Korean/South Korean rivalry. In a nutshell, that is the main reason for the different forms.

Effective means I go home alive and well. Absolutely! I guess it doesn't get much simpler than that. Or shall I say, efficient?...

I definitely view Iaido and Western Swordsmanship arts as historical Martial Arts. I do think that the concepts you learn in them can apply to present day, even if you only find a stick in your hands to defend yourself with. There are definitely better, more modern weapons with which to defend oneself with. I would agree - although I am not sure quite how the Iai that I been taught would work out with a stick. But, I can see perhaps how the principles of movement could be viewed as beneficial albeit from a educational viewpoint - in terms of engendering good focus and body mechanics etc. Yeah, Iai is pretty specialized, if I remember right, basically focused on a draw and single cut with the sword? Or something to that effect. But, I still think the principles and mechanics can effect how well you could club someone if you needed to, hehe... In many of the Medieval European styles I've read up on, many of the techniques with the weapons correlate to each other. Many quarterstaff movements corespond to the movements and strikes of a sword, and transmit to other weapons as well. Its what made the systems so effective. Not all of them were exactly the same, but most of the concepts and mechanics transfered.

He's basically talking about use-of-force, from what I can see. In many cases, if you feel threatened to the point you are in fear of your life or great bodily harm, you can justify a force level that may result in death to another. If you are being attacked by more than one person, and feel great bodily harm or death may result from the attack, then defending yourself with enough force to kill can be justified. I think that is what he was getting at, RW.

I agree, there are great points here. As for the creating a new style thing, what I've noticed is that at times, new styles come from either different training concepts, or different goals, as opposed to the creation of something totally new. Just that the person had a different idea in mind than who he learned from originally. I think that your son will find the classroom experience a lot more enlightening than trying to learn online or from videos. As he gets more experienced in Martial Arts, he may find he can benefit more from those videos or online information. Just because someone is good at forms, doesn't mean they can't produce a good fighter. Some of this will depend on what your son is looking to get out of it, too. If he wants to be a good fighter, over time he should be able to adapt his training to reflect that. And even if the instructor isn't known to produce fighters, he should be able to help your son learn some basic fighting concepts, which should come out of the style, anyways. From there, he can choose to learn and grow how he wishes. In many styles, a green belt could be considered an intermediate rank, so a year may not be unheard of. It depends on what kind of testing cycles the school uses. Good luck, and welcome aboard! Keep us posted on the progress of your son. Or better yet, show him this site, and you two could post together.

God help you is your trying to stop that guy with an inside crescent kick! Agreed, but what if you use that inside crescent kick from the ground against a meth-head who is leaning over you? Suddenly that kick becomes valid. Certainly there are other things you can do that could be more effective, but it's a viable option at that point. This kick is in our Combat Hapkido curriculum, but it is used more low-line, like an attack to the leg. Should you not be able to turn the hips over for like a round kick, this one is viable. In sparring, while jammed in close, it is a viable attack to the head, if your flexibility can handle it.

I think spacers make the breaks easier. With the boards or bricks all stacked together, you have to drive enough energy through all of them at once, where as with the spacers, the break of the one above can help facilitate the one below, and since the one above isn't braced by the one below, I think it requires less energy. Or something like that.... Perhaps someone with knowledge of the physics involved could chime in, because I know I sound like a total incompetent right now..... But I think I know what I am trying to say... Maybe...

Well, I don't know of any doctors who approve of any kind of contact endeavors as being healthy. Although the makiwara is a hard object, it does have give to it, so you are not putting the max amount of impact on your bones. But, like sensei8 said, its important to do it at the right time, and if you are too young, and the body is still developing, then it may not be a good idea at this time. But soon, you may be able to start.

In the TKD I have done, we chamber pretty tight to the ribs, as opposed to lower on the hips. The rational for the pull-back of the non-striking hand has always been Newton's law of equal and opposite reaction; one arm out, one comes in. This helps to develop the power from the hip, as well, and trains more muscles. As students develop better body mechanics, they can produce the same power without the pull-back, because of the good hip involvement. At least that is how it is taught. In sparring, I never return my hands to this position. Only on forms and one-steps do I do this.

You're killing me, man! That's great!

Btw...You're both wearing NAME BADGES in the photo...ROFL :lol: Sorry, I just couldn't resist. BBM...for example?! Yeah, I know, I noticed the name tags, too. I forgot we had them on. But, it helps eliminate confusion here, eh? And yep again, BBM would be one I was thinking of.

This is the exact problem with my school, and I hate it. The instructor is always teaching to the test, and the test material is always the focus. I don't like it because it takes flexibility away from class material, and like you said, the true understanding tends to go down.

I'm always confused. And around here, it's worse because my Japanese mostly comes from anime. :lol: Good stuff!

I must be lucky. I pay around $40 a month for TKD and gym membership.

I wear my seatbelt a lot more than I used to, and I have no excuse for the few times I don't wear it. I've only been working the road as a Deputy for close to a year now, and have already seen two fatality accidents, both of which were not wearing seatbelts, and those are just the ones I've worked. I've been on scene with similar accidents, but the results were different, because the driver had a seatbelt on. It seems that whenever ejections happen, that out-of-control vehicle always finds a way of rolling over the ejected person. Not cool, folks.

What was the difference between his Thai kick and wheel kick? Targets, or technique? I'd say front and round would be primary. Side kick is a good one, too, but I find it to be much harder for beginners to grasp well, and it takes more time to really develop (especially if they learn the round kick first). But, I'd keep it low, which makes proper execution easier, too. I'd also add a back kick, but can't think of what I'd add as a 5th for a basic self-defense kick the others don't cover.

I'm sure any Gracie seminar would rank high on the list. I believe Bill Wallace still teaches seminars, so I'd have to put him up there, too. I imagine Blauer seminars are pretty popular, too.

Let us know how it goes. $20 per lesson seems a bit steep to me.

Is it "redirect," or "receive?" I thought it might have been receive.