bushido_man96

I think that if the average student can Wrestle in school, then doing other Martial Arts would be no different.

Depends how you view your relationship with your teacher. Can understand not swearing in front of them out of respect but wouldn't not do it just because fear of them reprimanding me. Wouldn't swear in front of my parents or grandparents due to respect (& my mum would smack me one ) and personally wouldn't choose to swear in front of my teacher or his teachers for the same reason. There was a time when I wouldn't cuss in front of my folks. Now I do all the time. I've grown up, and they realize that. But, I learned to cuss from them, too. I think they realize that, as well. My main thing is this: I wouldn't let an MA instructor influence every aspect of my life. They do one thing in my life, teach me MA. I don't expect them to like everything I do, but as long as I act within the law and do morally and ethically correct things, I don't see that they need to have any other influence on what I do, or when I do things.

Pull-ups suck. I've found that I have a terrible time making improvements on them.

You're welcome. Let us know what you find out.

I agree that the initial attack of an improptu one-step regimine can be a good exercise, both for responding to an unplanned attack, and for seeking targets after defending. My whole problem with one-steps is the standing like a statue afterwards by the attacker. The problem that I have seen and experienced with one-steps is the lack of building on them further, and moving on to more interactive things, and not necessarily sparring. I realize that my anger towards them likely comes from my own poor experiences with them, and does not necessarily reflect the experiences of others with one-steps. I think that there comes a time when black belts shouldn't be using the typical one-step as a class-time-eating training tool. Its good to review now and then, and good for lower ranks. No place in higher level training, though.

I haven't had time to read it. Do they score the basics like a form? Or are they made up in combos, and scored on creativity?

Great information. Thanks for putting in the time to make this available for everyone.

Some schools spar right away, and others might require you to wait until you have a few ranks in before sparring. Then, a sparring session may become available to you. As the others mentioned, speak to the instructor and find out.

I think that this is debateable. I think that when some aspect of training is adhered to for so long, and then someone decides to try something new without it, it freaks people out, and they don't like to refer to it as "real" anymore, when I don't think this is necessarily the case. When you're talking about the Budo aspect of Japanese Karate, kata aren't very debatable. That's pretty much their purpose. The aesthetic perfection of every single technique in a kata is the lifetime goal of someone that does Budo. Kata, kumite, and kihon are not as linked in Japanese Karate as they are in Okinawan. That isn't to say a link doesn't exist, it just isn't as prevalent in my experience. Once you take away kata, Japanese Karate's kumite, Kyokushin's in particular, becomes more akin to kick boxing, specifically because they have modified their methods throughout the years, and Muay Thai has been a big influence on Kyokushin's sparring. I think it ends up being more about what you want to highlight out of the training. Some will highlight forms more, and some will highlight sparring more, and others maybe other aspects. Its getting to the point where I just don't feel the same about forms as I did in the past. What irks me a bit is saying "if you take forms away, all you have is Kickboxing." This isn't the case. Kickboxing itself is a sport Martial Art, and just because one does Kickboxing, doesn't mean they can't do forms, too.

More like the training of the individual.

Congrats, ps1! Great accomplishment!

Just to clarify the JCVD point. Yes he was a successful fighter. In fact he has a full contact fight coming up in 2011 against a muai thai fighter. Apparently he recently had a minor heart attack while filming but he has denied it so not really sure what to make of it. He is said to have been doing alot of cardio for his fight. I think his opponent is like 10yrs younger but I hope he will do well im very much a fan. That would be interesting to see. Van Damme is no spring chicken any more.

Escalate is a very good idea.

I believe that most of the animal styles are related to styles of Kung Fu. I've not known of many other styles with animal names, but many styles do have techniques with animal-related names.

Welcome to KF, James.

Why would your sensei/shihan care if you were cussing or not? This may be off topic a bit, but there comes a point where people in those positions DON'T have an influence on what you do or say. Ok, rant over. Sorry.

That's why a use-of-force continuum is so important a factor to teach all Martial Artists. I agree here. But, even learning to punch can lead to causing serious harm. I think one of the most important things to teach and that is hopefully instilled in most students before they get to class, is a concept of self-control.

That's a good point, too. I find that when I get off to training, I don't really have to remind myself of that, though. I just get into the training, and everything else goes away for an hour or so.

That's why that kind of alive training is so important. Nothing goes as scripted when things start happening. Its good to have a set of directions to follow, but its also important to be able to improvise and think on your feet to get to where you need to be on the self-defense map. You don't get to do that with one-steps.

Congrats!

I'm hoping the next weapon I get to spend cosiderable time on is the AR-15 Patrol Rifle.

It might just be the grappling schools I've been to, but doing thing this way seems a lot more prevalent in grappling schools than in Karate or Taekwondo schools. At the Judo place I trained at in Korea, only for a short while before I hurt my knee not even doing Judo, until you got your black belt, the belt wasn't really yours. You just kind of grabbed a belt off the rack at the rank you were. When you advanced a rank, the guy told you to grab a different color belt. I kind of like the "grab a belt" idea. Different. As for not holding testings, I can see the pros and cons to that. Perhaps more and more schools will begin going to something like that. I don't think it is a bad idea.

Welcome!

Working in mixed classes is ok, but I truly believe that the majority of them need to be seperated by age group, for the benefit of both groups. Adults simply benefit more from training with adults, and kids tend to learn differently than adults, thus changing the focus and atmosphere of the class.

This sounds like the route to go. In my opinion, the fella should have known better, and it sounds like he may be trying to save face. It sounds like he is trying to take away one of your weapons against him in sparring. I would be. Over and over again. I don't see any reason to stop, other than giving in to his demands. I agree, it should be common sense. As for the light tap and kiai, I don't see anything wrong with that, either. It sounds to me like this guy needs to get a grip.