bushido_man96

Thanks for sharing, Joe. I always find the various applications of the pulling hand interesting to read about, so I'll be sure to have a look at it.

I've seen that floating around here. Nice velocity.

Tallgeese, at the NAGA, did you wear a gi, on no? 6-4-09 TKD class: 6:00 - 7:30. I slowed down the kicks in basics today, and paid attention to technique and detail. Hand techniques, I have been trying to work on speed with. We also got to do some sparring stations with pads, clappers, targets, etc., and it was a nice drill. One we did was a blocking a blocker while seeing a target to hit. I never did like that kind of drill, but it was ok, too. We finished class with forms, one-steps, and then some combination/light no pad sparring.

I do wish that my school would give some time to in-class breaking. I think it would help still some of the nerves that comes from breaking in testings and demos.

I think someone has already beat you guys to the punch on this one. I don't remember where I saw it, but I saw an ad selling those pre-worn belts. Sorry!

I don't really think that a stance is offensive/defensive. The fighter is offensive or defensive, and he'll likely facilitate his sparring style from either side.

RIP My wife had heard about it, and told me earlier this evening.

6-3-09 Hang clean: 135x7, 7 Safety squat: 245x10, 10 Bench dips: 10, 10, 20

Cute.

Wow, 22nd level, and it can't be beat. That sucks. Congrats to him on an awesome effort, though!

Speaking of Shin-Kicking...http://www.daeschner.com/skab/index.html I saw a blurb on this on SportsCenter the other night. Thought it looked fun!

The main issue that we have run into here is caused by that little thing we all call RANK! This is where I go off on my little tangent about the advantage of styles that don't use ranks: Wrestling, Boxing, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do, etc. These guys are truly liberated; they don't have to worry about what level that they can teach up to and certify up to. If they know it, they teach it. And that is that.

Well, for starters, making your forearms bigger is not likely to make your wrists thicker. That's just your body's build, and lifting weights isn't going to change the size of your frame. Now, with that said, you can strengthen your forearms. One thing you could do is take your brick, tie a length of string to it, and then tie this length of string to a dowel rod, broom handle, or something like that. Then, you roll the string up around the dowel by twisting the stick, like reeling in a kite. Repeat as many times as you feel the need to. Wrist curls will help, as well. Hold the bricks or bottles in your hands, palms up or down, and then flex only the wrists in a curling motion. The more weight you use, the fewer reps it'll take to get tired. As far as I know, you can work the forearms quite a bit, because they work a lot as it is; whenever you use your fingers, you work them some. Which reminds me of another exercise....stand with your arms extended out in front of you, locking the arms. Open your hand all the way out, then quickly close them into fists, then open the fingers up again, and keep repeating. To make it worse, er, better, do this in squatting in a sitting/horse stance. Keep doing it until your arms burn.

Thanks for sharing that, Danielle. When I get my other computer back up and running, I may have to look into printing out some of those issues.

Nice clips. Thanks for sharing these.

Thanks for the answers, ps1.

Well, Wallace had some good motivation to kick from his left side only; his right knee was tore to hell, and I don't think he could kick from that side. So, he made his weakness his strength. I do think that you can train both sides, while still having a favorite/dominant side. It just depends on what techniques you are working on. You may not throw a front leg side kick with both sides forward, but you might have a good right lead side kick, and a solid left rear front kick to rely on.

Although I am right handed, I fight southpaw most of the time. One of my instructors early on in my training made the statement that he liked to keep his strongest weapons closer to the opponent, so I kind of adopted that idea early on. Now that I have spent a lot of time fighting right side forward, I find it weird getting to the other side at times. If you switch in these situations, then like tallgeese explained, you end up letting the opponent dictate what you do. You should dictate what you do, and by training against others by keeping your comfortable side forward while they switch will let you work your game better. It'll help you learn what you can and should do from each of the stances an opponent can present, as well. This is going to depend on if you fight with rules or not. In my TKD sparring, we can't strike to the back or below the belt, and we can't punch to the face. So, if my opponent and I are in an open fighting position (I lead with right and he lead with left), then my lead leg is limited in kicking. My options are a round kick to the head, maybe a side kick to the body (rib area), or a lead leg twisting or hooking kick to the body or head, which are tough ones to throw, let alone set up. Now, the back leg here can round kick to the body or head, or front kick, on and on. You can see what I am getting at. Now, from a closed sparring position (both lead with the same side), the targets and attacks can change significantly. So, if rules are what bind you, then which side is forward in comparison to the opponent can dictate your game a bit. So, it is something that you have to prepare for. You should be able to develop your game from your comfortable side, regardless of what side your opponent presents. I agree with tallgeese here, but there is a safer way to get into the opposite stance. Instead of just switching for the sake of switching, switch as a result of a finished technique. For example, if you are in a closed position with the opponent, and throw a back leg round kick and land it in front as the result of a combination, then you have your opposite side forward, but got there as a result of your attacking sequence, and can then work from your other side, if you choose to. It occupies your opponent in a way that "just swithing" does not.

I hear ya, Kuma. With the interests that we tend to share here, it is tough at times to find those that we can talk about them with, outside of our own dojos/schools when we train. Being able to share like this is fantastic.

That's pretty cool. If he starts now, he can start saving for college, if you know what I mean...

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Huh, that's quite a contrast to the WTF in that they tend to scream every time a technique is thrown, especially in sparring. In our school, we kihap a lot during basics. Sometimes, I'd rather not, but oh well.

6-2-09 Knuckle push-ups: 15, 15, 12, 12 = 54

Thanks for sharing this information, Bob. It appears that you have quite the organizational flow-chart. Not just a simple school, after all!

Although I don't hold to sensei8's strictness of adhering to the three K's of Karate, I do think that if you are going to participate in any kind of Martial Arts practice, then sparring at some level is going to be important in your advancement. You'd be surprised; your body is probably more resilient than you think. If you should ever have to defend yourself, you can bet that the attacker is trying to hurt you, so it is best to be exposed to some kind of sparring to prepare for this. You can do basics and katas all day long, but they don't prepare you for the action/interaction of self-defense, whereas sparring is a step in the right direction to achieving this.