bushido_man96

I can see what you are saying here. In some schools, forms can be just a curriculum requirement for testings. In other schools, a form can have much more focus above and beyond technical performance. If you learn a form, and then the bunkai, a form can take an indefinite amount of time to truly come to understand.

As far as conditioning goes, if that's your thing, then I respect that. It isn't all for me, though. Besides that, if you can wear a pair of steel-toed boots....

Thank you for the tip. I will walk through some of my lower rank forms and see what I come up with there. But, some of the lower ranked forms are pretty simple, with a block, then a step and punch, turn to block, step and punch again. Its pretty easy to set up the exhalation per technique.

I enjoy your insights here. Thanks for sharing them.

Very nice, and very good points made. Thanks for sharing it.

Very nice use of the carotid artery strike, tori.

The fact that it was a KO helps. The jumping kicks that he did prior to it I didn't care for all that much. Those two spinning hook kicks (what I would call them) were nice, crisp, fast, and with lots of power. I'm not sure good hands-up position would have stopped either of them. It was pretty, too.

DWx, from reading Lee's book, it doesn't sound like the cross step/side step is very deep, and the weight shouldn't shift from one leg to the other too much. During the step, I'd bet that Lee would adjust his position to be facing the opponent at a slight angle, but I'm unsure how much. Thanks for the replies so far.

Welcome to KF. Glad to have you.

Rest time is when you get stronger, so I would agree with Kuma and work out every other day.

5-5-09 100 Push-ups Week 5, Exhaustion test: 35. This area seems to be my sticking point.

Conditioning the toe might be ok if you are going to inflict that damage barefoot, but many times in self-defense, you will likely be wearing footwear of some kind. With that in mind, I would choose not to condition my toes so much. But that's just me.

In forms practice, with techniques that tend to combo together, I'll exhale within the number of techniques. If the movements are a bit longer, I'll have one breath per movement.

Thanks for the look into history there, sensei8.

Jhoon Rhee stated in his books that each form would be performed a minimum of 300 times before being allowed to graduate for the next rank. But, I would think that quality of the reps would be as important as quantity. I don't know that many schools put a minimum number on reps, or if it is hit in class at least once per night, if not more, and they watch progress and judge accordingly. Also, I think that it is going to depend on the rank and skill of the performer, as to how much work they need in order to be allowed to progress. Bottom line for me is, I can't really tell you what I think a minimum would be. Good question, though.

I guess so, but then again, I don't think I would attempt to teach the layperson, the finer nuances of Pinan Yondan either. But I take your point, and hopefully you understood mine also?? WNM I see the point you are making. I don't agree with it, but I see your point.

Today, 5-4-09, I set up some drills to help my workout partner with the side cutting that we did in class last week. We did some partner footwork drills, mirroring each other's footwork. Then, we moved onto doing the side cut with techniques on the Wavemaster. We did both punching exercises and kicking exercises, and got lots of reps in on the side cutting motion.

Very cool, Patrick. Thanks for sharing it with us.

5-4-09...got a really good session in today... Weights Bench press: 235x5, 6 fail Row: 190x6, 7 fail Military press: 125x6, 7 fail Lat pull-down: 160x8, 9 fail...move up Machine curl: 60x5, 6 fail Triceps push-down: 180x6, 7 fail Safety squats: 185x8 Leg extensions: 175x7, 8 fail Leg curls: 190x10, 11 fail Cable trunk twist: 80x10, 10 Decline crunches: 22 lb ball x 12 Knee lifts: 15 Cardio Bike: 5 min. @ 90 rpm; 5 @ 100; 5 @ 90; 5 @ 100; 5 @ 90; 25 minutes total. Stretch. MA Workout Aikdio: 9:00 - 9:10. I wanted to take time to refresh this stuff, since Aikido class is now finished for the semester. We went over our recent testing material, and I tried to focus on making the connection, and trying to flow a bit smoother. TKD: 9:10 - 9:50. Worked on side cutting again today, with a bit more focus: Partner footwoork drill: mirroring parnter with side cut motions. We did each side, side cutting and coming back to our set position. We finished with a side cut then step back instead of reseting, giving a bit more footwork. This got us warmed up a bit, moving around. Wavemaster bag work Footwork in front of bag: 2x10 each side, just moving around the bag. Side cut and reverse punch (cross): 3x10 each side. Side cut, jab/cross: 3x10 each side. Side cut, shuffle step to back leg round kick: 3x10 each side. Side cut, front leg round kick: 3x10 each side. We really focused on the body position during the side cut, and using the coiled position to unleash a good reverse punch/cross, or a good back leg round kick. With the lead side techniques, we would make sure that the side cut could still allow our bodies to bring power in the techniques. Stretch: 9:50 - 10:00 Good solid workout. Next time, we plan to do a little more bag work, and then do some sparring drills together to work the side cut more, and then into some counters.

That's a great story. Movie stuff someday, maybe.

Cool find. Thanks, Bob. I LOVE Dr. Pepper. Its the pop I drink the most of.

Wow, I would never have thought that improved TV technology would have an effect on old Atari games. That's pretty cool stuff.

That is pretty cool. It sounds like he might not have been there in person, though, which I can understand. Still the gesture is pretty cool.

Good advice, though!

When stepping to the right or left from a fighting stance, do you cross your feet, or choose to step with the foot of the side you are heading to? In Bruce Lee's Tao of Gung Fu, he talks about the foot work of Wing Chun. When in a right leg forward fighting stance, he states that when side-stepping to the left, the right (lead) leg should cross over in front of the rear leg, to protect the groin. The rear leg then follows to equally to re-assume the stance. To step left, the rear leg crosses behind the right. Would you use a cross-step like this, or would you step in the direction that you intend to go with the foot to that side? I ask, because I think some might worry about being caught "crossed up" and off balance with the crossed-leg stepping that Lee wrote of. I usually like Lee's ideas, but I thought I would see what everyone felt about this one in particular.