bushido_man96

Hey, you and me both! I agree, especially with the fading. If you notice the position of the kicker's base leg foot in that video, you can see that he only pivots to about 90 degrees. If that is the case, then that kick isn't going to deliver a lot of power past where the kicker finished it, because he has cut off the use of his hips and has effectively stopped his kick on his own. At that point, any target not directly in front of him isn't going to receive the optimum power of the kick. I'd never seen that approach before, but I like it!

Wow. Fantastic performance.

Whoa!!!

I just try to push through. I think about how my dad always taught me to work hard, and try to feed off that at times.

Sounds good to me.

The problem that I have with the first 3 is that you can get caught up in feints rather easily. On the street, this may not be a concern, though. I prefer to look at around the waist area, or the chest area, and then let peripheral vision do the rest. Looking down at the feet usually is inviting the hand from above, in my experience. Good thoughts, Bob, and thank you for sharing them.

I have had poor luck with pressure points, as well. However, in my profession when you have passive resistance, things like this may come in handy.

I didn't see much of it yet, but the man has always been...interesting. I followed his career early on. He as a force to be reckoned with. I haven't seen anyone since with the kind of power and fury that he fought with. This show might be interesting.

Well, it does sound fishy. I don't understand why it needs to be done, though. Just take what you are, and go with it. Let actions determine what people feel, and not a bunch of pieces of paper.

Great ideas, whitematt and akedm. I like them. Keeping the kids moving is the key to success, I think. With that said, I do think that 3 is a bit young to be starting out. My son is 3, and I don't think he is ready yet. Once he turns 4, he can start doing some other sports, like running, maybe soccer, etc. I would rather him get into things like that first, and then get him into the MAs when I think he'll understand them and enjoy them. I don't recall at what age kid's Wrestling starts, but I do want him to get in on that, too. At least try it. If he does well, there, I'll look into getting him more into TKD. My other problem is that I want to have more restraint on when he tests and moves up, and not the instructor. I want him to be good, and to be ready, and I want to spend time on him at home with it, too. I just want him to enjoy it, and to stay motivated. My instructor has his 3 kids in TKD, and they have been since they were all about 4. I can see that they are burning out, but since they are the instructor's kids, they keep coming. I don't want to do that to my kids.

Meh. A guy with horrible personality issues that made him a poor student who, through large amounts of work and natural talent, devised a number of principles of fighting which - had he actually tried learning from his teachers instead of bopping around looking for the next flash in the pan as soon as they asked him to put in a bit of work building a foundation on - he would have been taught. I don't think he was looking for "flash in the pan" stuff. He looked at Boxing and Fencing, two things that have been around for a very long time in one form or another. He did do a lot of research, and what he found useful he plugged into his training ideas. I don't think he espoused a "learn this, then this, before you can learn this" approach that is found with kata and bunkai. I think that Self-Defense is something that an MA instructor can begin to teach from day one, not only after time has been spent learning basics and forms. I think Lee's approach was if you were going to learn a form, and eventually learn to do it with a partner (bunkai), then why not just go straight to the partner work, and take your feedback from there?

Hey, you're welcome. I'm glad it got you looking around. I'm also pleased that I was able to expand your vocabulary a bit.... I had to take that class in college, and I learned lots of really big words in it.

That sounds like a good exercise, but I'd be sure to dry off the bottom of your feet, first...

Its on a curl machine; I forget what it is called exactly, but I can throw it out here later in the week. It has three spots to put the weights, and each is supposed to work the bi a bit differently. I just put the weights on the middle rung, and go with it. Thanks, tallgeese. For a while when I started it out, it was just me going on it. I'm glad to see that we've picked up a few regulars. Now, looking at everyone's workouts, I can keep hoping that I'll be as good and strong as you are someday. I'll let everyone know how testing goes. Thursday is the day!

I'm there with you, Kuma. I work 11-7am, so I know what you're feeling. 4-21-09 TKD class: 6:00 - 7:30. Our instructor has decided to extend our Tuesday and Thursday classes an extra half-hour, which is good, because now we can get more sparring work in. With that said, we got to spar tonight, and I really felt like I sucked pretty bad. My training buddy that moved recently was back in town, so we got to spar together. He is 6'3", and I did manage a head kick or two on him, but he mangled me pretty good, too. After class, he said that he got more head kicks on me than he used to; I think I need to work on getting my hands back up. We also did 3 person sparring: 2 on 1, until we all had to be the "1," and then we did an all-for-one, every man for himself, but we only used hand techniques for this match. Afterwards, I was pretty well gassed.

I would be that if you talked to Schwarzenegger today, you would probably see that his view on health vs. "champ" have changed a bit. He has been a health advocate for children especially, with his annual fitness days in Ohio, I believe. On another note, I am don't feel that strength is ever a hindrance in being able to defend yourself. Many people will be quick to point out that he wouldn't be flexible, but we have seen many threads posted here by us Martial Artists having problems gaining flexibility; and we are supposed to be good at this kind of thing. So I don't buy into that. Look at Billy Blanks; that guy is a monster, and he was big into weight training. So was Joe Lewis. He's still quite large. In the end, it all comes down to making sure that you train both strength and flexibility at the same time.

That is a very good idea. It seems unorthodox, but it would get people to talking about it. Excellent suggestion. Just be careful about drawing the wrong kind of attention to yourself.

Actually, isn't the term "Wushu" more akin to "Martial Art" than Kung Fu?

I think that family style classes are a good offering, too. I think that many times families sign up to do the MAs together, only to find out that Jr. has to be at this class at this time, but Mom and Dad have to come at this time. Now, you have a family that was going to take a class together that has to spend twice as much time running back and forth to make their class times. It can get a bit nuts. I don't think that all classes should have to be combined, but at times, offering a family class has its benefits.

Training in kumite with a specific focus in mind can be a huge benefit. I really believe that. I had a sparring night tonight that I came out of feeling pretty crappy about. I try not to get down on myself, and we all have off days. So, its back to the drawing board, and time to work on some stuff.

I think that you make some good points, Killer. I think that children are more open to learning new things. I think that many adults want to know "why" because they want to have a reason behind what they are doing. I think a common thing tends to be asking why the hand is drawn back to the ribs, and not kept up like a Boxer does it. I would guess that is just one thing of many that you get questioned about. Its easier with kids, because they tend to put more trust in what an adult is showing them. Not that adults don't trust, its just that they don't wait to see why, like the kids might.

I don't think that the goal of a ground style is to stay on the ground. I believe that the goal of any Self-Defense situation is to get out as soon as possible, standing or ground. I'd say that if you know the fight will be one-on-one, then you should do what you are comfortable with; ground or standing. Otherwise, you should try to look for a way out, and do what is necessary on the way. The best way to learn to defend against ground fighting is to learn it. In Self-Defense, you won't be looking for a tap-out; if you find yourself there, you should probably break or submit, and then disengage and worry about other threats. I hope this helps. I can understand your friend's concern; I am also a TKD practitioner, and we don't do any kind of ground fighting training, and I know it is a bad place for me to be, because I am terrible at it, although I have been picking up a few things here and there.

So, you are saying that you should buy all of the breaking materials yourself, eh? Tough luck, Bob. But hey, you were a good sport about it.

Man, Bob, I can imagine your suprise at seeing fire well up around you!

Man, sensei8, you shouldn't be so rough on yourself.... Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. It takes a lot to tell a story that pokes fun at yourself, but you did it with style.