bushido_man96

It'll give me something to focus me to actually do them on a schedule. I'm looking forward to it, actually.

1-5-09 Defensive tactics: 8:30 - 10:50. Opened up with some stick work. We are going to try to do a little stick work at the beginning of each workout. I plan on reviewing some material, and making something to hit with it. Then, we moved into doing arm-wraps again. I really enjoy working on these, especially the outside ones. With just a few options to practice, I have found that I like what I have to work with. The last 20 minutes of the session was spent reviewing Combat Hapkido, orange and yellow belt material. Chest/triceps Dumbell bench press: 50x10x3 Cable crossovers: 50x10, 50x8x2 Triceps push-downs: 105x10, 120x6x2 Abs Cable crunches: 105x15x3 Cable trunk twists: 70x10x3 Treadmill: Jogged for about 15 minutes, and I got close to my mile. Running just sucks! 1-7-09 Jog with the dog. Not as far today, but I made an effort to get out and do a little.

Man, that's a bummer, Kez. Get well soon.

Its good to see that you are able to train again! Feels good, eh?

Here are some of the standards that I was originally taught the back stance: 1. With your feet together, make an L with them. The lead foot will point forward, and the rear foot (that bears most of the weight) will point 90 degrees. The feet should make a right angle to each other. 2. Start out with 3 or your own feet length for the stance. Measure the foot that points forward in kind of a heel-to-toe fashion so that you get to 3 of your own foot's length out. Lengthen the stance as you feel comfortable, but remember; if it becomes difficult to transition out of, then it is too deep or long. 3. 70% weight on rear leg, and 30% on the front leg. The front leg should be easy to pick up and kick with, without having to move the body too much to telegraph. Something that I have focused on of late is keeping the weight more to the toes, as opposed to being on the heels in the stance. Bend the knees good, but not so much that you can't come out of the stance without a noticible adjustment. These points should help you to keep the knee over the toe of the rear leg, and should help you get more comfortable with the stance. These are only some basic teaching guidelines that I use. Depending on height, leg length, etc., you may be longer or shorter than others. In time, you'll figure out how your body likes it. Welcome back to the MAs, and welcome to KarateForums.com!

Sure you can complain! It just won't change things much....

I wonder if it will get overturned. I didn't get to see the fight, but it doesn't sound like Valuev does much to help his resume out. I wonder why he has refused to fight the Klitschko brothers?

Enjoy your time teaching. You will learn a lot, once you start teaching.

It could be. But, he also dominated a tournament circuit for several years, and there were some very good, "legitimate" black belts in there.

I would agree that the roots of TKD are there, with the Shotokan influences. In the end, it will depend on what he would want the forms to represent. Does he want them to have the segments be more like sparring segments? More kicks? Higher kicking? In the end, I think it will depend on what you want to take out of the forms, as to whether you will find them interesting or worthwhile or not. Stuart Anslow has found quite a bit to take out of the Chang Hon system. I don't think that this system of forms is any more or less exciting to watch than any other MA forms system is.

Even if no talking takes place prior to any actions, if one can talk/yell during the altercation, stating the things I mentioned above, it can help one's cause. This is something that we covered in a weapon retention/control class that I took in early 08. If your gun gets grabbed, you yell out "gun grab!" as loud as you can, as often as you can, so as to alert others around you to the circumstances of the situation. This kind of thing can be trained for scenarios as well.

Even if no talking takes place prior to any actions, if one can talk/yell during the altercation, stating the things I mentioned above, it can help one's cause. This is something that we covered in a weapon retention/control class that I took in early 08. If you gun gets grabbed, you yell out "gun grab!" as loud as you can, as often as you can, so as to alert others around you to the circumstances of the situation. This kind of thing can be trained for scenarios as well.

Thanks for the review, tallgeese. I have seen the book around, but haven't picked it up. Perhaps I'll give it a look sometime.

Wolverine Origins should be good. Terminator Salvation should be too; the article mentioned that 2 more should be coming, too? I'd like to see how they do Where the Wild Things Are. My kid loves that book.

Well, I went 2 for 2.

I pretty much just listen to the radio. My wife has Sirius in her car, but otherwise, I just hear the local stations. I buy a CD every now and then, but not very often.

I thought that the main idea behind using a graphite bo was because it was lighter and faster, thus easier to twirl and such.

Tallgeese's checks are a good way to defend against the straight punches. If you can check and step outside that first punch, then you can help negate the second punch by being off-line. We try to do a little of this with our Combat Hapkido work. It also works well with trapping a bit.

Joe Lewis earned 3 different black belts in under a year's time....everyone has different capabilities.

I don't mind seeing the acrobatics; I have a great appreciation for the athletic ability of the practitioners that can combine the two. However, I do agree that there needs to be a seperate division for both.

I have very little experience with Tong Il myself, but, something that you may look into is trying to compare some of the sequences of movements to those from other Karate forms, and see where the similarities (if any) lie. There are noticible similarities in some of the lower forms, and it may be so with this one, as well. It may help give you an idea of where it came from.

I think that recognizing those "trigger points" is a great way to look at the training, John. I had never thought of it that way before. I think that those are some good ideas for me to consider in my current training plans. I like them; thanks for sharing them.

This is where the wonderful art of articulation comes into play. If you can articulate that this person was trying to kill you, either by hearing him say so, and your repeated attempts to avoid conflict, or a combination thereof, that will go a long way to help you out. Sure, there are a lot of other things that will go into each situation, as each one will be unique, but being able to articulate your fear of bodily harm or death will help justify your actions more. Another important thing to do is to be as loud and verbal as you can while in an escalating situation or an altercation. If witnesses can recount the fact that you were constantly yelling at this person to "stop" or "leave you alone" and said that you "didn't want any trouble" and the like, it will go a ways to helping your cause, as well. I had an incident the other night at work where being verbal would have helped me out a lot. Its something to keep in mind, and to work into practice, too.

I think that this viewpoint of the evolution of the Martial Arts in general is rather recently being considered, but I don't know how much stock most practitioners put into it; I just feel that many people want to hold on to the perceived Eastern roots of the MAs. However, I do like seeing this idea being passed around, and the fact that it opens things up for interpretation a bit. Reading the blurb on the website that NightOwl posted showed some of the comparisons that we see still today between the sport and art aspects and discussions that we have. One thing that I did note that was absent from the account, was the inclusion of striking; but it was just a Wrestling match.

I agree with your entire paragraph. Things like this are just plain wrong. I agree with your sentiments here, but we should keep in mind that some societies and cultures just do things differently. It may not be a slight at all, in their eyes.