bushido_man96

I don't think that not fearing death is what it takes to be a warrior. I do think that having to deal with the fact that you could die doing what you do should be a part of it. I think that police and firemen could fall into that category. After all, a fireman has to go into a burning building at times; very good chance of death there. Police can be faced with the same dangers at times, too. A few of the officers around here have faced things like this; my dad has, as well. Speaking of Gladiators, especially in ancient Rome, one of the combatants was almost certain to die. That would probably make them both warriors.

That's a valid point to make, but at the same time, I wouldn't want to dance with a guy that big, either. Taking a knee might be a safer bet.

Pretty cool. Kudos to him; he is pretty handy.

He did say no ranged weapons........so sword and shield would be your bet, I think.

I try to be aware when I am out and about, like when we walk as a family. If I see dogs out, I'll put myself between the dog and my youngest. I'll walk on the side of the walk that is close to the curb, and keep the kids on the inside. I try to just think of little things like that to just be aware.

That does look pretty good.

Not a good choice, in my opinion. He is really far from the best fighter out there; there are other fighters out there that are more worth the money. I wouldn't be surprised if he lost his first fight with Trump in charge. I just don't think he is that great, as far as MMA fighters go now.

Its just one of those things. You will see hyper-flexible people who can stretch beyond the splits, but don't have the leg and core strength to kick above their waest or head. Then, you see really strong-legged individuals who aren't flexible enough to kick over their waists. Everyone is a bit different, and will have to take a different focus when it comes to strength and flexibility training.

Anytime! 8-6-08 Today I spent around 15 minutes on a 40 lbs hanging bag, mainly working my hands. Combat Hapkido: 7:15 - 8:15. Worked on the yellow belt stuff a bit; around a half hour. After that, we did some mitt striking and low kicking, and I took some good ones off my legs. I liked it. We hit both the inside and the outside of the lead leg. Our TKDers don't get a lot of work on kicking low, so it was different for them. Later on, we worked on some really different leg sweeping stuff. I am not sure if I would use it, unless some guy was kicking at my head, but it was fun. Kind of tore my knees up, though.

Good call, tallgeese. Different opinions really, neither a correct answer; but both good answers. I know that more professional fighters will tend to not try to change their power side, nor will they focus more on their weak side. They work the power side as the power side, and use the other for set up, strategy, etc. Not that they aren't strong on their weak side. They just aren't concerned with balancing them out. Nothing wrong with that, either.

I'd go with the shirt and shorts. They'll offer good movement. Starting Muay Thai should be a good time. I wish I had a chance at it. The will most likely break you in nice and easy, and not give you more than you can really handle. They will probably wear you out physically, but the conditioning will improve with time. MA practice can improve confidence. However, I am more of the idea that you improve confidence in yourself; MA is just the tool that lets you see that you can be confident. Many other activities can provide this as well; it just seems that many MAers have an easy time of finding it. Best of luck in training, and enjoy the journey!

Good point as far as controlling weapons goes. Even in my Medieval Combat manuals, I see this often, when the combatants would "come to grips."

And that's the major rub, I think.We all pay the piper. It just depends on when the bill comes due.

Good response, tallgeese. I think that it is very important for more sport related styles to at times focus on things that allow them to be flexible in a way to work outside of the ring and rules of the sport. This could be said of Boxing, Wrestling, and Olympic TKD. However, most trainers are focused on the sport, because that is what many come to them for, to compete. I do believe, however, that combat sports can be used for self-defense. After all, most combat sports have their roots in a self-defense version of itself; even Bare-knuckle Boxing was more inclusive of throws and pins prior to the Queensbury rules. All it takes a little bit of extrapolation. It also appears that many times, our combat sports tend to keep the spirit of contact more alive in their training than many of the more self-defense oriented MAs. It seems the trade-offs work this way: more rules and target restrictions, more heavy contact permitted....more target areas/vital points available/used, less contact. I think that there are more training options available now that allow us to bridge this gap more now than before.

I think that this is good mindset to have. A lot of LEOs think this way; "at the end of the shift, you want to go home." It is important, however, to make sure that you don't get too wrapped up and take something too far, causing yourself more trouble than you need.

Hey, Baron! Good to see you back! As far as getting someone on their back goes, it stands to reason that it is a big advantage, if getting him there is your goal to buy time or escape. Just because you get them to their back doesn't mean you have to go to the ground and try to Wrestle with him to finish the fight. Knock them to their back, then make a break for it. Keep it simple.

I'll go with most of that, Throwdown. Is being different necessarily the key, though? Even if one is standing up for the crowd, they could still be considered a warrior, right? While we're on this tilt, I assume that you are speaking in terms of perhaps having to deal with a physical threat. Should some kind of physical danger, with great bodily harm or death as a chance, be a prerequisite for a warrior act?

I think there still needs to be a level of performance that needs to be achieved. Good stances are something that shouldn't be slacked on, for instance. Stances aren't hard to do, so they should be good. Other things, like kicking high, shouldn't be a worry. Don't get too lenient, or student quality will slip.

My current school doesn't use stripes. My former school did. They are good if you have certain identifiers to go by. Either way is ok.

It really depends on what you want out of him. If you want to mold his technique into the style of the school that you attend, then have him deepen his stances. With that said, I don't think that it is necessary to alter the stances to make him a better Martial Artist. It is possible to develop and generate power in different ways; he has shown one, and you probably know another. In the end, if he intends to gain rank in your school, then he may have to conform his technique a bit. Otherwise, I don't think it would be a big deal.

Interesting stuff. I have read articles on his MA training, and we was on the cover of Black Belt at least once, that I know of. Perhaps twice.

Cool stuff.

Good thoughts, Treebranch. Sometimes, in the chaos and dynamics of combat, you or the opponent (or both) may be out of position to a point where all you can do is muscle it, and hope for the best.

This struck me a while ago, and so I thought I would open it up for discussion. It seems odd to me that we consider some Martial Arts as combative arts; shouldn't we consider all MAs combative? I know we have the different headings and what not as identifiers and the like, and perhaps this is just a point of semantics. Is there something that now lends some of the MAs to be more combative than others? Perhaps the training methods? Perhaps the philosophy behind the style? Perhaps it depends on the person training, their ideals and mindset? What do you think?

Welcome to KF!