bushido_man96

I wouldn't worry about the habits. Just train as best you can, and work around them. You will definitely notice the lack of sine wave movement in WTF. You will probably also see an increase in the amount of time you spend in sparring and drills, if the club has any kind of a team setup. However, it may be more like what you have done in the past, with different forms. I imagine some of the technique will change as well, but with what you know, I don't imagine you will suffer from it. I have never made the switch, but I don't think it would be too bad.

As the need for hand-to-hand combat became less and less in society, the societies found ways to propogate their fighting styles and methods by advancing ways of competing with them. That is why we have the sport Martial Arts that we do today.

If I am visualizing what you are saying here, I think you might be on to something. Is this more due to the fact that you don't have the oppenent's legs engaged?

Since you bring up the original topic, let me expand upon my initial assumptions. When I was in Wrestling (yeah, for that one whole year...) and when I watch Wrestling matches, they usually seem much more fast paced, with the two competitors going after each other hard. I guess that perhaps this viewpoint I have comes from what I like to call the "pin mentality." I do know that you can win off of points, but you have to be offensive to get the most number of points; i.e., back points, takedowns, etc. Reversals are worth 2, and escapes are only worth 1. You can get up to 3 back points at a time, and takedowns are worth 2. You get more points for going on the attack. This is why Wrestling seems more aggresive, or offensive, to me. Now, when I have watched BJJ, argueable in MMA matches most of the time, when a fighter goes to the ground, they seem to be more patient (usually) when it comes to setting up. They don't have to worry about being pinned while on their back, and can use the various guard positions to try to stall out the opponent, and then work from the bottom as well. Therefore, it appears to me that BJJ seems to be a bit more defensive. This is how the two sports appear to me.

I was surprised at this as well, as I have seen that most styles of Karate usually take between 4 and 5 years to attaing shodan status.

Whenever I get asked about my level of training by those I don't really know, I just try to slough it off to nothing really major. I don't like to mention it too much.

Yeah, you may be right there. It wouldn't have to be anything loud, but some nice, subtle background stuff. Doing Capoeira would be so much fun. Lots to it that not everyone really sees.

I guess I rushed through that part too quickly. You bring up some good points here. I will have to consider them as I read on. Here is a sad note on my part: I own all of the hardback books so far, and have now taken to buying the paperbacks, for easy carry to work and travel. Is that not sad???

We have a 10 belt system before reaching black, and test every 2 months. Testings are based on forms, one-steps, sparring, and board breaking.

No no no , that the wrong thing to do , you should never throw the first punch. Because you leave yourself open. thats is one way to get torn to shreds, never hit first?? not everyone is going to have a really quick reaction time to evade or block the attack.. I think that hitting first is always an option when needed.. I agree; waiting to get hit is a bad idea, especially if you can articulate that you thought it was inevitable. Not everyone can take that first shot. One thing is for sure, I am not going to wait around to get hit.

I think that some of those stands would work well for you. If you have options for switching from heavy bag to speed bag, then I think that is an added bonus.

Well, if that is the case, then you could say the same about all of your training when it comes to a fight.

That's awesome, James. Kudos to you and your crew!

Wow! What an animal! I don't think I would want you tossing me around!

That sounds like an awesome schedule. Enjoy yourself!

Doesn't martial arts fit under that umbrella? This brings up an interesting point. More or less, you have probably kicked up a hornet's nest! But, hey! That's alright! Many of our modern MAs have a form of sport competiton, in which we like to compete. TKD is a prime example. There are also Karate tournaments, ranging from the WKF to the Kyokushin styles. However, this is but one aspect of these styles, because most of these also have the regular class training, which usually includes self-defense training, in which there "are no rules." Now, there are also some Martial Arts, like Boxing, that have fewer Martial applications, but you can bet that more Boxers are hitting more, and harder, in their Boxing classes than most other stylists are when doing their basics and free sparring. It just depends on the focus of the style.

NEKyosa makes a good point about working on seeing the openings. I still don't see them all. What you should look for is when an opponent throws a technqiue, something is available; maybe the ribs or abdomen, maybe the head. The next thing is thinking about how to get a technqiue there. Your one-step sparring should be helping you to do this. As you do the one-steps, also look for other techniques you could use to counter with. This will help you see things as well. As for sparring, use your offense to set up things. If you kick to their head, they have to block or get hit. If they block, use it as a setup to attack the body. Eventually, you will get better at this. Throwdown is right about thinking positive about yourself as well. Even when you have a bad class, you need to take something positive away from it. I try to do that by logging my class times in the Health, Training, and Fitness forum. If you can reflect back, it helps you move forward. Keep your head up, and keep plugging away!

I think that one should be able to apply submissions from any of the positions, but it is hard to agrue that being mounted on someone is far better than being in the guard.

I would guess you don't see the scarf hold as much because in MMA, they don't wear clothes. Otherwise, you are just holding on to their neck, and working for a choke, I guess.

I guess that sums it up! Thanks.

That could be right. Every style has their own little nuances on technqiues. But you are right, seionage is seionage, no matter what language or culture. It may have a different name, but that is cultural/language based.

Western civilazations have been fighting for as many centuries as most Eastern civilazations, and they have really not ever used any form of pre-combat meditation. If you like it, and think it helps, then I think that is great. I don't really think it gives a combat edge, though.

I dissagree. You should use the technique as quickly and fluently without pulling back. If size and strength become an issue, I think you're not good enough at the technique. I don't agree. I have a brother who outweighs me by 2 times. I have tried to grab his arm, and apply a wrist lock. It doesn't happen. It has nothing to do with my skill level. I am not saying that it wouldn't work if applied in the proper scenario, but you have to have a good scenario. Personally, I prefer distraction techniques, or what I would rather call "diminishing" techniques, to soften up the opponent prior to applying a wrist or other manipulation technique.

I agree with this statement. Jigoro Kano was very much against challenge matches, and did not want any of his students fighting in them. When Maeda went to Brazil, and began teaching his style to the Gracies, he called Jujitsu as opposed to Judo, because he knew that Kano did not like his students to enter challenge matches, and therefore called his style Jujitsu instead of Judo. Had this not been the case, then perhaps we would all be witnesses to the rise of Brazilian Judo as opposed to BJJ. As for the neck break, I think the only break you are going to get is by attacking the vertebrae directly, and even then, you will have to most likely support the head, to keep it from moving.

I was going to mention that I thought you were only doing Kuk Sool Won besides your Cannon Style, and I was wondering if the Isshinryu was a new addition for you. How do you like it so far? Does it offer more of what you have been looking for? Just for the record, how many forms are there in the style, at least that you know of?