bushido_man96

Exactly. I am not sure why this misconception exists. Joe Lewis also trained with Bruce. As did many other stylists. It should be kept in mind that Bruce Lee benefited from training with these other stylists just as much as they benefited from training with Bruce. Bruce learned quite a bit about high kicks from Chuck, if I recall correctly. Besides that, who is to say that Chuch couldn't give Bruce a run for his money, if they did fight? Bruce was human, after all.

This is a very good point, and should be taken into account.

I have always loved watching a great suplex. I really think that this throw/slam is a thing of beauty.

Wow, that really is too bad. He has been there for so much of the history of modern MMA, and has seen the evolution of the style first-hand. Hate to see him go. Good luck to the big guy.

Hmm, I am always doubtful when I see claims of this type. I didn't look through the whole site, but I may with time. As for the challenge match, I don't think I would offer one. What do you have to gain by it? Not much, I would offer. Unless you win and gain all of his students, which would be a bonus.

I agree with NightOwl. The problem with looking deeper into your own style is that most students won't get to look any deeper than their instructor takes them. If the instructor doesn't work on throwing/joint locking, then the student must look somewhere else, if that is what he/she wants. The time constraints that tengu-raven pointed out do exist for a great many of us; there is no doubt about that. And many of us here are not professional fighters, either. In the end, it ends up being a matter of how well we apply ourselves in our endeavours, and giving ourselves enough time, and not rushing our results. If we choose to split our time, then we must accept that results will come only when our skills are ready. Many people say that it is going to confuse and slow us if we choose to divide our time on two or more arts. However, this is exactly the way that most of us are rasied when going to school. We have multiple school subjects exposed to us, and must spend time on each of them. In the end, many choose one thing in college to focus on, but still have outside requirments that don't fit in with our focus. Now, does this mean that instead of trying to cross-train two styles, that it is better to train in a gym that already combines the styles, like an MMA gym? Perhaps that is the best route for the avid cross-trainer. I am sure that there are some that may disagree with me, but I think that training in MMA can have just as much depth as training in a single art, or cross-training in two arts. In the end, as individuals, we should explore what we want, and find out if it can work for us or not.

You have lots of good questions there, ps1. However, I think you have hidden the answer in there yourself. You have been approached to teach the seminar, so teach it how you want it. Do it just like many others set up their seminars; teach it in blocks that build on each other. Start with one concept, like the basics, and then build into the next, and then the next. You will eventually cover what they may be wanting to learn, but they will get the whole gamut covered. Stay true to what you want to teach them in the seminar. Like you said, you originally wanted to learn the moves because you thought they were cool, and the others may feel the same way. Teach what you want in the seminar, and let the students take home from it what they want. That is, if you choose to do it. If you don't, then no loss, really. However, by choosing to teach it, then you have the choice of what these students are exposed to. It is up to them to follow their own path after that.

The kicking is quite powerful, and should prove useful in these types of matches. However, the deciding factor of the matches seems to be the ground fighting, which I assume is more BJJ than Capoeira However, it does appear that the kicking concepts of Capoeira can be translated to these types of fights. You don't see the genga as dominant, but the ability for the fighters to switch feet is still seen. In the last fight, the low kick worked very well to take down the opponent, and set him up for the arm bar. Seeing the two styles work together is very cool.

That would be the road that I hope they take. We will see, though.

Very nice vids, ps1. Keep them coming!

Is it really worth getting into it with a stranger over something like that, though? I mean, you can never be sure if someone has a knife or a gun, or what intentions they may have. I know that it may not happen often, but it only has to happen like that once...

This is true, but the partner has to be willing to be hypnotised. Not many opponents are that way.

12-6-07 Traditional TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00. Upper body basics made my shoulders sore tonight, so I guess it was a good run through. Kicking was ok, and I haven't noticed any pulling in either of my hamstring muscles, so that is a bonus. My form is coming along better, and I am feeling more confident when doing it, and my instructor is saying that it is coming along well, too. Class shut down a bit early, so I spent about 20 minutes stretching out. I have been working on my spin side kicks, and have a new book that I have gotten some ideas from for improving my technique.

12-5-07 Punching workout R Jab: 10x5 lbs. L Jab: 10x5 lbs. R Cross: 10x5 lbs. L Cross: 10x5 lbs. R Jab: 3x10x5 lbs. L Jab: 3x10x5 lbs. R Cross: 3x10x5 lbs. L Cross: 3x10x5 lbs.

You guys are making me out to be some kind of jerk or something! Well, I guess my wife is pretty patient. After all, she did say that she was giving me all kinds of hints and stuff, trying to let on that she liked me, but I could never pick up on it. It took her to practically stomp on my foot and say "Hey! I like you!!!" for me to really figure it out. So yeah, that would make her pretty patient. However, don't confuse what I have said earlier. I am not saying that I am always right; believe me, when it comes to sticking one's foot in one's mouth, you can call me Captain Foot. But, there are times, although they may be few and far between, that the wife is wrong. And I am more than willing to wait for an apology.

We shall see, I guess.

Good advise here. Hopefully, your instructor will work with you in regards to your size and abilities early on, and as things improve, you will improve as well. Now, you may want to do some exercising on your own to supplement your Karate training, like jogging or lifting weights, or something like that. However, it would not be required. Overall, I don't think you should be concerned about your fitness levels right now in regards to starting a class.

You may not think that 1-2 years doesn't qualify anyone to branch off, but others may feel that it is. At any rate, it depends on what one's goals are in training. If someone wants to begin their training for a few years in a style, and then branch out and continue with their initial style and then another at the same time, then I don't see anything wrong with that at all. There is nothing wrong with being a well-rounded fighter, and it doesn't make you any less of a Martial Artist. Besides that, it isn't a strictly American idea. The Pankratiasts of ancient and present Greece were obvious proponents of being well-rounded fighters. I also think that Zorbs makes a good point about other aspects of atheltics. If a TKD student wanted to play football, it probably wouldn't matter to an instructor as much to do both of those activities, even though football practice may obviously cut into TKD training time. However, the idea of taking a seperate Martial Art that the student may be able to train in on off days for the other class would bother an instructor.

What do you mean by that? Wrestling is one of the most widespread and oldest styles of martial arts- whether shuai jiao in china, the wrestling of the greeks, or modern day greco roman (which is actually mostly derived from a French grappling style with some other European styles thrown in despite the name), wrestling is a martial art in that it is a set system and school of combat moves. What about taking up Judo or submission wrestling or shuai jiao as mentioned before? I agree with NightOwl completely. I think that Wrestling is a Martial Art, along with Boxing, Savate, MMA, Pankration, and Muay Thai and Kickboxing. Just about every culture that ever existed had some form of folk Wrestling that it used. It appears that you only seem to disagree with cross-training in Eastern styles, from the way these posts sound.

...but I never liked algebra.

I would be interested in seeing the direction they take on portraying TKD's history.

Olympic TKD did do that, but now they have electronic scoring, with chest protectors that register "trembling shock."

What if a high school student was training TKD with you, and then decided that he wanted to take up Wrestling in high school as well? Would you tell him that he would have to pick one or the other? In the end, I view this as the same scenario.

I think that in general the lower body is the most important in martial arts. Whether it is hip rotation for striking as mentioned, lower body leverage in many grappling styles, or even an emphasis on low stances. I like all of these explanations. Very good ways to explain the use and importance of the hips.

12-4-07 Taught Kids Class: 4:00 - 5:00. I worked on a variety of things in this class today. After basics, I rolled out the wavemaster bags. I had the kids practice punching on the bags, at my count, and focusing on using the hips in their punching technique to develop power, also focusing on pulling the opposite hand back. We did a front hand punch and a revese punch, using the hips in each. I then moved on to doing knife hand strikes in a similar manner. Then, I had them turn their backs to the bags, get in a sitting stance, and then do punches. Instead of punching the bag, they had to elbow the bag with the reaction hand, to focus on pulling the hand all the way back to the chamber position. I finished with having them do front kicks to the bag, but after the kick, they had to hold the rechamber position before returning the leg to the ground.