bushido_man96

I have not heard anyone, from ATA HQ to other ATA school owners, state that we are now required to offer the XMA curriculum. Matt Thanks for the info, Matt.

Not at all. It's just that most wives (and girlfriends) work under the golden rule. "No matter who's right, you're wrong." Hehe, that is where my terribly stubborn nature comes into play. It's clear you don't give up easily Bushido. Afterall, you are a Chiefs fan! That takes alot of character and patients. Haha, you are right on there! I have to admit, staring into the face of utter defeat without flinching it quite the character builder!! But, I like to view stubbornness as one of my higher qualities. Dad says I get it from my mom. I get it from both of them.

Right you are here. I think the myths still grow, too.

I am guessing this was more of an instructor's philosophy as opposed to an organizational one. After all, Gen. Choi was trying like mad to get ITF TKD into the Olympics for quite some time.

That sounds good. Has the instructor spoke to him yet?

Not at all. It's just that most wives (and girlfriends) work under the golden rule. "No matter who's right, you're wrong." Hehe, that is where my terribly stubborn nature comes into play.

When was this? I imagine that the two sparred a little when they worked out together. Who made the report?

I agree, but such is life.

Kids get burned out easily, and this very well could be his problem. Friends of his may be talking about things that they do for fun, but he can't do them with them, because of the Karate class. That is one thing it could be. There are others as well. If he really thinks that it is hard for him, then try to talk with him about how he does it well, even though it is hard. Try to relate to him about how sometimes things will challenge you, and you can't just give up on them and quit because it makes you have to work and try harder. This may click with him, and it may not. One other option is to give him a short break, by reducing the number of classes he goes to a week, or the like. That may help him get over the burnout, and renew his interest. Kids are tough this way, and the kid that starts the Martial Arts at that early of an age and grows up with it as a part of him are few and far between. Listen to what he says, and try to help him out. In the end, if you force it on him, it will end up driving him away from it. He will have plenty of time to take it back up, and with some more maturity, may understand the challenges better.

What does his scoring system include?

That is interesting, ps1. I am surprised that the ATA now requires schools to offer an XMA class. I wonder what else they try to make all of the schools offer now, too.

Happy Hollidays, everyone!

Ah. I see then. Doing work behind the scenes more will probably keep him very involved, then. I would love to be able to check out his gym.

Does number of techniques really matter? You also state that you think they learn "surface" techniques. In actuality, the depth comes in more with strategy. I don't think a style's superiority or inferiority is determined by a lack of complexity. As for devoting more time to another style. I do think that we are capable, if we are willing to try. Maybe you go from 4 days a week for one style to 2 days each for each style you do. It just boils down to your allocation of time, and your willingness to understand that your advancement in each may be slowed. However, I don't think that advancement is always equal to experience gained.

ps1 stated that the instructor was interested in him teaching an XMA seminar. Some of the moves must trasnfer well to XMA competition.

Why do you want to change it?

Oh, my bad. I would wonder about that as well. I'll bet he can't avoid it after a nice takedown.

Yeah, the ICHF kicks are mainly used for distractions. However, for the leg kicks I do, I think of deblitation rather than merely distraction.

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.