bushido_man96

I have missed this episode. When was it on?

Very true. I read an article yesterday that stated that Joe Lewis earned 3 different black belts in a year. Of course, he trained like a mad man, and had Wrestling experience as well. Each case has to be addressed individually. Addressing it is important, too. I don't believe that any instructor should become defensive if you ask them about their credentials.

I have had some similar experiences with instructors before as well. I didn't necessarily leave, but it makes me concious about how I treat people, and what I expect from them. I had to leave my own school when I left for college. It was on good terms, and I took away a lot of experiences with me, especially teaching experiences, and I still carry them with me today. I know now what I would do the same, and what I would do differently, if I ran my own operation again.

If you ask me, fighting a trained martial artist might be alot easier. You will at least have a vague idea of what to expect.He isn't going to run at you like a charging bull, head first, or do something crazy that only a maniac would do. This can be true, to an extent. However, even if someone is trained, you can never really tell how they are going to fight. There are some trained people out there who may still charge, and fight very maniaclly. It just depends on their attitude, and the level of trouble that they may perceive themselves to be in. In the end, making an assumption like that might hurt more than help you.

Hmmm, earning a 5th degree within 5 years does sound a bit skeptical to me. You may want to look further into that, to see what it is about.

1-03-07 Back to training today, in the dojang. Traditional TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00. Class got started late, so I warmed up early doing some forms. I did Yoo Sin hyung, Gwang Gae hyung, and then Chon Ji hyung, and worked on some back kicks to get the blood moving. When we got into basics, my body was just tired and worn out. I felt like I had no snap in my techniques, no power, and no strength in my arms. I must be taking cold as well, because my lungs were burning up pretty good, too. My form went ok, and then I spent some time breaking down the beginning of it, and working on that. Overall, it was good to get back into the groove. However, I hope things come back soon. In February, I am going to be attending an Instructor's Seminar for the TTA, and I want to be in good shape for that when it rolls around. It will be a 6 hour seminar, covering forms, sparring, basics, Do Kangs, and self-defense and knife defense. I am looking forward to it, but I want to be ready, as well.

That doesn't sound too far off, if you are talking about a back leg hook kick. I would bring the back leg forward, like a front kick, and then pivot around to a side kick type of chamber, side facing the body, and then executing the hook kick. Hope that makes sense.

It sounds like on that first break she got her body a little bit out of position. I see that a lot on forward elbow strikes, and it comes from the students thinking that they need to crowd the boards to penetrate them. What I do is tell them to take a back stance, and then shift from the back stance to a front stance when breaking the board. You make sure they are far enough away from the board in the back stance, and then the hips shifting into the front stance will place the elbow on the board, and allow them to follow through, and adds power to the technique.

I prefer to utilize Bushido's style of kick for offensive use. That is, to attack the sides of the head, flanks, & ribs. However, I utilize youngman's version when defending. Meaning the following: I time the opponent's lunging techniques, give a slight side step and deliver the kick to the back of the opponent's head. What YoungMan describes sounds to me like what I refer to as a Heel Kick, more of a straight-legged kick with lots of momentum. It is a good counter kick, but not so much for an offensive kick. As a counter kick, I do it as a spinning techique. You get a lot of torque out of the kick, but it is usually a big, swinging machine that can be seen coming.

As long as you control the upward motion, and it is not overexaggerated, I think the it could be beneficial. The problem I see is that it always seems overexaggerated, and therefore, not very useful. When you stand almost straight up, and then settle into a technique, I see the driving force of the legs decreasing, like you mention.

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to the Forums!

Man, that bites!

You make good points about high kicks, dineshm. The timing and setups for high kicks is tough to do, and you have to be on. Being really fast and flexible really helps a lot. However, there is something to be said of being able to pull off high kicks against other trained Martial Artists as well.

Its all good now, Patrick. I was going through withdrawals!

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. I have previously spoken of the Four Grounds of English swordsmanship as described by George Silver in his book Brief Instructions upon my Paradoxes of Defence. In that discussion, I spoke of relating the Four Grounds that Silver spoke of for swordsmanship to weaponless combat. In this article, I will expound on another facet of Silver’s weapon system, the Four Governors and how they relate to weaponless combat. These are underlying principles of the Four Grounds that were discussed previously. The Four Governors that Silver describes are Judgment, Measure, Press In and Fly Out. At first glance, one will notice that there appears to be some overlap between the Four Grounds discussed previously and the Four Governors being presented here. In actuality, you will not have the presence of the Governors without the Grounds, and vise versa. However, differences are inherent, as will be explained. Once again, I will be citing the Stephen Hand book, English Swordsmanship and the Paul Wagner book, Master of Defense, both of which discuss the works of Silver. Judgment This is where obvious similarities between the Grounds and the Governors lie. However, this dual representation denotes how important Silver felt judgment was in actual combat. Not only is judgment listed in both the Grounds and the Governors, it also holds the honor of being listed first in both categories. Judgment, quite simply stated, means that one “should always place yourself such that you can both Judge and react to your opponent’s actions.” (Wagner, pg. 117). For reasons obvious in both weapons combat and unarmed combat, the value of good judgment cannot be overstated. In our unarmed combat scenario, not only is it important to judge the opponent’s physical state, but also his or her mental state. Physically, one should monitor things such as the opponent’s reach (with both arms and legs), height, weight and even how the opponent carries himself. One could also attempt to determine the opponent’s mental state. Is he angry? Is he calm? Does he wish to injure or kill? Good use of judgment will help a fighter throughout combat. Measure At first glance, measure may appear to be the equivalent of the second Ground, distance. However, measure actually goes deeper, using distance as a platform to expand on. Simply stated, the fighter uses distance to control the space between himself and his opponent in an attempt to initiate an attack or to defend against one. Measure is the concept of placing the weapons (i.e. hands, feet) such that the fighter can use them to defend from the various lines of attack, yet still exploit an opening or weakness that the opponent offers (Wagner, pg. 117). Measure, in essence, is the bridge between the Grounds of distance and time. Measure is the usage of both to place the weapons of the combatant in a position to strike, defend and counter. It is also important that these actions take place in the time available to the combatant; i.e., after an attack commences and before it lands or after an attack is finished and before the opponent recovers. If the proper measure is made, the fighter’s movements will be quick and efficient. This is much akin to Bruce Lee’s concept of the Economy of Movement. Press In and Fly Out The final two of the Four Governors are presented together for a good reason. To best represent this principle, I quote Stephen Hand: “The third and fourth Governors, the twofold mind, encompasses the ability to consider all offensive and defensive possibilities and move accordingly.” (Hand, pg. 10). Silver referred to them as a “twofold mind” because as one is planning an offensive, he must at the same time be prepared to go on the defensive. The concept of Press In and Fly Out is quite simply one of flexibility. When considering weapons combat, it is easier to see the design of the concept; be ready not only to move in and attack with your weapon, but also to back out quickly in case things change in order to reposition oneself. However, we can relate to an even deeper meaning of the concept when considering unarmed combat. Many fighters use drilling to exercise various offensive and defensive techniques and strategies. Therefore, it would be safe to assume that most fighters have a certain set of techniques and strategies that they would be most comfortable in using. They are a group of movements and strategies that have been “internalized,” if you will. Most fighters will also be ready to deal with the inevitable oddities and uncertainties that present themselves in combat. Here is where the essence of the twofold mind is revealed. The combatant will Press In when attacking or even counter-attacking, if the actions of the combat fit with the strategy that the fighter is using. However, the fighter must be ready to abandon the plan of attack, or Fly Out of the plan, if something goes awry. This does not necessarily refer to physically moving forward and falling back, as it could be viewed in weapons combat. This is not the only way that it is viewed, though. I’ll use an analogy from a grappling standpoint (please bear with my limited knowledge). A grappler will have a strategy in mind, with ideas to submit an opponent. The grappler will go through a series of moves, most likely his favorite moves, trying to set up the submission. All of a sudden, the opponent does something unexpected, disrupting the other grappler’s strategy. Our grappler was Pressing In. Now, he must abandon his current strategy, or Fly Out, and make adjustments. Once the reassessment takes place, the fighter can Press In once again. This analogy can be readily applied to any other fighting style as well. Conclusion George Silver’s writings provide an outstanding framework from which a fighter can approach a combat situation, whether armed or unarmed. The Four Governors discussed in this article, when properly studied and executed, can be beneficial to any fighter, regardless of the style the combatant studies. The Four Governors, combined with the Four Grounds, provide a very logical and practical approach to combat.

A Game of Thrones; Tyrion Tyrion has chosen to ride north the Wall with Benjen Stark, Jon Snow, and a few others on the way. We meet Yoren, a man of the Night's Watch who has been out "recruiting" a few less-than-worthy individuals for Wall. The work on the Wall, which used to be considered honorable to do, has fallen out of favor with the realm, and has become a job that no one wants to do. In the end, recruits are filled in by bringing criminals facing death or some other punishment, and they keep their lives by serving on the Wall, making it a vertible prison camp. The trip is a long one, and Tyrion does not enjoy the riding much. Once the group gets so far north that they run out of towns, they have to build camp, so Tyrion goes off to read. Jon finds him, and asks why he reads so much. Tyrion is very wise, and tells Jon this by saying that his mind is his weapon, his strength, and he keeps it sharp by reading. Tyrion is reading a book from Winterfell's library on, yep, dragons (coincidence? I think not ). Jon and Tyrion begin to talk about the Wall, and Tyrion pretty much insults it, which angers Jon at first. When Jon becomes angry, and is approached by Tryion (non-threating), Ghost jumps Tyrion, quietly, surprising him. Ghost makes no sound. In the end, Jon calls the wolf off, and the two head back for the camp, in a way kind of reconciled toward each other. They both seem to know that they can never aspire to be what they want or are, because of their stations and shortcomings. Tyrion comments about how much Stark there is in Jon. Whoever his mother was, left little of herself in him.

Happy New Year everyone! No resolutions yet. Try to stay out of the hospital this year, I guess. Oh yeah, double the size of my MA library! That one will impress the wife!

Congratulations!

On the street, you usually don't have the time to strategize like you do in the ring. Therefore, you don't have the setup time for the combinations that you might use in ring fighting. Usually lower kicks work more efficiently on the street than higher kicks, but it depends on your own skill level, too.

I have done practices on breaking techniques using paper as the material. It is not as easy as one might think, either. Another step up from the paper would be to use styrofoam pieces. They make a nice pop, and the kids like to pop them. It gets them more used to penetrating the target, and the sound of the break.

Congrats!

Typically, endurance work is going to have to be longer duration, middle to high intensity work. Things like jogging/running, swimming, etc. You can do lots of forms reps, too. Basically, it is about sustaining a work load over a period of time.

That sounds like a great setup. Welcome to the Forums!

Doing something more specific to kicking might help to improve your kicks and flexibility. Do wall kicks, to hold your balance and keep your leg extended to build the muscles would be good. You can also stand next to the wall, and do side kicks, hold them out, and then raise the leg up and down to build the muscles. When you get really good, try them without the wall.