bushido_man96

Hey, works for me! 9-5-07 Tonight I had Black Belt Class from 6:00 - 7:00. We worked on stuff for our next upcoming testing, and got a pretty good workout. My instructor wanted to look over our forms for testing. He had one of the students go before me, and gave some tips for him to break them down and tweak things a little. When I did mine, all he said was "You got it down," and he kind of smiled. No pointers or tips for me, though! Maybe that is a good thing? For the last 15 - 20 minutes of class, we worked on Hoo Sin Sul (self-defense). Me and a friend also had a grappling session prior to the class, and after the class, we had another session. I got my butt pretty much kicked, but it was a good time, and boy, did it make my arms tired! I would guess that we did around 15 total minutes of grappling.

Clash has some good ideas. Physical condition is important in the Fighting Arts. Even if you can't get some of the equipment he mentioned, the only equipment that you need for push-ups is the floor. Also, a jump rope would only run you about $3. You can also get a kitchen timer to do stuff like that for set timed rounds. In the end, it is all up to your imagination. Look into these books: Solo Training and Solo Training 2. Find them here: http://www.turtlepress.com/Solo_Training_Set_p/set-slt.htm

Yeah, it was impressive. It kind of reminded me of the kind of fights that the kids that do Muay Thai in Thailand have. However, I think a lot of those kids get their bodies so abused that they are done with Martial Arts by the time they are 30. I would hate to see that happen to my kids.

Well, just stay positive, Laurie. I am sure in time, everything will come together for you.

Sounds like a typical beginner class to me. Keep at it, and things will start coming to you better.

One of the issues that I have with this is that the terminology isn't important when it comes down to defending oneself.

Are you talking about begining to teach your own classes? If this is the case, the first thing you will need is a place to teach at.

I am not sure about that. I do know that if the head does get cut, it will bleed quite profusely. The bruising may also be true. That may be why people get shiners so easily.

A kids' challenge match; that is nuts. I don't know what to think, really. The kids are good, no doubt there. However, do you think that this kind of thing is good for kids, though? I am kind of torn, here. On one hand, I want kids to know what a fight would be like, if they get into one, as far as contact goes. But on the other hand, I don't know if setting up a match like this is the way to go. What do you guys think? I am looking too deeply into this? Would you let your kid do a fight like this? Is it that much different than, say, your kid Wrestling in a tournament? Maybe it is not so bad; these two did not look hurt terribly bad at the end. Maybe it is good?

9-4-07 Taught Kids Class tonight from 4:00 - 5:00. Before class, I pushed out my form, Se-Jong, 5 times. I did it easy at first, and the last few times put more power in it. I think it is coming along, finally.

The real problem here is that you are trying to learn self-defense/fighting without some one to defend yourself/fight against. Very tricky to do, especially with the involvement of things like timing, distance, etc.

Stand on one leg and do various exercises. Do kick repetitions, like side kicks, round kicks, front kicks, etc. Do 10 of each, then switch legs. Later on, as you get better with that, do front kick, then rechamber it and then turn the leg over for round kick with the same leg before setting down. Simple drills like this will help to improve your balance. There are countless others to do, as well. Once you get your stationary balance down, try to do things on one leg while moving around, to improve your dynamic balance.

That's great! Thanks for making my day!!!!

We have a digital camera that takes video, but it only takes around 1 or 2 minutes at a time, if that. If you want good video, you may have to get a recorder as opposed to the camera, depending on how long you want to record for.

I agree. It would be extremely difficult to try to tie up to knife-weilding hands. And once you did tie them up, all you have left is your legs.

Good luck!

There isn't much of anything that works well when fighting 2-3 other people, standing or grappling. The likelihood of knocking someone out with one punch is slim, and you will most likely by struck by all of them at once, or close to it. The same can happen when on the ground. Now, with that said, it is still good to know how to fight standing and grappling, should you need to do either.

I think if you do 20-40 outside, and then go right insided to do more, it is because you are tired. However, if you are spacing them out, I don't know what to tell you.

Having some idea of what can happen is a good thing though, in that case. I could say the same if I was facing a World Class fighter, even though I have stand-up experience. Either way, having the experience will benefit you more than not.

I agree. There is so much that MAs can learn from each other, that it makes more sense to work together than to try to make excuses.

Sweet. That is a pretty good price.

Well, it sounds good on this end. However, my experience is nill in this area.

The way you are attempting to take this on, for balance training and what not, I think you will be fine. If you were looking into combat applications, then I think it would be tougher for you. However, none that we have suggested show any of that, I don't think.

Wrestling and Boxing are just as much Martial Arts as any other system out there, in my opinion. I think that people get caught up in the idea that if it didn't come from the Orient, then it can't be a Martial Art. If you look in Medieval Combat manuals, you can find old forms of Boxing and Wrestling in the pages for close-quarters and unarmed combat. The reason that these styles have evolved into sporting events is a simple result of the part of the world that they are in. In the Orient, everything becomes "a way" of bettering oneself physically, spritiually, mentally, etc. And that is ok. It is the mindset that exists in that part of the world. In the West, Boxing and Wrestling became more sprotish because in the West we don't make everything into "a way." Just because the Western ideals are different, does not mean that Boxing and Wrestling are any less of a Martial Art than any Eastern styles. I consider them just as serious of styles of Martial Arts as any Eastern style out there.

These are ARMA member books. Both of these books are great resources for the unique fighting styles of the times that each represent. Medieval Swordsmanship focuses on the use of long sword during the "mail period" between 800 and 1300 AD, and includes the use of the shield. Renaissance Swordsmanship covers the later use of cut-and-thrust swords, rapier, and small swords of the Renaissance period. Both books do an excellent job of dispelling common myths about sword combat that are reinforced by movies and fantasy role playing. The latter title does a good job of showing how the rapier evolved from the civilian usage of cut-and-thrust swords, to the rapier, and then to the small-sword. The author, John Clements, covers many different ideas and concepts of these Western sword arts, and has himself done a yeowman's work in bringing the Western Martial heritage back into the light. For any information on the historical or technical questions about Western sword arts, I highly recommend looking into the writings of John Clements.