bushido_man96

I am not surprised to hear this. It is why so few end up making it really big. I wonder if they could work on careers in MMA, though, after, say, 10 or 15 years of Thai training? Or do you think they are just too broken down?

I disagree with this and think it is a cop-out. I earned a black belt and trained in karate for over 8 years. At least 90% of our time was spent training techniques that are compeltely legal in the ring. Every once in a while someone would mention an eye-gauge or something, but most classes were punches, kicks, blocks, backfists, hammerfists, shutos, haitos, nukites, some takedowns, etc. Almost all of it is legal in MMA. Additionally, the illegal techniques that we did learn were not trained with full resistance, and full contact competition has shown that martial techniques not trained with full motion and resistence are almost never successfully applied against a real resisting opponent. Finally, consider this: if the reason for karate's lack of success in the ring is because some of its techniques are outlawed, then if a particular karateka decided to spend 100% of his training time training the ring-legal karate techniques (using karate's training methods) wouldn't he be just as good at fighting in the ring as an MMAist who trains 100% in MMA's ring-legal techniques? So why hasn't that happened? You make a good point, Bearich. I have another point to make: What about all of those Karate tournaments that took place in the 60s, 70s, and still today? If you can train your Karate for these tournaments, which have a bulk of MMA-ring legal moves, then why not take up some ground fighting, and make the transition?

Doing Martial Arts to try to lose weight is a great idea. There are many people who take up MA styles in order to try to improve their lifestyles. It is important to remember, though, that an overweight person might not be able to push and work at the same levels of the moderately fit, or the very fit. Working at a pace that gets the heart rate elevated for a period of around 20 minutes is good, but it is important not to get it too high; so high the body can't handle it.

You may want to alter your workout so that you aren't doing quite so much, that way you have time to do the other stuff. You don't want to end up overtraining.

What you could do is use a clapper target pad to work on your round kicks, instead of the makiwara. It won't toughen your feet, but I don't really think that toughening them is all that necessary. It will help with targeting, though.

That is the same impression that I have when talking in class. I like it when people seem interested in what I am saying, and I draw towards them more, because they want to learn.

That is something that we do not worry about in our school. If your technique doesn't work or look right, then you need more reps.

That is a good observation. Martial Arts don't only come from the East; fighting styles have existed in all corners of the world, with different cultural and philosophical aspects. Different cultures show respect in different ways; bows, hugs, kiss on the cheeks, hand shakes, etc. It just depends on where you are. I don't think Thai fighters bow to each other, do they?

I had not heard of him before, but the Chinese styles are not my specialty, either. I do read quite a bit, and don't recognize his name, though.

That is too bad. This is going to be an issue for the MMAs now for years to come, I think, just like with any other professional sport. However, it is important not to base the integrity of the sport off of the poor judgements made by a few individuals. There are still good people in the sport.

RIP. It is too bad he passed as early as he did.

I caught the first episode of this new series on The History Channel tonight. It really wasn't all that bad. This episode is on Muay Thai. Essentially, what these guys do is go to the country, learn some history behind the fighting style, do some training, and then, one of them climbs into the ring to fight in the style. Although I think that they tried to do their training in a round-about way, what they encountered was interesting to listen to, and the history was fun, as well. Did anyone else see it?

As mentioned above, it probably isn't anything to worry about.

I had heard the same things about sit-ups. I have always preferred crunches, because I feel like they concentrate the abs more. I get a better burn out of it.

It may be a tactic he is using to make sure you pay attention. Watch him more in the next class, and see if he does so with anyone else. If you are making eye contact with him, and no one else does, this may draw him to make eye contact with you.

Eh? Why is it a problem? Why should they adopt the traditions of east Asia for their sport? I've seen guys shake hands of hug each other after a fight to show mutual support. I really don't see why they should have to bow.I agree with Elky here. The bowing aspect is an Eastern cultural adaptation that we have continued to use in the West. Do you think the Greeks bowed to each other before entering the Pankration? Or their Boxing matches? Or their Wrestling matches? I don't think that they did. Fighting and the Martial Arts are not unique to the East. Just about every civilazation that ever existed had some form of fighting that they used to train their armies, warriors, etc.

I agree entirely, I just lament the death of the traditional British styles such as Lancashire Catch as Catch Can and Cornish wrestling. I started to read a book the other day about how these styles were killed off by a combination of Eastern MA and professional wrestling. Unfortunately I was reading it in a book shop and they evicted me as I had already made my purchases, and now I can't find it again. Man, that is a bummer. Do you remember the title? That would be a good read.

Great, thanks!

Every system is different, so it would just depend. You might be in the 3rd to 4th dan range, maybe.

Do both. Neither are going to be harmful to your Martial Arts training. Each will have different benefits. Exercises like push-ups and crunches and pull-ups are great for anyone wanting to get into shape. However, there is nothing wrong with lifting weights, either. And weightlifting will help you get stronger in areas that those body exercises can't really hit. Find a personal or physical trainer, and tell them your needs and goals. They should be able to help you set up a program to help you reach your goals.

That sounds cool. That is a great deal for ya.

Along with the notes listed above, work on the speed of your initiation, especially your chamber position for you kicks. Try, without kicking, brining your leg from the floor to the chambered position as fast as you can, and then hold the position for a count or two. Then, work it into the complete kick. I like to do wall-kicks, where I use the wall for balance, and either do slow, tension kicks, or fast, repeating kicks, where I can work on muscle tension/speed as opposed to worrying about balance. To work on balance, practice the tension kicks away from the wall, doing a 5 second count from chamber to extension, and a 5 second hold, and then 5 seconds back. The heavy bag will help to develop power and balance, as well.

I think that sounds ok. You are going from doing one kind of conditioning to another, which is great, since, as you mentioned, you don't skip well. That way, you get some in. And it doesn't really sound like punishment, either, in that case.

Most civilazations, at one point or another, had some form of folk wrestling linked to their culture.

I think that Funakoshi adopted the gi from Kano, and the rest have followed suit. We wouldn't really need to wear a gi, but I kind of like mine. It does make some moves sound crisp, and they are good for kicking and moving in.