bushido_man96

Contrary to what many older masters believed, and many earlier practitioners of the arts, lifting weights in order to get stronger does not slow you down. Joe Lewis proved this long ago. When you actually lift heavy weight, you recruit more muscle fibers, and the more muscle fibers you put into play, the more explosiveness you can build. Lifting weights as part of your Martial Arts routine is a good thing, and you can reap benefits from it. What is important is to maintain your technique within your practice as well.

8-13-07 Today I had to do a quick workout, because I had to get my vehicle worked on this morining. Chest/triceps Bench press: 185x8, 195x6, 205x4...I will go up next week. Abs Roman chair crunches: 3x15 Side raises: 2x20x30 lbs. Forearms Grip machine: 3x15x25 lbs. Taught Orientation from 5:20 - 6:00. Traditional Class from 6:00 - 7:00. Class was pretty good. We changed up the basics a bit, and I liked some of the different combinations that we did. I also got to learn my new form tonight.

Go to each school, and check each one out. Watch the classes, and then talk to the instructors about what their training goals are. Effectiveness will result more from the instructor and his training methods, as opposed to what style you choose.

I agree completely.

That is a pretty good explanation. It is for these reasons that it is important to be able to justify your actions, and then be able to articulate them in court, if need be. Let's say that you knock an attacker down, and then he tries to get up, and you start backing away. Good idea; from here, the fight may be over. However, what if he gets up, and pulls a knife as he is standing up? Now, you may be justified to continue defending yourself, especially if he is saying some choice things to you as he tries to get up. Justification, and articulation, are the keys.

I agree. It shows that there is more than just physical technique involved.

The fighting has evolved from the style vs. style because of the success of some styles over others. However, I don't think that all fighters are the same. You have the strikers, and the GNPers, and then you have those who try to take it to the ground and get the submissions. You can still see what many of the fighters prefer to do, and that still gives the sport some individuality. I guess I don't mind the changes. Change can be a good thing.

Nice review, NightOwl. And I was beginning to miss your Movie Reviews!! I am considering ordering these off of the History Channel website. However, I don't really want to spend $40 a pop.

That sounds like an accident waiting to happen! You better have a strong string!You don't swing it violently. It is more of a swaying motion, back and forth at 45 degrees each way. Sorry, I should have clarified that better.

You could maybe take an old, twin sized mattress, roll it up tight, and then secure it with bungee cords or something. Hang that up, and punch on it.

Ah, thanks. I have seen the San Shou fights, and they are usually pretty good, other than the fact that one guy dominates the scene all of the time. Those that are that heavy into the San Shou aspect should be able to make the transition into the MMA scene very well, I think.

Well, some people are attracted to the glamour of the trophy, and train for those point sparring tournaments in order to kind of prove themselves on the circuit, or to legitimize their training for later on, or who knows why else. Why he just quit to go work with this bounce step guy, bewilders me, though. Why not just go learn the step, and then apply it when you need to, as opposed to discarding perfectly good training to learn something only valuable in a tournament?

But can you assume that you know when the attacker will attack? Will he attack just once? There are a lot of assumptions that it may be unsafe to make in self-defense. However, once you start attacking, that does not mean that the attacker will freeze up and not attack back. Don't get me wrong; I think that some of the techniques shown in the videos are sound. Nor am I discounting what the stylists do. However, there are some things there that coincide with what some other styles do as well. Styles that make the transtition to competiton, as well.

it does account for physical capacity though. most 15 year olds will ever be as strong as a healthy adult male. IMO, you must have the physical ability to use the skills you were given. having the skill means little if you can only use it effectively against a limited number of the population. In judo, if I recall correctly has an age requirement of 17. I can see the point behind your argument here. However, there are skills to be learned that are not physical, such as environmental awareness and things like this. Physical strength has nothing to do with these skills, yet these skills could save a child from an adult, just the same. However, we don't ever discuss these skills when we make the black belt age argument. We just picture the kid having to fight the adult.

No one would want to go to jail; that is why I say that it is important to be justified in your actions. However, I don't want to end up in the hospital, either.

I think that the UFC is more entertaining now than it was then. The the fighters are getting better all the time, and it is presented well. I do kind of miss the tournament format, but it is what it is now. I don't think there is any way that the way the fighters go today that they could do the tournament format, but I am not sure. I would not trade it back now.

I agree. I have seen a lot of utility from them. I just can't see discarding them.

Something like this only leads to conflict when the instructors are too insecure to allow a student to follow their own Martial path, as opposed to being constantly led. If an instructor doesn't approve of such practices, then fine, but I don't see why instructors make such a big deal out of it. As has been seen by this thread, there seems to be gains to be made from attending each school. So why not? Nobody likes the politics of the Martial Arts, but this kind of division is the very thing that stimulates the politics of the Martial Arts.

This is so true. I don't think I would work out under someone who does such shady things as you mention. And if it means that you have to start over to get your black belt, then so be it. The Martial Arts have no time limit, so just get to it!

We do that kick a lot in our TKD classes, pretty much that way. We use a more angled stance, as opposed to the forward stance of the MMA styles, so we don't have to worry about that telegraphic little step he starts the kick with. As for the jump he uses, we do that some, too. However, I try not to jump that high. Instead, I do more of a feet switching motion, and throw the kick that way. Otherwise, it is very similar. I probably worry more about knowing where the kick is going, as the way we have scoring areas to worry about more. My kick may not be a totally blind kick, but it is very close to his. Thanks for sharing that, Baron!

Mild case of dead...I like that one. Is that anything like in The Princess Bride, where they talk about the difference between mostly dead and all dead???

Just ask him what he meant. Maybe he can elaborate.

A card that you show someone before thumping them, so that you aren't held liable for their butt-whooping? Am I understanding your statement correctly?

I have a friend in the Reserves, and he is considering getting in on this combatives training. A former student of ours has gotten into it as well, and from what I have heard, his training from TKD has helped him out quite a bit. He enjoys it. If my friend gets into it, hopefully we will be able to work on some of the stuff together. My friend was telling me that after completion of the courses, there have been some of the Army guys who have quit the Army afterwards, because they were recruited by low-level MMA groups to compete.

I am not really too sure what it exactly is. Just bouncing? Or a certain way of stepping that other styles don't teach?