bushido_man96

It is still going. It looks like it may end up being close to a 7 book series, with 4 of them completed. It is a great story. I recommend it.

For me, books have come in handy for getting forms down. I would get the gist of the form down in class, and then on my own, I would look to the book for reference, and then tidy it up when I got back to class.

Agreed. If you want to use a kick in this way, you have to make sure you have the space, or make the space via combination. The reason why low-level kicks work so well is because you can do them within clinching range. To kick someone in the stomach is going to have to require space, which may be hard to come by in a confrontation.

6-28-07 Alternating back leg round kicks, in uniform: 3x10 Bench dips: 10 Very isolated workouts. I just had a few minutes here and there, so I worked them in.

As much as you want to continue, you won't see different results doing the same things all the time. You need to change it up, to cause muscle confusion. You have done the same thing for so long that the muscles are adapted to it. They know what you are going to do, and how to do the lifts. Shock them by changing everything; the exercises, the number of reps and sets, all of it. Do this for 3 weeks or a month. Then get back onto your routine.

9. What are some of your training philospies? (spiritual, mental, etc.) 10. What are your training methodologies? (focus on traditional, self-defense, hands-on, etc) 11. Can I watch a class? (If they say no, don't even bother with them.)

There is some good advice here. However, if you are young and have LOTS of time on your hands, and really want to dive into all 3, then go for it. With Thai Boxing you will get a lot of drilling and work on bags and rounds. I think it would be fun, and BJJ would as well. I think if you do a ground style and a stand-up style at the same time, then you will be ok with learning the two of them. You won't get them confused. As for TKD, I am kind of partial to it, and if you want to have some technical work done while doing these other two, then you may enjoy it as well. While Thai boxing's techniques will be fairly numbered (which is a good thing), in TKD you will learn a plethora of techniques as you advance in rank. Best of luck to you, and enjoy your journey! Just the fact that you can consider taking 3 styles makes me jealous!

As far as finding anything to really fill in the gaps between the Muye Dobo Tongji and anything current on TKD, I think will be really hard to find, due to the Japanese occupation of Korea.

After thinking on this, I have come to a realization, albeit my own, so let me know if you think I am close or not. With the way that the UFC began, as a "style vs. style" format, it was exactly that. Then, it began to evolve into what it is with the observed success of ground fighting. Now, being where MMA is, and seeing where it came from, many stylists feel that the fighters have to come from some style or another. Think about Pankration. When it was an ancient Olympic game, it was taken for what it was. Why can't we just look at MMA like this? It is its own animal, whether we want it to be or not. It is, in a sense, modern day Pankration. However, since the Eastern styles have evolved into the budo that they have become, everyone that practices an Eastern Martial style has the misconception that every fighting style that ever did exist should have came from the same kind of roots. I just don't think this should be the case. MMA fighters are MMA fighters. Sure, some of them may also be Karateka, Judoka, TKDers, and BJJers. However, they are all MMA fighters as well. As I mentioned previously, I think as the years go by you will see less and less of the fighters' styles listed in the "Tale of the Tape," and will instead see the fighters' gym name listed. I hope this isn't just recycled, and I hope it isn't too confusing.

With this system, is there a stipe notification on the belts, or is it just notified in writing? Just wondering. I see how the system works, and I think it is a good idea.

I do know that there are some RBSD styles that adopt pieces of the trapping techniques from arts like Wing Chun. I have used some in my Combat Hapkido training as well. It is not as elaborate as is used in the Wing Chun system, though. It is the more basic elements that are used.

There are so many exercises that you can choose from. On the first day, do the ab roller. On another day, hang and do knee raises. Do the swiss ball as well. Mix and match, and do some weighted ab exercise, and plyometric ones as well. For plyo abs, have someone throw a medicine ball to you, and catch it as you come up. Then go down, come up, and throw it back. They throw, you catch, etc.

This may be the case. However, she said she was interested in history books. This book definitely fits the bill.

Well put. Plainly said, stuff happens. Many of us will be in situations like this as well. Even though we constantly train ourselves to be better, we will still find ourselves in moments of weakness. Then we learn from them.

I agree. I think that just keeping a running log of what they know, and what they have trouble with would be sufficient. But, to each his own.

I don't know. They live a few states away, so I won't be able to influence him very much. However, my brother did study TKD for a time, and he may find a place for him.

Wow, I guess I should start to re-read them. If it gets better the second time, I will really enjoy it! There was a lot going on, so a refresher should be a good idea. When is the next installment due out?

That sounds great! I hope it all goes well!

It sounds like you did the right thing. You don't want to overload yourself too much. Remember quality, not quantity. As for learning forms, it is all about repetition.

The thing about practicing slow is that it really doesn't do anything for your speed. I would think that you would have to practice speeding up at some point, in order to be able to deal with things at actual pace. Demonstrating in class is one thing. Going for real is very different.

6-27-07 Back/shoulders/biceps Assisted pull-ups: plate 12x10x3 sets. Dumbbell hang clean and press: 40x10x3 sets. Dumbbell shoulder press: 35x10, 40x8, 40x8 Incline dumbbell curl: 25x10, 25x8 Forearms Plate curl and catch: curling a 25 lb plate up, releasing and catching it with the other hand, alternating back and forth. 20x3 Dumbbell wrist curls: 2x20x20 lbs. Abs Swiss ball roll-outs: 2x10, hold for 5 seconds each. Trunk twists: 3x20x45 lbs. I worked on front kicks today. Early this morning, I did front leg front kick chambers; 2 sets of 10 on each leg. This afternoon, between some of the sets while lifting, I did 3 more sets of 10 reps, front leg front kick chambers on each leg. Then I did 2 sets of 10 front leg front kicks on each side, focusing on kicking forward, thrusting more than snapping the kick. I also did 1 set of 10 reps each leg of back leg front kick, thrusting. Taught Orientation from 5:20 - 6:00.

Yeah, I know. TKD didn't come along until 1955, and the kwans were mostly Shotokan re-designed. That is one of the things that I liked about the book. There was no effort to try to mold TKD into the ancient Korean military arts.

I don't think that you are too old. I would say go for the pro stuff, if you think you can get into it, and if it is what you want to do. If you do well on the pro circuit, then maybe you can look at getting into an MMA gym where you can learn some BJJ, and then work into MMA competitions. The sky is the limit, if you have the time and willingness to try.

I know, I am not a Karateka, but I thought I would chime in anyway! Playing off of french fri25's point, I would use a fairly short stance as well, to stay mobile. Generally speaking, the closer the feet are together (like around shoulder width wide, and apart), then the more mobile the stance is. However, stability is sacrificed. The lower and more spread out the stance is, the more stable it is, but at the expense of mobility. It really comes down to personal preference. If your footwork isn't particulary good, then you may want to just root yourself in a deep stance and let them have it, and let them come after you. If you can move well, maybe take a more mobile stance.

This is a good analogy. It is the same one I was thinking of earlier, and you beat me to it.