bushido_man96

Some of the sticking hands stuff that they are doing I am not too sure about. Some of it seems exagerated. However, this is not an area that I know that much about, so I could be missing something.

Well done!

You are very welcome! Let us know what you find out, and how the training goes.

You mean there's life outside martial arts? Ah, there is, just a little bit!

Do bok is the Korean word for Gi.

Even if you are comfortable fighting on the ground, how long do you want to be there if your opponent has some friends showing up to help him out?

Good point, and I hope most people would share your sentiment. But I have met people who thought some of their stuff was appropriate for the street. Yikes, that would be ugly, quick, I think. Simple is better, in the street.

Ah, you mean the Muye Dobo Tongi? I have a copy of it at home, and I rather enjoyed reading it. The prints in it are very interesting as well.

I don't think you will be disappointed. I enjoyed the book very much, and I think you can learn a lot from it.

I would like to know more about them as well. I have one book on Tang Soo Do, and would like to get more; I just don't know where to look for sure.

I don't get that channel, so I don't ever get to see them. I would love to, though.

This is where I think we have to be careful when it comes to bunkai, and self-defense training in general. If you get overloaded with solutions, then you can get trapped into trying to think of which one you should do, whereas if you know fewer, and can apply them to different moves across the board, it can serve you better, because they will be easier to recall.

This is how I see it. Its purpose? Not for sure...just technique work, I would say. I am sure that you could find a scenario in self-defense where you could end up in this position, but I think it would be few and far between. Something you can gain from the technique is the drop of the body weight into to punch by dropping into the stance at the point of execution. I think that you could get this punching into a front stance as well.

That is a very enlightening post, ninjer, and I agree with some of the points that you make. This, I agree with. The combinations work to set up the opponent, and you transition from one to the next until you get one that you can stick. I have read about this as well, and I think it is one of the interesting aspects of ground fighting (although I don't get to do it much). In the article, there is mention of transitioning from one move to another if the first doesn't take, like you mention as well. I don't really think that the article is trying to break them up, just describe the three of them. John Machado contributed to the article....but I don't know much about him, other than sharing the name of Machado. When you say this here, do you mean they are not executed properly, or that they just aren't executed completely?

What it really comes down to is what the practitioner is training for. Most Judoka are training for their sport, while BJJers are training for theirs. I also firmly believe that if you give each of them some time, they can alter their game to be more balanced. I have heard many times that BJJ contains the entire Judo curriculum, and I believe this to be true. The thing is that each one has a different focus. BJJers work on the ground a lot more, trying to force a submission or choke. The Judokas work to throw for points, and then pin the arm, if I remember right. I honestly think that BJJ is what Judo has evolved into. Jigoro Kano studied Jiu-jitsu, and then stripped it down a bit to make the training methodology that he did for Judo. Now, the BJJ masters of Brazil have taken the Judo (or Jiu-jitsu) methodologies, and brought them into their own training methodologies, effectively forming a visible family tree of these three arts. If you think about it, we really got to see the evolution of an art form, and I think it is really cool to see.

I think that Kendo is the sword art you are thinking of.

I need to get something set up like that. That would be great. How many hours a day did he teach? I think he taught twice during the week and then again saturday morning. Figure 3 classes each night during the week, (kids, lower ranks, higher ranks) 1 hour each. Then the saturday class was intended for all instructors to be there from about 10-12 if I remember correctly Ah, thanks for sharing. I thought that maybe he taught something like 5 days a week. But, 3 classes per night, 3 nights a week could be a good set-up as well. Did he work any other jobs, as well?

I think you are right, ps1. In most Korean styles that use the red belt, it tends to be the belt before black (at least, in my experience).

I think that the nice thing about learning weapons is that they don't have to be ratcheted to a style in particular. My TKD school doesn't teach weapons, so I do SCA combat, and do a lot of research on Medieval Combat to supplement it.

Congratulations! May you have many more happy testings to come! Remember, they are all learning experiences, so glean what you can from them, and continue to work to make yourself better. Bruce Lee said once that "In every passionate pursuit, the pursuit is worth more than the goal." That is close, anyways. I'll double check and edit for the complete quote.

I agree. This can shape them up quick.

It is important for assistant instructors and head instructors to be on the same page as far as technique performance goes; i.e., everything should look pretty much the same, and not radically different. Everyone is different, so there will be some minor differences. However, the overall look and feel of the school should be consistent. Now, I do think that it is important for assistant instructors to have their own styles and ideas for classes. Give them a framework to go with, but allow them to be free enough to put their own twist on the class. That is the beauty of teaching. If you have certain things that you want them to teach at certain times, that is fine. But, let them do it their way from time to time. This is how we can all learn and grow.

4-25-07 From 4:15 - 5:30, I did kind of a hodge-podge workout. I started out doing some very slow, controlled kicking on the heavy bag. I would chamber for a side kick, and then kick slowly out, and push the last 6 inches or so of the kick on the bag, pushing back on the bag, and making sure to not lose my balance. I did this with front kicks as well, doing about 10 on each leg with each kick. Then, I did forms to really get warmed up. I did Chon Ji through Toi Gye hyungs...8 forms in all. After this, I worked on my hook kicks. I used the wall for balance, and threw out slow, tension kicks, focusing on keeping my leg high, and on technique. I did about 15 to 20 on each leg. I then spent some time throwing tension slow kicks again, without using the wall for balance, but I didn't do too many here. I did some side kicks and some back leg round kicks. My 1st degree friend and I finished up with some black belt basics, to get us good and tired. Taught Orientation from 5:30 - 6:00. Today, I focused mainly on front stances with the kids; walking in front stance with the legs spaced properly, front knee bent, proper body alignment, etc. I put obstacles on the floor that they had to straddle to keep the feet on two lines, and not one. I also got to teach Sparring Class from 6:00 - 7:00. Here is the intenerary: 1. Footwork/kicking floor drills. I held out target pads in front of the kids, and they had to do a side-step, and then shuffle in and kick the target. First they did round kicks, and then side kicks. We did this drill for about 10 minutes. Then we moved on to partner drills with chest protectors and all pads on. 2. Open stance, spin side kick counter. The attacking partner would do a back leg round kick, and the defender would counter on the initial movement with a spin side kick. I focused on making contact with the spin side kick, making sure to get the partner pushed away. The defender was also to land forward in fighting position, to prepare for follow-up technique. 3. Same drill as above, but added the follow-up technique; a back leg round kick. 4. Closed stance, side-step and then step up round counter. Attacker would come in with step-up front leg round kick. Defender would side-step forward and away from the kick (45 degrees) with the front leg, and then do a quick step-up round kick to the body, and then follow with punches. 5. Finished the last 5 minutes of the class with some round-robin sparring rounds, critique point techniques, etc. This was a fun class for me to teach. I had a good time, and got to work with my 1st degree buddy on some of the drills as well. Side note: my abs are VERY sore today!

Good points. Scheduling for the Martial Artist is very important. If you havd nothing else to dedicate your time to, then that is great for you. If you want to have a social life, and get out once in a while, you will want to be taking a look at your schedule.

I would check with your doctor to see what you can do to help yourself the most. At any rate, make sure to pace yourself when you train. If you re-injure yourself, you won't be training at all. Listen to your body, and give it the recovery time that it needs. It may require more recovery time than it has in the past.