bushido_man96

I just think that the concept of mushin is taken too literaly at times. Let me put it this way; we all train a little differently. The basic idea behind most of our training, however, is reaction to a stimulus. We are taught: if the attacker does this, then do this (or try to, anyways). However, the attacker will not always correspond with what we want. When we are conditioned, and the attacker has time to figure it out, then we can be baited. Then, our concept of mushin must change, because our instilled reactions are not working. You have to change it up. In order to do that, you have to think a little bit. Now, check this out. Just because you are thinking of a strategy, it doesn't mean that it is slowing you down that much. You want to side kick, but you are thinking of how to make it happen. You still know how to do the kick (you don't have to think about that part=mushin). I think mushin is great, but it I don't think it is the end-all, be-all of fighting. It is just another concept, to be used, adapted, and experimented with. One could even argue that mushin=natural reactions. I don't know, what does everyone else think???

And wearing street clothing and such. Yes, definitely.

Yeah, but Chan is like twice Li's age, too.

The drawback of these boards is the same thing...you keep hitting that center line over and over, and it starts to wear after a while. Pretty soon, you start to lose the resiliency of the board, and it doesn't guage the breaking that it represents as well. I still have one of those re-breakable boards! Nasty. I think it punishes you even if you do break it!

What does your colored belt curriculum consist of?

That was part of the advantage he had with grappling so well. He knew that he wasn't going to go toe to toe with those guys, and by taking them to the ground, he took away their weight advantage.

Ah, yes, the knee strike is a good idea as well. Which do you prefer, the roundhouse type of knee, or the straight in, front knee?

1. Practice your forms facing all different directions, including facing the corners of the room. Many times, people will get comfortable with the class surroundings, and then be troubled and confused when at a tournament. Practicing with eyes closed is great, too. (Best if done by yourself, though! )

That is a cool concept. I kind of like that idea. When I had my own school, I made notebooks for all of my black belts. They could use them to take notes, write down class planners and ideas, and whatever else they thought necessary. Taking notes periodically, or even making a training journal, are very good ideas, in my opinion.

Certainly, the weight alone adds a whole new dimension. Footwork and mobility is limited and any kicking technique apart from stomps and low line knees goes out the window. Very true. I know that the Defensive Tactics that most street officers learn uses a low roundhouse kick, like the Thai kick. Other than that, if you go to kick anywhere else, you had better be able to justify it. They maybe have a push kick as well. That stated, doing the roundhouse, even low, is a different challenge when wearing a duty belt full of gear.

If that is the case, then I think being sick really took him out of his fight.

I agree that there are a multitude of drills like this in the traditional arts. However, many times, these drills are not the focus of the training. It is often times overshadowed by forms training and self-defense training (which is different from MMA fighting). As I said, I am not trying to take anything away from the fighter you mentioned, or the art of Shotokan. I just feel that most of the Shotokan schools out there, much like the TKD schools, Kenpo schools, etc., don't focus their training on the MMA genre. That could be...I knew he had a traditional background, but couldn't remember which. Thanks for clarifying. Who is the current fighter that claims the TKD background? I agree with you here, on both points. However, instead of being a Judoka while standing and a Karateka while on the ground, I would probably keep my mind fairly transitional while doing both.

A computer!!

Welcome to KF!

Best of luck to you! Let us know how it goes!

I think that the idea of mushin, or "no-mind," gets kind of obscured at times. In order to use stragegy, you have to be able to think and react. The idea of training something to the point that it becomes reflexive is relative to the mushin idea. However, when things change, it will cause you to think of how to react to it.

Good point. However, defending against a grab would be different than defending against a tackle or a takedown. If I get grabbed, I would try to punch away, I think. If I got tackled, then it would be time to roll.

Good post, Glockmeister. I never thought to look at it that deep. I agree. As I said in the initial post, I found the definition while reading an article. It can definitely be expanded, but the concepts listed really hit towards the point, I think.

These are all very good points. It is important that we learn to protect ourselves not only physically, but privately as well. I was thinking of this as well. Sometimes, it is good to get out of the controlled dojo environment that we are all used to, and get on the street, in different buildings, walking up stairs, being in elevators, and all kinds of different things.

I agree completely, Lordtarial. I think this is an important issue to talk about, and I know that I have never been in this situation. I think it would be a great idea to have a police officer come to a dojo and discuss this issue, and then allow practitioners to ask questions about fighting in general. I may address this issue with one of our black belts, who is also a Police officer here.

Fearless was his last 'martial arts epic.' He will still do other work.

Thanks for sharing the vids. How many fights has your friend had? Does he have a lot of ring experience? It also didn't look like he kicked too much, or felt comfortable kicking. Just from what I noticed.

I think the second movie you mentioned is called By the Sword, I think, and starred Eric Roberts. I have seen it, and enjoyed it. The first one I don't recognize. I hope this helped!

Is it kind of like an XMA team making movies?

Generally, the anaerobic system can be trained by using high intesity, short duration exercises. Things like burpees, running hills, and sprints are popular ways to train anaerobic capacity.