bushido_man96

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.

I think you hold the medicine ball, go down to the squat position, but the ball down, then do the thrust and the push up, then grab the ball, stand and jump up with it, and then start all over. It adds resistance, and another action, so why not?

I don't know about this one. I know Mic said..."women weaken legs!"

That's a bummer, baron. Is there anything you can do for that condition? Like, surgery, or anything? It may be worth it if you could.

I'm the same way. I don't think I've ever forced myself to go to a class and then not blown off whatever stress, fatigue, hang ups, etc while in class. This is a good point. I have never felt bad after a class.

The Samurai class began to incorporate some of the Buddist teachings into their training because they admired some of the mental and spiritual aspects of the training. Buddists didn't become samurai, the samurai became Buddists.

I guess I now study both TKD and Hapkido.

I have heard of the style, but have not been exposed to it yet. Does it include a lot of weapons work, or is that at the higher levels?

I think keeping the hands up while kicking is important as well. Use this illustration to get the technique down, and then once you feel comfortable with it, work on doing the kick with your hands up. Once you learn it, you can adapt it.

If you watch the feet too much, you can get faked out. I like to focus right around in the shoulders/chest area, and use my peripheral vision to guage what is coming in.

I agree with baron. I think that you would benefit greatly from the training aspects of kickboxing. Also, depending on the rule sets, they may not incorporate elbows and knees. If it is more of a 'western style' of kickboxing, it may primarily be punching and kicking. I don't think the training will hurt you as much as the compeitions would, but that is a guess.

Why do you say this?

I am glad to hear that you had a good time. It is very important to enjoy yourself when you go to tournaments. Getting the experience is important as well. Now, you should have some ideas of what to work on in order to make your next trip more fun.

Sometimes, I think being angry can help. It can be a very driving force.

I began viewing it, and I like what I see. I don't when I'll be able to watch all of it, but I like the progressions and the training methodologies behind it. I also like the use of kali and the western weapon arts.

I have been to the bars as well, and have never been into a fight myself, either.

I am not so sure. A lot of it has to do with the training philosophies. I know that there are some good karatekas out there that are great fighters. However, the training that is done in Muay Thai/boxing gyms is geared more towards the preparation of ring fighting than karate is. They spend their time on padwork, drills, conditioning, sparring strategy, and sparring itself. I am not going to take anything away from the gentleman that you are speaking of, nor am I going to take anything away from his accomplishments. I think it is great for Shotoakan, and all other 'traditional' arts as well. I also believe that there are several other fighters out there right now that have visible infuences in their fighting styles of a more 'traditonal' background. St. Pierre with TKD, I believe, Liddell's striking (Kenpo??), and so on. What I think has to happen is that training methods have to be modified in order to prepare oneself for MMA competition. Therefore, many stylists with a 'traditional' background pick up and head for an MMA gym to learn the nuances of the MMA fight, pick up some ground work and clinch work, hit the conditioning, and then can make it into the ring. What's nice is that, in the end, we can all say that fighting is just fighting. However, I don't think we will ever be able to leave the word 'style' behind.

I would have to agree here. Headbutts, gouges, whatever you can do to get it over with. I am not so sure why so many people think that a groin shot is considered cheap in a fight. I feel that if you are in a situation to fight/defend yourself, and you start thinking about what is fair, cheap, dishonorable, etc., you are beginning to set yourself up for defeat.

This is true. It is nice that we can have drills presented to us, that way it kind of gives us a push-start. If, after some extensive training, we find that something doesn't work for us, we can modify it, and make it into something of our own. That is how we all develop our own 'style.'