bushido_man96

I have not heard of him, but I am not familiar with many of the Chinese Stylists, either. Sorry!

I am surprised you watched the whole 3:05! I just watched the first 30 seconds. I couldn't do much more after that. I felt that it was unrealistic. Some of the technique was ok, but not much of it was realisitic self-defense. I don't mind flashy demos, but this one could have been prepared a little better. It was obvious that the woman could not have overpowered either of the men in the fashion that was being demonstrated. Showing off flashy techniques is great if you have it set up in a sparring situation, between two uniformed practitioners. However, in that case, I would have used more common self-defense techniques, and it would only have lasted 30 seconds to a minute. As far as this demonstration being effective; well, that depends on the goal. If you want people to see that women can do MA, then sure, she showed that she could do it. It sounded like the crowd was entertained, at least.

Ok, this week the Chiefs go to Miami for a showdown with the Dolphins. Unfortunately, there are some injuries: LB Derrick Johnson will not play, and an already depleted offensive line loses Pro Bowl G Brian Watters; Kevin Sampson will also miss this week at Tackle. Safety Greg Wesley may not play as well. Time to see if the young ones can step it up!

Very nice. Happy Veterans Day to all of the vets, and all military serving or who has served. Thank you. Brian

Happy belated birthday (it was a busy weekend at work!)!!

Sounds good. Keep it up!

Differences that I notice: It starts with open handed double blocks, instead of single handed blocks, and then advances with open hand strike. The first 5 hand techniques are all open-handed techniques. It also adds sidekicks to the form. Also, in this form, you turn and head back towards the starting position twice, as opposed to just ending the form by heading back once. Hope this helps from a technical standpoint. I guess this is supposed to be a graceful and powerful form, and you are to use your preserverance to develop this.

I see what you are saying, Kez. I have seen this with some of the better athletes in my school, but not necessarily black belts. The good athletes take for granted that they are good, and don't work their stances as deep, or don't punch in basics as hard, but are all good when sparring comes around. If I am not dead tired by the time sparring comes along in class, then I did something very wrong.

Very good points, Kez and Sohan. Sparring high ranks all to often gets you used to seeing the good technique, or what we may view as "proper" technique. Sparring lower ranks, we will see more unorthadox, or what we would consider "improper" technique. Well, on the street, we won't always get to block the "perfect" technique. Likely, everything will be rushed and messy. So, it is important to spar with low and high ranks for these very reasons.

When I struggle with moves like this, it find that breaking them down and practicing the component parts helps the best. For example, practice jumping and chambering each of the kicks.....only the chambers, though. Jump high, and concentrate on where your knees go. Do that maybe 10 times, maybe more. Then, when you are comfortable, you may just add one kick until you have it down, and then add the second, or throw in both if you feel confident. Then practice sticking the landing, and then the block afterwards. Remember all of the set-up phases, like chambers, jumps, and keep your body position in mind. Hope this helps!

I have been told that "losses build character."

Well, best of luck to you!

It's just because they only named 1 instructor and the only other thing on the ad was a mobile number, when all the other martial arts ads had lots of information. Well, just call and find out when classes are, how long, and if he would let you set and watch one. Who knows, maybe he is just getting started with his school. Some of the low profile schools can end up being the best. Ask if he will give you a trial session, to see if it offers what you want.

Congratulations!

I love the sore feeling you have after a good class!

Ok.

That is funny, I have never seen it put like that! I love it!

MMMMMmmmmm, looks yummy!

Realistically, you would give them what they want. If they want you to get into a vehicle and go somewhere with them, then you act. Grab the arm choking you with both hands, drop into a half squat position, and throw them over your shoulder. Gotta be careful about that knife, though. Elbows_and_knees can probably answer this one better than I, however.

Rick has a lot of good things here that I would like to comment on. Another thing you could do is to have the sensei teach several more classes, with you walking the floor with him, assisting him. Give some of the same comments that you gave previously, and then see how they react. Very good point. Just give them the pushups. An even better idea is wait until testing rolls around, and when they ask about testing, you tell them that you don't feel that they are ready because they have a problem with dealing with instructors respectfully at the school. Of course, this would be a last ditch effort, and hopefully would not come to this. This is an interesting idea, and I kind of like it. Another option is to wait until they do ask your advise, and you could tell them that you thought they already knew that, or something to that effect. Make sure that when you teach, that you exude confidence. Project your voice when speaking, and walk erect. When I teach, I like to be nice. But when people start to test you, then it is time for the gloves to come off. It is your class, and you should run it your way. Many instructors, especially new instructors, go through phases like this. If you went and opened up your own school, with your own original students, you would not see this problem. People just don't adapt well to change. The old school way of handling this was that the instuctor would just line the class up for sparring........

Who, me?

Oh, man, that stinks. I LOVE to listen to a good piano player!

Holy Cow!! Tell me you are not serious!

Thanks, Sohan. Maybe I will try a little more distance, then. The only bad thing about distance running is that I have always just dreaded it. I think I run about a 15 minute mile! I am slow; not very aeordynamic!