bushido_man96

The problem with trying to adapt any traditional style system to MMA is that you are going to strip it down. Blocks become hands up, and parrying and slipping. You don't see complex blocking manuevers. Things are kept simple and efficient. Therefore, when you see an MMA fight, you will see stiking with the fists, kicking low to mid level for the most part, and takedowns to work a submission. Most of us have seen the video of the Wing Chun guy, with the super fast hands. But, realistically, there is a reason why he is not seen in MMA. (I am not assuming that he doesn't fight in MMA, but he is not readily recognizable to any that we know, and you don't see hand techniqes like that in the MMA for a reason.)

Plyometrics, my friend, plyometrics.

Yep. Strikers have very good success in the MMA.

Bruce could punch through a wall, his punches were so good. I don't think the gloves would hurt him much.

That is kind of a cool site. I may have to try a few things on it. Got kind of some different exercises, though.

Good stuff, guys. We gotta laugh at ourselves from time to time, right?

This is a cool method. Also, on the night before each of these two testings, I have to go to black belt class, in which we have to demonstrate all of the forms and one-steps, and black belt basics that the GM designed (which end up being like 5 more forms, more or less). Then we finish the class with sparring. An hour of pain, and then testing the next day!

Quote from aefibird: Many students doesn't automatically equal bad school. People are happy to pay high prices to join a gym or have tennis lessons or pay to see a sports match but often feel that an instructor which charges for lessons is a "rip off" and a McDojo". People will happily pay £70, £80, £90 or more a month to be a member of a gym or a health club but moan at paying half that price for karate lessons, even if the instructor is Funakoshi himself!! You are right on here. Very well said.

I liked the Cincinati Shotokan site, and the two wing chun sites. Didn't like Cinci Shotokan's 50 minute classes, but that's just me. The kenpo place is probably legit, the website was just too cluttered, though. Spend a day or 4 and go check out each school, and talk to the instructors, and learn everything you can about them before making your decision. One more thing....you said you didn't have a lot of money, being a student, so you should check to see if the college you attend offers a martial arts credit. The juco I attended and the 4 year college I attended both offered MA classes for credit, so I have 6 credit hours of TKD on my college transcript! One more option to look into.

I try not to worry about dieing too much. "Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back." Quoted from Gladiator, and I love it. One thing I don't believe in is fate, destiny, or that our time is already decided for us. I believe that I am in control of what I do, and I don't believe that I have a scheduled time to move on. I believe that I can control my factors as far as health and being always aware of what is going on around me, and that by making good decisions, I can give myself the best chance for living a long and healthy life. If I was staring at death, gun pointed at me or something, I would probably by scared, but don't know. A lot of things can cause fear, and death is just another one. I am not trying to be tough, I am just trying to realisticly prepare myself, I guess. Hard topic to discuss.

The directors of his fimls, no doubt. No, I think they were his idea. Pretty sure I heard this somewhere, like in a documentary or something.

Quote parkerlineage: so we're both the opposite of you and your brother - light and fast. Hey, c'mon, I aint too slow! Got stuck with the leg up high, huh? That stinks, especially when everyone is around to see. I was fortunate; it was just me, my brother, and a few friends around as witnesses.

Me and my younger brother, who is about 5'10" and weighs 300 some pounds decided to change our sparring rules one time. We allowed head contact with the hands (light contact, acknowledging good hits), and we decided to allow throws and takedowns. I am 5'7", and 245, so I aint gonna wrestle this boy too much. Anywho, we go along, and I get pretty good shots with some head kicks, and some high hand strikes. He gets good hand strikes, and believe me, he can kick, too. I got taken down a few times, so we were pretty even. Well, I am going along, and I get to chasing him with a combo, and end up with my right leg set behind his right leg, and I had my hips low, and my right arm around his chest. So, I try to hip throw the guy.....very bad idea!!!! I tried to push once, then another time, then I looked at him, and he smiled, like this: , then proceeded to hip toss me about 5 feet in the direction of his choice! In the end, I gave him the match, and we had a good laugh about the whole thing. Does anyone else have any good natured, laugh-at-yourself sparring stories like this one? Share 'em, if you like!

The first time I ever put one on, me and my brother did it so we could go with harder contact, and just beat the pulp out of each other. It was strange, because we actually didn't hit each other that much, and we did a lot of blocking and some countering. We took them off, and then went at each other again, and really went harder and meaner than we did without them. Kind of weird, but that's the way it went. We didn't hurt each other too bad, however.

That is an interesting response, Shinobu. I like some of it, and disagree with a few ideas. Bruce Lee was a proponent of the idea that the best form of practice for an event is the performance of that specific event. I do feel that this goes along with streetfighting, just like anything else. Now, I don't want to be misunderstood. I feel that the repetive practice of martial arts techniques, inlcuding basics, forms, and self-defense segments can all help us to be able to better defend ourselves should the situation arise. However, if one has never been confronted before, then the initial feelings of anxiety, adrenaline, and what-not can set in. It is very difficult to train these feelings in the dojo/dojang. However, the ideal place to experience them is on the street itself. I don't condone this behavior, I just accept the fact that there are somethings that are hard to account for unless you have direct experience with them. As far as things that have changed in street fighting over the last 1000 years or so, the biggest impact has been the firearm. Once a gun becomes involved, I don't refer to it as a street fight, it is now a gun fight, or just plain shooting.

Bruce Lee did Wing Chun, didn't he? I wonder where he got the idea to yell so much.

My span is about 67", and my pathetic reach is between 23 and 24 inches. Yeah, me!

The recommended testing is like a probationary period. I'll have to learn a new form, and then test on it again withing the 6 month period to test for 3rd decided. So, essentially, I have to test twice to get to 3rd decided within a 6 month time span.

I always liked the boxer kick, and a little variation where I bring my knees in to my chest, and then poke my feet up through my partner's circled arms (if that makes sense).

This is a good suggestion. Forming a branch school can be very beneficial for both you and your instructor, and you can network, and have interschool tournaments and work outs, all kinds of fun stuff.

Let us know how it goes.

This is a real problem, the breathing. Improper breathing kills you in a form.

I have worked with ATA's rebeakable boards. They are ok to work with, but for a testing I prefer wood. Also, you get a little leeway with wood, whereas on the rebreakables, you have to hit pretty much dead center. They are great for targeting, though. I do have a big, heavy, rubberized rebreakable, and it is a BEAR to break on. It may be like the ones you were describing, Aodhan, that are from Century or AWMA. It says Break-Up on it. Really tough one.

Those are both very good options of self-defense. Most people think self-defense is just coming to blows and winning after someone starts a fight with you. There is so much more to it than that. You have good suggestions here.

The strategy is sound, but there are other possibilities as well. Recognizing another fighter's style is one thing...knowing your own is another. You can't be an effective counter fighter if you never do it. Just because someone is PS, and you realize they are, doesn't mean you can counter everything they have. You have to know your strengths, and make your opponent play into them. Then, when you find their weakness(es), you adapt your strengths to take advantage of them. Also, I don't think that the style you describe is necessarily slow. It more like a "calculating" style than a slow style.