Sohan

I'm new too, but wanted to say welcome. This site is a wonderful source of information and advice. Respectfully, Sohan

Welcome! Respectfully, Sohan

I never listen to music when I train, but occasionally I enjoy training in a noisy environment to teste my concentration. Respectfully, Sohan

Ask this question in the strategy section and you may get a better response. Work on stepping to the outside of his front kick, or try to smother and redirect his roundhouse. Rushing headlong at someone well-trained in MA is suicide. Respectfully, Sohan

Depends on your style. If you use a bo, practice falling, do whipping kicks, or train with a partner, you're going to need substantial room. I like at least 15 by 20 feet, but I can practice anywhere. What art do you study? Respectfully, Sohan

I practice calligraphy, and enjoy drawing kanji. I am woefully underskilled, but improving weekly. Respectfully, Sohan

If you are taught Muay Thai by a competent instructor you will learn to defend yourself in a fight. Very important to know how to protect yourself and counterattack. No sense in learning to punch, elbow, knee and kick if every time you try to strike you get whacked in the head. Fights end very quickly this way. But I don't think it's quite accurate to say that one has to experience a fight to be a good fighter. I've been punched in the head before and it didn't seem to improve my fighting prowess. One does, however, need to be comfortable with distancing and physical contact and practice learned skills repeatedly so that they become a natural response to a threat without thinking. Contact, yes. A full-out brawl, probably not necessary. Respectfully, Sohan why would it not be accurate? If you have no experience, you have nothing to judge by, so you are merely guessing where your skills are. being in a ring or street fight are drastically different from sparring at the gym. I personally would never train muay thai under a coach who had never been in the ring. there are things about being in the ring - more than just fighting - that can't always be accurately taught by someone with no experience. same thing with a street fight. I've seen several black belts in various systems who did plenty of sparring get massacred in street fights - they didn't have the experience and happened to fight people more experienced than them. Naturally, I don't advocate going out and getting into streetfights, but I am a big advocate of ring fighting. I think that EVERY MA should step into the ring at least once. as a bouncer, I've seen a few green bouncers get beaten and I've seen some freeze and panic instead of breaking up a fight. it's an experience thing. Sure, ring time is fine. But I don't think they need to street fight to be prepared to fight. We're not entirely in disagreement, elbows and knees. I didn't say someone can enter a fight unprepared and expect to win, nor did I say that a Muay Thai instructor should have no real ring time. In fact, I've made the point elsewhere on this site that I would not consider working with a Thai boxing trainer who lacks ring experience. However, in a real fight, there is no guesswork. You either come to the table with the right skills ready to go or you end up on the floor, regardless from where you've acquired those skills. As a former bouncer myself, I have seen MA practitioners who were unable to apply those skills in a real situation. Many martial arts schools underprepare students for the reality of conflict, or spar to such an extent that students never truly develop the good habits necessary to win in battle, teaching them unrealistic techniques that the student is unable or too unskilled to apply. My point is that full-out fighting does not necessarily make a good fighter. Not all fights with martial artists end up like Fred Ettish's did. I have had some of the opposite experiences from yours. I watched a mild mannered karate friend of mine who had no street fighting experience completely dismantle a seasoned streetfighter many years back that I thought would destroy him. In fact, one of our blackbelts has NEVER been in a fistfight, yet I wouldn't cross him on his worst day. Is a fighter better with real life fighting experience? Of course. Is it ALWAYS necessary in order to win a street fight? I don't believe so. Respectfully, Sohan

Watch his eyes and the movements of his hips. Don't be too fixed on any one body area, but be aware of the entire form. Look for a twitch, a shift, or a particular body position. Most people unconsciously betray their movements on every move. My favorites are the bouncers. I can always tell while they are bouncing back and forth when they are going to strike. Respectfully, Sohan

If you have adequate time to train for both, then I say go for it. Many find it easier to become proficient at one style before they take on another, but I don't find this a hard and fast rule. Depends on the individual. Just make sure you give both arts your best in time and effort. Respectfully, Sohan

It's a shame you couldn't continue both. As long as you can walk away with something gained from the experience, hopefully it was not all wasted time. Best of luck in your boxing. Respectfully, Sohan

I was training in our dojo by myself one Saturday afternoon (our dojo is part of a city rec center) and three young african-american boys of about 10 (I am white) came in and began climbing on the equipment we have in the room. I politely said to them that they weren't permitted in the room unless a class was taking place and that they needed to get down from the equipment. The boys complied and slowly exited the room. As they were leaving, I heard one of the boys mumble something just before he disappeared out the door. The last boy turned to me and yelled, "He called you a cracker!". I just smiled and said to him, "It takes much more than words to hurt me." He looked at me in disbelief (I guess he expected a reaction) and left. As I continued my workout, the comment began to gnaw at me. The word cracker is certainly not as damaging to me as the N word would be for an afro-american, but it bothered me that a child would so easily respond to my polite refusal to use the equipment with the worst racial slur he could imagine. I suppose if an adult had called me that I could have easily shrugged it off. But to have a child use a racial slur towards me brings to mind the young German children in the 1930's who were brainwashed by their parents and leaders to believe that Jews were vermin, as well as southern white children of KKK families who grow up thinking of black people as animals (I knew children like this growing up in Mississippi). It is disturbing not as much that the child used the term (he probably didn't have a clue of the origin of the word) but where he got it from. For the next week, every person I saw I wondered about in the back of my mind "what are they REALLY thinking?" I am in a biracial family with an Hispanic wife and son. I have always been sensitive to the power of language and its effect on other people. It disturbs me the hate that parents are teaching their children behind closed doors, and it is occurring everywhere, whether white, black, hispanic, etc. Respectfully, Sohan

I am always wary of, "Let me use you for a moment to demonstrate" Respectfully, Sohan

Hmm... I demonstrated Penpo instead of Penpi in a kid's class belt test demonstration as an examiner. The entire dojo saw me demonstrate the wrong kata. Split my pants in class because I had used bleach on my first Juka gi. Didn't realize until after class when I had been wearing dark underwear. Demonstrating a roundhouse kick for the children, I lost my balance and fell flat on my keister. They were quite amused. While working on focus mitt punches moments after receiving a promotion, I let loose a good strong punch that ripped the buckled mitt from the wrist of my partner and sent the mitt flying across the room and hitting our senior black belt square in the face. And just to outdo myself, I managed to do it again on the next punch. Surprisingly I lived to recount this story. And yet I continued on.... Respectfully, Sohan

Although my dojomates are my friends, I constantly am sizing them up in my mind to determine what, where and how I would strike them if we were to do battle. I would only desire that they would be doing the same with regards to me. In an odd way to me this demonstrates the respect we have for each other. Respectfully, Sohan

Here is a link to our organization for Shudokan, the Shudokan Martial Arts Assoc: http://www.michionline.org/smaa/ I have heard of Shihan Mack but don't believe we are connected with him in any way. I don't know enough to say what relationship our organization might have with his. BTW, just wanted to add that in our school we learn the Kyoku kata at ikkyu level. There is indeed a degree of secrecy involving them. They are not included on video available to our students as the other katas are. Respectfully, Sohan

If you are taught Muay Thai by a competent instructor you will learn to defend yourself in a fight. Very important to know how to protect yourself and counterattack. No sense in learning to punch, elbow, knee and kick if every time you try to strike you get whacked in the head. Fights end very quickly this way. But I don't think it's quite accurate to say that one has to experience a fight to be a good fighter. I've been punched in the head before and it didn't seem to improve my fighting prowess. One does, however, need to be comfortable with distancing and physical contact and practice learned skills repeatedly so that they become a natural response to a threat without thinking. Contact, yes. A full-out brawl, probably not necessary. Respectfully, Sohan

Thank you Patsai. I wish you the same. Respectfully, Sohan

Very amusing! Respectfully, Sohan

Wow. Oh My. Respectfully, Sohan

1. Spend a year living and training in Muay Thai in Thailand---and survive. 2. Train with Royce Gracie in BJJ with minimal broken limbs. 3. Eat my weight in Girl Scout Cookies and milk and not gain an ounce. 4. Take my wife and son on a chartered yacht cruise around the world. 5. Be 25 with what I know today. 6. Dunk a basketball. 7. Understand the attraction of "American Idol". 8. Determine what is actually growing on Donald Trump's head. 9. Rid the world of adults who abuse children. 10. Let my wife tell her father she loves him. (He died suddenly last year). Respectfully, Sohan

My 7 year-old liked it fairly well. I thought it was entertaining, not as much as "Finding Nemo" or "Wallace and Gromit", but still it was worth the matinee price, and much better than "Shark Tale" or "Chicken Little". We plan to check out the video this week. For a great animated film, check out "Iron Giant". One of my all time favorites for kids AND adults. Respectfully, Sohan

I am a super hero--to my son. He calls me "Dad". Respectfully, Sohan

I lurked for a long, long time before I decided to contribute. This is a marvelous site filled with intelligent, thoughtful martial artists. Unlike some sites that can be populated by mean-spirited esteem-challenged creeps who get their kicks flaming other posters, the participants on this board seem to truly respect others opinions, and disagree without needless inflammatory rhetoric. I give credit to the admin, because without strong moderators, a board's personality can change for the worse. Respectfully, Sohan

My understanding is that Matsumura created what we today know as the Patsai form, and passed it down to Itosu, though it was originally a Chinese creation. I am sure it has encountered countless revisions. Patsai Dai and Sho are certainly two of my favorite katas to practice because of the defensive techniques against multiple directional attacks. We are fortunate that in our school we have a living direct lineage which goes back four or five generations of masters. Unfortunately Walter Todd, who studied Shudokan under Grandmaster Toyama and Master Tokahashi, died tragically a few years ago, but many of those in my dojo were able to train with him before he passed. My sensei himself spent a summer training with Takahashi and found it an amazingly enriching experience. Respectfully, Sohan

Japanese karate may not have had weapons as part of their syllabus, but Okinawan karate from Shuri, Naha, and Tomari, the precursors to Japanese karate, did. Weapons include the kama, noburikama, tonfa, sai, and nunchuka. This is what we have been taught in Shorin-ryu karate-do. Respectfully, Sohan