tdiedwards

hi, which styles of kung-fu could generally be regarded as being more tournament/ sparring orientated? i have read in another forum that lau gar is particularly geered towards mixed art/ contact tournament? the guys discussing it were mainly saying they were disapointed by the stlye because it was too "external". but that criticism has made me think it could be what i'm looking for. thanks very much for any advice, Tim

Thanks:) I started studying chess after an injury ended martial arts for a few years. I'm just starting to get back into MA now - we'll see if I have become an armchair martial artist or not! I'll know if i played to much chess if i stop during a fight and complain, "Hey, it was MY turn to move!"

Hi, thanks for that great info everyone. i like kata, but for competition i'd like to fight. just fighting would probably come before high gymnastics. i'm not sure this 31 year old is ever going to be very gymnastic but competative in a fight? i hope so. i'm short and fast if that makes much difference in choosing a style? my usual tactic from silat was try to get inside with a punch (i kept hurting my toes too! i hate front kicks:) ) i remember once reading about a style called......sorry i have to try to spell it phonetically.....KEE-O-KA-SHIN-KAY or similar. it's a full contact style. does full contact just mean more focus on sparring in training? Thanks loads, Tim

Thanks for the DVD tip. Sounds perfect. I will see if I can find it. RE firearms. Yeh, I've read about that too. Seems like those styles would be very pragmatic. I've also read about Silat styles which include biting in their style I guess it's something anyone would do if you had too, but I've never heard of it being part of formal martial arts training. I'd like to watch a competition where no punches or kicks were permitted. Only biting.

.....sorry. i meant USES black magic. not USED. Many (even most) Silat schools in indonesia teach what i would politely describe as metaphysical martial art theory!

Yes, it does have that reputation. It has lots of reputations. It also has a reputation, in it's country or origin, as being an art that used black magic! Not so long ago they used to check competators clothes to make sure they weren't carrying any yellow rice - which would empower them. Also, tatoos on the bottoms of the feet which summon the energy of djinis was banned. I think the good repuation Silat has comes from the teaching that takes place ni the West. About the effectiveness of Silat - my point wasn't that Silat isn't effective, only that Silat competitions don't do much to encourage techniques beyong roundhouse and side kicks. Also that much of the training done in Inondesia is concerned with the aeshetics of that particular Silat school, of which students are very proud. Incidentally, it looks like Hari Mau is one of the silat styles that deals with ground fighting if you're interested. Cheers, tim

There is Silat in the Filipines, but the word originates from indonesia and most silat styles/ schools (there are hundreds) are indonesian. In terms of lineage, many indonesian schools claim it to be indigenous to indonesia, but i think there's a lot of chinese influence. several techniques are the same as kung fu. the ethnicity of most of the country is has been influenced by chinese blood since about 3000BC, and the language itself bares the same hallmarks. the indonesian word Tahu = have knowledge No coincidence that it sounds like Tao, Dao, Do, Te, and all the other variations we see in names of martial arts. I think it can be a slick style, but Silat competitions don't allow grappling and don't encourage much variety of technique. Although throws occur the fights are mainly side kicking competitions, and quite boring to watch. The scoring system is a bit daft as you score more for landing a kick than a punch...and it's much more difficult to get inside with a punch so you hardly ever see any variety of technique. On the other hand, in training we learned an enormous variety of technique.....most of which seemed completely impractical. Hard to tell as the applications weren't often explained! Too much emphasis on exotic kata and cool looking spiderman stances and not enough gritty fight training, in my opinion. Still it was good for getting in shape, except for dehydration as training took place outside in the tropical heat and we were forbidden from drinking water. As a sweaty westerner that really made concentrating hard! I think the best Silat teachers are probably teaching outside of indonesia. Seems to be popular in Holland, and the States. If anyone knows of a silat school in birmingham, UK i would be interested in returning to this style. Regards, Tim

Am i right in thinking this thread has been ongoing for a year now?!?! wow! so that kid must be 11 now. if he's still "fat" and still fights by slapping, i would enrole him in a sumo class ASAP.

Hi, Are some styles of karate more suitable for competition than others? If i wanted to learn karate with competitions being my priority and self-defence being more of a spin-off benefit, which styles should i consider/ avoid? Also, has anyone heard of SHOTON karate? Have seen a club bearing the name but can't find any info about it, unless it's an alternative name for shotokan? Thanks for your advice, Tim

Hi, Has anyone had any experience learning ground fighting techniques in Silat? Was it different to other ground fighting systems? Did you think it was effective? I've never seen any Silat ground fighting but I've heard about it. I once saw my ex Silat instructor just finishing giving a demo to a student while we waited for the class to start. It looked like the instructor had the student all tied up using just his legs. Very sweet. Is there a reason there isn't more talk about Silat given the profile of ground fighting in MMA? Maybe there's something in the system that makes it unsuitable for those competitions? Thanks, Tim

1) Keep the initiative but 2) work for a strong positional advantage before going for “mate”. 3) The threat of an attack is sometimes more useful than launching that attack... 4) ...or it might not be! Don’t let mistakes go unexploited 5) Not YOUR position or MY position; Think in terms of OUR position 6) Have a flexible mind so you don’t miss new opportunities by focusing too much on one specific objective…keep the big picture in mind 7)When you’re losing it’s even MORE important to make good decisions 8)Especially relevant in a ground fight - don’t move to resolve a deadlock unless it improves your position – tough it out and let your opponent make that compromise instead Can we conclude that dogs and cats are potentially good chess players? Yours, Tim

Hi all, At the university I'm due to join there's a Wing Chun Kung Fu club and a Kung Fu club. Could anyone tell me what the differences between these styles are likely to be? Presumably there are differences or it would just be KF club A and KF club B? Thanks in advance, Tim

Thanks very much guys. On re-reading my intro I think it didn't look very polite in fact! Sorry! I ought to have said that I'm very appreciative of the forum and will be (already have been) grateful for the advice on offer here. Thank you all, Tim

Hi, I'm also new to this group. Got registered because I needed advice about training for martial arts after an arm-wrestling injury (broken humerus for 3 years). I've been living in Indonesia and at 29 started studying Silat very hard - not much time to waste at 29! After 6 months of very intense instruction in Silat and some additional classes in BJJ I got my injury and had to stop completely. Now I'm almost 32 and the bone has healed apparently. But without physio advice for years in Indonesia I have some pain and weakness from tendon trouble. Also probably some psychological obstacles as you get used to pain avoidance strategies in your everyday life and it's hard to bring yourself to start throwing your arms around again Will be returning to UK soon where a variety of martial art options are available to me. I'm going to try to overcome this curve ball and see if I can get back into fighting shape with BJJ and some kind of pragmatic striking style. For me, it's all about the training life-style and the satisfaction of achieving deeper understandings. Competitions are also great fun. I spent my broken arm years working on my chess game which might benefit me later! I will keep this forum informed of my progress in case it's of any general interest. Cheers, Tim

Sohan, not Sohon! Also, guidance not guiance. Early morning! Sarry for the mistakes!

Got it Sohon. Thank you! I'd have been paddling like mad but completely rudderless without your guiance. Tim

Thanks a lot for that advice. I never use gyms but i'm trying to translate your advice into the gymnastic equivalent.....push ups, hand stand push ups etc. does this sound like a reasonable alternative to weights? 20 reps of this type is about all i can do right now, so the load might be similar to what you advised? cheers, Tim

hi, really good advice for you there. i had similar flexibility probs for a long time. 1) patience - it maybe seems impossible now that you will one day be able to kick to head height, but you really will! just keep doing what they advised above 2) everyone says who should stretch before you exercise, but you also should exercise a bit before you stetch, to get things warmed up. A routine that worked for me was starting with a gentle run, and then alternate between kicks (start with easy/ low ones which don't test the tendons at all) and stretching. Make the stetching harder and the kicks tougher with each cycle, but build up very slowely. I wouldn't like to start training with less than 40 mins of this kind of warm up. If your place of training doesn't do 40 minutes, do some before you rock up. Cheers, Tim

Hi all, This is my first post on this forum. I'm looking for advice RE entering martial arts training after a bad humeral break 3 years ago (from arm wrestling.) Before the break I used to study Silat in Indonesia quite intensively, and at 29 was the fittest, strongest and kickiest I'd ever been. Only now has the break apparently mended, although "things" don't quite feel right. I think there must be an issue with tendons after 3 years of no exercise at all. The other day I decided it was time to test the arm with a few push-ups. Was distgusted to discover 20 was the limit. For the next couple of days my muscles didn't feel stiff, but my elbows hurt. I assume the tendons have weakened a great deal. My question is, what would be a good strategy for me now to get back into martial arts training? The sub-questions, I guess, are: a) How do I get tendon strength back? b) Is a metal plate in my humerus likely to limit me in my martial arts life? c) Is there a particular type of martial art that I should avoid, or embrace as a recovery activity as I will be returning to university in the UK and have a wide range of choices? d) Is there anything else I should be aware of? I'm desperate to get back into training. I haven't had any physiotherapy advice because of my sketchy location so I need to get cracking! I've been working on my chess for 3 years now and it's time to get physical before it reall IS too late! All advice VERY gratefully received! Anyone else had a similar injury? Many thanks, Tim