username8517

Hello and welcome

Hello and Welcome

Actually fearless was his last "martial arts epic." That doesn't exclude other martial arts movies styles like comedies, family, etc.

A simple "Hi" normally does the trick But it really has little difference on where you meet someone--whether they sit next to you, you run into them at the mall, at the bus stop, etc. All you need to do is break the ice and either things will go well or they won't. However, I'm getting the feeling that perhaps you're nervous actually approaching a girl. If so, then you should practice at it. Just like martial arts, if you need to work on something to improve, you just practice, practice, and practice some more. For a couple days to a week; just once/twice/five times a day randomly walk up to a girl and start talking. Don't bother trying to get a number--just relax, get to know her name, a little bit about her, and just meet someone new. If she seems like a nice and decent person, at the time the conversation ends, just say, something to the extent of "Well it was nice meeting you, maybe I'll see you around here again." Then once you feel comfortable simply talking to girls, then you can worry about asking for a phone number (which at that point shouldn't be a big issue anyways).

Don't really know what to say. I think Jet Li can put out some excellent MA movies. However, I do not think there is a Jackie Chan movie out there I like. Perhaps between the two of them I'll find it as some sort of enjoyable middle ground.

well if you're wanting to be more well rounded I would say take Judo over MT. MT and karate primarily focus on striking, but Judo is more about takedowns, locks, and chokes. This would help fill some gaps that your karate training might be lacking.

What I have been told in more than one style of karate is the following: --You bow with your eyes and head down for all practical purposes. This is to convey that you trust and respect them enough to take your eyes off of them. --If you're doing sparring work or any kind of self-defense exercises you keep you eyes on your opponent as you bow. This so you're always aware of what your opponent is doing. The one exception to this is if you're sparring or working with your instructor--then you still bow with your eyes down.

But you'll have to remember that it was a 2v1 situation. Even someone with decent martial arts skills will have difficulty fending off two attackers at once. But I think the point cross is trying to make is something I agree with--for martial arts to be an effective tool for self-defense you have to be trained in other aspects of self-defense situations. This covers everything from conflict awareness, avoidence, violence descelation, and so on. Simply giving someone technique with no knowledge of how and when to use it will create instances where the victim will feel overwhelmed with stress and have their brain basically shut down and rely on subconscious instints for survival. For example, you wouldn't take a college class, only read the first couple chapters of the book, and walk into the final exam expecting to pass it with ease. Or to put the scenario in a teacher/student relationship--if you were teaching someone how to farm, you simply wouldn't give them the tools and machinery they need and send them on their way not mention the best harvest times, what kind of damage they can expect to their crops from insects, etc. Perhaps when you do speak with your sensei, you see if he/she can incorporate more of this awareness and avoidence tactics into class.

I don't really have anything to add that hasn't already been said. I just wanted to say I wish you the best of luck in getting this resolved.

Actually I think a lot of it could be simply following what the instructor does. Not tradition as its what the masters of old did, but tradition along the lines of well if it "works for him it should work for me" or "he must be doing/know something that I don't" Almost like a follow-the-leader mindset. For example, if you show up to a training hall and the instructor is barefoot you'll probably find that the majority of those who train opt to go barefoot as well, even if they're told otherwise. And vice versa. At our dojo, the students are allowed to wear shoes, go barefoot, wear sandals, etc. We always inform students of this when they start. And while I can't speak for why the head sensei at the dojo goes barefoot, I know I go barefoot because I just simply enjoy being barefoot--nothing to do with classical tradition or hygenie. However in the years that I've been there, I think only three people have opted not to train in their barefeet.

Hello and welcome

Hello and welcome

If you're new to grappling, in the beginning it might be a little rougher on your body as you'll be using a lot of muscles you normally don't in striking arts. But yeah, there is less emphasis on throws and take downs as most times the sparring matches start in a kneeling position.

I think that many people tend to translate this phrase a little bit too literaly. In the instance that you mention, pulling the knife could be looked at as the initiation, or the 'first strike.' Mobobu would realize this, and he thus put himself in the best position possible to gain an advantage and neutralize his attacker. Just my thoughts, though. Actually I was thinking the exact same thing.

I don't think you'll see as many MMA suffering the kind of brain damage / "punch drunk" effect as some boxers because a lot of matches go from standing to the ground back to standing back to the ground and so on. It's not a continual thing of continuing to hit your opponent in the head or body. Can and will it happen eventually--yes. However I don't think the effects will be as bad or as common as a boxer might suffer. But as the old adage goes, only time will tell. . .

I just hope this girl doesn't expect her attacker to stop because she doesn't feel comfortable where she's being hit if she ever finds herself in a real fighting situation.

hello and welcome back

hello and welcome

Before I give my two cents, I would like to state that I have been choked out before. Back when I was still new to BJJ. I wanted to see how far I could go and know the effects so I know what I'm doing to those I grappled with. When we all paired up, I went with a partner with significantly more experience than me. This was to help ease my mind that when I started to go out, he would have enough knowledge and experience to recognize it and immediately release the hold. Well eventually he got me in a rear naked choke and I went to sleep. I woke up about 20 seconds later and aside from needing to take a break to get over some lightheadness (if that's even a word) I was ready to go again. However, I think that there are two key factors in determining how long someone will be out if you take a choke all the way: --Their overall health --How long you keep the choke locked in after they go out I believe that a person in average health or better should be able to recover from a chokeout after a few second with no need for any revival techniques provided the choke was not malicious. Can they be in danger if you take them all the way--yes. And can revival techniques potentially bring them out of it--yes. However, how long they are out and what their body will go through is primarily going to be based on the two points above; that will determine how much danger someone will be in. And since you cannot tell how healthy someone is by looking at them the vast majority of the time, you really only have control over one aspect of it. This is why I would never recommend taking a choke all the way to begin with unless it is an absolute necessity.

Had one of our kyu ranks who's been coming for about 5 months address me tonight asme not as Sensei, but "Hey blackbelt dude!".

Perhaps you should work on bunkai with a few partners. They throw whatever attack is required of them, and you counter accordingly--both of you going half to three-quarters speed. It could simply be you need to actually have someone sitting right in front of you for your body to switch into that zone and loosen up. Or it could be something completely off--perhaps you just don't enjoy doing drills and kata as much as sparring--if so, you certainly won't be the first.

I have never taken TKD, however this is quite an interesting topic. So here is my two cents. I wouldn't say most people are lured into TKD by the beauty and flash of some of the more difficult moves to execute. Rather, most people start with TKD for a combination of reasons. First and foremost is the vast number of TKD schools (or schools that offer TKD as one of the many styles offered) across the country. Although I have no hard data to back this up, I believe that there are more TKD schools here in the US than any other style. Simply controlling a larger portion of the market share will give you more consumers. Second is being word of mouth. When most people get into MA, they ask for recommendations from their friends, family, anyone who's taken MA for their opinions and what styles they took. And this kind of piggy backs off the first point. If more responses come back saying "I took TKD" over karate, BJJ, kali, TSD, etc., our inclination as humans is to go where the greatest numbers are. Third is the structure of the class. Many TKD schools, at least the ones I've seen in my area, are sport/tournament oriented. Please note that I am not saying TKD is not practical if put into real application with proper training--it's all about how you train--just like all martial arts. However, when most parents sign their kids up for martial arts, they're looking more for a fun activity for the child rather than learning valuable self-defense techniques. In the three years I have been teaching, I have only had one parent come in and say that he wanted his son to take karate because he was having problems with a bully at school. The rest just come in because the kids are curious about MA in general, their friends are in the class, they need something to do in between football and basketball seasons, etc. But I digress. When any sport/tournament oriented school displays trophies and medals and tells kids "you train here and we can help you win these" it will have a significantly greater pull on a child when compared to one that doesn't compete at all. Relating it back to TKD, once again, if the child is interested in sport/tournament related MA, then simply having a larger selection will generate larger results.

Hello and welcome

Squirming?? Not my toddler. She stays perfectly still and does nothing but laugh whenever I raise her over my head. She thinks it's the greatest thing in the world. Though I must admit, I never thought about using her in my workout. Perhaps I will if the wife doesn't find out

Like bushido_man, I too have trained on numerous types of floors (mostly barefoot) including carpet, hardwood floors, very hard hardwood floors (a hardwood floor used by someone who made carpets by hand--had a 2x4 every foot to keep the floor from having any give), concreate, asphalt, grass, laminate tile, foam mats, and interlocking mats. Personally, I perfer the grass as I quite enjoy an outdoor workout when the weather permits. After that, I would have to go with a normal hardwood floor as that's what I'm used to. However, in a grapple situation, I would definately want some kind of mat.