username8517

Absolutely the body is different than the examples I given as those are rigid inanimate objects and the body is a living and breathing thing. But the principles behind them are the same. It's all using physics to your body's advantage effectively. We do it everyday in MA--from stances to blocks to strikes. I'm sorry if I came across sounds as if to say that a bend in the elbow is wrong, as that was not my intention. I was trying to show my reasoning behind keeping the elbow straight during impact--less of a chance of losing power. And can a bend in the elbow still pack a powerful punch--sure--just like a hook punch as you mention. But I'd be willing to bet that if the same person punched both ways, utilizing the same the same factors in generating power (hips, shoulders, rotation, timing, etc) and the effects were gauged using sceintific instruments, that more power would be delivered using a straight line approach over one with a slight curve.

Also, another way I've heard straight punches described-- Think of a bullet. Neglectiving gravity and wind, a bullet doesn't go anywhere but straight. And when it hits something it's trying to drive through the object (much like straight punches). It doesn't send any energy anywhere but forward. If an elbow is bent, even one degree, you are effectively sending energy in two seperate directions. The energy generated from your elbow to knuckle is going one place, while the rest of the energy in your body is going on a slightly different path that branches off at your elbow. Granted, by association, some of that energy from your body will be transferred to your forearm and knuckle, but you will be effectively losing some power. To get a visual of what I'm trying to explain, think of a game of pool. If you hit a cue ball dead on to the 8-ball nearly all the kinetic energy in the cue ball will be transferred to the 8-ball, which will then take off along the same path. Granted the cue ball will roll back, but that's due to the physics behind a collision with a stationary and mobile object and the cue ball being round. Now if you hit the 8-ball at an angle, yes some of the energy from the cue ball will be transferred to the 8-ball causing it to roll, but the cue ball will still have energy pushing it in the original direction, thus sending it veering off in completely new direction.

Very close to the way I've had it described to me. I've been told kime is about an instaneous tension at the correct momement in a technique. Basically locking everything into place at the correct moment right before impact.

In my old Silat class, one of my training partners decided to do a little bit of horseplaying when we were practicing throws. At 6'3 and 250 lbs, I'm not a little guy by any means, but my partner was huge--6'6 easy and 300 lbs of mostly muscle. This guy made me look small. The set up was the defender would side step an attack, guntine the attackers arm on the hand and forearm (for the purposes of breaking in actual application but obviously this was just practice) then step in for a take down. For some reason my partner had a hard time grasping the concept that he probably wouldn't be able to avoid the takedown. I tried explaining it to him that the reason it was hard to defend against was because I was coming in from the outside and the closest arm he had to me had just had the hand and forearm broke--basically not alot of options for him. He gave me a "yeah whatever" answer and we went to run through it again. So as his attack comes in, I sidestep and throw two quick guntines to "break" the hand and forearm respectively. Then as I slide in for the throw, I hear his yeah, "WATCH THIS!" as the arm I just "broke" came back across the side of my head for a clothesline. Well my leg was already in posting behind his leg, and (from what I've been told) went I got hit I literally went 90 degrees sideways--to the right. My leg was caught under his as my body went in a completely opposite direction--thus blowing my ACL. I went back to Silat after my surgury and rehab for a bit and my old partner was no longer there. And I never bothered to ask if he was asked to leave or did so on his own accord.

Let's see, about a decade ago I was way into Magic: The Gathering. Though I haven't played that in. . . .well probably going on 6-7 years now. Today, I enjoy Lunch Money Munchkins (and all it's off shoots) Burn In H___ Traditional card games, I would have to go with: Triopoloy Euchre Texas hold-em

Thank you Steve. It appears I forgot to mention these other factors as well.

It all depends on the type of punch your going to be doing. For hooks and uppercuts you obviously will have to have a bend at your elbow for these punches to be pulled off correctly. But I'm assuming your talking about straight punches in this case. When punching I always keep the arm as straight as possible. This allows for less give by effectively lining up your bones (Os Trapezoidum, Os Scaphodium, Radius, and Humerous bones are the significant one Arm & Hand bones) and then locking them in place a moment before impact. The reason I do this is because when I punch I'm aiming to drive through the target and not just to hit them. By giving a slight bend in the elbow on a straight punch allows for a weakness in the structure and the potential for the arm to bend. Only after the punch is completed do I relax my arm and allow for a bend in it as it retracts. This is the same idea behind ancient tools of war, many of which are still utilized today. The battering ram is a long thick dense tool used to thrust at doors of both castles of anicent times and doors of today's modern house. The principle behind it is to generate as much force as possible and channel it into the striking point, always keeping the energy generated flowing along the same line of the battering ram. The same could be said about a bo staff when thursted. Yet neither of these examples are the bo or battering ram have a slight bend in them--this would divert energy in another direction than what the intended focus would be. Much like a straight punch. Hyperextending an elbow usually takes place when the elbow is bent back the wrong way (Elbow Hyperextension Injury). And while the possibility of hyperextending one's elbow can happen when executing a straight punch, it is severly reduced by locking the arm before impact. Failure to lock the entire arm will create a weak point for the arm to bend or concave at, thus creating the hyperextension.

Hmmm, in no particular order: Doom Betrayal at the House on the Hill Frag Survive Arkham Horror Cults Across America Kill Dr. Lucky Candyland Okay, so the last one there is a joke

"All fights eventually end up on the ground" Do a good number of fights end up on the ground? Sure. But there are also plenty of fights that end without both people going to the ground.

We all have those days. The reasoning behind of lack of desire can come from a number of things--stress at work, fight with the spouse/significant other, fatigue (mental, emotional, or physical), burnout, and so on. Last night for example, after a nice long very stressful day at the office I was ready to head to class and unwind. But with less than an hour before class I got a call from the head instructor at the dojo saying he injured his back and couldn't make it and that I would have to lead class. Definately not something I wanted to do and in all honesty, after work, it really just angered me that now I had to critique everyone else rather than actually work out my stress. But I went anyways. I really didn't want to, but I did. And by the end of class I was completely destressed and in a completely different mood than when I went into class. So the point of the story is, as HG put it "It's important on those days to contiune with training and push through the malaise." regardless of whether you'll be teaching or training

Cool. Congratulations! Definately take advantage of this opportunity.

Whether a style is effective or not is based on the individual and not the style itself. And more importantly, what they expect to get out of taking a martial art. If you're looking to focus on the sporting/competition aspect of martial arts, the techniques you'll learn are going to be slightly or evenly vastly different than if you're training for other reasons. I'm not saying that the moves you will learn will be any less effective or valid, but they're will be a different focus on how and why they're taught. For example, if you're training in BJJ or JJJ and you end up in your opponent's closed guard, from a competition aspect you're going to learn how to work from that position--learn the passes, proper posture, how to execute certain moves from there, etc. If you're learning the same art but with a focus on fighting/defending yourself from a ground position, you'll probably be shown some effective attacks against the groin along (something not allowed in the sport of MMA) since time and your health is of the essence in a real fight. The key to any kind of martial arts training is to first determine what you want out of it and why. Then after that, study both the art from the inside and out (basically look at each move from multiple angles, break down the individual body movements and figure out why you're doing what you're doing). And then train train train. Then train some more. Overall, MMA is a general term used to describe a style of fighting that incorporates strikes and grapples (MMA). Training in TSD and/or American Kickboxing along with JJJ is effectively the exact same definition of mixed martial arts--you'll learn striking and grappling--it's just not going to be packaged under that MMA title. But the key thing to remember is, as you put in the form of a question: Get this right and you should be fine.

I'm actually guilty of showing off yesterday. In the office we have a female who works in the same department as me (let me prefece this by stating that we are friends outside of the office as well). She's not really a tomboy per se, but she's grown up surrounded by boys so she sometimes acts like one. We give each other a hard time on a dialy basis and when I usually cross the line, she hauls off and hits me in the arm. Not hard, but enough to make her point. I usually just take it because as I said, she doesn't hit hard and she's a friend. Well yesterday I was just in some kind of mood. I don't know exactly what it was, but apparently she was too and we were just picking on each other ruthlessly all day. As we headed for lunch I made some comment (in all honesty I don't even remember what it was) and the next thing I know I hear her call me a jerk and cocked her hand back. Well as the punch came in, rather than taking it, I deflected it to the side and gave her a quick and light one-two tap on each side of her face with my fingers (my hands were open naturally) and then quickly darted around behind her to take better positioning. Her response, "Hey, don't mess with the hair!"

Too Funny! Thanks for the laugh!

hello and welcome

Well from what I can dig up, it looks like the guy is Satoru Sayama. A former professional wrestler turned martial arts instructor (shoot fighting) and the video was footage taken his training facility in Japan.

Then there's always This guy

You don't have to wait until the punch comes forward at you to defend against it. As soon as your attacker cocks their arm back for the big hit (as many would assuming a verbal arguement takes place prior), a pre-emptive strike is going to be self defense. It's not your fault your jab is quicker than your opponent winding up and throwing that big haymaker.

In a hospital Okay okay. . .Dayton, Ohio

I'm on the fence about junior black belts. In some cases they are well warrented for quality students who have proven themselves. And then there are those that just received the rank because they paid for the testing. But I guess the same could be said about all ranks, so who knows. . . If a student is able to demonstrate a high knowledge, skill, and technique of what should be a black belt, then I have no problem with them possessing a junior black belt rank. I don't neccessarily belive a junior black belt needs to be able to fend off a full sized adult as much as someone their own size--which is who'll they'll likely encounter problems from to begin with.

I started when I was 8.

Also, not sure if you have these already, but for the to work you would need to utilize some sort of image hosting service like Photo Bucket or Image Shack for example

Hello and welcome

Congratulations.

You need to have one and%20one around the link to the pic as the beginning and the end.