Dazed and Confused

I agree. I was speaking in the context of martial arts.

I have three dogs, two Jack Russell terriers and a monstrous Alsatian x Labrador that can put his front paws on my shoulders when he greets me (I'm 6'3"!). Unfortunately for such a large dog we got him as a a puppy when the terriers were fully grown, so he has imprinted all his canine behaviour from them. So we have an enormous mongrel that thinks he's a terrier, which can be fun!

you are absolutely right in your assumption AngelaG, it is indeed Leigh Childs. And annoyingly he is being interviewed in the article by a close friend, so the interviewing technique is hardly rigorous. Happily however I found an article elsewhere in the magazine by Steve Rowe that restored my faith in MAI. He absolutely eviscerates the idea of these McDojos and their ridiculous claims, so there is balance to be found in the magazine as a whole.

The Sweet Science Wrestlemag It may just be my prejudices (in fact it almost certainly is!) but I'm with YoungMan on this. If it was going to happen anywhere it was going to be MMA. Only because it is dominated by such a pro sport "win at all costs" ethos. we've seen it in boxing (I don't know about kickboxing, K1 etc?) and I think MMA was always going to be next.

Wow, I can't believe that. I've checked a number of different news outlets and they're all saying the same thing. I guess as certain areas of the martial arts become increasingly dominated by the pro-sports ethos we'll see more of this.

I only like the films, I could never get into the books...

I don't know how wide the circulation is of Martial Arts Illustrated, so I don't know whether anyone outside of the UK will have seen an article in there this month by a chap who basically has made a living out of helping others set up McDojos. I don't know where I stand legally so i won't mention his name, but this is his company's website. Basically for those of you who have read the article, what do you think of it? I'm trying not to breech copyright or do anything else to get into trouble, but for those who haven't read it he basically makes a number of points that I found quite infuriating. He says at one point that McDojos have done for martial arts what McDonalds did for hamburgers. I think he means made them popular rather than remove all taste and compensate with excess tomato sauce. He also claims that people shouldn't be upset at the watering down of Martial Arts by McDojos because only 10% of martial artists are any good and thats natural talent, the teacher is irrelevant. He does make some good points- there are benefits to having full time ma schools open normal business hours and beyond, and martial arts instructors deserve to make a good living. He has however taken this to extremes- he is apparently a multi millionaire off the back of helping others create these McDojos, and is pictured with his ferrari and BMW 4x4. So what do people think? Am I being too harsh on this chap? In the course of reading the article I realised that he helped set up a school I recently had a trial lesson at. Personally I feel I have dodged a bullet.

Just had my first ever JKD session and I couldn't be happier! Have finally found a style where I feel I belong! Just wanted to post some thought for others (particularly the Baron, who I see has recently started JKD also) to comment on. Firstly, the style of teaching was excellent. I know kata have their place and I don't want to get into an argument on the merits thereof, but I really enjoyed going straight into body mechanics, fighting stance and weapons of the style straight away. for the first time I feel I've left a class with the beginnings of effective self defence. Secondly the practical applications of everything were covered. I wasn't shown anything that wasn't related back to the dreaded "street", or to competition (one of the guys I was training with is an aspiring MMA fighter). My only reservation was that the legality of some techniques were not mentioned until I brought it up. It was only when I asked whether a strike to the throat in a particular context was really advisable from a legal point of view that it was even mentioned! Thirdly this was all done in the spiritual, philosophical context I have been searching for. I spent time in between beating up focus pads and heavy bags discussing the body of work of Bruce Lee and Cass Magda, and how it all fitted in with what we were doing. This laid to rest a couple of my misgivings. I have read the Tao of Jeet Kune Do and couldn't see how it could be taught as one style. The simple answer is that at this school it isn't. Apparently (please correct me if I've got this wrong) Jun Fan is considered to be a style combining western boxing, wrestling and wing chun (among other things) which at this schoolare learned at the outset, with training in Silat and Kali introduced as well as some aspects of Savate and Muay Thai at the higher levels, to allow the more experienced students to form their own styles. Those who want to can supplement this with BJJ training. This has greatly put my mind at ease with the idea of studying JKD. Finally, as a school of the Magda Institute I can train in the same syllabus wherever my travels take me. This may sound like I'm gloating, and maybe I am! I'm just very excited that after trying many, many different schools I have found one that fits! Only minor problem is that I seem to have quite seriously hurt my thumb drilling uppercuts on a focus pad, but other than that I am delighted!

I was sent to an orthopaedic specialist because a physiotherapist identified clicking in my knee. Apparently it is symptomatic of damaged cartilage as has already been said. Often the clicking can be caused by a tear in the cartilage that has left a flap of cartilage moving in the joint. Putting the joint under undue strain may cause the flap to break off entirely which apparently could seize up the joint entirely. I've been referred for an MRI scan, maybe you would be best trying to get the same done?

Isn't teaching parkour basically teaching gymnastics and acrobatics? Dominic Lacasse provides training routines that he says can be used to develop parkour skills, and they are essentially gymnastics based (and excellent, i should add!). I've never seen anywhere that teaches parkour as a discpline in its own right. Its an interesting point though dippedappe, I believe schools that teach "self defence" as a discipline should include things like conflict management and maybe the art of fleeing should be a part of that? If anyone has seen any of the Tony Jaa film Ong Bak, Jaa certainly seems to have combined MA with parkour, and uses the art of fleeing to great effect a number of times!

Well now you mention it there is an IKO Kyokushinkai school in driving distance both where I am now and where I'm moving to. I don't really know much about Kyokushinkai, I'll do a search of these boards and elsewhere. Thanks again!

Thanks for your help guys. Seems a bit of a split opinion on this issue of children teaching. I honestly don't have a problem with it on a personal level, I was just querying its effectiveness. I am going to change schools for a number of reasons, some of which we have touched on here. Another motivating factor for me is that the school i gave a link to before has many branches around the country following the same syllabus, which will allow me some continuity. I'll be going for a trial lesson on thursday and I will post my findings! Certainly from my research it appears to provide for both my desire to learn effective full contact fighting skills with real tradition and heritage. It remains to be seen whether it can fulfill my desire to compete, maybe through BJJ, we shall see. Anyway, thanks for all your comments!

I am going to this club next week. Allows me a day each week to keep up with my sports karate. The main appeal was that it has a branch in the place I'm moving to in a couple of months. I'm a little suspicious of clubs that name drop Bruce Lee, does this sound OK? Maybe I should post about this in the Combative Arts thread?

I confess to being a little confused over this issue of different karate styles. For example, I am moving away for a year in July, and hope to continue my training elsewhere before coming back to my school (if all goes well!), but all different karate schools seem to take such vastly different approaches. Yet despite this many seem united under the World Karate Federation (the recent gradings undertaken by my school were assessed by an 8th dan grade in "karate", no mention of any style). This apparent interchangeable nature of the styles confuses me greatly when the schools all seem to use different kata, belt structures etc! Eventually, way down the line (I'm 22 at the moment) I would love to get involved in teaching martial arts, but I struggle to see how I can gain a sufficient level of skill without focussing on one particular karate style. Have I got this wrong?

I'm not sure whether I should post this here or in the Karate thread, but I have some concerns about the school at which I have started training. I tried a lot of different clubs/dojos/gyms, some of which I documented on here, and started to train at this one because I really like the teacher, and it fulfilled most of my criteria. I was very keen to find a club that had a good combination of tradition and competition, preferably with an element of self defence. This proved really quite difficult and the club I have chosen focusses mainly on the sporting side. Indeed the club in fact refers to itself as a "Sports Karate Academy". I have two main concerns. Firstly there are very few adults that train with this teacher, and classes are mixed with children. Initially this was a bonus as I got a lot of extra attention from the teacher, but recently the higher ranking children have begun showing new kata to the adults. Am I wrong in thinking that this is not a good approach? It obviously feels a bit embarrasing being taught by a child (I'm talking about 12 year olds!) but this isn't the point, I just doubt its effectiveness. Am I training at a children's club that has tacked a few adults on? Secondly I'm concerned that I may be losing something in the traditional side of things. I was keen to compete and also maintain the traditional "art" side of MA, but I'm no longer this is possible. In terms of kata and techniques the club claims to combine many styles including Wado Ryu, Shotokan Ryu, Shito Ryu, Goju Ryu and Kyukoshinkai. Does this sound credible? I was wondering if maybe the answer might be to continue training here to fulfill my desire to compete, and maybe look at cross training at a more traditional school to complement it? All opinions welcome!

Hi everybody, just wanted to say that I'm back. I doubt you noticed I had left but now I am actually training in the martial arts and have time to post once again. I'm currently studying karate twice a week but looking to cross train as now my uni work is all over I have a lot of time to devote to my martial/physical development! Just wanted to say that I look forward to getting involved on the site again, and I 've missed you all!

I went for the rowing machine as I personally don't believe gym cardio machines are much cop compared to running and swimming (I swim due to the above mentioned knee issues). Rowing machines however provide an excellent all body work out, and the videogame-esque races you can enter on some of the more sophisticated machines are excellent motivators. I tend to train at home and this is the one bit of kit I miss.

I've been training in Thai Boxing recently, and my insane work commitments at college at the moment have made it a struggle to continue in my trying different styles (the thai boxing gym is very near where I live). The Taijitsu is about 45mins away, so its a way down the list I'm afraid. I'll be sure to post about it when I get there! Cheers for all the Aikido info everybody!

I would also recommend bridges but you need a good foundation of neck strength before you try it.

Place your bets!! I think Hatton will knock him out in the later rounds if his arm is really sound again.

I was just wondering if there are any aikido practioners on here. Its an art that has always fascinated me, as it is very impressive to watch, yet the martial element seems in doubt. I've always been bemused by the vast number of aikido demonstrations there are, both online and in the real world, yet they are always very staged. Does anyone have any experience of aikido in either a real world situation (on the dreaded "street" again!) or in friendly competition between martial artists of varying styles? And finally is there any randori as in judo? Hope I've not offended anyone with this post, I'm just curious. I don't know if this is the right forum for this, so please move it if appropriate!

I've not watched a BB since the first series. What I find upsetting about this racism issue is that Channel 4 are surely going to make a profit from it. I gather from what I hear on the radio that this series had hugely reduced viewing figures compared to past series. Now there's a huge media storm over this alleged racism viewing figures will surely rocket once more. I find it hard not to think C4 are delightedly fanning the flames of this contoversy, financially profitting from every ounce of tension and upset the goings on in that house generate out here in the real world.

I'm a Bruce Lee nut, Fist of Fury being my favourite. But my favourite film ever is Downfall.

So hapkido includes both striking techniques and grappling/submission wrestling? Is there a grading system?

The British media is going nuts because massively over-rated footy player David Beckham is moving to LA Galaxy for an obscene quantity of money, making him one of the highest paid sportsmen in the world (between £500,000 and £1million a week depending on who you believe). I was just wondering- 1)Does anyone in america care? 2)Do you think it'll make any difference to the state of soccer in America? Cheers, D+C