NightOwl

As long as it's not a 'friend of a friend'.... But hypothetically I could see how someone with raw talent and experience could easily take on a black belt. You have to keep in mind that many martial artists aren't in their best element when they are fighting...

Might as well give it a try for a bit but if you really don't want it, you are under no obligation to fill a teacher role.

3 at once might be a little bit much. I am starting to study Chinese now, but have already been studying Japanese for 6 years so when I speaking in a foreign language, usually Japanese feels familiar enough not to be awkward and mix it up in my chinese. Then again, they are very different languages, just like french, Chinese, and Japanese are all very different from each other. I think it might be best to get a good base in one before the others though, and that way you won't get them mixed up as much when you start your second one.

maybe you could focus on the amount you do inside- make it a goal to do 4 reps one week, 5 the next, etc

yeah- it might be best to ask some other students and/or your teacher. Many times the more experienced ones can tell you when it 'clicked' for them

I found that if you can make the first minute without loosing it, your sense of fear goes away pretty quick. You just have to make it over that first hurdle...

I have to agree that unlike some training styles which really aren't meant for combat- XMA doesn't pretend that it makes you a good fighter. I do find it a bit guady at times, but I have no personal issue with it.

That almost looked choreographed with the guys pretty much attacking in turns (and the one guy who went flying!). Do reall attacks usually happen that way or was it the constant movement in a limited space that allowed him to take on one at a time?

Maybe another tactic to use would be more movement- don't wait for him to come to you but try and get his back or something. Then again, I really don't know what I am talking about...

Ah! Teenage Mutant ninja turtles didn't do it for ya? or was that before your time?

I could see how some could be useful in a grappling context, but as far as I know grappling isn't taught too much in Karate...right?

Not sure...I sometimes get a 'hero' complex that has landed me in trouble many of times

What's that style that you train in? I've never heard of it before-

5- not good odds. If you have more than one you just gotta hope that they are all shabby fighters...

The next episode will be on Marine combat training and should air next friday- I am interested to see if they include a lot of weapons training in this one.

It probably could definitely help some, but in the end it is still a weapons based martial art and as such if you wanted to go into MMA fighting you might want to look at a different style.

I too thought of that when I first read it

Vitamins

Reality based self defense for those who haven't heard of it. What are your thoughts on it? Does it really provide better psycological training for handling a real attack? Sometimes I think that these places sell themselves on fear- the fear that around every corner somebody is waiting to mug you and that unless you train there no fighting skill will work 'in the real world'. To be fair, many times martial artists can't fight...but at the same time would RBSD training be much better? Anyhow, that's my 2 cents

I don't think that it is impossible to self teach- but you should get some feedback from somebody else at times if possible. Training just by yourself is usually not the best option, but I suppose that it is necessary at times.

haha sure. I had no plans to train in it anytime soon, but I was just curious. If I were to do something like that I think I would want to learn a more dynamic art first then add some uniqueness to it by filtering in some techniques from an art like Akijujitsu. Oh and spiritual places are a big no in my book- I'm sure that there are probably less of those in Japan then in America though.

Heh, that's the interesting thing- in cities with the highest gun ownership the crime rate tends to be the lowest. Reverse trends can be seen to such as crime in Britain after their gun ban.

Well, he KO'd one of his opponents with a punch to the head- had they been keeping their guard up then they might have fared better.

Well, the only thing I can think of is to find something to keep him at a distance until you can get help/ run away. A friend of the family used to live in a bit of a rough area downtown where he used to work at the gym. One day some crazy guy comes in wielding dual butcher knifes...he ended up using a hula hoop to keep him at a distance until the cops came.

Probably to have a consistent starting point for your punch?