NightOwl

Thanks, ps1. More or less, you are using the foot to pivot on, which in turn, give the hips the rotation necessary to generate power and put bodywieght into the punch. Here is a website that has some nice explanations and pictures on boxing techniques: http://seaford.abc.users.btopenworld.com/contents.htm Haha, the irony is that a good punch finds its power not in the arm, but from the ground up. Also I might add that circling footwork can add an interesting element to punches as well.

Class #3: I was the newest guy there by 3 months, so I got trashed around a bit.... Worked on side guard and some shrimping and guard changing first guy I went with had only practiced for 3 months, but outweighed me by 180lbs... next guy was even smaller than me but had a year + experience under his belt ...yet was not as tough as the first simply because the matches ended faster (him winning of course). Ha ha, so after a month I REALLY hope another 'new guy' shows up. Lessons learned: Being big gives you an advantage Don't extend your arms for too long Shrimping is your friend

What are some of the MA Clichés that you come across the most and why? Here's a start: Bruce Lee: It is understandable why he made it to this spot, as he was a major force in the surge in intrest in martial arts in the west, as well as one of the MA world's most outspoken philosophers. However, today he seems to fall into three catagories: The MA fighter who was the best in the world and would win the UFC through PURE INTIMIDATION; An acrobat who any granny could down in the bingo hall without even trying; and absolute truth. None of these extreames are fully correct, but Mr. Lee inevitably will be called the greatest fighter ever or a fraud. The 'Street': Unlike Sesame Street, where muppets peacefully roam the streets and every day begins with a new letter , 'the street' is a scary place which has seen thousands of hypothesized battles and casualties by the day take place on message boards and in editorials. Originally coming about when people began to re-examine the MAs (which was by far the right thing to do), it now is the equivlent of yelling 'FOOD FIGHT' in the middle of a gradeschool cafeteria. Oddly enough, 'the street' seems to be alot more inconsistant than those who use it might like to admit. One moment it is full of pro-boxing musclebound hulks who eat TMA's for breakfast (or with a side of crumpets and tea), and the next it is the site of a glass recyle dump lit on fire where only the striker can protect himself from the armies of paraplegic horse jockeys looking to rough someone up.Can't we all agree that you need to train more for an encounter outside the dojo and that it will be unpredictable and leave it at that?

Long ago I learned that that was the path to destruction that no MA can bail you out of!

I can't help but think of the opening escape scene from Indiana Jones. While I have never been in a real fight where the intention was to hurt the other individual as much as possible (well...since 5th grade as mentioned), I have seen a few go down. There were alot of haymakers and shoving.....which is why if you are shoved be ready for the guy to throw a punch IMO (or just beat him to it with something else). to be honest, I stay out of trouble and don't talk trash, so any fights I get into are usually for fun and consensual with the set purpose of sparring, not trying to KO the other person.

I'd say though that (at least for me) linear comes more naturally. You tend to want to constantly stand face-to-face with your opponent rather than move around a whole lot at first. But I think that footwork is more or less what sets your angle of attack.

The big thing is to look around. Ask if you can sit in on/participate in a class. If not, than that's always a good sign to move on. Best of luck!

As long as the Red Baron isn't there you'll be fine! Best of luck!

hmmm...my only fight was at around 5th grade. I ended throwing another kid over a bench (which he did not appreciate) and he promtly got up and slammed my head into the wall which I countered by curling into the fetal position and crying... ...I have since gone into training in the Chinese mountainside to train for our next encounter and regain my honor

Hmmm, 'One does not know one's opponent until he has seen him dance'

When is the test? Let us know how it goes eh!

This is a very good point. It is kind of a double standard in the martial arts. I guess it is because a belt means so many things to so many people. Is it supposed to show knowledge gained? Skill in combat? Time and effort spent? A combination of those?

Political types like to lable it as a 'Blood Sport' and 'Human Cockfighting'...it is an easy target I guess.

Wow, looks cool! ...Any kind Brits willing to help out an American ticket wise?

14 years old

To show my lack of knowledge goes to lows beyond what even you thought possible before...what's SENI?

I think this is a good point. Very well stated. This is where I think that rank becomes detrimental to martial arts. Kids can play at all kinds of different sports: kid's wrestling, football, baseball, etc. The list goes on and on. I'll stick with kid's wrestling, because I think it relates well to the philosophy of children in the martial arts. There is no rank in kid's wrestling...just practice and competition. They go to practice, learn things, go compete, come back, and practice more. Since they don't have rank, there is no concern about how much they can and can't learn. If they compete well, they go on to the next level, like state or national championships. They train and learn, train and learn. Now, in martial arts, children do this as well. However, the martial arts will use a rank indicator, the belt, to decide in which brackets the children compete in. Perhaps if the martial arts could shed the idea of rank, then everything would start to clear itself up. Yes that is true. But the fact of the matter is that the MA world has not reached that point (although intrestingly enough, only judo if I remember correctly originally had formal rankings). belt color is supposed to equal skill level. And as it is well, martial; in theory that should correspond with fighting skill, so when you see a 8 year old 2nd Dan next to a 28 year old 1st Dan, it is a bit hard to take seriously IMO. Yes, it is nice if they are trained seperately, but in many cases (perhaps the majority of them) they are not. *Storms off to do old guy stuff*

This is a Chinese Martial art correct? Katana and such are Japanese...maybe he needed to clear up some space in the garage?

ah! First real class (non-introductory). it was like going to the chiropractor from Dante's 9th circle of hell...I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow! I'm outwieghed by everyone by at least 60 pounds, so there's definately a good amount of resistance...I've heard though that it's a bit less cardio intensive once you know what you are doing...is that true? lol, I was paired off with a 200 lb BJJ purple belt (I weigh 130) and all I could do was curl up into as tight of a ball as possible and see how long I could last!

I Agree with what others have said. Stay mobile and dont focus to much attention on one person. Out of interest, do you do this kind of training regularly in class or is it a one off for your test? Can't add anything else...keep moving and stay more 'circular' if that makes any sense...let us know how it goes!

I apologize if this topic has been posted before; I checked back 4 pages and didn't find anything on it, although I do see the topic thrown in conversations from time to time, but what is everyone's opinion on Children (we'll say under 16...although I realize maturity levels may vary, but let's talk in generalizations here) in MAs? Not really if children SHOULD train in MA, but wether the large amount of children is detrimental to the MA community as a whole. My opinion (the hidden agenda of this post ) is that what I call the 'Karate Kid' effect has watered down MAs as a whole. After the Karate Kid, every soccer mom wanted her child to become a blackbelt in 'Karate' so that by today, we have more Mcdojos and gyms acting as parttime day care centers than places training what martial arts (if we are really honest) are for: training to fight. I would not want kids to just go at it and bruise each other up...but I sometimes wish that there were more 'Garage Dojos' with people who taught martial arts for the love of the art rather than as a career, and you could expect real beatings but down-to-earth training (I realize that I am over-romanticising a bit but pray let me ramble a bit more ) than places where respect, rare sparring, and belts are emphasized so that kids will want to come back...and yes, I realize that you need money to run a dojo...why not rent a place or even train at your home?. Today in the eyes of the average Joe MAs (referred to by the universal term of 'karate') are now something that ends when you get into your sophomore year of highschool at the latest, and I can't tell you how many people I have spoken with who did MAs 'when I was a little kid'. Personally, I'd rather have the more gritty training than nice rooms and formality but 75% of the class 12 and under (and no, I'm not a crotchety old man who likes to throw things at people passing by from the porch...kids are way cool, but I wouldn't want children at my lectures or when I was taking driver's ed class). Sorry if I came off a bit sour, I had a bad experience with kid friendly activites drowning out alot of training...*must...not...cry* So what are your thoughts?

I start up BJJ on thrusday...it can't come fast enough!

Maybe...but as was discussed in other threads, it also did some good to MA, namely fostering an interest in MA, especially from the youth... Yes but it IMO caused the 'I want my 8 year old to be just like the karate kid' mentality that gave rise to the modern Mcdojo. MAs instead of being something that very few people knew about became something that was at first admired, but then became so watered down that to say you've got a black belt in a MA means nothing anymore. I'd rather have a small core group of MAs then have it be so widespread and potrayed as a magic pill that makes you invincible or something that's 'just for kids'. In the veiw of the mainstream (much due to the karate kid in my opinion), MAs are something that you do up until you are about 14, and if you continue past then you need to grow up. I sometimes wish I could go back to the rougher years when people thought Karate was the name of a Japanese car company and you could expect a few bruises at the end of every class inside someone's garage. I say: most damaging movie ever

Being as big and strong as he is...he probally wouldn't need too much help from MA! I hear he moonlights as a cop...that'd be one scary speeding ticket. Then again with the number of fights in the NBA a little training would help no?

That's a good site...alot of intresting articles.