NightOwl

Hey, anyone else a fan of fighting games? What are yer favorites? Mine: Smash Bros. Melee Street Fighter Alpha 3 (sums up the series nicely with highly flashy and super arcady fighters...good stuff!) Virtua Fighter series (very technical and as far as fighting games go one of the more 'realistic' ones. A good amount of fighters based on actual styles)

What fundemental concept have you gotten from any of the syles that you have trained in? ....................................................................................................... TKD: it's been years since I've done it, but I it started me out in MA, and put me on the path to wanting to continue to study and learn MA as a longtime pursuit! WingChun: Came across this after about a year of searching for a new art to study. Only did it for about 2 months before moving on to something else, but I'm glad for the little that I learned. It taught me that you don't have to be fancy(the sifu was fond of saying when it took someone too many moves during practicing against punches that' You know I'm not filming a movie! You need to get the heck outta there!'), and sometimes I still find myself using a little bit of the trapping when I get in too close while sparring around. Boxing/striking: Did this at a MMA gym. It taught me how to punch and to bob and weave...saved me alot of hits to the head! The most important thing though was that it forced me on a daily basis to spar and get over my fear of fighting, and even though contact was not at a KO level, it got me used to having someone (usually bigger than me) throwing head and body shots at a realistic speed and learning how to deal with them.

Aye, true. The problem is that most schools (depending on how you define 'legit') don't train you properly for a fight ( not just CMA, but western 'self defense classes' that they teach to soccermoms, Japanese martial arts, etc.). You always have to be careful to find the right place, no matter what the style. But really, historically speaking have there ever been a huge amount of skilled fighters? It will always be a minority, and despite a 'Karate' (always an unamed style...wonder why?) dojo being in nearly every strip mall around my house, the number of dojos and gyms teaching a legitimate MARTIAL art still remain low. CMA get a bad rap because many times it personified by contemporary wushu and an emphasis more on forms than sparring. However if more places started training using an uncooperative opponent (and there are places that do), than the CMA style in question would be much better suited for an actual combat situation.

so if it isn't a style in of itself, then what style is usually used under these sort of sparring setups?

I don't know why this is, but for some reason no one thinks that any Western civilizations or cultures developed any useful weapons or fighting forms. It seems that the only sword ever created is the Japanese Samurai sword. Because the west never held on tightly to it's old martial arts and weapons, so there isn't that sense of ancient 'mystique '. Rather they updated their fighting methods to fit the times. Eventually, swords were phased out for guns, grappling into wrestling, bareknuckle fighting into boxing, and swordfighting into fencing...they did have skilled swordsmen, fighters, AND fighting styles, but it seems to me at least that they decided to get rid of the old and mostly stick with the new. European weapons were hardly bad: crossbows, spears, bows, etc were used both in the East and west. Instead of the Bo, they had a quaterstaff, and while the sword design was different, both could be used fairly well for hacking away an opponent. However because the samurai were around for so long, they are the last people who lived literally by the sword, and as such they have an air of romanticism and nobility that we sometimes long for (although chivalry has never been a common in either culture for the most part).

Pretty much, yeah! The guy just showed and went over some basics with me (he told me that he didn't expect that I'd remember everything at first...which I don't ), and I got to practice a little bit with changing positions from the guard and a simple submission. I don't officially start until january, but I got the Gi (it's heavy eh?) and stuff so I'm good to go after Christmas. Of course, I did not expect to get used to it on my first go around, but hopefully I'll get to fix that in the upcoming months!

I'd imagine that bareknuckle boxes would have been quite formidible indeed with their full contact fights and grappling experience

Size and streangth can usually do a fairly good job of making up for skill, add in the factor that you have no idea if the bigger guy attacking you has done some boxing, wrestling, etc. and they are a force to be reckoned with (I'm about 6' but am so light that I have to be careful to work on my grappling!). I've heard that smaller guys can be more vicious fighters though...it all depends on the person. If I were betting, I'd probally bet on the tougher looking guy because let's face it....most people don't train in fighting, and alot who do never train for an actual fight....

Very much so! I wouldn't try to put even an average sized guy up as a bouncer, no matter how good he was (heck, even Gracie!)...it's best to stop the fight before it begins....

Obviously you haven't met THIS GUY:

Edited

lol, it's a BIT of a ways away, but if you really gotta train in Budo Taijutsu this would be the place (Airfare not included) http://taijutsu.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87&Itemid=77 The instructors also have experience with Mauy Tai, BJJ, and other MAs. Add the acceptance of cross training with budo taijutsu in actual sparring (instead of opting for the 'too dealdy for sparring' spiel), I'd say this would be an example of the dojos (heck, 16% of MA places in general) that give you a good backround in actual combat and SD.

Straight Blast Gym (although I belive they go by Impact Jujitsu now...). The head coaches are Michael Chapman and Tom Oberhue (there are a bunch of others though... Eric Hemphill trains the beginer's BJJ). Supposedly it is the highest concentration of BJJ black belts in the State, and I feel very fortunate to have access to it!

....tomorrow! Anything that I should expect?

if they only train in person once a month, then i'd say look somewhere else. There's no way that you'd be able to get in good practice...Dvd's usually work only if you already know what you are doing and can practice with someone else.

I have almost zilch weapons training, but if I had to go at it I'd like a good ol' fashioned broadsword! GOGO western weapons!

That was beautiful *sniff* But it must be mentioned that the guy's size and streangth DID make ALOT harder for the BJJ guy.

Personally, I love the jab! If you land it nicely on the nose, it softens up your opponent for a nice cross!

The likelyhood of finding a place that teaches what ninjas actually did? 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% The likelyhood of finding a good Budo Taijitsu dojo? In the 80's: 5% Today: maybe 45%. (numbers made up on spot ). Budo Taijitsu is the only 'Ninja' school that I can think of, it is headed by Dr. Hatsumi in Japan. I've been to a taijitsu dojo before (and have a friend who practiced it for awhile), and from what I saw there(and from some light sparring with my friend), taijitsu has a large emphasis on joint manipulation, soft trapping/grappling, alot of palm strikes, and some basic throws (also some weapons work, they call 'em 'tools'). Basically it is a sub-style of jujitsu; the grandmaster of the art has a backround in many MAs, so I wouldn't be surprised if he incorperated alot of what he knew with a very sparse (if he had any) amount of information on ninja techniques and called it good. Like any MA, it depends on the Dojo and the practitioner as far as SD and combat application goes. I could definately see someone using it effectively, but due to the 'ninja' label, you're going to find more of a "I wanna roleplay as a pajama wearing assassin" kind of crowd drawn to it. Techniques are paracticed slowly with speed increasing as skill level goes up, and eventually I belive that you do get into 'free-form drills'. However there is no sparring, and at least at the place that I know of cross-training is somewhat looked down upon as detrimental to training. There are only three ranks: White, Green, and Black (although I belive that there is a special red belt...any taijitsuka here?), and Gis are black. Definately check it out (there's no harm in looking at all of your options), but be careful as well!

RUN RUN RUN!!!!!! But if I couldn't.... I would expect to take a beating and possibly serious injury (There is no way I could take on 3 guys, even if they are just throwing haymakers and using thier size to try and smother me). The best thing I could think of would be to start punching the biggest and meanest looking guy as hard as I could in the face and pray that the other guys are a bit slow in the head (which if they are doing this sort of thing they probally are). I'd then try to bob and weave through them and go into a sprint...but more likely than not i'd get one punch in before the other two push me from behind and start kicking me like pre-schoolers in a scoccer match.

I have the same problem.....the cursed baby-face! I don't think I could look tough if I tried. I need some scars on my face, or somehting! . Ack,same problem! I know some GREAT fighters that hardly look it but the problem is that they can't depend on 'tough looks' to keep people from fighting them (even if they could back themselves up...my problem is that I have the 'baby face' look AND can't back it up all that well lol). That's why it's good to be big if you are a security guard or bouncer...the size factor intimidates the fight out of alot of people! If you had great fighters who were just average looking, then the job would be WAAAY harder...the goal of bouncers, bodyguards, etc. is to firstly be a deterrent.

If it was an actual katana (and not one of the fake ones that you can buy at the mall) AND I couldn't run away, I'd first look for a trash can or anything else for that matter to deflect (not counter) the blow. lol, a friend of mine actually ended up in a fight against a guy wielding butcher knives back in the day when he used to lift alot...he ended up using one of the gyms hula-hoops to fend the guy off. If there are no good 'shields', thaen I'd try my best to doge the blos as best I could until an opening came up where I could close the range and get the guy in a clinch. If he's just wildly swinging the thing around, than it might be doable, but if he knows how to handle a sword then it'd be GAME OVER>

According to the product: With this Karate Kick Home Studio, you'll become a Karate Master in your very own home! Learn blocks, punches, stances, & kicks all in a fun & safe way. Comes complete with a 30 minute action packed video, training mat with easy step by step instructions, and an inflatable heavy bag to master your moves. Become a Karate Master with Tommy Nitro & his team as they teach you the coolest karate moves! For ages 3 yrs and up. Criminals beware! There will soon be an army of 3 year old Karate Masters roaming the streets! I think that we can all sleep a little better at night....

When I did TKD the ranks were: White Orange Yellow Purple Blue High Blue Brown Red High Red Black

I wonder if he really belives al this stuff? I'd hate to tell him otherwise if he did...it'd be like saying that there's no Santa Claus to a little kid (and as we all know, santa can get through all those houses delivering presents without being seen because he read Ashida Kim's book!)