NightOwl

Exactly because JKD is a bit hard to define, what you can find at different JKD gyms can be wildly different. There isn't really a standardize curriculum.

I suppose so. But anyone who has bought an all-in-one machine via TV commercial, a jack of all trades is usually just soso to poor in everything, where as a specialist is good in at least something. I still need to return that blender/faxer

Stall them with that one joke???

I've heard a statistic on the amount of time and space you have before a gun is drawn before, but it alludes me at the moment. Most gun SD drills however, deal with the weapon once it is already in play, and at that point you are pretty much stuck.

Ah yes, as the wonderful smells of BBQs, Lawns, and extra sweaty gym mats hit the air, what are you trying to get done as a goal (martially) before the long, cold, fall (autumn for our UK friends) gets underway?

Not worth it. I would put this along with those groups that advocate cold showers outdoors in the morning for good health.

Ahhhh! too long for my ADD addled mind! At my place all that happens is that you stand up, get your belt, and people clap. Unless you are unpopular and they throw tomatoes but I haven't seen that yet.

Good GnP relies heavily on positioning. Therefore take downs, throws, and groundwork are all a factor. If you try GnP on me without being in a good position I am going to put you in a pin, get up, submit you, etc.

This would be the best option. Or if you could, you might try taking 2.

If you can't devote at least 2-3 times a week to an MA, then you aren't going to improve. As such if you have the time you could theoretically do up to three I suppose, however you might want to gain proficiency faster in a small amount of styles than just be soso in many.

Anyone see that armbar escape in the last UFC? That was pretty amazing....thing is that I wouldn't think about moving that way if put in that situation.

if someone has any idea of what they are doing, they are not going to put the gun up right next to you. If it is a shooting, they are probably going to just shoot you anyways=- not to mention that putting the gun right up against someone doesn't make too much sense for a ranged weapon. Any weapon disarm if difficult to pull off- it's not too hard to do in a demo, but if someone actually wants to kill you then the best defense against a weapon is another weapon.

Either get on their inside and remove their reach advantage, or go for a take down and either GnP or sub.

In my dojo, there aren't too many titles. Only those who teach are called sensei, while I've seen plenty of higher belts (including 10th dans) who might not be called that unless they fulfilled the role. I actually kind of prefer it that way personally but I'm a bit of an oddball.

I personally always appreciate it when a brief outline of what can be expected at an average class is given.

Thanks for the update! I'm not sure about the whole not tapping thing though- ever had your arm broken in a match?

I have heard and read many, many stories about shaolin-do and from them I would recommend staying away from the organization. Things ranging from banning people who cross train to revisionist history (although that pretty much is most places claiming a tie to shaolin) seem to happen a lot there, along with the old cliche of 'mcdojo'ism. Edit: I PM'd you some stories

I don't think so per se. You get a belt in BJJ for BJJ- not for mma. If they are pretty good and tapping out higher belts regularly, promotion should be much faster.

He was a wushu champion in his youth, however that is very different from an mma competition, especially seeing how the days of his youth were before MMA was big.

That is a really sad event. Although the unexpectedness of it all does highlight that fatal and disabling injuries have so far not been common in mma as opposed to many other sports.

How many fights have you been in since you started training? I assume that you know that you can use them effectively because you pullled them off against a resisting opponent whether it was in a ring or parking lot. So unless there is a chance of death it isn't real fighting? Does someone who has a good bar brawl record impress you with their skills instead? As I mentioned before most people who train realistically don't have any ambitions to go pro either, but that doesn't prevent them from training well (one of the reasons kung fu is put down a lot). If I may be so bold to ask, if someone like Anderson silva (MT champ and BJJ BB) or BJ Penn or Fedor doesn't impress you, what standards are you holding them to? And sparring (while NOT the same thing) helps to prepare you for this a lot better than training with NO RESISTANCE AT ALL. At least you'll know what resistance is like, although some of the adrenaline won't be there (although it can be heart pounding at first). I fail to see how doing one step drills has any less rules and restrictions (more really) than a sparring match. Going out and picking fights with people is stupid in so many ways- knifes for instance. Sparring (especially very hard sparring) can show you what it is like when someone wants to hurt you but the risk of death is removed (but not injury). That's a big step in preparing you for the whole thing. Likewise on the otherside of things, having your life constantly be in danger and getting used to the fear of death doesn't a good fighter make either. Seriously, go to any war torn third world country and set up a fight with a local to the death. If your training is on par they've probably never trained to fight in their life and you should be able to beat them unless there is a huge strength/size descrepancy. Likewise for people who go in the military. Yeah, you can handle yourself in a firefight. That doesn't help troops in bar romps from what I can tell. No, but it is the fault of the MA if the majority of techniques either are likely to fail (anything could work if you are lucky) or not trained properly to the point where they can be effectively used. Lumping a roundhouse kick to a standing joint lock because they both are not 100% effective is not fair. Mostly though, the problem has to do with poor training methods. Look up Lei tai kung fu matches. Fighting has been a part of good MA practice since way back when (including in kung fu). When you take that out, make up excuses for being 'too deadly' in order not to train things that aren't deadly at full force, and introduce fake history and mysticism, things are going to go downhill. Sanda/etc has gone ahead with training methods, and many KF groups have been pushing to take away the misconceptions about kung fu and bring about a strong training regimen. However many have not, and until that changes, the negative images of kung fu that are out there aren't going to change much.

Right, but then you can't turn around and claim that you can apply what you are learning in the real world. If your hobby is practicing a combat system (which is what martial arts are) but you don't practice much in the way of combat nor gain any advantage over someone in your weight/strength class but with zero training, then its equivalent to dribbling a ball on a basketball course but never trying a scrimmage or playing against someone else. Maybe you like basketball a lot and like the thought of playing, but that makes you an enthusiast, not a basketball player. Likewise most people who partake in alive training don't have any desire to go pro (making them fit under the definition of hobbyist). However they train in a realistic manner because their hobby is studying a combative system which requires discomfort at times because fighting in of itself is often not a comfortable thing. Now there are other reasons for studying styles based on martial arts: Historical Exercise Spiritual/personal development However stop in a historical based MA place not really applicable to the modern world, like ARMA or old Koryu samurai arts. Very rarely will you hear these people say they are doing it for self defense. They are doing it because they want to preserve and partake in a cultural tradition. Likewise few in cardio kickboxing or taebo would say that they could take on actual kickboxers. As for spiritual advancement that is mostly a modern sell -even the Samurai honor stuff in the Book of 5 rings was written after the warring states period in Japan (during the Edo period the samurai found their class increasingly useless and 'Rings' was an attempt to create a heroic image- it's a self pat on the back for the samurai community). A lot of kung fu people either pursue it primarily for one of the reasons listed above, or for self defense without training in a manner which is likely to improve your ability if an altercation should occur. The problem then comes when at the same time almost all of those mentioned think/claim that they can perfectly well handle themselves in a fight. In fact, many times they actually look down on styles which engage in things like sparring and claim they their skills are so deadly that they could never train in an alive manner. The kung fu scene has a problem with this (although it can be found in all martial arts): schools that teach something which at best might be exercise or a cultural thing, but advertise that it will help you protect yourself; producing students who think the same thing. Had most of said places advertised as a cultural exercise or form of meditation just for fun, then I doubt that it would have such an image problem. At the same time, they probably wouldn't have as many students if they said they didn't teach a fighting method (or just for cultural reasons). People want to learn how to fight without actually fighting. I know because I've both been there and seen a lot of it. As I mentioned before, the modern CMA sanda stylists don't really relate themselves to kung fu per se.

I like them a lot more than the flaming skulls that seem to be in vogue nowadays.

No thanks.

I learned the equivalent of the "crane kick" as a yellow belt in the ATA! Jumping front kick- I learned it in TKD too. However it isn't the same as the crane kick with the high hands. It was made up for the movie