larryjf

I would have to say that people fight because they are not perfected in love. And, i will stop there or this may turn from a karate discussion and into a religious one.

There are many different way to take down. But, what I was talking about was really to kick out the back of the knee for the takedown. So, if the were giving a lead kick, you would wait until that leg hits the ground, otherwise you don't have the back of the knee to kick out. But, yes you could just tackle him, or you could grab his leg and lock it down and keep him in a leg bar.

Wing Chun

You can try this link, but I don't know how good it is... http://www.karatetournaments.com/

Books and videos can help. The only problem is that there is no one telling you if you are doing something wrong. If you are going to learn from video or book you may want to find someone to send a video tape to so that they can critique you and tell you how you are doing. If you want, I would be able to do that (up to 1st dan) for Shotokan Karate. But, you would have to contact me so I could tell you which books or videos to learn from and give you my information. I would not charge you anything, you would just have to send me the tape at your own expense.

my students wear white and i wear black. to me black is better because it doesn't get dirty as easily. i do think it is important for students to wear the same color gi's - at least for the same levels.

I had to do... every kata from white belt to black (11 katas) every kumite and combination set (6 kumite's and 3 combination sets) drills (including combinations and double/spinning type kicks) the test took an hour.

If you wait of you opponent to attack, you can do things depending on the attack. For instance, if he punches you - move out(left/right) and towards(forward) his lead leg, then you can kick behind his knee and get a choke hold from behind him and finish taking him down. if he kicks you - move out(left/right) and wait for his leg to be planted, at that moment, you will either have a clear shot at his groin or at the back of his knee again.

That makes it pretty cool. I didn't know that he was wearing head gear.

There is more to life than the martial arts and your relationship with him should me more important. Also, the greatest act of love is self-sacrifice. I think one can learn more from practicing love than all of the martial arts combined.

You also may want to be careful about taking a punch to the jaw instead of straight on the face. It may not hurt as much, but there is more of a chance of getting knocked out from a punch to the jaw. The reason is because part of the jaw bone goes all the way up to the head, and if you're not clenching your teeth this bone can get moved and you will be directly knocked out. As long as you keep your teeth clinched you should be able to avoid this, but be careful.

I like the reverse punch and the wing chun punch. If i am doing parry/strike i will use reverse punch when i'm parrying inside and trapping the opponent, i use wing chun punch when i'm parrying outside and slapping opponent away. It seems to work well this way when at the same time you are leaning left/right from opponent strike.

Very good book. There is also a series of books called something like "Bruce Lee's Fighting Method" in volumes. And, I would highly recommend these books.

If you mean Jeet Kune Do, that is the style that Bruce Lee made. He basically took different styles and kept whatever worked, got rid of whatever didn't work. It is a reality-based style with no kata's. I'm not sure about weapons, they may do some kind of stick fighting. But, it is definitely not a traditional style. He carried over alot from wing chun. I've only learned some stuff from books and not an insrutctor. But, I've learned parry/strike techniques and it has helped me in sparring. I also like his idea of having your strong side in the lead/front position instead of the rear. He liked striking from the front because it adds speed and leaves you open in less areas when you are striking.

Here's some combos that I like... lead side kick to knee, backfist to temple, cross to face, front kick to groin, knee to face jab, cross, hook, uppercut (either uppercut or elbow works also)

In the Shotokan system that I take it goes like this... White Yellow Orange Green Blue Purple Brown Brown with stripe Red Black - Shodan

I agree completely. Especially if you are going to develop a reality-based system, you better be sure you know what you are doing. If you develop a system that has nothing to do with "real" fighting and you want to put together some katas - and, your students know that it's not for "real" fighting, then that's a different story. Of course, then you're getting away from what "martial" arts is all about. Or even some people may want to develop something just for excersize - alot of repetitive drills and stuff like that. But, you must be sure you know what you are doing if you teach "real" fighting to people.

Yes, it is appropriate to start a new martial art. Yes, it is appropriate to make a variation of an existing art. Yes, it is appropriate to make a reality-based system. I think the bottom line for all of this is that if you can't modify, create, and grow martial arts styles they will become dead. The very traditional arts may not have modern applications like a more modified style might have. For instance, in the Yoshin Ryu that I studied for a little while they practised defense against a sword. This is because traditionally the Yoshin Ryu Jujitsu was samurai hand combat. Today, I don't think many people will ever have to know those applications. And what about some respected systems now. Tae Kwon Do is a derivitave of Tang Soo Do Bruce Lee was an avid proponent of mixing different martial arts and taking what is useful to develop an individual system. And, his was Jeet Kune Do.

after looking at some of his interviews and some writings i think that he was becoming more spiritual and less physical in his ideas of what is important. I think with his amazing popularity, skill, and increased focus on the spiritual coupled with his "megalomania" type attitude (very full of himself) that he would have started a cult. I am a christian, so my idea of his spiritual concepts is that they are not of God.

i like the idea of adding the knee. thanks for the advice.

there is alot of force generated by the hips for side kicks. you would only lean back if you were kicking pretty high as to get more reach while keeping balance. i've seen alot of people only use high side kicks at the end of their combinations for this very reason - good finishing technique. but, you could kick a mid side kick without leaning backwards at all.

jab, cross, hook, front kick, roundhouse kick, side kick

sometimes i will backfist to the head and follow with a side kick to the solar pexus or stomach. I slide my back leg up with the backfist, and they usually move just out of way and raise hands for backfist - allowing me to land the kick. sometimes i prefer to draw a punch to a particular target instead of faking the opponent. This forces the opponent to attack exactly where you are expecting it.

i would probably parry the punch while punching with my other hand at the same time. Also, when i parry i generally lean out of the attacks way.

martial_artist wrote: that is quite an assumption to make that because i don't think high kicks are the most effective way to end a fight that it's because i can't kick high. i will tell you this - i have no problems kicking high and i do so in sparring matches all the time. Since you don't know me, you should just say that you disagree with me without trying to insult my skill. by the way, you don't think you are more off balance when 1 of your legs is over your head?? Anyone can tell you that you are more balanced with both feet on the ground. i wonder if the opponents you used the roundhouse to the head and "won" had less skill than you. In a real situation you usually don't know the level of skill of your opponent - and, if they are more skilled than you and faster than you, they will catch your leg and throw you. Unless of course you are the fastest and best fighter out there, then you don't have to worry about that. Most people in a fight will have there hands by the head already, and you have to move your leg to get there - that alone takes more time with the kick.