DWx

Most of the Steam games work with an xbox controller (or other controller though most come premapped to the xbox buttons). I play GTA on pc with xbox controller. Depends what you like playing though. I play a lot of strategy type stuff which tends to be point and click with the mouse and keyboard.

Bob, (and anyone else in this thread), what qualifies someone to be a Chief Instructor? What minimum requirements do you have?

Why have ranks above shodan if everything you need to know is at black belt? According to the Rener Gracie interview, Cottrell has continued to train with the Gracie's in Torrance including for recertification as an instructor. In any case blue belt in BJJ is probably more in line with what we'd expect from a blackbelt in a lot of other styles. A good knowledge of the basics and roughly 3 years of learning. As to what he's teaching, from the Rener Gracie interview: Gracie Combatives is a series of 36 techniques focused on self defense and the Gracie Bullyproof is 33 basic self defense techniques combined with "Verbal Assertiveness Training". He must have some business acumen already, as the requirements to be a Certified Gracie Centre require you to have a space for at least 1000 sq foot, sort out the necessary insurance etc. and there are ongoing requirements for quality control. https://www.gracieuniversity.com/Instructor.aspx

That's the point I was trying to make but expressed much better

I don't see the blue belt as a problem. It's not that uncommon to have blue belts in BJJ teaching and sometimes running their own schools. More common a few years ago when there weren't so many high ranks around but blue belt in BJJ is a much bigger deal than an 8th kyu in Karate or similar. My point wasn't to do with what he's teaching, it's how he already has experience controlling a class and conveying information in a way students can understand. A Chemistry teacher would have no problem covering a physics class and would most likely have no problem teaching a particular topic if they've had time to refresh the material beforehand. Here's Rener Gracie's response to it all: https://www.jiujitsutimes.com/affiliation-vs-certification-how-a-16-year-old-blue-belt-can-teach-jiu-jitsu/ If Rener and Ryon Gracie are happy with this guy running a school in their style and under their certification then good luck to him. This kid is not claiming to be anything he hasn't been certified to be.

Believe me, your question isn't the first one I've received. Greg, our Kancho, asked that very same thing you just did of me. I understand the question, and I respect the question, from you, Greg, and anyone else who's asked. Why do I need a 500 pound bag for? Fair question! I need a bag of that magnitude to challenge me, and to satisfy me across the board. Sure, I've normal bags of all types, and I train with them equally in their context as well as in their content. The one thing that I understand are needs and wants; separate elements. I don't want the bag to fill some ego fueled desire, but I do need the bag to challenge me in every possible part of my MA training. That 500 bag will eventually surrender its fight to me; just like the ones before it has!! The 500 pound bag is 6' tall and 26" wide!! The many attributes that regular bags provide, the 500 pound bag adds the exclamation point to any reason(s) that one might have. Bags satisfy the need of contact; proportional penetration must be achieved. Bags will quickly reveal incorrect technique(s); injuries of various degrees are the results of incorrect technique(s), therefore, bags will develop correct technique(s). Bags will develop power and speed; these are the bottom lines of training with any bag. Over time, I've earned the respect from those MAists both in and out of the Shindokan circles that I've had the pleasure of training with concerning my power and speed. I say what I'm about to say not to brag and/or show off...I hit like a mule...and I've some uncanny speed. I can destroy a regular bag quite quickly. I can swing the heaviest bag and stop it dead in its track. I can cause a regular bag to nearly touch the ceiling with my kicks. I can fold a regular bag at will, and a regular bag also includes Biltuff's 350 pound bag. Bottom line...regular bags no longer satisfy and/or challenge my training needs; not anymore!! This 500 pound bag, for the moment, satisfies all of my training needs. If the MAists goal is to increase ones MA betterment, and I'm no different, than this 500 pound behemoth will help me become better. Better power...better speed...better proportional penetration...better technique understanding; these are important qualities I want to take to the next level. In time, that 500 pound bag won't satisfy and/or challenge my training needs anymore, and that time will happen, and when that time comes, I'll only have one thing to do... Buy the 1,000 pound bag, and OKFighters makes them as well!! Fair enough. Though what's it filled with? Could always take a regular bag and fill it with a concrete core j/k but in all seriousness surely there's got to be a way to make a regular bag heavier and denser.

Welcome Titanium

How many of you guys have either met or studied under this guy in person? Personally I think it is all too easy to pass judgement on someone from a short article. For starters, from the article, this is not his first martial art nor his first time teaching a martial art. If he passed the Gracie Academy Instructor Certification Program he passed the program so he gets to call himself a Gracie certified instructor. I presume there was a test involved or some sort of criteria? Likewise he earned the blue belt from somewhere so he must have some level of skill. I'd agree he probably has help from his parents or someone else for the business side of running a school but there are plenty of entrepreneurial kids who make their first million by the time they are 18 having set up businesses in their teens. How do you know he isn't of that mindset? His website certainly looks professional, and if this extends to the way he runs his academy, then good for him. For all we know he could be a great technician and an equally great teacher. I've probably said similar on all the "teenage blackbelt" discussions but personally I think if you go through life dismissing people simply because of their age you're potentially missing out on a lot. Like the article says, Helio Gracie was teaching at 16. Here's a question for some of the long time members of the forum: 8 years ago I was kindly invited to join the staff at KarateForums. I was 16. Patrick then invited me to become a KF sensei just after I turned 17. How many of you could honestly tell? Did it make a difference to my contributions?

Here's a few more: https://goo.gl/photos/fgYSDhbtMqdeRcL27 It's pretty nice. Top floor of an old hosiery factory opposite the entrance to one of the major supermarkets in town. My dad is an architect and actually helped with some of the design; we have a small waiting area, changing rooms and toilets, kitchen and office area at the back. Most of the equipment we've built up over time and all the bags were donated. Edit: fixed the link

This is ours: https://goo.gl/photos/vGWZKPjE3AioCzEU7 Spent over 10 years training out of school halls and community centres. Now have a fully matted centre. We've got 3 heavy bags set up. Loads of kick shields, thai pads and focus mitts and holder stand for breaking materials. Plus all the extra bits like skipping ropes, medicine balls, and dumbells / kettle bells. As to the use of the heavy bag in class, we mostly use it in free time before and after to do what we want. Or if there is an odd number during partner work, we rotate who's working combos on the bag.

Excuse my ignorance Bob, but what do you need a 500 lb bag for? That thing must be huge. I thought the point of bags were that they were roughly the width of a person?

Bit late to the party but I've got a bag that's shaped a bit like the body one for uppercuts etc. (Not an Outslayer bag though). It's OK and I do use it for elbows and uppercuts. Depending on the height it's set at I can use it for knees too. That said, these things don't form a massive part of my training so I could have done with out it and sometimes I feel I would have been better off with a Muay Thai type bag.

I think your teacher is right in that it sounds as though you aren't breathing deep enough. You could try just sitting and concentrating on your breathing, trying to breathe from your abdomen and make your stomach expand on each breath in. Or there are plenty of exercises for breathing you could do. Look on Youtube for exercises that singers and musicians use to engage the diaphragm properly:

Well the point of the story is that it is ignorant to think you know it all and that true wisdom is to know that there are so many more things in the world for you to learn.

Breaks or fracture's don't necessarily need to swell to be present. Go to the Doc's if there's any doubt. Can always check yourself with the Ottawa Ankle Rules: This is what the doctor would do to assess whether to send you for X-ray or not.

Thanks, Bulltahr, for the info; I'll check it out, for sure!! It's great if you like to play games on your PC Bob. Wait for the sales to buy games as most get discounted by 75% if not more. Games are also tied to your account so you can play them on any pc or laptop as long as you log in.

I normally play all the strategy type games like Civilization and Total War. Mine is: danniwx

Yep and the only way to really know is to drill lots of scenarios over and over again until it becomes natural.

From the story of Socrates and The Oracle of Delphi: "I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing."

The choice of tool and technique should be down to angle, distance and available targets. So in your example: It would come down to what's an available target (throat v neck), what position you are starting from and where are your arms already, what position do you want to finish in, and of course personal preference.

I'm assuming we are we talking about modern Soo Bahk Do and not ancient Subak? In short I think the answer is yes though I would say all Soo Bahk Do is Tang Soo Do but not all Tang Soo Do is Soo Bahk Do as Tang Soo Do as we know it was developed from Hwang Kee's Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan. There are guys on the forum more knowledgeable than me on this and someone like Luther_Unleashed could offer better insight.

Kyu and Dan ranks were first used in the Chinese board game Go as far back as the 2nd century. Kano them borrowed from this system for Judo belts. Belt rankings aren't exclusively for martial arts, a few Japanese and Chinese games use it and it even gets used in the world of business in Six Sigma training: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma

Thanks for the video Luther! Very informative. Have you spent time studying in each style or are you predominantly Soo Bak Do or Moo Duk Kwan? Really interesting in the way you throw the hips in the different styles and how this is different again from TKD. For example with the front kick, if kicking with a right leg front kick, I (in ITF) would drive the right hip forward with the leg.

Is this stuff not covered over the course of normal BJJ training anyway? Surely you should be aware of the difference between a blood choke and air choke if you've trained to a high level.

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