DWx

This is a great article Brian, I'm going to save it to read again later I'm fortunate to have never been involved in a physical altercation as have managed to avoid and deescalate so far. But I always wonder how I'd react if my back was really to the wall.

I think this especially holds true. I'm a firm believer in that if a student wishes to, they should be encouraged to try things. No style (including the style I study) is perfect and students should be able to go away and find other things to fill the gaps. It's also good for them to be able to compare the style and the instructor to others. They'll always be an integral part of martial arts... but politics and money do seem to spoil things too often.

Great article Greg. I especially like the SMART acronym.. would certainly help focus lessons and training goals.

Apart from the general meals/nights out together we do "team challenges" every 6 months or so (alternate with a sister school over in Wales). Typically these are a whole weekend affair with about 30 - 40 of us camping somewhere or staying in like a lodge house or something. Apart from a bit of training over the weekend like runs and things we always try to do something fun (and physical). In the past we've done paintball, army assault courses, surfing, Go Ape treetop challenge, sand dune running up Merthyr Mawr... I've suggested this as our next challenge

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. Following on from my previous article on sparring ("Sparring: The Basics"), I wanted to cover some more advanced sparring drills and concepts for developing sparring beyond the individual techniques. Specifically, I wanted to talk about footwork. Again, I'll state that this is primarily aimed at continuous point sparring, but can be modified to apply to other sparring models. Footwork and Positioning In the "Development" section of my previous article, I talked about taking the time to teach your students how to move. Footwork and positioning is of utmost importance - if you're not in the right place at the right time, nothing else matters. A stationary target is also much easier to hit than a moving one, so keep moving! If you're main style is a kicking art, as mine is, it's even more important to organise your feet so that you can lift your legs and kick yet still maintain balance. Although with enough experience and sparring time they can work out their own methods of covering distance and moving, giving your students some basic concepts to work with will give them a head start, and they can learn how to adapt it their own particular style. As a starting point, you only need some basic ways to move forward and backwards, and to move off the centre line. You should be able to cover distance when on the offense, and when moving defensively. But sparring is not just back and forth. Moving off to the side and circling round is very important. Not only does it open up more targets, and provide more opportunities, but if you're in an enclosed space or in a competition ring, you'll run out of room rapidly. So how would I teach you to move? Well, we primarily fight from a half-facing stance called an L-Stance (Niunja Sogi) which is probably most similar to a karate back stance (Kokutsu Daichi). The knees are softened and bent, weight mostly on the balls of the feet (weight onto the full foot when landing a strike), and the weight spilt somewhere between 50-50 or 40% on the front leg, 60% on the back. On-the-spot switch: While not overly useful by itself, learning to switch on-the-spot will teach students to switch the stance with the hips and not the legs. This then leads on into switching to gain distance and switch kicking. There is not much to describe but essentially, it's all in the hips. All you're doing is swapping the positions of the feet but it must be the hips that initiate and drive the movement. The hips go first and then the legs and torso follow afterwards, kind of like a coil unwinding. You must swap the arms every time the lead leg changes so that you're still guarding. Markings on the floor are a good visual aid to help make sure you don't creep too far forward or too far backwards. Once you've gotten the movement down, you're ready to move on to... The switch in/switch out: Same action but now we're gaining a stance length in distance. The switch in/out is one of the fastest ways to quickly move in and out and can easily be combined with attack and defense movements. It's basically like stepping forwards with the rear leg (or backwards with the front leg) except that the hips drive the movement. Especially useful when wanting to move away from an incoming attack, the switch out lets you create a stance's length of distance between you and your opponent. Switching in and out like this also has the added benefit (or disadvantage!) of swapping sides every time you step so if you really want to put your right foot forward for one reason or another, switch the legs in or out to quickly swap stance. When switching forwards (or in), the front foot stays where it is and only the rear leg moves. The back leg assists in getting you moving with a slight push but then the hips propel it forward to get the legs to swap quickly. When switching backwards (or out), the opposite is true. A slight push off of the front leg then the hips pull the leg to the back. Practice switching in and then pushing off the front foot to reverse the motion and switch back out quickly before switching in again. As I said earlier, floor markings are a great help to see where you're placing your feet each time. The crossover/foot-to-foot: The clues are in the name really. To go forwards, the back foot comes next to or crosses over the front foot, then you move the front foot out. You only cover the same amount of distance as a switch movement but you have the benefit of remaining on the same side. The movement can easily be adjusted mid way through so that the back leg steps in and then the front leg is used to throw a side kick or front (pushing) kick, too. Again practice going forwards and then going backwards straight away to get the legs flowing. You may be wondering if you should cross the feet in front or behind? Depends really. Because of where the feet start, it's much easier and quicker to just cross in front and if you're pairing this action with a front leg roundhouse then it's fine. Meanwhile, it's a bit more difficult to cross in front if you're intending to pick the leg up to do a side kick because the action means you might get a bit tangled. Best to just play around with it by yourself. Push step: Shift the weight onto the back leg and then push forward and move the front foot so you're almost lunging. Then bring the back leg in underneath the body to form your stance again. This doesn't move you very far but all your weight is going forward so combine with a lead leg kick or punch. Shifting: You won't cover that much distance when shifting but it is useful when you only want to move slightly back or forward. Ensure that the feet do not come off the ground. You're not a rabbit so there's no need to jump! If you want to shift backwards, load up the front leg and use that to push back - push with the back leg to go forwards. Push-off to the open side: So for example, your left leg is leading and you want to move to your right. This is a similar pushing action to the shift except now we're going to move the back around as we do this. As you load the front leg, the back leg moves over 45 degrees to the open side - then you shift. This is great if your opponent has really committed to coming forward at you as they should fly past. It is essential though that you practice this then combine it with the forward movements (like crossover and switch stepping), and attacking techniques as if your opponent is unbalanced after you evaded their attack. Now is a great time to go in and score some shots on them. Switch to the back side: Your left leg is forward and you want to go left? Well the switch out movement described earlier can be modified slightly to get you going off to that side. Switch out but only bring the leg partway through the 180 degrees. As it goes to land, push with the front leg and shift back that way. It takes a while to get that movement smooth but you're moving a stance back and off to the side in one movement. For tournament sparring where techniques can't score to the back, you've now swapped your stance so the open face is now away from their incoming attack. Being comfortable with footwork comes from lots and lots and lots of practice. First, just practice chaining together all of these different ways of stepping. So crossover forwards, then switch out, then push-off to your open side, etc. After that, start putting techniques in. Crossover forward and side kick, off to the open side and follow through with punches, etc. Practice footwork shadowboxing and practice on floors with markings so you can see just how you are moving. Drills Footwork drills can serve as a good warm-up and precursor to sparring practice. I briefly mentioned it in my previous article, but an excellent practice is to have students pair up with one assuming the role of the "attacker." The attacker then uses the footwork that they've learnt and the "defender" has to do the opposite to stay within range, or just out of it. So if the attacker takes a step forward, the defender must take a step back. Combine this with a game of tag (attacker has to tag the defender whilst the defender can move and block/parry), and it's a great opportunity to practice sparring without any kicks or punches. Multiple attacker sparring also works great to get students moving. 2-on-1 or even 3-on-1 forces the victim to move around to avoid being overwhelmed by their attackers. The key to working this as a footwork drill is to stress that the student being attacked should be concentrating on evasive manoeuvres, and on positioning themselves rather than just trying to take on the attackers. The attackers should keep the pressure on and should, if possible, try to come in from all sides so that the defender is forced to move around. The majority of students generally don't have a problem going forwards or backwards but off to the side. Backpedalling when under attack is a common problem and can be addressed by placing the student directly in front of a wall. For most, their natural response when faced with something coming at them is to "get the hell away from it!," and this invariably means running backwards from it. The problem with this is that you're always retreating, and you'll eventually hit something that stops you from going back further; be it a wall or fence or edge of the ring. Stick a brick wall directly behind them and have a basic drill which means that they have got to learn to use footwork to come off to the side. With kids, a simple enough drill is to assign different methods of stepping to numbers. When I shout "one!" they have to shift forward. A shout of "two!" means they should shift backwards. It gets them thinking a bit more, and makes it more engaging for them. You can even do it so that whoever gets it wrong has to sit out until you're left with one winner. Another great game for kids is a modified dodgeball. Throw the balls at them but require that they use their footwork to get out of the way. There are loads more drills you can do but basically anything that gets the repetitions in will suffice, and then you can move on to combining kicks and strikes with the stepping and moving. A Brief Word About Range Hand-in-hand with footwork is range so an article about footwork would be incomplete without it. Knowing your own range and how far your techniques can reach is important. Personally, I like to think of my opponent standing in the centre of concentric circles, like a target. The outermost layer is how close I have to be standing to reach with all of my long-range techniques (e.g. side kicks, roundhouses). In a layer is the shorter range kicks (e.g. front kicks). In again is long range hands (e.g. some punches and strikes). Finally the close-quarter techniques. You need to use range to your advantage, and you need to use your footwork to get you into (or out of) range. Assuming the same abilities, when you're equally matched in height and reach by your opponent you can fight from anywhere. If you're smaller or bigger how you manage your range will dictate how the fight goes. Obviously the taller you are the more reach you have so you can fight further away. It makes sense to keep your opponent within range for you but so that they cannot reach you. If you're sparring someone taller than you, then you've got the harder job but you have to get within range without getting hit on the way in. In both cases, footwork is crucial so practice, practice, practice!

I usually do 4 days a week in the dojang. On those days the only training I will really do at home is just a bit of stretching and maybe light running through of techniques. I then try to get in 2 days at the gym and save the extra day as a rest day. Really need to sort a proper programme out for the gym though as I tend to just alternate between a cardio day (pool or maybe rowing/bikes/eliptical) and a strength day (either upper or lower body). I'm sure I'd see better gains, especially on the strength, if I had a better schedule. Unfortunately I also travel for work and stay away from home a lot too. On the nights when the hotel doesn't have a gym, I have to try to do bodyweight exercises and/or run through techniques in my room.

Good luck Do you know what the test will entail?

I dunno... you might not need an attorney. We've organised competitions in the past (semi-contact based) and not bothered. Had KO's and broken ribs etc. But then again I think here in the UK we don't have the same kind of culture where we sue for things. I think the key is reasonable provision to protect the competitors from injury. So a good clear ruleset that is enforced, waivers that everyone signs, mats if the floor is hard, first aiders / medics on standby and mandatory equipment and equipment checks prior to being allowed to compete.

Take a look at the new electronic gear from KP&P: http://www.kpnp.net/?p=7152&lang=en http://en.mastaekwondo.com/2014/04/adidas-kp-p-launches-new-electronic-headgear/ If you watch the videos they show the differences between the Daedo PSS and the KP&P systems.

I agree with that to an extent... but just because we did something a while ago and got on OK doesn't mean we can't be better informed and get on better. Case in point look at today's athletes compared to those from a few decades ago. They are in much better shape and train and eat much smarter because they (and their trainers) understand more. Result is they're getting faster and stronger and breaking more records.

Great post Bob - nice to see your insight. Ps have you ever thought about a blog?

If it were me, I would err on the side of caution and pick a ruleset that you know if OK under your country's laws and then tweak it slightly if necessary. So if you know IKF semicontact rules are fine, for the sake of simplicity run with that. If you're going to do it like a fight night or something you may need an event license of some sort. Most important things will be getting an insurer on board. And get yourself some umpires / referees that know your rules and will enforce them. Good luck

You'd be amazed what contains animal product or where a lot of ingredients are sourced. For example, take a look at what they coat food in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_coating#Coating_ingredients - Shellac (from insect secretions), beeswax, gelatine & starches, fats etc. all from animal sources. Many vegetarian foods are still glazed in beeswaxes etc. (e.g. Haribo Funny Mix) so aren't entirely suitable for Vegans even though they don't contain gelatine. Or take something a look at this list: http://www.veggieglobal.com/nutrition/non-vegetarian-food-additives-no-e.htm Even if you aren't eating it chances are you will own at least one product that contains one of those chemicals. Carbon black for example is the black pigment in most things: coatings (inks, paints..), plastics, rubbers (tires, belts, hoses..), for conductive / antistatic applications like adhesives, coatings, plastics etc. etc. I digress... I would take that list with a pinch of salt though as I'm a little skeptical. In most cases I would say a lot of those products would be rarely produced via the traditional animal methods and more likely by a commercial synthetic process. Also, for the carbon black I mentioned above, as a food additive / cosmetic ingredient it is derived from plant matter and given the E number E153 so can be consumed by vegans, vegetarians etc.

That is an interesting scenario to say the least. Is the consensus here that if both fighters were to continue, Pantangco would have hit hard and beat his opponent up? Why could he not have moderated himself and racked up some points or submitted his opponent to win without seriously hurting him? As I said in my previous comment. This was an amateur fight. Both fighters were there for some experience and a bit of fun. Maybe I'm a cynic but I don't find it honourable for Rasner to have had his fight finished early - Patangco doesn't know that Rasner wasn't going to come out fighting in the second round. I think maybe I'd agree with this.

Welcome to the forums Balder

It's hard with these types of posts for any of us to say what happened... we weren't there. However from what you are saying, I would agree that her groin shot was probably accidental and made light contact? As she too is effectively a beginner this seems pretty likely to me and it doesn't exactly take much to cause someone pain in that area. I also agree that it was wrong to knee her in the ribs. An eye for an eye doesn't really work in the dojo. Again without knowing much about your sensei it's hard to say, but if he told you to seriously get her back, that's IMHO a bad school and a bad teacher. If it was a lighthearted comment in jest, you shouldn't have attacked her. That's my 2 cents anyway.

Not done one of the Mudders but we as a club have done a couple of our local Wolf Runs: http://www.thewolfrun.com/ Loads of fun and a great team building exercise - last time we had 20 of us do it. Make sure you do a load of climbing related training! Pull ups and grip strength etc. And be prepared to get really wet and really cold! Try dousing yourself with the hose and then go running

The lesser ability* always controls the contact level. *note that I didn't say grade Not everyone wants to fight hard all the time. Not everyone's bodies allow them to fight hard. Without being there it's hard for us all to comment however I would tend to agree with Rateh's suggestion: There could be a myriad of reasons why she opts not to fight hard and for some 50+ students, especially women, their bodies may not allow them to take a beating as frequently as they would have done when younger. You don't know why she wants to go a bit lighter but your son should learn to tone it back a little if he was striking hard enough to make her uncomfortable. He can go hard with other training partners but it's unfair to hit someone harder than they are willing for you to. I also don't think he should purposely avoid sparring her either. He needs to learn how to moderate his contact levels for different partners. Besides, sparring someone of lesser ability it's a perfect time to practice techniques or tactics you wouldn't normally use as it's a lower risk environment. It'll improve his sparring all round.

^Well it's to make sure that competitors are on an even playing field. We have 3 forms per dan level and blackbelt competitors have to choose one as their optional form. It's not as fair if two 3rd dans compete against each other and one performs a 3rd kup form and the other a more difficult 3rd dan form. The designated form that the judges choose can be any one from 10th kup through to their current grade so competitors have to be good at all forms and not just their chosen one. It's usually the designated form which ends up deciding which person wins / loses.

We have two competitors up side by side and use the flag system. They perform a form of their choice from their current grade (or they can choose one below if they are a colour belt) and also have to perform any form up to and including those at their grade as chosen by the head referee. Then they are marked on both of these by 5 referees. Marked on a scoring system for each forms: out of 10 points for technical accuracy 6 for rhythm 6 for breathing 6 for balance 6 for power Whoever you've given the most points to across both optional and designated forms you should indicate as your winner.

The breathing? Yes in ITF we are supposed to sharply exhale on every technique with a couple of exceptions. To grip the core. The started getting louder and louder because of people wanting to emphasize it at tournaments but more recently it's been going back the other way to more subtle exhaled. You can now get penalized in tournaments if you over do it. It's worth bearing in mind that that video is an exaggeration of what most people do. It's from a seminar where he was demonstrating all the patterns.

What about Tony Jaa's films? Ignoring the bits of acrobatics in the chase scenes, how close is Ong Bak to actually Muay Thai? Or a bit left field, the choreography of the Dark Knight Trilogy was done by a couple of Keysi Fighting Method guys. Batman's gadgets aside apparently it's supposed to be a reasonable depiction of the style: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/christian_bale_trainer_interview.htm Not sure how the morals or theory stack up (not even sure what they are in KFM) but the fighting certainly seems close.

Congratulations

Without knowing too much about WMA that's what I thought. There's got to be a proportion of fighters who died from blood loss or complications from blows which didn't damage the skeleton. I'd be interested if you've got any sources to Asian battlefields. Or some of the other great armies like Romans or the Mongols. I would imagine different weapons would naturally result in slightly different patterns of injury.

Great advice so far. Only thing I would add is choose the correct angle for your kick. Until you can pull your toes back all the way, kick targets at a 45° to you and not straight in front or directly to the side. This makes it easier to impact with the ball of the foot and not the toes.