The BB of C

I see what you're saying, DWx. That's how I first teach a technique. For example, say I'm teaching a reverse roundhouse kick. The student must first be able to chamber, pivot his planted heel towards me, throw back his shoulders just right, line up his hips, extend his leg, point his toes, chamber back, pivot back and finally set back into a fighting stance. He must do this all perfectly while maintaining balance at super slow motion and hold the extension for at least ten seconds. Once he can do that consistently, then I tell him to add the strength and speed. As soon as he can do that, then he should be able to break stuff with that kick. What I'm taking way too long to say is I love learning technique at a slow pace and it has its place. But I never use even in the same zip-code of thought as breaking. Odds are, if I'm telling a student to get his form perfect and execute a technique at a snail's pace, then he's at a month away from hitting anything with that technique.

I'm not sure if you did or not, but I would have put in somewhere that the power comes with the technique and adding the power is a part of the technique. My first instructors in Kuk Sool Won saw technique and power as two separate things. I got chastised on more than one occasion for hitting a bag too hard because they wanted me to work on technique. I never quite got the hang of it but they told me once I was getting closer. By the time that happened, (example, swing kick) I had either a really fast kick that could graze or a slow kick that could knock the wavemaster over. Early on when I moved to Karate, we were doing speed drills for kicks. My instructor stopped me and said, "That's a good kick." Then he asked, "Could you break a board with it?" Then he showed me the proper way. It ended up being exactly what I was doing two years earlier at Kuk Sool Won and got penalized for. I believe that if technique and power are treated as two separate entities than will always develop one before the other and take at least twice as long to combine them. I also believe that while teaching, we should encourage the students to hit harder while maintaining form. Then add the speed to make it complete. That is how I believe the same reverse punch done in forms can be put through a brick. This, I disagree with. Boards are a good way to measure how well someone at a lower level is combining the different elements of a basic strike to make sure it is powerful. As the student progresses, so should the difficulty. Not in the number of boards, but the toughness of targets. Sparring is for practicing against things that hit back. The board does, in fact, hit back. The recoil of kinetic energy can be used to toughen the striking zones. Then our hands can be likened to hitting something with a wooden sword as opposed to hitting something with a steel rod. No added force is necessary, the tougher material alone amplifies the damage. Then, when a target breaks, repeat the process on a harder target. Perhaps I misunderstood you. But I'm also not sure how you can say your style doesn't employ this process. Your profile says Shaolin. I see people of Shaolin practicing Dim Mak, Iron Shirt and even power breaking on a regular basis.

These are some interesting points brought up here. But I feel we're missing one of the very likely possibilities. We've covered the martial artists who train to be sheepdog but become sheep. We've covered how the LEO's practice becoming sheepdog. But what happens when a martial artist or LEO becomes a wolf? I've been seeing it happen with increased frequency as of the last couple of years and wondering what to think or do about such an occasion keeps me up some nights.

I wouldn't consider it compartmentalizing. But Isshinryu is mostly based on kata. The experience I had was to learn the kata for purpose of drilling basics, footwork and building endurance. Kata was then applied using Bunkai. I learned about how different moves can be translated a dozen different ways into application of kata. Master Motobu believed there were over a hundred ways to apply Naihanchi alone. Though we didn't do this in the school where I learned Isshinryu, I believe I'd like to do this should I ever have my own school. The sparring would be based around self defense and actually applying the Bunkai to sparring. So it is all intertwined. But sometimes one or the other does need to be worked individually.

Man, you come straight out of a comic book.

Hello, everyone. It's been a long time since I posted but yet again, I could use some help. For a project in script writing class, I decided to shorten and rewrite a movie I tried to make a while ago. I'll also might be able to make this short film towards the end of my film school career. I'll have access to a lot more resources. This time, I want to revamp all of the villains to make them more individual instead of looking (basically) the same but having different personalities. So I'm going to show you their introductory descriptions. From that, tell me which name fits the character best. I've narrowed it down to three names for each. Demon of Wrath: He is a tower of a demon. His fiery, glowing eyes hide behind a hood. A short-sleeved dogi highlights his extremely broad shoulders and biceps. His hakama makes him appear to be floating over the ground. He is always dragging around a Zangetsu sword. A segmented Roman Lorica protects his stomach and shoulder. His forearms bare long, spiked bracers. Two flaps of steel hang over his thighs from a steel belt around his waist. This demon is the leader of the group simply because he’s killed everyone else who disagrees with him on that subject. Under the hood, he has dark scales on his cheekbones and chin. There are three rows of bony spikes on his head. His mouth has wolf's teeth on the inside. Names: Iratus Irascor Rabies Demon of Pride: A tall, skinny demon. His posture is straight and his arms are folded. A cocky smile on his handsome face bares jagged teeth as he looks down on everyone around him. He pulls out his sword to showoff a few fancy practice jabs. With a malicious grin and yellow eyes on his sword, he puts it back in its sheath.He wears a black, short-sleeved dogi and pants, all with red trim. He sports a shining brass chainmail under his dogi. A decorated belt and frog holds a basket-hilted claymore to his waist. His forearms glow with mirror-polished bracers with a large ruby in the middle. He is decorated head to toe. With piercings in his ears and nose, many gold chains around his neck, rings on his fingers and a large belt buckle on his waist. Even the golden basket on his sword has been coated with precious stones. Names: Fierezza Fastosus Exaltatio Demon of Lust: A small and attractive-looking female demon. She is standing in between Michael and the woman with her claws stabbed into their backs. She’ll lean to the woman and say something flirty. The woman will say it along with her. When she leans towards Michael, his retort comes from her as well. She wears tight, black leotard and dark-brown camouflage apple-bottom shorts. Lace leggings lead down into tall, leather boots that come just below the knee. Her eyes are purple. Around her neck is a thick, gold chain and her index fingers are steel claws. She is carrying a pair of sais on the back of her hips. Names: Avidita Lussuria Orexis Tell me what you think. The rough draft of the script is due on Wednesday

Leg strength, cardio, builds speed, drills basics and techniques into subconscious. If Kata is taught correctly, it will show up in the fighting style of the user. As long as it's supplemented with Kumite, Bunkai and free sparring.

For Isshinryu - I would put a higher emphasis on Sanchin, hard body conditioning and full contact sparring. I would do away with all ranks except white and black belt. For Kuk Sool Won - There would be no mention of Korean history in class. I would add randori. Small joint manipulation techniques would be done on a smaller axis. There would be an emphasis on full contact sparring. Those are the two styles I have enough experience in to make a call on what I would change.

No, this is not misplaced. I'm just not using the phrase "kicks" in the way that first comes to mind. I'm talking about shoes. Since I moved to Florida and chose to study karate on my own instead of paying for dojo lessons, I've had only one place to train - the apartment complex's tennis court. It's very hot and very spacious and the predominantly college-aged spectators play "Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting" very loudly from their balconies and scream like Bruce Lee. But I'm digressing (was in the mood for a rant). Another thing I decided to do shortly after I moved was buy some new sneakers. The pair of sneakers I had before this lasted me a year and a half. I've had these for four months and they have a hole in the bottom. Maybe because it's an inferior brand? But it also might be because of the extremely course pavement on the outdoor tennis court. Another problem I have is because of the type of traction that sneakers offer, combined with the friction of the tennis court, it makes pivoting properly for kicks extremely difficult. Then factor in exhaustion after 1 & 1/2 hours of doing this during an Orlando summer. I've pulled my hamstring a couple of times because I couldn't pivot properly. So keeping in mind the surface that I'm training on, can anyone suggest a type of shoe that will have less traction and/or not wear out as quickly? The first thing that came to my mind was a kung-fu shoe but I'm not sure.

I would do this with deception. Hopefully I can take his mind off my actual target long enough to deliver a disabling blow. A lot of styles do this with erratic movements, changing the rhythm of their attack, striking more than one target at a time or any combination of the above. From what I've heard, most people will react naturally to block an attack towards their face with preference. While they're blocking the face, full force kick to the knees and then follow it up with anything that is open. Rinse and repeat until he can't stand anymore.

Nope, my first dojo was not my best experience. While I was in there, I had fun. But in retrospect it was terrible. Very poor quality instruction and way too political. My second dojo, however, was great and I still love it there today. I've been to a lot of other martial arts schools and have yet to have a really good experience.

The Hero has enhanced strength and the ability to fly short distances. His weaknesses are getting fatigued from using his powers too much and his lack of talent in swordplay. The latter of which he compensates with Taijutsu. His enemy is an extremely is a sadistic kenjutsu genius...originally using a katana but now I'm considering changing it to a wakizashi. He uses his sword to disarm the Hero and take his sword in the same swing. Now the Hero has to use his empty handed skills against an extremely skilled opponent with two swords.

Both good suggestions. Montana, what if I were to change the katana to a wakizashi?

I'm working out the choreography for a fight scene in one of my scripts. The antagonist ends up with the protagonists weapon. He's now dual wielding a Zatoichi and a standard katana. The question is, which hand would he hold which sword in and which one would he want to use as his defense or offense?

Well then. I'm at a loss for words. May I join you in grumbling things that are not agreeable with the forum rules?