James Bullock

4-11-07 Focused on hand conditioning.... 1500 punches on the wall bag

LOL....Feels great doesn't it....... I feel for you.... I feel the same way after doing 100 Thai round kicks on a heavy bag... The Tao is a great read, I have had mine since I was 14.....it is a little on the brittle side..lol. Try this little trick when you are working on your feints Brian.. When you throw the Jab use it to set up a lead kick, what I mean is as you throw it slide your back foot forward and you will be ready for a lead kick...if done right it will seem like your kick came out of no where.

Good luck with your test..

4-9-07 3 hours of Kenpo 4-10-07 2 hours of Grappling...focusing on positional dominance 1 hour of bag drills mixed with situational assault defenses.

I agree with Brian...4 weeks or 4 years...maybe the rest of your life...

Baguazhang or 8 trigram boxing is an amazing art. I personally have never trained in it but have seen demonstrations. I don't believe there are too many in the us that teach it. But I could be wrong.. Here are a couple of youtube vids of this style..

It isn't necessarily the quantity of hours that you train it is more the quality of the training. Practicing a punch ten times with focus on structural alignment, penetration, economy of movement, motion, and energy is much more beneficial than 10,000 sloppy punches.

Fat is a completely separate type of tissue than muscle...you can gain as much muscle as you want under fat but the only way to lose fat is to do cardio. There is no such thing as spot reduction as in I work my abs and the fat will come off of my stomach. The key to losing body fat is to burn more calories than you take in....thats it.....no pill...no secret......just burn more than you take in. Defined abs is a good goal for some....however...defined abs don't mean strong or powerful abs by any means. My opinions...

I average about 4-6 hours a day overall not including teaching and taking my own classes. I do this usually Mon - Fri...and if I feel I need extra I will workout on the weekends as well. I have been doing the above for about two years. This wasn't always the case but over the last 10 years or so I have done no less than 2 hours a day at least five days a week.

17 years so far....17 GoJu 11 JKD and JKDC 8 BJJ and less than a year in Kenpo...

I always forget too post my workout. I will try to post it more often... 4-3-07 Ground fighting and Grappling drills from 1-4pm. Kenpo training from-5:30pm-6:30pm Assisted with little dragons from 6:30-7:00pm then Kenpo Training again from 7-10pm. 4-4-07 Taught Combative Sciences from 12-7pm.

I agree with Bushidoman, I have had similar experiences and concerns in the past. Just believe in your Sensei and your self and I think everything will be fine.

Welcome to the forums Sonic!! GoJu is a wonderful style and was my first style as well. As far as waiting to train in other systems goes, I personally would wait until you have the basics down pretty good first then add other styles to your training. But the bottom line is it is totally up to you...not your instructor...not us..just you. You do what you think you must. You will be able to tell if it hinders your GoJu training.

Hey Baron, I think it is of prime importance to be able to use both leads as equally as possible. I prefer using my power side forward however I feel just as comfortable and strong using a left lead as well. Versatility (as Bushidoman said) and a adaptability are cornerstones when it comes to being an effective fighter in any arena..street or sport. I do allot of neutral stance / natural stance practice so I can equally develop both sides of the body.

I have learned just as much from my students as I have ever learned from any of my instructors. I have been humbled more than once even by the youngest and smallest students in the class.... Also the greatest teachers I have had consider themselves as students not teachers...

Hey Baron.. When I first started JKD in 1996 it screwed me up big time switching to power side forward..all except my left leg being my rear leg. For some reason I have been much more adept at kicking with my left leg than my right. And in most cases I am right legged and right handed...lol.. I also remember the first time I through a rear cross with my left....My instructor said....what was that?...made me feel wonderful.....ha...

I like to use a blend of Pilates and Yoga...it is boring...but very humbling when you are starting out because it requires a great deal of core stability and strength to do. I noticed a large increase in overall body power in my martial arts skills after including Pilates and Yoga into my training.

Very well done NightOwl... I enjoyed it very much...thank you for taking the time to share it.

Couldn't possibly agree more...very well said.

There most definitely is some great conversations within these boards. Very fruitful indeed... I am great full that I came across these forums. Very much so.

To me personally I do not see MMA as its own fighting style. MMA is a training methodology that can be employed by any and all systems. Look at Randy Couture. He is primarily from a Greco Roman Wrestling background, he adapted by adding strikes, ground defense, ground attack, and submissions. I would say his style is his way of fighting. Same goes for Vanderli Silva, Andre Arlovski...or any fighter. If they were to train you to compete you would be learning their competitive fighting style. The training methodology to prepare you for the competition is MMA....the competition is UFC, Pride, etc...The fighting style is the individuals fighting style... In the old days of the UFC their were pure stylists that fought...pure BJJ...pure boxing...pure karate etc. The evolution over the last 16-17 years has been the implementation of well roundedness to have any possibility of success in these types of competition. So to me MMA is most definitely a training methodology and not a martial art or fighting style of its own. All my opinion of course...

Great Job Amy... Congratulations....

Hey Bushidoman, That is a fantastic Idea... For the longest time I never gave any student handouts or anything and made the students do it them selves. In the last 4 months I have written manuals for each rank in my Combative Sciences system it consists of two parts: Cognitive curriculum which has survival articles, tips, principles, terminology and so on. And Tactical Curriculum which has all of the techniques and drills of that particular phase. It has helped my retention and improved the students motivation and skills by a great deal. The phase 1 manual is roughly a hundred pages and I also include a place to keep their own practice sessions and personal notes in the back.

Very true Baron....lol

I agree with the others...keep pluggin at it and you will be a yellow belt in no time. It is good that you know what you need to work on. Keep us posted...