TraditionalDan

Lol, yeah I wish.. It was just a score, out of a possible 9999 I think, so not too bad... I had optimised my punch for how the machine read it, not necessarily how I may punch a potential assailant. Which leaves me to add, that anything that reads power, sometimes doesn't always read the mass behind a technique. Just the speed.

I hit a 'Dragon Punch' machine in an arcade once and got over 9300, which was the best of three attempts. I think it's hard to say whether these are good measurements of a good punch though.

A good one born of much experience, is a hooking punch to the jaw, knocking an opponent out. It's qood to go for the sweet spot to rock that brain, but it needs to be a good punch. Bone on bone offers a fair bit more 'shock' to the skull than a glove.

You defend yourself by not giving him the reason to do so in the first place. Someone who is going to shoot you from that far is not after your wallet. That was only an attempt at an answer, not what I believe to be the right one. On an obvious level, you could zig zag or dive for cover. Also, if it is a high powered sniper rifle, the bullet will be travelling faster than the speed of sound, so you would not hear it before you were shot. As with many religions, and Zen, it is not the physical and obvious that bears the message. It may take some reading into tho get the right answer, after all, the answer is only what the message bearer wishes you to hear.

As a practitioner of karate for 11 years, the short answer to your question is yes, it will definately help in the areas mentioned.

I'm with cross on this one, bending the knees can be done very quickly, and if it is self defence, the technique and speed are likely to be slow anyway. Although not always. I would just like to throw in there, that whenever I have defended against an attack against the groin, it has been very quickly. It seems that with some training, it is quite an easy place to defend (in the above mentioned ways).

I think any martial artist becomes more and more open as they begin to gain proficiency and experience. I am a karate practitioner, and not only do I train and take in information from all styles of karate. But all martial arts/disciplines. Especially when many styles have techniques you may not have even known of. Similar to JKD, I see myself as a martial artist as well as a karateka if you get my meaning. What I am saying is, that most arts are only as restricted in what they can do, by the practitioner, not necessarily the style. Luckily karate has quite a broad range of techniques to choose from, so you can pick out what is useful and work on that in particular. This doesn't mean that you can't branch out of your chosen discipline completely, and incorporate other techniques from other styles. I must also add that MMA on its own is geared towards fighting in the ring, not 'on the street' as it were. So I believe it's outlook is different from JKD and more traditional arts. I can see why JKD has a good outlook from the offset, because it teaches you the right mindset immediately, rather than working it out for yourself after years of training. I do have one question, does JKD use quite alot of wing chun or other style more so in particular? Thanks.

Thanks everyone. My main concern was how different people do the jump, some of that was very useful and interesting. I will ask my sensei about this tonight, as I feel comfortable with the rest of the kata.

I am just wondering how people perform the jump in Heian Godan? I am looking into the details of this jump, so any information whatsoever would be helpful. Thanks.

Funnily enough 'Perserverance' is the name of my village in Travian! (Google it). But it is a good word, and an essential quality for martial artists.

I think we may have more in common than what first appears!

For some maybe, but not for me. (You never give up do you?!)

Shotokan is a well rounded and solid style. It's really quite hard to explain in one post, all I can suggest is to look online and research. But most importantly, find a good school! Also, remember that martial arts are more about the individual than the style.

Agreed.

It probably wouldn't make a significant difference, but I just don't like the idea of relying on it. I tried it on the heavy bag last night and it seems quite good, for more 'boxing style' punches. But I struggled with it on the makiwara, or for hard lunging reverse punches. I find with a punch that is designed to have a strong structure behind it (ie gyaku tsuki), the angle on my fingers that is created by holding the object, seems to redirect power by folding my wrist slightly upon impact. I suppose when you use a very powerful punch (the type you would use against a torso rather than a head), the slightest alteration of the wrist-fist connection can redistribute that power undesirably. But this is just my training, if you tailored your training to suit this kind of punch, it may prove beneficial.

I could not agree more, I personally think it is very unlikely that I would use a lighter for self defence purposes.

My fist, in my honest opinion will definately not be made tighter by grasping or squeezing a lighter (regardless of type), as I am already squeezing my fist tight anyway. The conciousness of the squeeze is not so much there for me as I have a trained fist, for an untrained individual the lighter may be of benefit. Saying that, if the lighter is stronger than your bones, why are you not just hitting the assailant with the lighter? The bones of your fists are going to be hitting the target anyway! I am not saying that it is possible to crack the skull with the hands, (although if you include the jaw as part of the skull then I suppose it is). But then, why not go for the temple or something, rather than strike a thick skull? (Unless you opt for a tetsui or other open handed technique). The main issue I had overall, was that the 'seiken' could not be formed properly with something in the hand. I know all experienced karateka would agree with this. Now, with a powerful straight to the body (not so much with a head strike), you need the structure of the hand, arm and body behind it. This is not easily done if the proximal phalanges (biggest finger bones) are not square on. Not only this, when I strike with the fist, I am looking to make contact with only the seiken, and nothing else. I want to minimize as much as possible, the surface area of my knuckles. If I wanted to do that with holding a lighter in my hand, I would have to rearrange my whole body mechanics. Besides, how many of us can honestly say they carry around a lighter for self defence purposes? All this being said, I think it is a good idea to use the lighter as a kubotan to attack vulnerable points. As I have said before, I am speaking strictly as a karateka, my posts are only my thoughts on using the method myself. I would appreciate it if any other experienced karateka can state thier opinion.

I have a few books of Master Kit's, and I must say that I have always been impressed with his explanation of shaolin kung fu. He can at times be slightly arrogant about kung fu, but you know what they say...

I have to say that yes the bones of the hand are fragile when compared to the skull for instance. But a well trained fist, (with the makiwara etc), with the structure behind it is definately not fragile! If the punch is executed correctly, it is then the skull that becomes fragile. I am really not underestimating the strength of a skull, or overestimating the strength of my fist. It is about where you strike the skull. Not only that, but holding something in your hand will not help to create the desired 'acute' angle of the seiken. Depending on what you are actually striking I think it could make quite a bit of a difference, but that is not easily measured. Of course I am talking as a karateka, and for another style the fist might not be created so. Thus not making much difference in the first place! But I just like the idea of not having to rely on a lighter, or other handheld item. In other words, to conclude, I think it is best to just train the fists as they are. As you may need to pull out a punch at an unpredictable moment.

I like the way Killer Miller put it.

I was mainly wondering about the exhaling through the nose part, I have always done it through the mouth (and will probably continue to do so). Besides, what if you have a blocked nose?

I was reading this article yesterday, and was wondering your opinion on it. http://www.theshotokanway.com/kibreathing.html

I agree, if you were trained enough a lighter could hinder rather than help.

Regardless of martial arts or religion, there are good people, and bad people. We can use martial arts (similar to religion) to better ourselves, physically and mentally. But drugging someone like that without thier consent is just plain wrong, let alone quite sad and pathetic. Anyone whos does such a thing is of very weak character, and by someone who is too weak to try to get what they want legitimately.

Experienced martial artists are much more comfortable with these situations, as well as having a lowered ego. Sometimes we forget how far we have come in our training, situations like these are good reminders.