JerryLove

If you keep the relaxation and fluidity from dance, it should improve your Karate.

Your question does not actually interact with my statement. If dolphins are so smart, how come the live in igloos? Is there a topic-related question in there? No, you remain wrong because your statement is untrue. Any valid argument which conflicts with reality must be based on false presuppositoin. Your conclusions are not in sync with emperically observed reality and are therefore erronious, no matter their support. A lack of flexability will hinder speed, but the axiom that musles slow you down is a false one. Ever look at a gymnast? A boxer? If you root, you hit harder. This is observable fact. Cloak it in whatever logic you desire; use whatever explanation you enjoy; it remans true. I suppose there comes a point where one cannot learn to "root more"; but I can only think of a couple of people in my experience near there... then we start talking about how breathing better improves your hit.

That sounds like a theory to me. You previously said: You said this as part of your argument that withdrawing was superior to not withdrawing; and as such, your clear inference is that you would not get such a result from withdrawing your hit. Now you contradict that inference by saying you will always get that result. Since the standard is somewhat subjective (in a legalist sense the two positions are not interactive with one another), I will not attempt to impose a definition; but I would insist that you be consistant with yours. Biomechanics is not Newtonian physics. Emperical data disagrees with you. Not only in personal experience trying variations on hitting, but in other even more tested fields such as golf and baseball. Ever play golf? A lot of work goes into how you follow through after hitting.

Lift-kick straight up the middle.

Depents entirely on the type of hit, the quality of the hit, and the relative positions. If you are talking about a Xingyi hit, for example, the power will be dropped back into the ground; Systema, on the other hand, avoides it because it uses dead weight and lets the recoil travel out the elbow instead of back to the body. In fact, I would argue tha it's not the act of withdrawing that makes any difference, rather it's the inherent changes yo uwill make in how you deliver the hit based on your intent to "bounce"... It's essentially a mental shortcut for you to change your style of power. I don't agree that your data properly formes a theory. You could achieve the same result (no feedback) by hitting the board more lightly, or not trying to penitrate, or simply not swinging at all. Not in my experience. I love hitting people but dislike hitting bags. At least fist-to flesh... are you perhaps using gloves/padding? I've done that many times with many different types of strikes. Other than some of the very esoteric energy hits, the most debilitating I've felt were rooting while dropping weight... though I'm afraid to take even a light Xingyi strike without quite a bit of kick-bag in front of me (as I've felt a good one through two of them and don't want to repeat that).

You are emperically incorrect, and quite frankly I don't care wheather I disappoint you are not, learn to live with it. We've told you what works, we've given you some idea of why, we've pointed out that it can easily be demonstrated and taught. You are essentily trying to prove why the sky isn't blue when we know it is, so no matter your support you remain wrong. Get over yourself and try it.

While this is an effective hit, it is erronious to claim that it's more powerful than hitting through and not bouncing. Energy has already been transferred at the time you withdraw, it's like backing up your car after an accident.

Make esure you have a backup plan

To avoid the risk of an argument of symantics, I'll reiterate the gist. Rooting makes you hit harder. The general mechanism is similar to why you can push harder when rooted, a hit being fundamentally an explosive push. In addition to everything else, this is emperically demonstrateable. If you have a way in which you know how to root try it. Hit someone unrooted and then root and do the same thing. If you are having trouble, I'd recommend finding a neijia school and having them show you how to root, but you don't need to do it very well to feel the change.

Science is a method, not an authority you can appeal to. Also, you are taking a well known piece of physics and extrapolating far beyond its actual information. The amount of force transmitted between Newtonian pointal masses (here's a hint, you are not a pointal mass) is related to the amount of time the transferrcance of inertia takes; but that's where rigidity is not factored, the objects are impacting masses in free-float, and where inirtial difference (the only cause of force) is fixed. Imagine your opponent is a board with a pillow on it. You want to break the board. Will swinging as hard as you can and stopping your fist right after you make contact with the pillow work? So try it. Have someone hit you each way and see which hurts more. If you want to damage a human being, you are going to need to penitrate. You can bounce your movement, but you will need to go farther than "one inch" before you do or all you will do is sting.

There is no other way to prove anyhthing... unless you are simply saying "we can't prove everything".

Did you ever push a car? Can you push the car with your weight above it (the way you might push a grocery cart) or do you need to get your weight under it and push with your legs? That's the rooted push, that's how some pushands people I know practice, that's how root=power. There's no one answer to that, and I don't have a vocabulary to explain much of it... the same thing that makes rooted have more power (drawing power from the ground) gives the rooted person more iron (rooting power into the ground)... but that's not the whole of it. Grab somone with good rooting skills... have them stand up high and just drop a moderate punch on their chest. Then have them really root down and repeat... feel the difference.

That's an entirely different question. There you are asking "which one builds better weightlifting ability, weightlifting or stance training". Your statement was that stance training does not build strength. You need to take someone not doing it, check their strength (squat weight if you like), then have them do it and see if it improves... unless they are already doing some other leg-strength training, it will. And without increasing resistance, his strength will not go up *as much* as it will with weightlifting. But people who do pushups are stronger than people who sit on the couch... even if the person on the couch is trong enough to do a pushup. Feel a leatherworkers handshake, feel a runner's kick, feel a sewer's finger strength. These come from repetitive muscle use, not severe muscle use.

Why doe Xingyi do that? Becuase of the power, stability, and iron-body effects of it. Tension is, to make a generalization, bad. You would do far better to generate power by keeping your body relaxed... and you are much harder to hurt then as well.

Obviously fights start in what ever stance the two peope are in at the time.... so I am confused as to your point. These both seem like reasonable uses for stance training, but they are not the only ones. So? Learn to drop your center of gravity while being upright. It's work but not unaccomplishable That's not true. That's like saying that weightlifting doesn't build strength.

Many people take MA as self defense, and it would be silly to take a less successful method of self defense to defend yorself. Would you want to start an inferior training regimine for body building? Would you want to take the 3rd best chemotherepy regimine for your cancer? I think not. And anyone who thinks they are invincable is not in a realistic art... but I think you are propping up a straw-man there. ...for you. For others, those are not the reasons.

But are they right? Boxers in particular do a great deal that is dependant upon the rules of the game. The cover their face by touching their gloves to their forehead. Glove trying to swing through glove, this works well... with a fist, it not much different gettinghit with your own than with someone else's. Also, since there's no grappling in boxing, such a static guard would allow an opponent to simply rip down your arm... and nevermind wht knives do to it. I'm not actually a fan of Karate-style blocks... but we do need to remmeber that sport arts have spent decades devising strategies to win under the given rules. The skills can apply to more general combat, but there are generally gaps. OTOH, other types of blocks are used by boxers, kickboxers, etc.

"Sayoc Kali is one of the most advanced and extreme knife fighting arts i've ecountered." Yep, that would not be an erronious intrepretation; though I would re-add the caviat that "from what I have seen of your art, and what I know of other Kali arts..."

Try http://www.clearsilat.com/silat/Articles/overview.htm A google search seems fruitful: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=silat+ireland And, of course, presuming you were on the "videos are good" portion of the video/tape debate I can hook you up with some remote learning Jerry

I don't appear to have gotten across my meaning. "ji", which means "nexus" is in the word Taijiquan (Grand Nexus boxing) "qi" (as found in qigong) is a different word, which means "breath". the "chi" in "tai-chi" is actually a completely different word then the "chi" in "chi-gong"... the two do not mean the same thing at all. I'm afraid that weather you breate is not the telling factor of an aerobic exercise: aerobics: a system of physical conditioning involving exercises (as running, walking, swimming, or calisthenics) strenuously performed so as to cause marked temporary increase in respiration and heart rate Taiji is not considered a "strenuious" exercise as performed in the park. I'm sorry I don't know any taiji people in Englad or I'd try to hook you up. I'm sure they are hiding there somewhere

I suppose you could ask the same of witchcraft or being a medium... but both are explicitly condemed in the Bible and Torah.

The diffrerence between Silat and Kali (I know I'm using general terms specifically, "my art" and "what I've seen of your art", if you prefer) generally comes down to Silat's unwillngness to stay out and fence. Since closing usually trumps fencing, the focus on fencing has been my problem with the kali arts I've seen. Keep moving into your opponent while doing that and see how it changes. But if I smother him and control the knife then I don't need to block or evade again. I can simply start chopping. Of crouse, results always vary; and I'm not picking on your art (I can understand if its read that way). The FMA are generally good knife and stick arts, and I've no doubt that yours is not an exception (unless you are teaching the flying sidekick as a response to a knife (sayocvid01.mpg)) . BTW, if you ever find yourself in FL, look me up. I'll buy you dinner and we can waste a night comparing strategies and tactics. I think it would be fun (and I've been to lazy to track down the Sayoc Kali school in Orlando).

I said I'd try to get a little knife play up for a contrast.... Done. http://www.clearsilat.com/silat/Multimedia/index.htm

"jing" is the expression of "qi". When someone expresses in an explosive or sudden manner (for example), it's "fajing" (explosive expression).

Delta, It's not quite as simple as "toes=floating, heels=rooting"; at least not in terms of how tohse words are used in CMA... oh I wish it were. I'm guessing you know that, but I need to write to the audience et'al.