nine_weapons

In all honesty, that is a bad idea. there are lots of nuances in footowrk, grabbing, etc. when it comes to throwing and grappling in general, as you should know, since you train bjj. If you ingrain incorrect technique into your "muscle memory" it will be harder to correct. My advice would be to just wait. when you start training, they will show you. If you aren't trying to hurry and advance, then it doesn't matter how many throws there are or how long it takes to learn them, right?

stances are transitional. However, my guess is that since you are a beginner, you are only attacking using the bow and arrow stance. You mentioned the upper ranks do it as well - do they do it while drilling, or when they actually spar?

"americanization" is not something that would contribute to loss of something like iron body. General lack of knowledge is what would contribute to it. You cannot pass on what you have not been shown. That said, many chinese schools practice iron body. it seems less common in japanese schools, IME.

initially, no. these days, some schools do and some still do not. that's not ranking, that is just natural progression. how can you do an armbar from the guard if you do not even know how to apply the guard? how can you knee from the clinch if you don't know how to properly clinch? Like I said, natural progression.

not true. kung fu initially did not use belt ranks. Many schools still do not. that was something that some schools adopted from the japanese and began to integrate. And what about other styles? neither wrestling nor muay thai have belt ranks either...

I haven't read the entire thread yet, but in response to the initial post - with practice, you are able to adapt your kumikata - you can grab clothes without them tearing and perform throws, chokes, etc. gi and no gi both have their advantages, neither is better than the other.

they wear clothes. if your kumikata is good, you can perform judo techniques either with the clothes, or by grabbing limbs. Also, you can over and under hook. how long did you train judo? There are even videos (mike swain has a few) where grappling without the gi is discussed. proper set up and timing. what is flashy about a shoulder throw? a willow palm? a sunfist punch? if all you learned is flash, you may have attended a wushu school. how long have you trained these other styles?

the purpose of the elbow is not to redirect. the elbow is pointy and hard...a imagine something weak like an instep colliding with an elbow. imagine a fist colliding with an elbow... this is a tactic known as a 'destruction'. I have trained longfist and jkd. My longfist teacher also trained hung gar. This is a different topic, but kicking trees does more harm than good in the long run and is unnecessary... they don't even do that in thailand anymore, AFAIK.

there had to have been standardization to some extent - that's why there are hundreds of kung fu styles. heck, there are what, 4 major styles of taiji alone. If it was standardized, there would only be one style. but since there were deviations, other styles came about.

I am a former kung fu practitioner. the lower body should be defended by the elbows and legs. these are called bone shields. If you have to drop your hands to block something, you are leaving your upper gate wide open. in a real fight, there is no differenece in the speed of the horizontal and vertical fists, and negligible if any difference in power. If anything, the horizontal would porbably be a tad more powerful due to the extra usage of (CMA term here) coiling. Like I said, the vertical is structurally more correct for alignment reasons, which may even the power between the two types of fists. also, depending on the angle of the punch (a hook punch) the vertical is less likely to result in a broken pinky knuckle.

That I don't know... I actually didn't know about the ffc affiliation stickers. It just happened that one of our instructors is good friends with the guy. I will ask tonight though, maybe he will know something.

look at the list of event results - john shakelford is one of our guys. so is jesse ault. Mike Pyle trains with us when he is in town. Right now, he trains with couture and is the WEC champ.

FFC is freestyle fighting championship, if it is the same ffc. One of our bjj teachers is actually very good friends with the owner of the ffc.

here's a guide to the point system: http://mysite.verizon.net/resptwx6/points.htm

http://mysite.verizon.net/resptwx6/tests.htm notice that according to the requirements, you can test for 1st degree black in about 43 months, which is a little less than four years. Also notice the time increase after that. 1st degree black for one year, 2nd degree for three years, etc. black belt is just the beginning.

o goshi o soto gari ippon seionage de ashi barai hiza guruma sasae tsuri komi ashi why are you asking this here though? If you are training judo somewhere, your coach will tell you. If you aren't training judo and are planning on starting soon, then knowing will not help you advance faster, as you will still need the proper number of points.

1. IMO, having the hand over the rib is still too low. Way too low. use your hands to protect the fact. The elbows and forearms protect the body. 2. structurally, the vertical fist is correct. However, the horizontal fist s used for various reasons. - to add more snap into the punch - if you are wearing gloves, the turning motion creates friction. Friction rips skin, causing people to bleed. In the ring, bleeding can end a fight.

sure, but tkd is standardized to some extent. I can't train in judo and say I do TKD. I can't train karate and say I do TKD. as long as it is the same style of tkd, you will learn the same forms for the most part, no? the fact that mma is a sport has nothing to do with it also being its own martial art. The key factor is lack of standardization.

tkd + bjj mantis + catch muay thai + sambo shotokan + greco roman if ALL of these are considered MMA, how is it its own style?? there is no standard for it.

what do you mean by "tested"? did you spar with them?

when it comes to fighting, "too much strength" is never a problem. It is actually an advantage. you have to realize when to use your strength though. As skill levels become more equal, attributes like strength become much more important because better attributes will be where you advantage comes from. As for your sparring, Find what your weaknesses are and focus on those areas more. Fort example, when slipping was a weakness of mine. I made it a point to slip every time I sparred. I slipped more than I parried and blocked. If I got hit, so what? it was just training anyway, not a real fight. improve your weaknesses by making them a focus in your training.

I train with capoeira guys on occasion. the jenga is not a bounce. Not only that, but they do NOT do it while fighting intensely. If you watch capoerista in a joda, once they get going, they are kicking and moving. When there is a lull, or when their rhythm seems off, they return to jenga. Another note about the jenga is that (at least in this capoeira group) is that the feet remain in contact with the ground - it glides over the floor - they are not picking the the moving foot off of the floor. If you have ever seen/done kali, it is almost similar to their male "V" stepping, triangle stepping drill that they do. bouncing is more akin to a shuffle, but when you bounce, feet tend to leave the ground. Many (if not all) styles rely on connection to the ground in order to establish some sort of root to it, no? it adds power to your strikes. Also, with that lack of connection to the ground, it is easier to offbalance a person, as they have already uprooted themself.

So who is the technical authority on whether bouncing is correct?the style dictates it, so thus the founders I would imagine.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.” - ambrose redmoon

I have never said that muay thai was complete. muay thai is great for muay thai matches. For mma, it is lacking. It has stand up grappling and takedowns, but no ground grappling. consequently, the training methods don't provide for a means of ground training - a training method issue by way of the style of muay thai. If style had nothing to do with it and it was all practitioner dependent, you would have seen far more successful tma guys in mma.