ShoriKid

Bit of triva on this from an article in either Fight magazine or Tap Out. It was supposed to be "Real Heroes" when the promoter was asking the Brazilian he was working with for an idea on the name. The accent caused the slip up, but they both liked it so much it stuck. And yes, while raw, these fights are the real deal.

There are points covering vertually the entire body. Plenty of them lay exposed even when muscle is tensed and can be hit while the body is moving. Several, that in acupunture terms are stomach related, cross the line of the jaw. Just where a man would trim a nice gotee to are a points, one on each side of the jaw. At the back of the hing of the jaw, the base of the nose, just under the chin. Serveral folks have mentioned the armpit cluster. A good one lies right in the notch of the tricept and is best hit when it's flexed, it's partnered point is just a hair above the elbow and is right across bone. Think of your classic standing armbar position and there you go. Several lie around the wrist and hand and work best for restraints when you need that brief bit of distraction as your applying a movement. Most of those work from a simple grasping of the wrist and pull/twist to get fingers riding over them. My two favorights are GM points though. One is in the thihg, about where a person's finger tips reach to when their arms are at their sides. A good round house kick on a line perpendicular to the leg will make this a killer. Just hurts more than the average thigh kick. The other is at the base of the skull along each corner and is struck toward the front of the head and across. Like you were trying to drive the strike out of the oposite eye. Knife hands, hammer fists and forarm attacks work really well and produce a good stunning affect. The best thing about most of the easier points is that if you miss the activation center, which can be quite small, you still have good ol' blunt trauma on your side. And blunt trauma is like cubic inches in muscle cars, there is nothing wrong with just a little more, unless you can get a lot more.

Because we enjoy it? Because I like hte physical challenge. Because something is off in my head and I like getting tossed about and battered up side the head. Ideally, when it comes down to life or death defense of myself or my loved ones, I'll have my trusty Springfield, or even my archaic Navy revolvers, on hand. But if not, when it gets right down to brass tacks, I'd still like to have some teeth, and not go gently into the night.

I've read about 'standing stakes' before. Mostly in my readings on Tai Chi and meditative work. From what I understood, standing stakes was the first phase of training before you even got to techniques. For some reason I want to say about a year of this practice before moving onto anything different wasn't that uncommon. Again, just what I've read.

Treebranch Not heroworship for Randy, just pointing out the man is no slouch and with more than 3 decades dedicated to martial training, he understands the elements of a fight. Do I think that Randy, without really thinking about it, seems to have implimented many traditional aspects of martial arts philosophy into his life? Yes. Humble, hard working, polite, constantly seeking improvement. If a young person were looking for a pro athlete to have as a role model, you could do far worse. I, nor anyone else, has said or implied that wrestling is the best form of fighting. But, I have said it is a form of fighting. An ancient one at that, with a long history of use in combat. As do most folks who train for fighting, and actually fight. A lot of gym hangers on may not, but that is their fault more than the people who they are training with. "I was in fear for my life" Tree, I think you stole my quote from the thread where the OP was researching self defense laws. Never say what you were trying to do other than survive/get out alive. Anything past that and your doing the prossecution's job for them. If my mind were any more open, I swear it would fall right out. I'm a traditionalist in the same manner, I feel, that a lot of the pre-1920 karate men were. You learn from whoever you can learn from, including traveling to China etc. in their day. I don't place fences around styles or techniques. I'll steal shamelessly(with credit given when asked) from any style I come into contact with. Heck, I'm looking through Medieval European fighting manuels from the 1300s for knife defense work when I find the time. So, if I came off as antogonistic, I'm sorry folks. When I see the assertion that wrestling is useless in a fight, or karate, or kung-fu or about any art, I tend to defend whatever that art is. Part of being open to them is to be willing to defend them as well. Just the same with someone making the very strong statement that they could best on one of the top 10 heavy weight fighters in the world 80%. It would be no different than a mma trained person saying they could beat ANY(not the 'random' any, the all inclusive ANY) TMA guy 80% of the time. I'll speak up and put forth why I believe they should reconsider the statement. Amen sir. Best of both worlds and something I've long advocated. Refering to my post on what would you train in given the time, I'm a junkie. I'll roll with anyone. Or work whatever they'll work. And I'll throw out what I've got too if they are interested. The more open and informed everyone is, the more respectful we can be of each other's arts. That means more doors are open for more training. That just sounds like the best deal to me.

Hsing I would be very nice. Or Hun Gar. Kali/Escrima. But, I'm a junkie. I'd train in anything I get a chance.

What happened to $60 for a good Iron Man gi. Oh, wait, ten years happened. So, soft matress and a rough and tough gi. While we're talking gi purchases. I've been looking at the Gladiator single weave judo gi. The prices aren't that bad, but I'm wondering if they are a deceint product. I've had no experience with them in use, so I'm looking for a clue.

I think wrestlings agressive push for activity comes in large part from the time limit. Wrestlers are working against the clock for every point, and for the pin. Now wrestling is just as defensive as BJJ, in a different aspect. In defending against going to the ground, wrestling offers the best defense. The clinch work, sprawl work and the over all balance and sensitivity that good wrestlers develope is just amazing. BJJ has time limits in copetition, but they are much longer. And while some would say that it should lead to greater conditioning like a wrestler, the pacing is completely different. There isn't so much of a push to get things done and get on with the day. More time means things can slow down and you can play the chess game. Now is BJJ more self defense related than wrestling? Depends. A great deal of it depends on the person learning and the teaching going on. Sure, BJJ has the easiest transition for many, but if you want to look at the history of the art, BJJ comes from a sport version of a combat art. It was developed and refined in competion. It was different than the competion that built Judo, it's parent, or wrestling, but Helio was in the ring, looking at what worked. Wrestling was an art of war during the Greek period. Sure, it was part of the original Olympics. So was Pankration, discus and hammer throws. All of those were war related skills. According to Plato wrestling was an esential art for a soldier. He should know. Just like any citizen of Athens he served for 40 years as a hoplite and saw action in a few larger battles. Wrestling coaches will tell their boys to apply certain moves in a very particular manner. Otherwise they are locking a joint, or in danger of damaging someone as they crank something into place. In freestyle wrestling competition, a head lock has to have an arm in it to protect the neck. A knee has to hit down before a slam or fireman's carry type throw. A lot of protective measures are there to keep someone from being hurt who knows what's going on and is landing on mats. ying & yang, one of two things is apparent in your comments. You have either vasty over estimated your ability or vasty under estimated Randy Couture's. This is a man who, despite his age, is still able to compete with fighters half his age, and win. Shortly before his return to the UFC he faced Jacare Cavalcanti in a grappling competition. Jacare did not even attempt to take Randy down, the match ending in a tie. Jacare is a 5th degree black belt in BJJ and considered one of it's most experienced and dangerous competitors. This is just before he schooled Tim Sylvia, a man out weighing him by about 40lbs and having 5 to 6 inches in height advantages. He then went on to defeat Gabriel Gonzaga, a much younger and larger BJJ black belt. The man is a very skilled grappler and fighter, with tons of experience. Your telling everyone here you could beat this man 80% of the time?

baron, I've seen a few schools that have their contracts set up for blackbelts. The two I know of are an eighteen month agreement to hit black belt and the other a twentyfour month deal. Each has some kind of attendence policy attached as well if I recall. Now, I'm not 100% certain those places are still open though, but I knew of a couple of their students. Not bad people, but when they were freshly minted blackbelts, their skills were...not quite as good as they should have been.

Takes a lot of guts to put up a video, especially of the second round when your wind is strating to go. Thumbs up for that. Just to address two things you mentioned wanting to work on, and things I could see working for you. Your hands drop when your tired, and you wanted to keep your distance. Hands dropping when tired, go either knuckles to cheeks, or knuckles to temples. Which will depend on what the other guy is throwing and how much you want to cover up. Knuckles to cheeks, you can duck your head at on coming shots(only a bit, don't take your eyes off of him) and have your nose/jaw fairly well covered as you roll your shoulders in. From here you can still work your hands more. This works best for liniar attacks, jabs and straight shots. Knuckles to temples lets you really burry your head in your arms in a defensive shield. If a log of high kicks or hooks are coming in, you can make a slight adjustment to cover up well. Trouble is, it cuts down on your ability to rapidly fire a punch. The knuckles to "x" is just a reference point. When your tired, it's tough to keep a good stance with your hands in the right spots. So, knuckles to cheeks is must tucking the gloves in close to your face, about cheek bone level. You'll be looking right over your fingers then. You don't have to literally be touching your cheeks though. It's just one of those simple positions that seem easier to remember when you tired. Plus, the tightly craddled position takes a little less energy than the more extended way to carry the hands. Temple level the hands are higher, more to the sides of your head, with your chin tucked tight. So, your tired and want your distance, remember to do a couple of things. Move: Move in anything other than a straight line back. Backpeddle and your going to get caught. One step back, one step to the side. Cirle out of his jab. When he moves forward, move in yourself, at a 45 degree out of his power, ie away from his power hand. Jab/lead leg front kick: Neither of these are fight stoppers of themselves, but they are quick, low energy techniques. I was always told by a kick boxer I trained with that when your tired, remember to jab. Keep putting it out there in his face. He shouldn't get a free ride all the way in for the take down. That jab may keep him thinking and thinking means he's reacting instead of act. Not to mention thinking gives you time for something more vital. Oxygen! The front kick should go in right at either belt level and slightly off center line, or the top of the thigh, near the crease with the body. Use it as they close in with you. It screws up their foot work and pushes them back without directly trying to resist their forward momentum. It's frustrating as heck to be hit with once someone times you out a bit. You just can't seem to get to them. Yes Pitbull, I'm looking at you for this one. Tell the man how to set it up. I'll be reading to see how he sets it up so I can get past it with less work. It always comes out when he's tired. Which, usually means I'm tired.

Takeda Shingen, Sounds a lot like this sempai has his priorities backwards. His chief duties are to set an example, guide the kohai. Seems he thinks his job is to enforce discipline and be the 'hard man' of the dojo. A senior instructor came to my old dojo to give a Saturday seminar. During one of the breaks he is talking and I'm all ears. He nods from me, the ranking student there that day, and a blue belt next to me and says, "You know your job, right? You need to take these younger guys under your wing a bit. Help them down the path so they have it a little easier than you did." If you go into a school already having a black belt, you should always remind yourself your there to learn. Not just train a bit or stroke your ego. If that school's equitte says put on a white belt, that's what you do. I've trained where you wear the rank you've earned and your ability and behavior garner the respect you get. The number, or lack of, stripes doesn't matter. I've been in others where you put on the white belt and learn. You start at the most simple of basics and nothing about your training is taken for granted. It's assumed you don't know how to do anything until you demonstrate otherwise. Then, you get respect based off of your ability and behavior. Usually, if there is enough stylistic carry over, you'll advance more quickly. A lot of that stems from the fact you already know how to learn. If that makes any sense.

glockmeister, No worries sir. Just depends on how you read the rules. My posting was just to point to a techinical reading of the rules. The way things are present, while rarely meant to be misleading, often give the wrong impression of an art. I feel like that hurts the arts over all. i like to be able to walk into a judo dojo or a BJJ academy, or a kung-fu school and talk to the people training in each art. And, I like to trade techniques. The more respect and open knowledge people have of different arts, the easier I think that transmission of knowledge is. One thing I was discussing with someone last night before we started rolling was the Judo pin being a 30 second hold down compaired to say, a wrestling 3.5 sec pin fall. That long a period of time indicates agreat deal of control over your oponent.

BJJ can be fine when you've resiegned yourself to staying on the ground. While it does have a large defensive tool box, the training methodology needs to be altered from the standard sport oriented play that way too many places are falling into. Competition can be good for growth, but it doesn't need to be the focus if the goal is self defense. Your smaller BJJ guys who are giving you fits are doing so because they have a lot higher skill level than you do. Once you've got a fair amount of skill, your size advantage can come back into play. Just think of what it's like to roll with guys that much smaller and of a similar skill level to you. You should be controling and subing them at will. Just as your BJJ brothers with higher skill level give you fits, I've seen skilled 145s put the hurt on a guy walking around at your size. It was about skill, leverage and speed. No matter what a lot of people try to play it off as, wrestling is a highly developed martial skill. It's not that size matters, it's that maximal strength per-pound is important. The reason wrestlers try to be a strong as they can is not because they rely on it to get things done. It comes down to competitive edge. When your matched closely in weight, and because of school divisional ranking, skill level, you need an advantage. Just like in MMA being as strong as you can, or as well conditioned is an advantage, and you seek those out in competition. Do wrestlers give up their back easily? Yes, compaired to BJJ guys. But, they dominate stand up grappling and much of the take down work. They will also move quickly to get back to top position. Minimal training helps compensate here. Same with 'sticking" their necks out. Though I was taught to keep the head tight to the body when you go in so it's harder to cross-face you out. The head will come up and out when turning the person for a hard take down though. Again, minimal retraining to take care of this. Wrestling is, by those not initiated, often over looked for it's martial application and self-defense value. There are plenty of over looked arts though. Judo gets past over many times as combat applicable. Shame really. Too many people miss out on really good stuff because they don't think it has any use. Or, saddly, that they just don't need that aspect of the martial arts. Hard leason to learn for some people.

Treebranch, If they didn't charge so much for pushing me into the pool, or if the pool were a little closer to the house, I'd be getting wet today. Knowing enough ground work to defend a take down and a clinch that intends to take you down is key to survival. Judo and wrestling a supreme here. Know enough ground work to get a good top position or to get up, you choice, here BJJ and, again, wrestling are great. BJJ will teach you all kinds of things to do on the ground to get in better position or get up. And having solid training and more options is always. Not just the no-gi training, but once you have things down, train drills to improve ground survivability. Move explosively for top position or for an escape and stand up. The largest critism I can level at a lot of BJJ work is that it is low paced. If the focus is on ground survival, you'll train a bit differently than you would for a pure grappling aspect. At least I believe that you should.

Self Defense lawws vary by state and are changing all the time. Some states have a mandintory retreat clause. Basically, you have to try to get away and be cornered before you have the right to use force to defend yourself. When asked by an officer, always make it clear, without going over board and seeming scripted, that you felt threatened or that your were in physical danger. Mention that you were afraid or scared. Don't play tough. If you were afraid they were going to hurt someone with you, make sure they know that. In the case where the instructor got in trouble for breaking the guys hand, he shouldn't have mentioned it when speaking. Don't say, "in order to disarm the knife, I had to break his hand". Or even, "in the process of disarming him, I broke his hand.", it can still sound like it was on purpose. Just focus on the knife and the danger it presented. That your focus was 100% there. "Sir/Ma'am, I was trying to defend myself. All I wanted to do was get the knife away from him and not get killed." That just sound a lot better to people listening on joury duty. Your just a guy, afraid of a very sharp, deadly knife. Your not a trained expert in self defense and unarmed combat. You want to be Jim Carey on the stand in their eyes. No Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee.

In a very technical sense, yes, you can win by holding the other guy down. Relavent rules here. Meaning, as you critized Judo for not scoring throws that don't land on the back, BJJ won't award a take down unless the throw puts them on their back, unless you pin them for a 3 count. So, in a close match, yes, you could win by pinning someone to secure the take down from a throw not landing on the back. Leg locks in anything other than adult brown/black belt level are illegal. Even then a heel hook is still illegal. If you've delt with leg locks much, they are harder to judge, on both ends of the technique, when they are well locked out. You'll run into joint damage more easily because you don't feel the pain in a knee as readily as you will in the shoulder or elbow. So, there is a lot more judgement and risk of damage, meaning it's a safety issue that judo doesn't wish to expose itself to. BJJ at this time, doesn't mind higher end adults taking those risks. As the number of BJJ competitors grows and injuries mount(Just by the numbers game they will), that may change. With the above limitation on them having to land on their back. Which means that the throws only work for take down points, as that's the catigory throws fall into for BJJ, on the same general conditions that judo throws score. Not nearly the difference you seem to be indicating. The difference between the two sports is not in the technique that they contain, but in the emphasis of their competitions and the length of their lives. Judo seeks, at it's perfect implimentation, the decisive throw that would end a conflict. BJJ seeks the submission perfectly exicuted. Judo has had a longer time to build up rules in international competition, in which BJJ is still relatively young. [/b]

Man I wish I had a Black Belt magazine from a year or two back. It contained a break down of statistics for various fights. Single combatant, multiple attackers, armed vs unarmed etc. It was both scary, and encouraging. Off the top of my trivia ladden head. About 40% of the time a person was able to defend themselves against a single attacker. About 33-34% of the time again mulitple attackers. The outcome didn't change that much for someone facing more than two attackers, with somewhere in the area of a 3-4% drop in success rates. Enough with half remembered math. Makes my head hurt almost as much as a good round kick. I've never been clear on pure BJJ's strength in a clench compaired to judo or wrestling, but I'd assume it was a bit less affect than those arts. But, on the bright side, those are their strengths. BJJ should have enough to help you there. Why is clench work important in multiple opponent fights? Because that's where someone is going to want to put you. Eventually you'll lose control of the range of the fight. When it goes to a grab of clinch situation, use your throws. The pavement will be harder than your fists and feet. If you get taken down, take one with you. Establish guard, and do it in a hurry. You now have an involuntary shield. So long as you can keep him tight to you, your have a possible way to counter soccer kicks. And once you can find a safe way out, get to your feet. Keep your terrain and surroundings in mind. Use them, if possible, to keep pursuit down, and put a good hard mile between them and you. Once you've done that your either clear, or, assuming good conditioning on your part, their winded and your not and it starts over. I'd rather fight a tired man than a fresh one, if I have to fight at all.

Goals. Drop about 10 more pounds as part of getting myself back where I need to be physically. Work on my footwork to set up combos. Improve my transitions between ranges. Get my kata back where they were before I became a dad.

I've done six unspaced boards with reverse punch and with knife hands. So, nothing really special. Two unspaced with a ridge hand. Broke one board the other night that someone held losely in hone hand with a snap side kick to see if I could do it. Want to try a free falling board at some point just for kicks.

Those would be the same kind of jeans my mother used to threaten me with death over wearing into public? Fits right into the instant gratification slant going around. Get it easy, look hip and cool. Now those ragged and ratty jeans, just too dang drafty for me.

Like most have stated, if your in an open kata competion, most judges are going to go for the flippy guy. I've competed in weapons division with staff. Simple weapon, one of the most basic, and I knew that with a guy sporting a sword, two spears and one a three section staff I was in for a hard day. The sword guy was not that crisp or precise in his movement, but he still won. Pretty much everyone but the three sections staff guy assumed that going into the thing. Point being that unless you are very, very good in a tournament, flash beats substance almost every time. Your kata, no matter how clean, how sharp, won't beat the guy doing the 720 inverted spin kick. Unless they are at a traditional tournament. If it's a traditional tournament(Meaning the host style is more along the lines of JKA types than open 'karate' type style), you may have a shot. The judges at these events tend to like more traditional forms and don't really like people "adding to them" or "spicing" them up. Small, personal touches or inflections are fine. Adding a full shoulder roll into Rohai just won't do. Also, if you can, scout the judges. The younger judges at an open tournament will tend to lean toward the XMA guys more than your older judges. Meaning the guys 45-50+ will like your traditional stuff more. At least that was my experience in tournaments. Keep in mind, this experience and advice, along with about a buck will buy you a cup of coffee.

I don't know if it's an Okinawan thing or not. But, those who I've met that train in Okinawan styles seemed to be less about "blocks" and stripes of rank than some other systems. My Shorin Ryu instructor had a nice, neat belt with a few stripes on it for going out in public. He had the older, more beat up belt with no stripes for every day class. The sad thing about the ratty, faded belt, is that you can order them now. They are supposed to be there when you've spent so much time training as a black belt, that they are worn out and your headed back toward the white belt. You've suffered and trained enough to start completing that circle. Now, you get it all mail order for $19.95.

I consider getting that thing from the house to the truck and then into dojo part of the work out. After Christmas I have added an extra thick Thai pad my wife bought me. Honestly, my "condensed Kit" is a day pack that is stuffed to the gills and runs about 15-20lbs. That one I use in the summer to run the 1 mile distance to the dojo. At times, I wonder if I'm carrying too much gear. But, other than the rest of my weapons, a gi or two and my books, I carry about everything I own. I'm wondering how the head gear and shin guards I intend to order are going to fit though. I'm thinking bungi cords.

Ehh, not so sure on the video courses for martial arts training. Yes, you can use an instructional video to keep a skill fresh. I love my Matsubayashi Ryu videos as a kata reference. But learning strictly from video, I think would be problematic for the average individual. Without out that feed back from an instructor, or training partner, a lot of more subtle things will be missed, or take forever to figure out on your own. Now if you were getting occasional live feed back and a training partner now and then, they could function like octain boost for your training. Lifting your ability to the next level through a ready reference for home training in addition to class time. On this "black belt" friend. I'm sorry, but some of it just doesn't seem to pass the smell test. Could he be a naturally talented fighter? Sure. Could he learn some things on his own? Sure, though, like the video training belief I hold above, not sure it would be much. Were there witnesses to the defeat of these blackbelts he took on? That, and what adult instructor lets a 16yr old goad them into a fight? A round of sparring if he's claiming prior training and wants to join the dojo, maybe. But a lot of those are just the instructor feeling someone out, not a fight, no matter what the would be black belt thinks. I guess this cuts to the heart of the questions, what constitutes a black belt? Is it a certificate that says they are one? A piece of cloth or a file in some organization? Do they have to be able to teach well? Yes and no to all of these questions. I think, and I know that's not worth much to anyone past myself and those I train with, that a black belt must have the following. The ability to cleanly exicute the majority of technique within their style on a consistant basis. The ability to apply them under certain condition. An understanding of why the techniques work, even if they can't transmit that understanding to others(ie. teach well). The will to continue despite adversity, in it's many forms. There's more to that than the typed word seems to convey. And there is a ton more than I can't seem to even list here. Intanglables that affect the quality of a fighter and a martial artist that I think you see in good black belts. The ability and impression they could leave you with when you didn't see any fancy uniform, but a guy working out in a teeshirt and gym shorts.

Matsubayshi-Ryu-15yrs Shotokan-3yrs Aikido-6mths Kempo Karate-5yrs Greco-Roman Wrestling-2yrs Things I draw heavily on: (ie. steal shamelessly from though I can't get good, local instruction) Judo/Jujitsu Traditional Western Fencing Modern Arnis Military Combatives