Armchair Martial Artist

[Thaegen]

Your body/muslces need more time to remember/become relfexes then your brain. You can know everything of your MA, but then still will it take years before it becomes your second nature. It's frustrating, but it is reality.

[shotochem]

My mind is always telling my body to throw that kick 2ft higher.......

the body just won't listen

I'm almost as old as Italian Guy and I can relate. You just have to work with what you've got.

I recently sparred with someone 15 yrs younger who was bigger, faster and much stronger than myself. I could not keep up and whatever I would throw would be getting there late. I was baffled? I had fought much bigger people before and stronger ones. I was just outclassed by a much better opponent.

My Sensei had us pause and told me that I'm not a kid anymore so don't try to fight like one. Don't throw any crazy fancy stuff that works on people my own age. Keep it simple and use your brain.

We continued. I scored 6 straight points and combos after not getting a single shot in and actually won. Believe me my opponent did not let up he just kept going harder. All counter attacks, tae Sabaki movement, sweeps and takedowns.

The most important lesson I learned that night is that you have to fight your kind of fight and do what you are good at.

You can still teach an old dog new tricks!!!!

[Venrix]

...you have to fight your kind of fight and do what you are good at.

Certainly the best advice so far.

-V-

[Skeptic 2004]

Thanks for the advice...but maybe there's a slight miscommunication concerning my frustration.

My stink is primarily with how I am supposed to move and flow and not so much how to execute a certain technique or which technique I am suppose to execute in a certain situation. To be honest I don't actually know a whole bunch of techniques so knowing too many of those isn't my problem. I study the concepts and principles from which techniques are derived (I'm sure there's a thread floating around these forums somewhere talking about techniques vs. principles), and I've been studying a lot of them lately.

I academically know how I am supposed to move my body, project hara, maintain osae, and flow smoothly, all significant concepts in my style of karate. Actually doing these things in practice, however, is different...the body just hasn't come around to these ideas yet.

My main beef is being able to know and talk about concepts, but not actually being able to do them. That would make me (and others suffering the same malady) an Armchair Martial Artist.

Anywho, thanks anyway for the advice as it is still good valid, advice.

[JusticeZero]

Well, just keep practicing them until you CAN perform them. The 'armchair' stuff you can just call research into how you are going to develop your skill next. 'You can use X to accomplish that.' 'Can you do X?' 'Not yet, but I learned the best ways to develop X, and I work on it twenty minutes a day.'

[italian_guy]

I tend to agree with what you said Shotochem. When I spar I mostly use the tecniques that I can do better. But on the other hand I know I should develop other techniques where I'm not so good otherwise I'll never grow up as a MAist. For example I cannot kick jodan level and also my chudan kicks are not very fast, during sparring I never try to kick high, but during my practice I try to improve my flexibility in order to be able (some day) to kick jodan.

As I said we need to train hard and be patient, results come slowly but I'm sure they will come.

[mikaveli]

I've always thought that you should spend most of your time training split equally over what you are best at and worst at.

That way, your weaker points shouldn't be that weak and your strong points should be devastating!

(Although I've exempted myself from that mindset in skateboarding, because after three years my attempts at Heel-flips still look like I'm having an epileptic fit!)

[Sandan]

Yes, I agree with most of the above, but you must alse realise that your karate will evolve with you body so it's important to change your training as you get older and work on things such as Tae Sabaki!

[shotochem]

I've always thought that you should spend most of your time training split equally over what you are best at and worst at.

That way, your weaker points shouldn't be that weak and your strong points should be devastating!

(Although I've exempted myself from that mindset in skateboarding, because after three years my attempts at Heel-flips still look like I'm having an epileptic fit!)

That is true to a point. The longer you train the more of those things that were waek become strong. The flipside is that a lot of those things that were easier when you were a lot younger tend to a liabiltiy.

It is an ongoing cycle of your body and mind learning and changing together. Those first simple blocks take on so much more meaning after a few more years of training. A block is no longer just a block.