The More you Know, the Easier it is to see your Ignorance.

[CheekyMusician]

Wow. I got a real eye-opener the other day, just thought I'd share it with you all.

 

I've been training in karate for a year, and although I know I'm not an excellent fighter, I reckoned I'd be able to hold my own if I ever needed to defend myself.

 

The other night I was outside practicing kata in the garden (there's no room in the house) and my dad came out to watch me. My dad had about 6 months boxing training back when he was about 15. He's now almost 50, quite unfit and overweight. He's still got a punch that could knock you into next week though, but I suppose a lot of men have a powerful punch.

 

Anyway, he told me to defend myself against him in a sort of sparring match, and I just couldn't keep up at all. I was far too scared of getting hit (as I know my dad wouldn't pull his punches, not because he wants to hurt me, but just because he doesn't really have the precision to pull them). I was quite shocked to realise how out of my depth I was, especially considering I didn't consider my dad a particularly difficult opponent.

 

Then he went through some scenarios with me (most of them based on his own experiences when he was younger). At first I thought it was funny. After all, what could my dad know about fighting, but let's just say it was a humbling experience. He told me to pretend I was at a concert and he was a stranger standing beside me in the crowd. Then he came up to me and started getting in my face, screaming at me etc. (pretending that he was the stranger in the crowd and had got mad about something) and he told me to try and react how I would ordinarilly. I'm a pacifist sort of person, so reacted how I think I would've by trying to get him to calm down, and then my dad (acting as the stranger) walked away. I turned round and he swivelled round and pretended to smack me. This was my dad's lesson on expecting the unexpected. He said things like this had actually happened to him countless times before.

 

Then he started asking me what I would do in other situations and advising me on whether my answers were right or wrong. Then he started discussing my fighting strategies. He advised me on how to use my height to my advantage (I'm quite small), and then we got out some focus pads and worked on my kicks and punches.

 

Again, my dad gave me valuable hints on my punches. I was hitting "through" the pad. You know, giving it the whole swing of my arm and knocking the pad backwards, instead of focusing my punch on the pad. I hadn't even realised this until he pointed it out, and realised what a waste of energy my previous punches were (not to mention a waste of time, when I could quickly deliver the punch and then bring my hand back to my guard).

 

Then we worked on my mawashi geris and I accidentilly missed the pad and hit my dad's arm with a full power kick. This taught me 2 things: firstly, that I really need to work on my aim, and secondly that my kicks are not as powerful as I thought they were. Even though I'd kicked a weak point on my dad (his wrist), he only stopped momenterilly because it hurt. It didn't even leave a bruise. I mean, I obviously don't want to hurt my dad, but I'd thought my kicks were a heck of a lot stronger than that.

 

Anyway, taught me not to be a "know it all" teenager. Guess we can find assistance and chance for improvement in the strangest of places.

[Icetuete]

i dont quite get the sense of the topic... but u got a cool dad though. keep on training with him; cant hurt anybody (unless u dont work on ur aiming ).

[CheekyMusician]

i dont quite get the sense of the topic... but u got a cool dad though. keep on training with him; cant hurt anybody (unless u dont work on ur aiming ).

 

Yeah, I gave the topic a bit of a stupid name, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

*shrugs*

 

Its almost 1 O'clock in the morning here and I realise I'm talking a load of nonsense.

[Warp Spider]

I think that the point was, often we may think we are more powerful/better fighters than we actually are.

[Fenris-wolf]

OMG I can so relate to that. I have always been interested in MA to one extent or another, I did karate for a few years and I'm pretty good for my 6 months experience at Muay Thai. But although I haven't actually played around with my father for the last few months, and I know I've improved alot, I'm kinda scared of doing it. Because always in the past, even though he doesn't throw very good punches and has never done an MA, he always just throws lots of relatively hard punches in one spot and it hurts enough to throw me off. It always makes me think "Yeah, sure I can spar with other practicioners, but I can't even handle my father punching me -what will I do in a real fight??"

 

Your father does sound pretty damn cool, actually. You're pretty lucky.

[sansoouser]

fat man can't run, he either hides or fights.

[G95champ]

This is why I dislike point sparring. Knowing your are going to get hit changes the chances you take.

[Cybren]

Again, my dad gave me valuable hints on my punches. I was hitting "through" the pad. You know, giving it the whole swing of my arm and knocking the pad backwards, instead of focusing my punch on the pad. I hadn't even realised this until he pointed it out, and realised what a waste of energy my previous punches were (not to mention a waste of time, when I could quickly deliver the punch and then bring my hand back to my guard).

 

Isn't that what you're SUPPOSED to do with a punch, or kick? Bypunching/kicking AT the target, all you do is glance it, while through it, you get your force to carry into the target. You can still hit through something and bring your limb back immidiatally

[Pacificshore]

I read in another forum where the poster spoke about training "not to get hit". Rather than knowing that you will get hit at sometime, his suggestion is why not train to avoid the hit. Kinda made sense to a point, but you can never ignore the "sucker" type punches from outta nowhere.

 

Conditioning of the body obviously helps in taking a shot, as does blocking properly, and even learning how to absorb a shot to certain areas of the body. Also, in my opinion mental toughness plays a big part on whether or not you are able to take a shot, or give in. Granted if you continue to take blow after blow, eventually you'll wear down and give in, after all we are human, subject to human conditions. However, it's the initial shot that we want to address first and foremost.

 

Cheeky, you've described what I would see as an "emptying" of your cup. With the help of your father, you were able to address some deficiencies, for lack of a better word, in your training. This will only help you progress further in your training .

 

Fenris, you'd use all of your talents and training to avoid getting hit at all times. It's one thing to fight or defend against a stranger, it's another if it's your dad, unless he's just one big @$#^%$^&, then you already know what to expect, and what to do .

[Kirves]

One piece of advice: do the opposite, instead of being afraid of training with him, do it as often as possible. Ask for mits training, ask for sparring, ask for advice. I'd love to have a father I could do things like that with. Remember he ain't going to be around sparring with you forever. And you should seaze every opportunity to develop yourself as a martial artist. Think of your dad as a coach, he may not be the fit boxing champ anymore, but he sure seems to know enough to tell you some things.