I just had the VB commercial jingle playing in my head when I read your post, Bartrim. ;)
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I just had the VB commercial jingle playing in my head when I read your post, Bartrim. ;)
What a awesome UFC event yesterday. Only one disappointment where a fight was stopped due to an unintentional eye poke but the rest of the fights were really good. Machida v Bader played out exactly like I thought with the wrestler getting impatient in the second round and lunging at the dragon who dropped him with a beautiful right hand. Vera surprised me in lasting 4 rounds with Shogun.
Now to wait and see who Machida will fight for the light heavyweight title.
So the GKR sales rep actually called me today and asked me for feedback on what I thought about my GKR training during the 3 month trial. So I gave her my honest opinion as objectively as I could, although she kinda caught me at an awkward moment as I was mid-marking exam papers, so my brain was kinda frazzled. The main focus of my feedback was on how I've found my GKR training to be ill-suited to self defence and if anything, the training has been counter intuitive to self defence fighting. Some of the comments I made she didn't address... in fact, there was a point in our conversation where she kinda went silent and after a brief pause I had to go "Hello?" to see if she was still there. To make a long conversation short, the main crux of what I was telling her was how the teaching has only been superficial and that there's no real teaching for deep knowledge. i.e. that if I were attacked, I should be able to execute everything I've learnt so far in GKR as if it were second nature -- instinctively. Now in saying this I'm not at all suggesting or expecting that I'd be able to get into a serious fight with only 3 months' training in GKR, but as I told the sales rep, in the context of what I've learnt, I should be able to execute the basic techniques I've learnt in a fight. e.g. if someone attacks me with an attack that is ideally countered with a gedan barai, then my body ought to be defending it with a gedan barai without any conscious thought.
It's like say, if someone has only just started learning Japanese and maybe all they can talk about is greetings, introducing themselves and maybe counting to 10. Assuming that the student is serious and motivated, if they are taught these things correctly then they should be able to engage in a conversation about any of these things - at their level - with a native speaker. They may not be able to talk about anything more, but they should be able to at least do that. So likewise I should be able to execute all the techniques I've learnt in Taigyoku Shodan and Taigyoku Nidan like it were second nature. But the fact is that I can't. I've been taught to perform these katas for the sake of performing them. I've rarely done any bunkai, and all the bunkai I've done has been carefully choreographed/coordinated so that I _always_ know what kind of attack is coming. Everything is predictable and nothing is ever random. She told me about the importance of not allowing beginners to spar because of safety, and I said that's fine... but you can still have beginner-appropriate drill-exercises that use random variation to reduce predictability.
I mentioned how I found the pace of learning to be really slow, and how other more senior students I'd spoken to had said the same thing. She told me 3 months isn't enough time to get fight training done and that this doesn't happen until green belt. So I told her that I had sparred with some brown belts who -- well, I wanted to tell her how easy it was for me to beat them, but she interrupted me and insisted that the brown belts would've taken it easy on me because I was a beginner. Without even letting me finish my story and describe how the fights went... because if she had I would've told her how I just walked into some of these brown belts who just had no idea how to defend themselves when someone just aggressively violates their personal space. But she didn't want to hear it, so I let it go...
I told her about how the bulk of my training has been repetition of katas and practising basics in the air -- and while I recognise the importance of this, I told her about how this alone only caters for a superficial level of knowledge. Without more frequent and better designed applications exercises I found it really difficult to obtain a deeper level of knowledge. I told her that it's like learning a language without engaging in a conversation, or learning how to drive in a parked car without ever switching the engine on... (that's not a very good analogy - like I said, my brain was frazzled :p) I also told her how I found the katas to be far too basic, and that I did some research into them (didn't mention about how they mispronounce it :rolleyes:) and that it was something developed in the 20th Century when Karate was introduced to school children. So while I can understand the validity of these simple katas for teaching children, I wasn't sure about the value of teaching the same simplified katas to adults (or even teenagers for that matter), and mentioned how I would prefer more traditional and relatively more complex katas. She then misunderstood this as me saying that I expected Karate to be more like Tai Chi (which she occasionally referred to as Muay Thai... I'm not sure if she realises that they're different martial arts...) -- and I told her that this wasn't the case. I told her that none of my criticisms are intended to be based on, "Because it's not like what I've done," but rather because I don't think it works in self defence, i.e. if I move in a certain way I'm likely to get smashed in the groin or face or throat etc.
She told me that 3 months isn't enough time to adequately gauge GKR, which contradicts what she told me when I first met her and I asked her if GKR offered single free trial lessons. She told me that one lesson isn't enough time but 3 months was. Now she's telling me that 3 months isn't enough... come on... how long does she expect "prospective customers" to trial a product before making a decision as to whether or not it's suitable for them? The vast majority of martial arts schools out there offer single free trial lessons (often with a free observation lesson too). You can pretty much get a feel for what the school is about after 1-2 lessons. Of course you won't know everything about that school, but you can usually tell what they're about and whether or not they're suited to your needs. That's the basic principle of "try before you buy," but with GKR they insist on "buy before you try" (i.e. you have to pay for trial membership before you can even step foot into a Dojo). :( I really dislike this part about GKR more than anything --- makes it feel so McDojo. The only other martial art schools I've seen that insist on buy before you try is stuff like Kenjutsu and Kendo - because they require a lot of personalised equipment. But even then they still offer free observation lessons!
So anyway, she called me looking for customer feedback and I gave it to her. :) The one thing I should have also mentioned but didn't was how so many of their lessons are based on rote learning, when countless amounts of research have shown that rote learning is a really poor way of teaching/learning compared to associative learning. And that's the real problem with the classes -- a lack of associative learning (through things like better designed application exercises). I wonder if they ever analyse any critical feedback they receive or if they just ignore them and focus on the positive ones. And the rep told me that most of the feedback they get is positive "because most of our students don't have a prior martial arts background." Hang on... analyse what you just said. Yes, of course they're going to think that GKR is great when they have nothing to compare it to. It's like people who say that Bruce Lee is a "great" fighter... often because they've never compared him with another decent Kung Fu fighter (some of them cite his performance in films as evidence... cos ya know... movies are real :rolleyes:) She did tell me that she was quite impressed that I had stuck to the trial period in its entirety -- training once/twice every week for 3 months. And to be fair, I was impressed that she actually did a follow up call. Whether or not she takes any of my comments aboard or just dismisses them I don't/won't know.
Well I had an interesting week at Karate last week.
On Monday arvo I decided to bite the bullet and take Marcus to his first kids class. I've been unsure about starting him as he is socially under developed and he is rather small. Eventually I thought hey the first 2 lessons are free so if he doesn't like or whatever no harm done. So he comes along and he loved it!!!:D I was so proud. Then I got annoyed because I was so happy watching him do it and enjoy it but one of the other mothers there was doing a "body shop" presentation to all the mothers. Then I looked around and about 3 of the parents were sitting in their cars listening to music, reading the paper and I noticed I was the only one who was watching and supporting their child:mad:. Even if it wasn't martial arts I support and encourage my kids. These other parents couldn't give a hoot about what their kids are doing.
Then onto my class on Monday Night. I was asked to warm the class up for the first 20 minutes. Now that I REALLY ENJOYED. Some of the teenagers in the class are real smartarses and decided to disrespect me. That didn't last too long after a made an example out of a couple of them. I was kind enough to explain to them afterwards that I only punished them because I was pretty nervous about instructing so I didn't appreciate being heckled.
Then on Thursday Night I have a seperate class with me and one other girl that is for senior students who are on their way to black belt that focuses on weapons, pressure points etc. Sensei got myself and Bec to stand facing each other (yeah okay), close our eyes (ummm ok), put our hands up not quite touching each other (why am I feeling concerned about this?), put your tongue on the roof of your mouth (hang on I've heard this before...), Now use your chi energy to push each others hands ( OH HELL NO!!!!!) I jumped back in total refusual. We ended up not doing anything practical in that class as Sensei and I spent the next 45 minutes arguing about whether all that stuff is real. He was saying that he didn't believe it until he had seen it done and he tried to push me over, he couldn't because he said I was subconciously refusing. My argument was if thats all you have to do to prevent being knocked over by someones chi energy then it's a pretty useless skill to learn. He was talking about the auras and energy of people and seeing high ranking members push people over using chi. I called it a parlour trick using smoke and mirror techniques like a basic suggestive hypnosis to weak minded people and said that this threw up a major red flag in my book that this was a McDojo. Thankfully Bec was there to stand in between us because it got quite heated. He didn't admit it but I think our karate class that is straight after that class suffered because we got put through one hell of a warm up. It was absolutely brutal. When we had our first water break everyone was complaining. Normally one or two slackers complain after warm up not the whole class.
Thankfully he was kind enough to talk to me after class and we came to a deal. He wouldn't try to teach me anything about chi as I didn't want to waste my money but only if I agreed to sit down and have an in depth discussion about with pur founder next time he visits. Hopefully Kyoshi Blundells visits are so few and far between that all this is forgotten by the time he comes down our way next.
I am 1st dan judo, though stop for a long while already.... :oQuote:
Originally Posted by KalEl
awesome!Quote:
Originally Posted by tron07
"And so the warriors of Kingdom A defeated the invading hordes of Army B, without having to touch anyone." - said nobody to no-one. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
Maybe if Army B believed in it then Kingdom A could of used it.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
Everytime it comes up in discussion I bring up the same argument "Whats the point of this awesome mystical power if all you have to do to defend yourself is not believe in it?" Can you imagine how crap Star Wars would of been if when Darth Vader is waiting for Han and Leia at Bespin he goes to use the force to take Han's gun and Han says "Nah I don't believe in the force" and nothing happens:rolleyes:
Hahaha, yeah. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
They could even get beaten up by a crippled atheist like Dr. Stephen Hawking (he did once punch Homer Simpson in the face ;))
Goki> At what level are students taught break falls?
Sempai> GKR doesn't teach break falls on account that we are not meant to do take downs lol
<throws.hands.up.in.the.air>
I haven't resumed GKR training, but I still keep in touch with some of the friends I made there :) I'm actually planning on resuming my Yang Tai Chi training tomorrow (now that the current Year 12 cohort have finished and I currently no longer have after school extension classes that clash! Although I gotta start the current Year 11's extension class soon... hopefully that won't clash again)
Gguuuuuhhh... so I scheduled the new year 11 after school classes... and sure enough, one of them is on Wednesdays, so it's going to clash with any future Yang Tai Chi classes this term! :( Not sure if I can bothered to go to training tonight to attend ONE class (and I haven't been all year) just to give it up again next week! :(
I'm being pushed hard this term as I am grading for my brown and white belt. I had to spar last night with a mask on to restrict my breathing. It sucked!
Pppffftt!! I don't need no mask to restrict my breathing! My fatness and lack of fitness does that for me! :p ;)
LMAOQuote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
LMAO. Classic!Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
So it looks like its time for me to continue my karate journey, time to awaken the beast!
I'm going for my brown and white belt grading this weekend in Lithgow. I wish it was a month ago, I was at my peak then and I handled everything thrown at me no problem. Since then I have been sick, work has picked up thus restricting my training and I believe I have been pushing my body too hard as I feel weak, tired, my technique is suffering, I've been losing concentration at class and I don't feel mentally "in the game". I'm even at the point of I'm not bothered if I don't get the belt where I should be pushing myself to get it.:(
There are benefits to training when you feel like crap, because if you can fight when you're feeling crappy, then imagine how much better you can fight when you're feeling good. :) And it's good training from a self defence POV too, because you can't choose the time of when you might get attacked by someone (hopefully not - knock on wood). So I think it's beneficial to prepare yourself in a way to fight back when you're just feeling lousy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
As for the belt/grading thing... meh. It's not even a traditional part of Karate anyway - what's more important is just focusing on your skills and techniques. As for losing concentration in class - is that just because you're feeling run down, or can the lesson structures be improved to make them more engaging? <shrug>
But hey, it's good that you're still training. I've done nothing since I stopped GKR, and I'm finding that I'm losing motivation and hope in finding a suitable martial arts school in my area. :( I seem to be stuck in an area that's just surrounded by schools that are either:
* Primarily interested in sports/competitive fighting over combative fighting
* Purely interested in holistic exercise with zero interest in any kind of fighting
* Claim to be interested in combative fighting, but fail to live up to that claim
I'm just getting really sick and tired of trying various schools and being disappointed. Traditional martial arts schools have always been hard to find, and now I can't seem to find any in my area. :( I guess traditional MAs just don't make anywhere near the amount of money that modern MAs do, especially with the explosion in popularity of MMA and UFC, it seems that traditional MAs are dying a slow death. The only traditional schools in Sydney that I can think of off the top of my head are in Chinatown or around the CBD, maybe some around the Northern Suburbs... all too far for me to attend on a regular basis. :( So unless I win Lotto and can afford to move into these more affluent areas, I feel like I'm stuck in a rut... I can keep searching, or just give up and do other forms of exercise like cycling (I've recently started doing "baby weight training" which I'll post about in the parenting thread ;)) etc. But it means giving up martial arts. :( There's a big BJJ school in my area which I haven't checked out yet... I need to work up the motivation to go and have a look -- hopefully they'll offer a free trial lesson. I just feel really burned out though after my experience with GKR... it's just killed a lot of my enthusiasm for MAs. (T-T)
Thanks for the laffs, I've seen the first one before, but the second one was new to me! LOL!! :D
I always wanted to be a ninja...
Ninja were essentially hired assassins and guerrilla fighters, and as such a core art of ninjutsu is stealth. The word Ninjutsu (忍術) itself translates as "the art of stealth." A lot of their fighting forms and weaponry look similar to what the Samurai used... I don't know how many of those forms are actually exclusive or unique to Ninjutsu. I've never come across a school that teaches Samurai/Ninja Taijutsu, but Jujutsu and Aikido are descendant from Taijutsu (that's why the Aikido uniform wears the Hakama at higher levels, and they practice fighting in Seiza sitting position -- Aikido also favours broad sweeping movements, similar to the way you'd swing a sword). Kenjutsu, Bojutsu, Sojutsu, Naginatajutsu etc. are all taught as separate styles.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bidoofdude
I think one massive problem you're going to come across if you want to learn Ninjutsu is trying to verify authenticity. Trying to find an authentic school in any martial art can be a challenge, but Ninjutsu might be even more challenging because the art was heavily shrouded in secrecy. There's a historian by the name of Stephen Turnbull who's done a lot of excellent research into feudal Japanese military history (he lived in and travelled extensively around Japan for several years while doing his research). You might like to check out his book "Ninja: The True Story of Japan's Secret Warrior Cult".
The very end of that second video gave me a good giggle. That young squeal haha.Quote:
Originally Posted by 5FDP
If you are interested, check out Kevin Hawthorne Ninja Schools in Melbourne. I trained with them in the late 80's / early 90's so they have been around for quite some time. Unfortunately they don't have any schools in Sydney so I had to make the switch to Hapkido which is great in it's own rite.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bidoofdude
If anyone is planning on coming to the Sydney Matsuri on December 15 in Darling Harbour, there's going to be a martial arts demonstration of Takemusu Aiki Aikido. Glad to see the Matsuri returning to Tumbalong Park instead of under that bridge near Starbucks (never liked that location). The best Karate demonstration I've ever seen was at a previous Sydney Matsuri -- visiting Karateka direct from Japan demonstrating some excellent techniques. It was all about "one hit one kill," where they would show how they'd instantly floor an attacker in a single move. Fight finished within a second. Loved it! :D
Yeah, I forgot to say: "move like a ninja". I like the element of stealth.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
I'm so sick of this grading and I haven't done it yet. :mad: there are 8 people going from Ulladulla. 2 cars, one of which is mine. Sensei has organised the car pool so all the other licenced drivers are with him and I have 2 teenagers in my car. One of whom I can't stand. This is for a 10hour round trip plus a grading and he is refusing to budge on swapping people. This sort of thing really irks me. Makes me want to give all this away.
Pfft... you're not going to give it all away just because of that ;) You're trolling surely :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
Belts and gradings = massive WOFTAM.
A couple of months ago I read an online article (about misconceptions/myths in general, not just in martial arts), and the author said something like "(belt/gradings) in martial arts is about as ancient/traditional as automobiles and airplanes." I can't honestly see the benefits of having grades and belts other than as a commercial/business exercise (or as some would say, a marketing gimmick). You know how well you can fight, and it's not as if you need a piece of paper and a coloured cloth belt to tell you how well you can fight. I'm sure we've _all_ met black belts who kick butt and other black belts who fight worse than blue belts. Maybe one day you can open up your own Dojo and just do away with all this grading/belt stuff and get closer to the traditional roots of Karate and just focus on learning for the sake of acquiring/refining skills and knowledge (deep/useful learning) rather than for passing tests (shallow/superficial learning).
This is the great thing I find about learning in martial arts schools that don't bother with grades/belts ... they just get down to the core business of learning the martial art, and not learning for the sake of passing tests. Cos the tests honestly end up being a distraction.
This will probably be one of the last times I grade as I have to achieve this belt in our system before I can become an accreditated instructor and I'm only instructing for the extra money. Seriously even though I am on the verge of becoming a brown belt I feel like a blue belt sometimes. So I totally agree with you Gok.
I saw two martial arts demonstrations at a Japanese cultural festival this weekend. They were predictably disappointing for all the usual reasons. *sigh*
Issues with the first demonstration:
* typical over compliance from attackers - they would launch a single attack and then stop moving, obviously making it ridiculously easy for the defender to do their moves. The also made it super easy for themselves to be flipped over, like often as soon as they lost balance they'd roll into a fall (rather than trying to regain balance and stand their ground).
* their reverse breakfall technique left them extremely open to the opponent to start kicking/stomping exposed parts of the body (e.g. face, teeth, throat, body etc.) while they're on the ground
* the pacing was unrealistic - they'd move in kinda fast, but as soon as contact was made, everything became super slow. I can kinda understand that maybe they want to demonstrate the technique slowly at first so people can see/appreciate it better, but you'd surely only do that the first time... because they demonstrated the same techniques several times over - first was the Sensei with a partner, then all the students got up and started practising it. Surely with the latter part you can just do the whole thing at hardcore blitzing speed.
* general lack of any real aggression in the attacks - makes it harder for Joe Average to see how these techniques could work in an actual street fight.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._12_15_066.jpg<Haw! Throwing about attackers who don't really fight back is easy!http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._12_15_067.jpg
...on the plus side their katas were interesting (even if some of their stances were a bit sloppy - but I've seen way worse)
Issues with the second demonstration:
* Some of the students had belts with so many colours on them... it was like Technicolour Rainbow Belts! :eek:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._12_15_069.jpg"Someday we'll find it, that Rainbow Connection."
* When the black belts came to demonstrate katas, the commentator explained how these were more complex kata. But they really didn't look all that complex to me... simply had more moves and a few extra techniques, but it still moved at the same pace as the white belt kata - and still in that 1-2-3-pause, 1-2-3-pause timing instead of just continually flowing from beginning to end (as you would move in an actual fight).
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._12_15_068.jpg
* They showed sparring... where everyone looked like they were throwing random punches and kicks toward (but not actually at) each other. It went on for ages and nobody seemed the least bit interested in actually ENDING the fight in as few moves as possible (whatever happened to Bushido's motto of "one hit one kill"?) -- after the festival I spoke to a guy who agreed that these demonstrations were better when they used to fly in Karateka from Japan... because back then their version was literally just one strike, end of fight. One of the most memorable was watching a guy just deliver a really jolly good Maegeri (front kick) that floored his opponent. Fight over in a single move. He aimed straight for his opponent's core, whereas these people were mostly punching and kicking at each other's limbs... at best the hip, but nobody was going for the head or Dantian. *sigh*
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._12_15_070.jpg<I wouldn't even bother trying to defend myself against half of these attacks
* Board breaking... another non-traditional martial arts "gimmick" that seemed to impress the ignorant(1). The demonstrator had his assistants hold the boards at very precise positions - he would go around and correct them, checked the ranges as he walked around... and the people holding the boards didn't move as he walked around kicked them, and of course, the boards broke perfectly in half.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._12_15_071.jpg<I'd like to see him try that on solid oak
---------------------------------
(1) Because it's actually based on principles of physics (Newton's 2nd Law - impulse & momentum).
http://skepticalteacher.wordpress.co...-woo-required/
^Hey Bartrim, check out the second video in that link -- it shows a Japanese Chi Master who genuinely believes he can attack people with his Chi energy (and so do all his students who pay him loads of money) versus a skeptic in a full contact fight. :D :cool:
LOL. I've seen that video before. I laugh every time.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
I found the last video more interesting... and funny. Although kinda sad. I can't believe people are that disaillusioned that they are willing to harm themselves to prove a point.
My sensei and I have agreed to disagree on chi. I'll be happy to go to class and learn about karate, pressure points, self defence and I even enjoy the MMA competitive Martial Arts but (a direct quote) "You throw one $%#@&*^& chi ball at me and I walk"
On a more positive note. I passed my last grading. Although I did get in trouble for agreeing with you about the pointlessness of grading as there were some very skilled guys there who were freaking out because they would have to perform 4 or 5 katas in front of a panel of judges. Myself and another Sempai from our academy were calming down about 6 guys (even though the pair of us were freaking out as well because we were in the same boat) and I quite loudly voiced how stupid I thought this was as obviously these guys have the skills but could fail because they freeze when having to do these "stupid" movements (yes I was stupid enough to use the word stupid:o) So I ended up on the end of a very stern lecture... I think. I actually let my mind wander while I was being dressed down:p Either way they punished me in the grading as I had to spar at the end and I was basically the guys I was matched up with were head and shoulders above me in skill so needless to say I got my rear end handed to me for 10 minutes. But I now have a brown and white belt which they refer to as 1st level brown and have the title Sempai. So yay for me:)
Here is another video of "The Yellow Bamboo" Chi masters at their best:p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1ykNZ7rAcw
Yeah, there are elements of Chi that I agree with -- i.e. the stuff that can be proven to be real, but I don't subscribe to the mystical side, especially the idea of "touchless fighting." :rolleyes: To me, I see two main sides of 'real Chi':Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
* External: so stuff like pressure points and using principles of biomechanics like leverage, torsion, force, pliometrics etc. -- often when people are demonstrating how they can absorb and control "energy" during a fight, they're really talking about biomechanical manipulation.
* Internal: deep meditation and breathing control emotions by regulating heart rate and biochemical responses (e.g. release of adrenaline), ensuring that the body has adequate gas exchange (which in turn regulates metabolic cellular energy production) etc.
That's my personal understanding practical Chi anyway.
Congrats on passing your grading! :D Disappointing to hear how they treated a grown adult like a child simply for expressing your opinion which you thought was valid. Even if they thought that the timing of the outburst was inappropriate, surely they would just say something like, "We'll discuss this later," and actually discuss it with you, instead of "How dare you disagree! Punishment!!" - sending a message to others to not even dare to think about questioning anything. I've seen that kind of attitude in some martial arts schools, which is something I don't like about the culture of some schools... to me it makes the school feel more like a cult where obedience is more important than rational thought. It's something that's been carried over from Confucianism (it's even worse in Japan if you think it's bad here). I think there are pros and cons to it though. Obviously the bad side is that they don't allow for individuals to express themselves and just talk down to people in a way that feels insulting. This aspect of Confucian culture can work really well if you have a really good teacher who knows what they're doing, and they don't do anything that makes you raise an eyebrow; so it's completely reliant on trust - in encourages that old school method of teaching where Sensei is a font of all-knowledge and you sit quietly and absorb his wisdom. But the downside is that nobody asks questions, and asking questions is an important part of learning. I think a good school needs to achieve a balance where students have enough discipline/respect to know when to be quiet and listen/observe attentively, and when is the appropriate time to ask questions -- and likewise teachers need to know how to accept and respond to appropriate questions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
That's something I liked about my former Chen Tai Chi school. Our teacher insisted on being addressed by his first name -- if anyone even tried to call him "Shifu," he would ask them to stop it and just call him by his name. No bowing, no uniforms... just rock up and train, and often people would rock up early or stay back after class (for over an hour at times) to have really interesting discussions where questions or whatever could be addressed in finer detail. Although often during class we'd have discussions too like during training, e.g. talking while practising forms or doing drills (multi tasking!).
who has footage on themselves training/fighting?
No videos, but here's a photo of me sparring with a Kickboxer/MMA fighter...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...eekinghand.jpg
I'm on the left; This shot was taken at the exact moment when I dodged his left hook and threw a wrist-strike into his groin. That ended the fight _real_ quick. You can see the way he steps in with just _no_ regard to defending/protecting his groin too. Might as well paint a massive target on the crotch. :rolleyes:
Btw Bartrim, I clicked on that last video (Secrets of Scams). Pretty cool/informative stuff. :) That middle video looks interesting too -- haven't checked that out yet.
Why did you strike him in the crotch if you we're sparringQuote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
To give you a bit of context -- this wasn't in a formal martial arts school, this was just myself and some other people with martial arts experience getting together at a park for "cross style training". So different people with different MA backgrounds coming together to train together, including sparring with each other. As someone with a background in traditional martial arts, I've always been trained to fight "combatively", not competitively.Quote:
Originally Posted by KalEl
I'd trained with these people for quite some time before this sparring session, so he knew about my martial arts background. Also, before sparring and I strongly advised him to wear a groin guard, but he refused and just asked me not to attack his groin. If this had been done in a school the instructor would (should) have made everyone sparring wear a groin guard, or disallow sparring. But this wasn't in a school, so all I could do was strongly ask/insist on my partner to wear a guard, but nobody could make him do it. In the school I used to train in, if we sparred we HAD to wear adequate protection - shin guards, groin guard, body protector and head/face guard.
As I'm sure you'd know and can appreciate when we fight/spar, everything we do is on automatic -- there's very little conscious thought. Your training kicks in and you fight accordingly. There's no use in telling me, "Don't target the groin," because my conscious mind may acknowledge that, but my sub-conscious won't. In all honesty, I didn't even KNOW that I'd hit him in the groin until _after_ the fight was over and the other people spectating told me that I'd done it and showed me the picture evidence. As you know, that's how martial arts training works... it "programs" techniques into your sub conscious so that they can be executed without conscious thought if you are under attack. And my sub conscious wasn't thinking, "Go for the groin," it just goes for the easiest available target, which happened to be the groin.
There are various photos of me getting my butt kicked at my school on our facebook page.Quote:
Originally Posted by KalEl
https://www.facebook.com/#!/Kumiai.R...lhaven?fref=ts
Aww man, I just watched that second video where the dude hacked his own arm!! XO Seeing the shock and disillusion on his face was classic (though it's a shame that he had to nearly amputate himself to realise it). But listening to his comments, I don't think it's going to make him change his mind, because he says something like how he was wondering why it was "taking too long to get into the spirit." <---it's just one of those statements that you can't argue with. It's _so_ typical of the attitude of "no touch" fighters that I've personally encountered!
^Brilliant! :D I love seeing videos of so-called Chi fighters taking on proper contact fighters!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
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Found a fairly decent video demonstrating some basic fight applications for Yang Tai Chi Raise Hand and Single Whip here. :)