First lesson back after a 6 week hiatus due to a bulged disc. I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.
Printable View
First lesson back after a 6 week hiatus due to a bulged disc. I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.
I intend on getting back to training myself in the next few weeks.
I've pretty much given up finding a martial arts school in my local area. There just aren't any schools in my area that teach authentic/traditional martial arts. :( I'm just sticking to self training/practice.
...................................
The news have been covering two stories that have some relevance to martial arts in Australia.
1) Man accused of 'one-punch' death of Daniel Christie to stand trial for murder. The accused is a self-proclaimed mixed martial arts fighter. If it's true that he's actually received martial arts training before (and unfortunately it wouldn't surprise me if he has), then that's really upsetting. I really cannot abide how so many martial arts schools aren't more selective with their students. What kind of instructor/school teaches a combat art to a person with a violent/thug-like disposition and history of drug use? :confused: Unfortunately I have come across people with violent/thuggish tendencies being trained in martial arts. :( It just reeks of massive irresponsibility on the part of the instructor/school. I've also come across some instructors who will either modify their teaching programme towards such people (i.e. deliberately watering down that student's curriculum so that they're not actually acquiring new skills that they can use to hurt people with), or just outright expelling that student from the school. IMHO there are not enough instructors out there who are doing this. Christie's father has said, "We as mature adults need to do something to contain it (the violence)." -- and IMO, something that the martial arts community can do to help contain it is to NOT teach unfettered martial arts to people with dubious personality traits. It does depend on the style as well... Aikido instructors probably don't have to modify much if anything, since their art is entirely defensive and lacking any offensive capability in the first place. :p
2) Teenage Chinese lion dancer critical after stunt goes wrong in rehearsal -- TV news reports that the teenager is now in a stable condition
A timely reminder that all martial arts schools and instructors do have a legal duty of care over their students. Now I'm by NO means making any allegations in this particular case; the story doesn't give us nearly enough details to make any kind of judgment like that. We do know that other members of the school rushed to perform CPR and called emergency services, and the police have commended their immediate use of first aid which has probably saved this kid's life. So it does sound like the school has exercised reasonable care in responding to the accident, but it will be ultimately up to the school's insurer to determine of reasonable care was taken or not. I really hope that they do find in favour of the school, because, as we all know, if the insurer determines that the school was negligent, then this in turn contributes to the rising cost of martial arts insurance (which all MA students pay for in annual fees). Again, I'm not making any suggestions or allegations about this particular school or case, but these cases ought to make us all reflect on how we are making our training as reasonably safe as possible. And I'm sure we all are, but sadly, there are a lot of schools out there that don't. I've seen schools where students are allowed to free spar... without wearing any protective equipment... without supervision from the master (only from senior students; the master is nowhere to be seen). :eek:
i suppose the instructor may have been aware of the individuals' thuggish disposition after watching his behaviour during lessons & proceeded accordingly. But if i was Billy Badass & wanted to learn how to inflict maximum damage on an individual through martial arts, i'd keep my mouth shut, eyes & ears open & stay in line.
My question is, do classes these days do a background check to determine if somebody has any sort of criminal behaviour? Do they do any sort of a check?
That's a great question. My old Chen Tai Chi school conducted background checks -- we had one student who had a thuggish disposition and a background check revealed that he had a history of violence. That student's curriculum was modified. I've never seen any other school do it, but I've come across several students with questionable thuglike tendencies. So in my personal experience, I've only come across one school that conducted background checks and would appropriately modify teaching content for questionable students. IMHO it's something that should happen in every MA school, but I've seen a lot of schools that don't, and continue to teach students who are unable to keep their aggression in check.
I love mixed martial arts but I hate mixed martial artists. In my opinion a mixed martial artist should be someone who has trained in multiple martial arts not studied some hybrid because they want to let everyone know they "train UFC bro". This thug who was a "MMA fighter" is a coward who would probably freak out if he had to take part in any real competition. I can't describe in words how ashamed I am to be a part of community that people like that want to associate with.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
My school doesn't do background checks but my instructor has booted people for thuggish behaviour. Overall I am really enjoying my school. We have great teachers and a great core group in my class of 8-10 that show up regularly and we've developed a close bond.
I've never modified a class I've taught due to aggressive behaviour but I have modified individual student curriculum twice. One was an autistic teenager who was quite talented once I broke the moves down for him and the other was (working with a health retreat) for a man going from 330kg to 110kg. There is a documentary being made on his journey. I don't know if I have a cameo in it but I am proud to have been part of it:)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps42fb33eb.jpg Most excellent. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
Whether a school chooses to modify curriculum or outright expel the student, the important thing is that the school is doing something to address the issue of having a thug in the class. It really bugs me that there are so many schools out there that do nothing about it. Or even worse, when the master himself is a bully/thug (yes... I have seen this too at two different schools :().
That is freaking fantastic. :) This shows that you are treating your students as individuals and are willing to customise your teaching to cater for your students' individual needs, as a teacher should! :D One of my pet peeves about a lot of martial arts "teachers" is how they simply treat all students the same, which is not what a proper teacher does. Good teaching should be more student-centred, but I find a lot of MA schools are too teacher-centred. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
Thinking of enrolling my daughter into a class sometime in the new year. She's done all the dancing stuff, gymnastics stuff, ballet stuff already. I want her to learn something practical / useful. I've never heard of anyone using ballet to get themselves out of trouble. I would also sleep a lot easier knowing that she can look after herself (when she's 10 years older and a third degree blackbelt ;) :D). Anyone here have kids under the age of 10 attending a school and what feedback / advice can you give me?
Just my personal thoughts...
IMHO if you're looking for something practical/useful in terms of self defence, then the more traditional/authentic, the better. You want a school that predominantly or solely focuses on teaching martial arts as a survival skill rather than a hobby-sport. The atmosphere of the class would be somewhat similar to what you might expect in say an advanced First Aid course, where the teaching/learning is just about honing skills to optimise survival. There's nothing about glory or impressing a judge or audience or winning points or trophies etc. It's just about keeping yourself safe from harm.
But all the authenticity in the world is no good if the teaching is bad. Last year I trained in a traditional Okinawan style of Karate, but after about a year I quit because the teaching was just awful. So teaching methodology/quality is also key Student-centred learning is far more effective than teacher-centric classes. Think of the dull teacher who stands at the front of the classroom telling students what to do, and the students blindly copy without question. It's passively mind-numbing rote learning, which tonnes of research has demonstrated as a POOR method of teaching and learning. School teachers try to avoid teacher-centred passive learning as much as possible, and shift more towards student-centred active learning where students are given ample opportunities of problem-solve, formulate/answer questions, discuss, explain, debate, brainstorm, as well as engaging in learning via cooperation, inquiry, discovery etc. Teacher-centred learning is like the Michael Bay of teaching/learning... it's a popular method, but ultimately shallow. Student-centred learning is more like say IDW G1... not as widespread, but far more in-depth and richer in quality. ;) Student-focused schools are more likely to cater for individual differences in learners rather than blindly treating them all as clones.
I would strongly suggest shopping around. Check out as many schools as you can. Give them a visit and try to observe at least one lesson. Even better if the school offers trial lessons (though I find these days many don't :().
Good luck :cool:
Thanks for the tips Goki. I'm surprised that many don't offer trial lessons these days. Back when I was training, my instructor wasn't even fussed if we paid him 6 months late.
I know of a parent from her school that teaches a class at his home. I think I might take her to give that a try. She's a fairly shy little girl and going to a class with 10 or more students might scare her off. From what I have heard, he keeps his classes fairly small as he doesn't advertise.
^This sounds excellent. My best martial arts training have been in "no frills" classes like that. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by 5FDP
Went to see the UFC in Sydney on Saturday. 11 fights with 11 finishes. An awesome day.
Please explain. I'm picturing spine / heart / head rips :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
Well fights go for 3 x 5 minute rounds if there are no KOs/TKO/submission. No fights went the distance. All the fights ended with either KO, TKO or submission. No organs being ripped off but a couple of guys were knocked out cold and one guy didn't tap in a submission so he drifted off into unconsciousness.Quote:
Originally Posted by 5FDP
Awww... that's so not as exciting as what I had in mind. I reckon an underground UFC MK match would be awesome. Of course, if there was one, the first rule of UFC MK is we don't talk about UFC MK ;) :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
I just had the mental image of a real life Babality. Weird. :p
About as close you'll get to an MK style finish to a UFC fight. Leslie Smith's cauliflower ear exploded after being hit repeatedly by Jessica Eye.Quote:
Originally Posted by 5FDP
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps969c6d0a.png
ha! look at that spray! i thought that only happened in Rocky movies
This article discusses fact vs fiction in Bushido, including how it was exploited by the Japanese government for propaganda purposes.
----------------------
I found this video which shows the evolution from Kung Fu to Karate. There are four martial artists; the first two are demonstrating Fujian Kung Fu forms (?White Crane & Five Ancestors? :confused:), and the other two are demonstrating Okinawan Karate. The last person's kata is the same as a the Sanchin katas that I've seen IRL, but the third person is the one that I find interesting, as I've personally never seen that before. It appears to be the "missing link" between Fujian Kung Fu and modern day Karate -- possibly pre-20th century Karate! Because the closest thing I've been able to find to traditional Karate has been Gojuryu, as it is a style that originated from Okinawa. But even then, Gojuryu was developed around the time of the First World War.
I've also stumbled across this video of Gang Rou Quan Kung Fu, an incredibly obscure style of Fujian Kung Fu which may very well be a more direct ancestor of Karate (I believe that Gang Rou Quan is written as 剛柔拳 in Kanji, which is pronounced as Goujuuken in Japanese; the name of the Miyagi's Okinawan Karate system; and we know that Miyagi himself trained in Fuzhou and Fujian in Southern China (where he visited the grave of his Chinese grandmaster, Ryuryuko) before returning to Okinawa and founding his Karate Dojo).
Personal training update. My karate training will recommence in January :) just waiting on my membership card to arrive.
My daughter officially had her first Karate class last night. She loved it! It helped that it was a small class of girls only between the ages of 7 and 10.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/a...inal-gangsters
^An interesting article about the high level of urban violence in 19th Century Britain, which gave rise to British martial arts like Bartitsu. The martial art of "Baritsu" in Sherlock Holmes is based on the real-life Victorian martial art of Bartitsu.
Mental Floss: misconceptions about exercise; the ones that I find most relevant for martial arts (or at least, some martial arts schools/practitioners that I've dealt with) are:
#3: Stretching prevents injury
As the video says, warm-ups are still important for injury prevention, just not static-stretching, which may have adverse effects. IMO stretching is better suited for cooling down at the end of a training session.
#8: Cardio burns more kilojoules than weight training
...and yet half the Karate instructors that I've had wouldn't allow me to use strap-on wrist and ankle weights during training. Both my Chen and Yang Tai Chi teachers were fine with it (in fact, it was standard practice where I learnt Chen Tai Chi), and some of my Karate teachers were cool with; but others were dead-set against the idea, including the head/Shihan of the Gojuryu Karate Dojo that I went to... despite the fact that traditional Karate incorporated weight training. :eek: Tai Chi forms are practised very slowly, and practising them with weights strapped to your wrists and ankles can give you a pretty good burn. But you don't have to be a Tai Chi practitioner to try this; anyone who practises a martial art that has forms (kata, poomsae etc.) can try this; just be sure to move slowly; especially when throwing punches and kicks. Slowly extend and retract your arms and legs each time, rather than "snapping" them out, because in doing that you're letting momentum do half the work for you instead of your muscles. Even practising forms slowly without weights will still have a similar effect (because your limbs have mass and are thus naturally weighted), but obviously adding weights to them will increase the benefit. :)
#10: No pain, no gain
Yup. Massive myth. We might say no strain no gain, but actual pain is not a good thing. In Tai Chi I was always taught to push until it strains -- it should be uncomfortable and nearly hurts, but not to the point where it actually hurts. The same holds true even for endurance conditioning exercises. I've met guys who just brutally bash at each other right from the outset, regardless of what your level is, justifying that it's "no pain, no gain." In legal reality, it's dereliction of duty of care. :rolleyes: Just as the video link correctly shows, it should begin fairly gently as a series of 'bumps.' Then as your endurance improves, you increase speed and strength. It's the same as any other kind of conditioning -- you don't start at the top! The idea of getting novices to smash into each other is akin to getting a person who's new at weights to lift 100kg. :rolleyes: And if those people think that smashing each other is a great way to toughen up, then why not just hammer each other with cricket bats? :p </cheek>
Think you missed the point with no#8. Doing forms or kata with ankle and wrists weights may make it challenging but it really isn't what they are referring to and in this case you would be better of going for a run.
I can only surmise they are referring to a well programed workout routine with weights and a proper set and rep scheme for strength or mass or the other side of the scale which is a high intensity interval circuit with weights (or even body weight resistance).
The above methods combined with proper nutrition will burn more kilojoules and make you look good, instead of the skinny/skinny fat look that someone who only does cardio may have.
There is a traditional Okinawan Karate seminar happening in mid February in a North-Western suburb of Sydney. Registration for attendance/participation is already closed, but they are looking for interpreters because they've got several Karate masters flying in directly from Okinawa, Japan for this seminar. I offered to interpret on the Sunday as I'm busy on the Saturday, but they've insisted on having the same interpreters for both days -- so I'm out. :o But if anyone else is able and willing to lend a hand, please drop me a PM and I'll forward the Kanchou's contact details to you. It sounds like a good opportunity to experience some authentic Okinawan Karate. :)
last night I had my first BJJ lesson in about 2 years...
I am sore today:o
<sympathetic.nod> I know that feeling. :)
i had to read that twice :oQuote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
The UFC is planning an event in Adelaide so Tom Wright who is the director of operations for the UFC in Australia went on an Adelaide radio show to promote the event. He received a very ignorant attack from radio host David Penberthy. I was very impressed by how calm Tom remained during the "interview". What really grinds my gears is how ignorant this radio personality was and how was unwilling to change his view when facts were presented to him.
http://mmakanvas.ninemsn.com.au/arti...adio-host.html
I've started a blog about martial arts here. The first article is just a basic history of Karate (as well as Taekwondo and Hapkido). Bear in mind that this is only meant to be a basic history of Karate (and even more basic history of TKD and HKD), but the aim is just to separate fact from fiction in regard to some misconceptions that a lot of people have about these martial arts (re: historical accuracy).
I intend to be writing similar articles about other martial arts styles in the near future. :)
Annoyed at myself tonight. Hit a real mental wall and couldn't "pull the trigger" in sparring. I was hoping to enter a semi contact event in 2 months... But my instructor won't let me with crummy efforts like tonight's :mad:
:confused: Seems a tad unfair to disallow you just because you had one bad session. :confused: Everyone has their off days. If anything, there's a lot of benefits in continuing to train when you're feeling off, because it helps prepare you to defend yourself if someone does jump you when you're already feeling pretty crummy. It's not as if you can tell a real life attacker to come back another day when you're feeling better. :p
In hindsight I think he was trying to motivate me. I was just annoyed last night, more so at myself then anyone else.
Here is a man who has never listened to Gok :D
http://www.mmamania.com/2015/5/31/86...blivion-brazil
What the video doesn't show is Ryan Jimmo vomiting into a bucket for the next 3 minutes. They had to actually check if his cup broke too. Tough SOB got up and finished the fight. Lost by decision but still got through it.
Heh, awesome video. :)
So let's have an analysis into what went so horribly wrong.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...pstun5tm7f.jpg
It all boils down to one thing: poor stance work. He's turned into what has got to be one of the worst attempts at a forward/front stance I've ever seen. Critical errors include:
* Leaving his body square onto his opponent, thus fully exposing himself.
* Not keeping his back straight, thus having a forward lean. This could get bad if he were fighting against a competent grappler, especially putting himself at increased risk of having his neck or upper spinal cord broken.
* Rear foot's heel is peeled up. Most likely to give his punch driving force in compensation for his poor stance (a proper forward stance doesn't need the heel peeled up, as force is generated from hip, waist and shoulder rotation (re: torsion)). This makes him poorly balanced forward, which again makes him more vulnerable to being grappled, thrown, or in this case, lunging his groin forward into a kick.
Unfortunately, poor stance training is all too common in a lot of schools. Here are some examples of the forward stance. The first two (Fig.A & B) are what I consider to be incorrect, and the third one (Fig.C) is what I would consider to be correct.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psb4cmon6f.jpg
Bear in mind that I'm only using crude 2-dimensional MS Paint lines to try and represent a 3 dimensional model, so anything on the z axes are moving towards or away from the perpendicular (x axis).
Fig.A
Much like the person who got kicked in the video, this person has turned himself to be facing his opponent square on. This leaves his body more exposed. He is attempting to cover his groin by leaning his knee inwards, but it's still leaving a discernible gap.
Fig.B
Even worse than Fig.A, this person is also turned facing his opponent square on, but is also leaning forwards (whereas the person in Fig.A is at least keeping an erect posture).
Fig.C
The person on the left has rotated his waist so that his shoulders are side on. This significantly narrows the gaps in his defences, and also means that his body is no longer facing square onto his opponent. His angles of exposure are not aligned with his opponent's incoming attack angle. And note that it's angles -- plural. His groin, stomach and chest are all pointing and different directions, as his body is twisted like a corkscrew. This also gives him the added advantage of using torsion to drive more power behind his punch, thus he doesn't need to peel his heel off the ground nor lean forward into his punch. Okay, there is a slight lean, but this photo appears to be taken at actual speed whereas the first two appear to be static poses; despite this, I find the person who's executed the stance at full speed to be relatively better than the others who are doing it as poses (it should be the other way around). This person also doesn't need to buckle his front knee in to cover his groin.
Moral of the story: Ensure that your angles of exposure are not aligned with your opponent's angle of attack. Keep your shoulders aligned with your opponent's angle of attack. Lead with your shoulder forward, not your chest. This is still practised in modern warfare, as can be seen here:
http://static3.therichestimages.com/...ial-forces.jpg
http://images.fineartamerica.com/ima...-tom-weber.jpg
http://resources3.news.com.au/images...79dc9db4b9.jpg
Pretty much the only time a soldier stands front on is when they're showing respect, but certainly not in combat. They expose themselves as a sign of trust. Yes, this is a super basic concept that is taught to beginners in any good martial arts school. A person that has not grasped this concept shouldn't even be doing full contact sparring, let alone competing in a martial arts tournament. :rolleyes:
Thank you TIGER Kim Myung Man for being so hard on me, you would be proud.
Had one of my pet hates happen last night. Had a spare a monster of a kid (23years old, 200cm tall, 120kg) Bouncing around the ring. Normal sparring back and forth. He has a lot of range on me so I have to change up my tactics. As he comes in I throw a pecking kick and hit him right on the thigh. My instructor compliments me on changing my tactics and timing. This Monster all of the sudden on the next exchange throws an overhand right and it connects WHAM!!!!!... I stagger back. What the hell dude? I try to reset and he bullies me into a corner BAM!!! left hook to the body CRACK!!!! Right cross to my face. I can take a punch but this dude is 40kgs heavier then me. Thankfully our instructor then jumped in the ring and told him to dial back the power. I was so annoyed. I hate when people spar and as soon as they get hit with a good technique they get cranky and attack all out. If you can't control yourself you shouldn't spar.:mad:
IMO a person with violent, angry or thuglike tendencies/dispositions, should either have their training modified (e.g. not allowed to spar, only taught passive/defensive techniques etc.), or denied training. It really, really, really bugs me when I come across people like that who are giving martial arts training. The whole point of teaching martial arts should be to help people to protect themselves from thugs, and not to breed more of them.
In terms of tactically dealing with these kinds of opponents, you need to try to neutralise their advantage over you; e.g. additional reach, powerful hits etc.; this is where directly attacking the core comes into play. So long as you remain outside of his core, then he can still hit you. Close the gap. Use your BJJ training and grapple/wrestle the sucker down to the ground, heck, tackle him if you need to.
Let us consider range in 3 "zones":
Long range = punching/kicking distance
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psepsqsyg8.jpg
Mid range = elbowing/kneeing distance
Fig.A: Elbowing striker's zones, Fig.B Punching striker's zones, Fig.C Kneeing striker's zones
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps50u5cvva.jpg
Close range = the body; including shoulders, waist and hips (opponents' zones highlighted)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psgp63b8ha.jpg
Close range is what I would recommend that you aim for. In doing so, you are rendering your opponent's long and mid ranges irrelevant. As you can see in these examples, the defenders have either moved beyond the attacker's outer ranges, or they have immobilised them. They are all aiming to directly attack their opponent's core, swiftly delivering them to the ground. Little fuss, just nice and quick, finishing the fight in as few moves as possible; shouldn't take more than a few seconds from the moment of contact. I imagine that your Juujutsu training should prove useful for this. Perhaps you could practice with a more friendly sparring partner first before trying to spar with this person again.
You might also want to consider having words with your instructor about this person's attitude, as I'm sure the last thing anyone wants is for him to go out and use the skills that he's learnt at your school to hurt someone. Good luck. :)
The thing is this guy is generally a placid, nice guy. We get along well. We get along well and are friendly outside of training. We have sparred before and had no problems. For some reason the other night after I hit one good technique on him, he just decided to go nuts. I had a word with my instructor (as I am good friends with him outside of training) and he said he'd mention something to him. I'll see what happens next time. Maybe he just had a rush of blood. At the time it did frustrate me though.
He may need more exercise in learning how to remain calm in a fight. Getting flustered isn't going to do him any favours, as he's more likely to either get hit by a superior attacker, or he might use excessive force in self defence and end up in legal strife. :( Does your school do any meditative exercises?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
A colleague of mine has a son who joined the Australian Army this year. As part of his basic training, his unit was made to go through an obstacle course with a dummy rifle equipped with a bayonet. They had targets which would suddenly jump in front of them at random locations, and they had to immediately stick them with their bayonet. At first he kept on losing his cool and stuffing up, which meant that the entire unit was made to restart the obstacle course from the beginning. At any time, if so much as one person stuffed up, they had to restart. It quickly made everyone realise that they had to remain cool, calm and collected while defending themselves from frightening surprise attacks.
It reminded me of the 'sensory deprivation' activity that we used to do in Tai Chi. It involves 2-3 people. The defender closes his/her eyes standing in a natural and relaxed posture. S/he then closes his/her eyes and continues to relax; breathing slowly, thinking calm thoughts. The attacker(s) then positions a focus pad (or pads) at a random location near the body; only a few cm away from direct contact. The attacker(s) then look at the defender's eyes. After the defender has adequately calmed him/herself, s/he then must SNAP his/her eyes wide open and immediately react to wherever the focus pad(s) may be. The attacker(s), upon seeing the defender's eyes open, them immediately proceed to attack (i.e. make physical contact with the defender's body). This gives the defender only a fraction of a second to react to the threat, as well as simulating the element of awful surprise. The defender should get that sick feeling in his/her stomach when this happens to, because you've been caught off guard. We were told that if we didn't get this sick "OMFG!" feeling, then we weren't doing it right. :o
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psvxuv7h1i.jpghttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps183477eb.jpg