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Thread: Martial arts discussion thread

  1. #11
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    that would be difficult to effectively execute because kneeing and downward striking require different weight distributions in your stances. I would say go for one or the other. If he blocks your knee, that's still fine because you've still successfully thwarted his attempt to weave around you.

  2. #12
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    So many martial arts and self-defence demonstrations make the common mistake of portraying the opponent as less competent/incompetent - in short, continuing along the dangerous assumption that your opponent is not better than you, and often assuming that they're inferior.

    Check out this so-called defence against a bear-hug. (original URL)


    "The grab from the rear: mid to high around the defender’s upper arms"


    "The defender drives his elbows out to the side (to loosen the initial hold), while he sinks downward under it."

    Okay, at this stage the defender must be aware that his opponent has begun to counter his hold and would be working to either abort the hold or execute a counter-counter technique to maintain his hold.


    The defender drives his elbow backward into the opponent’s lower ribs.
    wtf... why is the attacker still trying to bear hug him when it's clearly no longer working?! Is he retarded??

    "In this defense the response must be immediate and hard. If you are able to slip away there are many counter attack options in addition to elbow strike shown here. You can then escape."

    If, however, you are well versed in jujutsu or aikido you may elect to control the opponent. If the opponent’s arms are still around you or near your side you could elect to do an arm control technique (called sankyo in aikido). Here your arms move from an elbow strike to grasp your opponent’s right hand.
    ...and why isn't the attacker thumping this guy with his left arm, legs, shoulders, elbows, hips, head etc?? The defender has just casually waltzed into the attacker's "inside" which is very dangerous because he has instantly exposed himself to the rest of the attacker's body. It would have been wiser for him to step to the "outside." Stepping into the inside requires you to step much closer than what this guy's doing. What he's doing here is a relatively simple grappling technique from a distance which you just wouldn't do when you're standing on the opponent's inside because it's just to easy for him to start pummelling the crap out of you with the rest of his body.


    "You then move back under the opponent’s arm (while changing your grasp)" - and what? The attacker just idly lets you do this how?!? - and turning with your whole body to the left toward your opponent, lift and twist the opponent’s arm up (his elbow pointed upward) and to his back (the full details of this technique are left for another article). (3) This can be very painful."

    The end result of this technique with that arm lock is fine - it's just the way that they got there that I find difficult to accept. (-_-)

    The article does include a disclaimer that they've presumed that the attacker is "non-trained" - thus admitting that they're presuming that the attacker is inferior. *sigh*

    It's hard to find demonstrations that don't make this silly presumption...

  3. #13
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    Goktimus, are you into any type of martial arts??

  4. #14
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  5. #15
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    kup's Omega Supreme video got me thinking about some of the terrible ways that some people walk/step in martial arts - and that also got me thinking about some of the bad ways that people just stand while fighting.

    As any martial artist who's even worth listening to will tell you, the most fundamental aspect of fighting is the way you stand - your stance. Even boxers will work on their boxing stance, albeit at a far simpler level compared to martial arts (since modern boxing is more of a sport than a fighting art). I once heard a Goju Karate beginner tell me that her Sensei said that "if stance is wrong, all Karate wrong" - which I agree with.

    So long as you're in an environment with a solid surface beneath your feet and gravity to contend with, you will need stances and methods of stepping.

    One of the first things you learn as a beginner in almost any martial art is stances - one of the most common of these is the Riding Horse Stance (called "Ma Bu" in Chinese or "Kibadachi" in Japanese). One mistake that a lot of people make with their stances is that they're don't root themselves into their stance. A lot of people make the mistake of standing "on" Earth instead of "into" it.

    When we learn striking techniques like punching, kicking etc. we are taught not to punch at the target, but through it. In other words, when delivering the strike, we aim behind the target in order to drive the force of that strike through it. It's a similar concept with stances (although not quite so forceful) - we need to drive our centre of gravity into the ground, not just on it. There's a lot of talk about driving Qi (Ki) from Heaven to Earth yada yada yada, but essentially we're talking about anchorage. When you have a good solid stance, you should be rooted into the ground - metaphorically speaking as if you're a tree spreading your roots through the earth.

    Now about walking/stepping - the Omega Supreme video reminds me of how some people step in martial arts, especially people who do some internal styles of martial arts like Baguazhang (Eight Trigram Palm) Kung Fu etc.; they tend to do this "sliding through mud" kind of shuffling step - much like how Omega Supreme walks (well, shuffles). It's like this... mincing about instead of true stepping. Although internal arts like Bagua do have less pronounced forms of stepping, it is still actual stepping and not shuffling. True Bagua walking is more like "stepping on half-eggshells" or "stepping over carpet snakes" - there is a distinct rolling action with the feet.

    Shuffling in martial arts is essentially reserved for special situations, like fighting in very wet mud which traps your feet and makes it difficult to step normally... in such situations it makes more sense to shuffle instead of stepping. But on more solid dry surfaces, shuffling doesn't make sense, and it decreases the integrity of your basic stance and step (which again, are vitally fundamental aspects of your fighting form).

    This video shows someone practising a Baguazhang form with that shuffling/mincing step. If you're stepping like this in a fight, and you're not standing in saturated mud (or if you just so happen to be Omega Supreme), then you're not stepping correctly!

    This video shows someone practising a Baguazhang form, but with much better stepping. As I mentioned before, Bagua stepping is by it's very nature quite subdued compared to a lot of other martial arts (remember, it is an internal martial art) but you'll see that his feet are still clearly stepping, not shuffling or mincing. There is a clear rolling action in his traction (heh). He's not doing the Omega Supreme shuffle!

  6. #16
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    Here is an excellent throwing demonstration - from an internal Northern Kung Fu style known as "Baguazhang" ("Eight Trigram Palm").

    Earlier this week I visited a martial arts school where I tried out their first free trial lesson (which most schools offer and I like to take advantage off to sample their styles ) ... I didn't get an opportunity to watch or train with any of the senior students there, which was unfortunate - this was yet another school which disallowed students from different levels from training with each other (sigh). Yet I heard the instructor chastise his junior students for being too 'compliant'/'easy' on their partners - which is a fine point, but if you really want to make these junior students train harder, put them up against more senior students! He specifically said, "We only become good because our opponent is good," - something which is hard to achieve if you're only ever training with someone who isn't better than you are! So he knows the concept in theory but fails to put it in practice - all he does is tell his juniors to fight harder... but they're noobs! They can only fight at noob level - if you want them to fight harder, put them up against a more senior student!

    Then later on the instructor came up to my partner and me (both of us who were first-timers there) and tried to demonstrate the technique that we were supposed to be practising, which was a defence against a choke resulting in grounding and locking (standing-grappling) the attacker. He told me to choke him, so I did... then he tried to do the counter and ground-lock me, but I easily maneouvred and thwarted him from applying it. So then he tells me that the technique didn't work because I didn't attack him properly and tells me to attack him properly. So I tried again and he tells me that I'm doing it wrong and tells me that I need to try and choke him like I want to kill him, but without actually constricting the trachea (which is fair enough as that would actually be lethal). So I did that. He tried the counter again and I outmaneouvred him again without too much effort. He kinda looked like he was getting frustrated and tells me that I'm not attacking him properly, I asked him if he wanted me to just submit - but he said no. He tells me again that I need to seriously choke him and move forward with the choke. So I tried that, and he goes (with his voice constrained), "that's it," and tried the counter again. Again, I moved and it failed. Again he tells me that I'm not attacking him right and suggested that I don't know how to do a proper choke-attack, so I asked him to correct me and tell me what I'm doing wrong or what I need to do differently - he tells me that he doesn't tell people how to attack him and that it was up to me to attack him however I wanted to and that he would counter it. I did... we had the same tirade again, and he tries to counter it, but I slipped out easily; this time as I slipped out he quickly fires a succession of three punches at me, the first one hits but I blocked the other two. His frustration then seemed to increase - similar conversation reoccured and he tries the counter again, this time SLAMMING my elbow real hard (as if he wanted to break it) then fired a few hits which I blocked/evaded. He then goes on to explain that 'unfortunately' in a class situation he wasn't able to actually break my arm and that in a real fight he would've broken my arm and that would've been the end of the fight.

    I said, "No it wouldn't" but I don't know if he didn't hear me or if he deliberately chose to ignore me. Okay, having a broken arm would put me at a disadvantage - but that alone would not finish me and be the end of the fight. I still have the rest of my body at my disposal - even if he attacks me on the side where my elbow was broken I would still be able to block/deflect/barge with my shoulder and execute headbutts, use my hip, knee, leg etc. - and of course, my other side would still be just fine.

    I would maybe expect a noob to say something like that - but an instructor?! (O_o) Noone is actually finished unless you've incapacitated their ability to attack you (which doesn't necessarily mean you have to hurt them).

    The whole thing really reminded me of this skit by Jim Carey

    ...in the end I just submitted and let him put the hold on me because I just couldn't be bothered watching the poor bugger try and fail again and again for the rest of the evening... especially if he's going to get angry and try breaking my limbs - not worth the bloody trouble. :/

    This school claims to practice a martial art style that I'd never heard about - and in fact combines the names of two entirely different martial arts and claims it to be a traditional martial art despite the fact that these two arts have entirely different histories. I asked the instructor about the history of his style, he gave me a story which I'd never heard about and kinda indirectly contradicts existing history that I know of... I tried to Google more information about it, but found nothing substantial, and one source says, "The authenticity of these claims are controversial." ... so as far as I can tell so far, the authenticity of this style appears to be dubious at best. :/

    I'm not going to name this style or school here. If you're thinking about taking up a martial art, do your research into its authenticity - you can ask me and I'll tell you what I know. Check the instructor or school's claims as you would any other document... by cross-referencing their sources (just as you would examine the bibliography of an essay or publication). I would recommend finding at least three independent sources that can verify their claims.

  7. #17
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    ...I haven't been training since December and on Monday I went back... now I'm reeeaaaally sore. (-_-) I'm supervising a football game tomorrow which I usually ref... but looks like I'll be on the bench. :/

  8. #18
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    you are definetly worthy of prime's title in your name
    Wanted items:
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  9. #19
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    Sent my nephews to Kung Fu. Age 13 and 14. They've been going for about four weeks.
    Figure if they're going to become low ranking Triad soldiers they should at least know the basics.

    Seems like a decent school but I don't have the knowledge/experience to judge accurately.

  10. #20
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