Martial arts discussion thread

[GoktimusPrime]

The Anatomy Of Fear and How It Relates To Survival Skills Training

This is an excellent well-researched paper analysing the nature of fear in combat and how to deal with it. A must-read.

[Kyle]

What styles do your currently train in now?

[GoktimusPrime]

7-Star Northern Praying Mantis. You?

[Kyle]

Mainly Liuhebafa (very different from the Sydney ones), with the most basic exercises from Lama, Xingyi and Bagua as supplements. My teacher used to train in 7-Star Mantis for years, so I also had some Mantis training.

[GoktimusPrime]

I'm not that familiar with Six-Harmony Bafa in Sydney anyway so I wouldn't know the difference - I've seen a tiny bit of Six-Harmony Mantis, but I'm too ignorant of either style to know if there's any similarity between those styles.

I've had a little bit of Jiangrongqiao Bagua training. Can you show me any decent videos of Liuhebafa?

I find it hard to find decent videos on Seven Star Mantis... the late Brendan Lai was pretty good and the video there shows him demonstrating some good techniques... but I don't like the style of his applications demonstrations. He has this annoying habit of having his assistant attacking him really slowly and leaving himself out there for Lai to counter really quickly, which is cheating. I can understand demonstrating techniques in slow-motion, but if so then the entire technique should be at the same pace - both the attack and the counter. If he wants to demonstrate the technique at full speed then the assistant should be attacking him at full speed. Too many times that dude in the red is essentially just a mobile dummy for Lai rather than simulating an actual attacker. His techniques are good though... I just think that they could've been better demonstrated (and I don't know what's up with the shouting).

[GoktimusPrime]

This is a pretty good video of Seven Star Mantis.

I found this video on Liuhebafa - do you think it's any good? I can see some similarities to Bagua and Taichi in this form (e.g.: cloud carrying etc).

[GoktimusPrime]

You know what's even better than learning from your mistakes? Learning from other people's mistakes! Especially in martial arts where making massive stuff-ups in a fight can be very painful if not deadly...

Watch the first bit of this sparring video (the black and white footage). Their technique is just downright awful and their sparring just reeks of absolute inattentiveness. It's almost like... this is a what fighting style would look like if it were based on ADHD. (-_-)

How many mistakes can you spot?

I've noted...
+ At 00:15-00:18 the attacker lands a shin kick with far too much ease. The defender is clearly not paying attention to what's happening and doesn't even look like he really wants to be there.
+ The defender's head comes in with his attack and doesn't provide cover for the attacker's hands. Even most noobs know to keep their heads back and cover the attacker's hands. (-_-)