For Martial Artists And Boxers

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21

[quote]chtdrmn wrote:
kilgor just quick question…what martial arts are you involved in? what is your level of experience and do you compete? as for form/kata training whats the point ive never understood their importance in traditional martial arts ive always assumed they were there for the “artistic” point…anyone know why this is?[/quote]

loaded questions! I like them!

When I was 9 years old, I started in karate (i’m not sure what particular style). I did that for about one year, then moved to Canada, where I am now. I started training in martial arts again in Canada when I was 11 (so only a year break). I started with Kempo Karate (Villari’s, if that means anything to you). A year after that, I moved to another city in Canada, and continued with Villari’s Kempo Karate, but in a different school. This new place was what is now called a “McDojo.” The instructor didn’t teach us much, and was in it for the money. So in 2002, he committed fraud, and ran away with our money. That’s about $50,000 Canadian. Luckily, a few months before that club closed, a very advanced student came to our dojo from Saskatoon, and just wanted to train there. In Saskatoon, he achieved his 4th degree black belt in Sikaran, and has the title of “Guro” (only 5 of those in Canada). He had extensive tournament experience. In 1995, he was 3rd in the world in sparring. His name is Lal(chand) Daswani, who trained under Amang Guro Vic Ferrer.
So, when my old dojo closed, Lal opened a new dojo, along with the most senior student of the old club, and also brought in one of his best students from Saskatoon. That’s where I train now. Kempo Karate is still one of the major style, but now, I train in Sikaran as well. It’s a style very similar to Tae Kwon Do, but it’s Filipino. I’m very happy with it, and will try to pursue this as far as I can.

I got my black belt in Kempo Karate in 2001 (when I was 14), but still under the old instructor. My skill was about as good as that of a green belt. Now, I’m significantly better. I was supposed to get my black belt in Sikaran a few months ago, but couldn’t come up witht the dough, but nevertheless, still compete in the black belt division.

I started competing in May 2004. I’ve been in 3 tournaments since. Now, I’ve got a hunger for more tournaments. I hope to start competing at the provincial level by the end of 2005, and depending on my success there, I’ll see if I move up to the national level.

To different people, and styles, kata means different things, and serves different purposes. In my style, we practice kata for muscle memory, a bit of conditioning, and moving in the direction of performance. Right now, our forms are becoming flashier, and less “practical.” I like that.

Whoa! I just scrolled up, and saw how much I wrote. You asked me what style I practice, and I gave you my life story lol.
Oh well.

22

On what BOSS wrote:

Hellish indeed! I’d do them if I had access to any of the equipment listed. Good drills though. I’ll save this to a word document so that when I get access to the equipment, I’ll try it.

23

For kicking endurance I recommend the Nasty Nines:
get a heavy bag and kick in a sequence
kick 0nce
kick twice
kick thrice
etc.
So at the top you are kicking 9 times.
then reverse it - 9 times, then 8, etc.

These will fry you. No wonder they were called nasty.
We used several vasriations of kicks - inside leg, low round, high round, front kick. all in the same training session.
And then we’d do the same for punches.

I also found Tai Chi to be very beneficial for my MA - just a small movement in the tai chi created several veraitions (in my mind) on applying different strikes. Additionally as Tai Chi is slow and precise, i found it a good aerobic workout.

24

Lessee . . .

Dot Drills

Tabata Bag Work: 1st Set upper body, 2nd set lower, 3rd set mixed, 4th set lower, 5th set upper, 6th set mixed. I like 18 rounds - 8 minutes.

Sandbag Clean and press

Footwork Drills, Tabata style

And for the karate men like me:

kata

25

Vash, can you please explain how to do footwork Tabata style?

Also, for kata, do you just keep on practicing it in its entirety once you learn all the moves, or do you break the form down further and perfect it? If you really dig into the kata, can you give some tips on good ways to practice kata?

Thanks!

26

[quote]kligor wrote:
Vash, can you please explain how to do footwork Tabata style?[/quote]

I run various footwork drills, IE shuffle, step-through (entering), side-step, skip-in, et al, in 20sec intervals. It makes a nice pace-change.
Be sure, though, that it’s not the only footwork drilling you do. And bring in a partner to disrupt your rhythm (a dangerous thing to have).

Both. I find new applications when working the forms (I truly fear using languages I don’t speak fluently, as I tend to butcher, rather than speak, them) in full-sequence. I also break down specific movements/positions, drill them solo, with the bag (80lbs is my standard) and finally work each and every thing I find against a partner, starting at zero resistance, working towards full-on resistance.

I feel that working on a progressive scale of intensity and resistance allows the “traditional” (a term I loathe) martial artists to be able to apply any and all aspects of their art against a completely non-compliant adversary.

And so far, in my karate, at least, I’ve found no technique so dangerous which I could not apply 100%.

27

Ni6tO_

That looks sadistic… I like it. :smiley:
Round 2 looks like something we added once as like “the hard round” of one of our workouts. I’m going to try out round one and see if I can build from there.

Vash…

we know u just do that kata stuff; none of the rest, don’t deny it…

You did Sunsu 10 times on the 29th?
No WONDER he was in such a bad mood. :stuck_out_tongue:

Nice to see you kept yer name.
I didn’t feel like being “BMore Banga” on a site with pix of scantily clad men.

28

I’ve been lurking around this site for a while now, and never posted here, but I’d like to weigh in on the kata issue.

I practice traditional (sorry Vash) Wado Kai, and to me there seems to be no better way to practice a technique or series of techniques in a realistic aplication.

With kata you can break it down into small sequences and practice to perfect your techniques, or you can practice for explosiveness and ferocity while not focusing on perfect stances or techniques. Some of the kata that we learn in Wado are flashy and visually impressive, but we train with the goal of being able to put yourself into a mindset where each time you perform a kata, in you own mind you are in a real fight, but no one else can see your attacker. When you can envision the fight, you stop training the kata, and the kata trains you.

29

Slaughter that is interesting, but I have another question concerning the issues of kata. I understand that they are great for perfecting technique and skills, but how do they relate to a real fight? I train for MMA and haven’t seen half the techniques trained in kata being used. Maybe it’s because the only ones i’ve seen are TKD, Akido, and Kenpo. Can you explain how katas relate to full contact fighting?

30

I do TKD- before people flame me for that let me say that a lot of artists fail the art not the other way round!

As for kata (i’m assuming patterns are similar/same)they teach timing and the fundamentals of the movement.

They look nice (arty)

They preserve some of the less effective but still traditional moves (e.g. W shaped block in TKD).

I find them excellent to learn to “flow” with movements, I also seem to get something “deeper” out of them. Hard to explain but I enjoy the “instinct” when performing patterns.

If a pattern is done properly the performer should be shattered by the end of it.

The real-life applications are reasonably limited. They are similar to line-work in that respect- more about learning and linking than hitting.

They should be max effort, they should look good (i.e. fast yet controlled, nice fluid transition between moves) and they will also introduce new moves at each level.

Jaime

31

I know I seem biased on this, but from what ya’ll have said the only reasons for performing or practicing kata are:

  1. Technique
  2. Teaching new movements
  3. Mental aspect such as spirituality

Anyone else care to chime in?

32

[quote]chtdrmn wrote:
I know I seem biased on this, but from what ya’ll have said the only reasons for performing or practicing kata are:

  1. Technique
  2. Teaching new movements
  3. Mental aspect such as spirituality

Anyone else care to chime in?[/quote]

I definitely agree with technique and teaching new movements. For some people, spirituality is an advantage of kata, but I tend to think most people don’t practice kata at a spiritual level.

Here are a few other reasons for practicing kata:

work capacity - practice the same kata with a break between each, and you’ll be very impressed at your improved work capacity.

explosiveness - try doing an open form, and not having any explosiveness. It’s impossible.

Speed - disregard the quality of technique, and run through the form as quickly as possible.

Strength - try doing each move in a kata using dynamic tension. It’s a killer.

Fluidity - work on the transition from move to move. If you have a sequence of 4 moves, ending with a roundhouse kick, make one move flow into the next, culminating in a power roundhouse kick.

Rehabilitation - this one is pretty neglected, but a great reason to practice kata. If you have an injury, you can practice kata. You can control how intense a kata is, how low your stances are, how fast you can go, etc. However, you can’t just jump straight into a sparring match after an injury. You are forced to work at the rate of your partner, not at your own. Also, it seems that going through the moves at a lot intensity, without any snap even speeds up recovery.

I’m sure there are many other reasons, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

33

Let’s try doing a “top 3” list of what helped you most in martial arts.
I’ll start this off:

Top 3 in sparring:

  1. Handicap sparring. Pick something you would like to work on, like using your left side more, using more kicks, punches, etc. and use only that to score. For example, if you think that you really need to improve your kicking, then spar only with kicks. The only techniques you can throw are kicks. This one is great for patching up weak spots, as well as training a handful of super-effective techniques that you can use in tournaments.

  2. Baiting. Leave a deliberate opening in your guard. Your opponent will go for it right away (depending on his level of experience), but you’re already anticipating the strike, so it won’t be a surprise. Example: if you want your opponent to throw a side kick at your right side, and raise your right arm. If your opponent doesn’t catch that opening, throw a quick glance towards that spot on your body, and the opponent will follow your eyes. How you counter the kick is up to you.

  3. Angling. It is very difficult to hit an opponent who constantly cuts you off when you throw a technique. So when you’re sparring, wait for your opponent to throw their technique, and as he’s executing his technique, angle 45 degrees to his side (either right or left, doesn’t matter). That will really throw off his timing. This tip works especially well if you’re small, and a counter fighter. After you’ve angled off, it is very easy to set up a scoring point, or a knockout shot.

There you have it. The top 3 things that helped my sparring. And I’m not talking making my sparring just slightly better. I’m talking about a good 200% improvement, measured by my victories.

34

Here?s another hellish and extremely effective weighted GPP circuit for you fellas!
You need two 100-200lb Dumbbells, two sand bags, one car or truck. Hears how it works:
A1) farmers walk x 2 minutes
Drop DB
A2) carry the sand bags over your shoulders: x 2 minutes
Drop sandbags
A3) truck or car push: x 2 min
Repeat 2-4 times depending on your goals.

35

And another:

A1) truck pulls with rope: x 3 minutes
A2) pushups: x 20
Repeat 1-3 times.

36

And yet another GPP circuit!

A1) medicine ball chest throws: x 10
A2) pull-ups: x 10
A3) medicine ball back throws: x 10
A4) push-ups: x 10
Repeat 2-5 times

37

Here is a body weight only GPP circuit:

A1) Jumping jacks: x 30 seconds
A2) High knees: x 30 seconds
A3) knuckle pushups: x 30 seconds
A4) Floor Bridge: x 30 seconds
Repeat 2-6 times, peridize accordingly

38

[quote]BOSS wrote:
Here?s another hellish and extremely effective weighted GPP circuit for you fellas!
You need two 100-200lb Dumbbells, two sand bags, one car or truck. Hears how it works:
A1) farmers walk x 2 minutes
Drop DB
A2) carry the sand bags over your shoulders: x 2 minutes
Drop sandbags
A3) truck or car push: x 2 min
Repeat 2-4 times depending on your goals.
[/quote]

Seems to be more targeted towards strongmen than martial artists. Though I’m sure that full-contact fighters will find some benefit in this.

39

Top 3

  1. Getting the shit beat out of me. I know , I know strange, but it being beat makes me strive for excellence. The more determined I have been to not get beat, the less it seems to happen.
  2. Relaxation. For me my nerves have caused me to be more tense, my cardio to plummet, and my concentration to zap.
  3. Visualization. By visualizing in my mind what I’m going to be before I do it, and how I’m going to react has helped me become better tenfold. I’ve started thinking of fighting as this tree full of branches. I start at the bottem of the tree do a move which moves up the branch and the react to a move then move other to a limb on the tree that corresponds etc. I know totally bizarre but for me it helps.
40

I have about 6 pages of resistance trainng drills but try straddle (box)jumps with your hands, side to side over an aerobics step. Go for hight, then speed. Clap pushups behind back. Ask Sharmba Mitchell, he got blasted out, no OWNED by a man who does upper body plyometrics and explosive resistance training.
On another note, he should have shown more respect, and realised that a focused mature mind cannot be affected by childish trash talk.