For Martial Artists And Boxers

Training Powerlifting
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[quote]Trailblazer wrote:
And here is my (very simple) contribution to the training methods aspect of the thread:

Silly as they sound (especially #2)these will help reflexes:

  1. Do a sport such as hockey (be the goalie) or handball. I did this for YEARS before I started MA and everyone is AMAZED at my concentration level (focus)and reflexes.
    [/quote]

Yep! that’s a well known fact: cross training improves performance. Also good for fun!

  1. This one is when you’re chillin’ out…watching TV or a movie. Every time the screen changes…to another camera angle or another scene or whatever…throw a punch. Sounds simple right?

Well, sometimes you wait for a LONG time (You are SO ready to punch…but it does not happen for a WHILE)and other times you have to react multiple times quickly (especially when watching a Western Martial arts film with people who don’t know ANY martial arts…like Charlies Angels or something…hehe) Try it and let me know what you think. =)
[/quote]

I heard of this one before. Usually, with reference to Bruce Lee. Though he’s been immortalized in a way, so now, even stuff that’s not his is attributed to him.

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Ni6t0_

Thanks for the modification. :slight_smile:

I was going to try this earlier this week but kept forgetting to print it out. Heck, I replied to this thread 2 or 3 times and my replies just kept disappearing.

Cracked my toe on a wrestling mat yesterday. Got my kettlebells in last night too. I may make this a weights-kettlebells-calisthenics day; to make up for my inability to do much footwork or kicking. But I’ll have to see what I’m able to do at the gym.

Thanks again. :slight_smile:

VASH

As HeadButt’s a possible translation for my German last name, I was anxious to actually use the nick. I also thought anybody reading my posts would think it was just a case of me being redundant moreso than being overly provocative.

63

Try clapping pushups for explosive power, and I dont mean clapping your hands together on each rep, this is where you push up off the floor and smack your palms on your chest and try to lightly land to start again. I think Pavel wrote about this, its great for speed and power. I usually do as my final movement on chest day, 4x10.

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For everyone:
check out this site, it has lots of good, useful info:

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[quote]kligor wrote:

Now, let’s be a little more respectful. I tend to like “fag tag.” If that’s not your cup of tea, please don’t insult those who enjoy it.

Point sparring has a lot of benefits. It develops fitness, for one thing. It’s a lot of fun. I think it resembles self-defense more closely than full contact fights, which last 12 rounds of 3 minutes. Point sparring teaches you to end a fight as quickly as possible, just like on the street. Albeit, on the street, you wouldn’t be using cartwheels, and outstretched fists.
[/quote]

Sorry but I disagree with you on this point. I think point sparring is near useless in comparison to full contact for self-defence.
As someone who used to do ‘fag-tag’ (disrespectful maybe but funny) and finding it left them completely unprepared for the reality of a proper fight (got my head kicked in) despite being pretty quick.
The reasons?

Main one, not being used to getting hit! It totally throws you’re game off when someones intent on beating you senseless. Nobody likes taking punches and it takes time to become accustomed to it.

Second, defense or lack of. If you don’t practice blocking, slipping, and parrying full power shots you won’t be able to do it when the time comes.

Third, range is different. If you are used to pulling your punches it makes it difficult to be in range to go full power. And it makes you less confident to commit fully. Even though it seems like a minute difference its pretty significant.

Lastly there are no foul techniques. So when the guy grabs you by your lapels and proceeds to hockey punch you it may upset your counter techniques somewhat.

Now I do Kick Boxing K1 rules (more like muay thai), Vale Tudo and Boxing. Haven’t had to use my skills much but when I have I was confident they would serve me well and they did.
And most of us mere mortals fighting full contact don’t fight for 12x3 that often or ever (thank god!).

66

[quote]creed wrote:
Sorry but I disagree with you on this point. I think point sparring is near useless in comparison to full contact for self-defence.
As someone who used to do ‘fag-tag’ (disrespectful maybe but funny) and finding it left them completely unprepared for the reality of a proper fight (got my head kicked in) despite being pretty quick.
The reasons?

Main one, not being used to getting hit! It totally throws you’re game off when someones intent on beating you senseless. Nobody likes taking punches and it takes time to become accustomed to it.

Second, defense or lack of. If you don’t practice blocking, slipping, and parrying full power shots you won’t be able to do it when the time comes.

Third, range is different. If you are used to pulling your punches it makes it difficult to be in range to go full power. And it makes you less confident to commit fully. Even though it seems like a minute difference its pretty significant.

Lastly there are no foul techniques. So when the guy grabs you by your lapels and proceeds to hockey punch you it may upset your counter techniques somewhat.

Now I do Kick Boxing K1 rules (more like muay thai), Vale Tudo and Boxing. Haven’t had to use my skills much but when I have I was confident they would serve me well and they did.
And most of us mere mortals fighting full contact don’t fight for 12x3 that often or ever (thank god!).[/quote]

Should’ve kept reading the thread, creed. First off, I said that I didn’t do martial arts for the self-defense, I do it for the sport. Second of all, I cleared that issue with chtdrmn. Here’s what I wrote:

[quote]
I can’t really explain why I practice point sparring, other than I get pleasure out of it. However, here are some benefits:

  1. you are able to take much more of point sparring, since you are not getting hit as hard, or expending as much energy.

  2. a lot fewer injuries. Compare a heel kick to the chin in full contact, and in light contact. One will have you hospitalized, the other won’t.

  3. you get to practice techniques without the fear that if you try out this new technique, you’ll get knocked out.

I believe that yes, full contact is necessary, but only for a phase of your training. A complete beginner should start with no contact, then, progress to light/medium contact, then, after 2.5-3 years of training, move up to full contact for a while, and then, back down to light/medium contact. This makes you more well rounded. Those with more finesse, who do well at light/medium contact will appreciate those with less finesse, but more power. The opposite works as well. Those with power will appreciate those with finnesse, when they aren’t allowed to hit as hard.

After you’ve been to the full contact phase, you already know that you’re capable of hitting your opponent hard enough. You’ve felt what it’s like to hit, and what it’s like to be hit. Now, it’s time to move back down to light/medium, to decrease the chance of injury and burnout. Periodically, though, it’s good to step it up to full contact.[/quote]

67

[quote]kligor wrote:

Point sparring has a lot of benefits. It develops fitness, for one thing. It’s a lot of fun. I think it resembles self-defense more closely than full contact fights, which last 12 rounds of 3 minutes. Point sparring teaches you to end a fight as quickly as possible, just like on the street. Albeit, on the street, you wouldn’t be using cartwheels, and outstretched fists.
[/quote]

No I did read the rest of the thread and I am remain totally unconvinced by your argument. You say that you don’t practice for self-defence, well fine. Then don’t give advice on self-defence!!

And I think that most of what you are saying is misleading.

You clearly state that point sparring more closely remsembles self-defense. NOOOOOO it does not IMHO. To say that, is to mislead many people who may get the shit kicked out of them if they actually believe what you are saying.

Further more practicing Full contact in phases may give you a ‘feel’ for real combat but leave you woefully unequipped come the day you actually need to defend yourself for real. Thinking that all there is to full contact is to be confident that you can hit hard is naive in the extreme.

Doing full contact is the only thing that will get you any where near ready to deal with a full on fight. But full contact can vary tremendously between light sparring and heavy, almost all out sparring. But light sparring is almost light years away from point sparring, where the level of contact is very different.

People, please don’t believe that point sparring will keep you safe in a self defense situation. Don’t learn the hard way like I did, that it doesn’t count for shit.

68

On what creed wrote:

Full contact doesn’t resemble self-defense that well, either. At best, it simulates the power used. However, in self-defense, there are no rules, as in full contact. On the street, you can use groin strikes, eye gouges, biting, etc. you can’t do that in full contact. Although you can’t do that in light contact either.
However, if you do point sparring in full contact, it does teach you to end the fight quickly, and at the same time, simulates the power that would be used in self-defense. Overall, I don’t think that sparring in general, regardless of the amount of contact will prepare you for self-defense. BUT, one way of sparring will prepare you MORE than another way of sparring. You’re right, after all. Thinking that because you can hit hard, you’ll be successful on the street is very naive. The things that make you good in the ring aren’t necessarily the things that make you good on the street.
If you want self-defence, you probably don’t want styles like Tae Kwon Do, or traditional karate. You’d probably want something like Krav Maga.

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Not-so-hypothetical situation here:

If you had 3 weeks to prepare for a point sparring and forms tournament, and only had 30 minutes each day to train (not including attending martial arts classes), what would you do?

70

During those extra 30 minutes I would work solely on your forms. That way they are engraved in your mind. During martial arts class, get your instructor or master to watch your form for a few minutes to see if you are doing it right. That way you can spend the remaining part of the class on your sparring.

71

Kilgor,

Hmmmm…about your first question on how to practice forms: I think it depends on your specific style. What is your style?

About your 30 minutes. Hard to say, I’ve never partaken in competitions…long and philosophical story there.

Anyway, I’d suggest either having someone(the teacher or sifu/sensei/master) observe you performing it full speed…looking for areas to correct. Find the weakest links in them. Then practice those parts (in groups of 3-5 specific moves) ONLY! Don’t go any further in the forms than that. Just practice the short pieces that are weak. Know what I mean?

After that, you can practice those small peices in just a few seconds at a time…slow and controlled, though (if that’s possible…aerial moves are impossible to do slowly…hehe).

Seeing as its only a few second per time, practice them out of class (alone in the elevator, walking down the street, in your home…ANYWHERE you can do them…it’s ONLY a few seconds, dude). Practice them WHENEVER you get the chance, but at a relaxed, calm and PERFECT pace…try to be as PERFECT with EVERYTHING as you can. It does not have to repetitive in this. After all, practice does NOT make perfect, PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

Seeing as you can do this OUT of class, this leaves only 10 minutes to review your progress with your teachers. The remaining 20 minutes can be spent on working your weaknesses in sparring. If you don’t know them, FIND OUT! Then work exclusively on them.

Working on our weaknesses makes us better. Especially if the weakness is a basic essential (footwork, guard, speed, telegraphing, distribution of weight,…whatever it is).

Oh yeah, take a day or 2 completely off before your competition. Have fun…see a movie…whatever, just relax. It takes the “edge” off.

Just my two cents…let us know how it goes.

Trailblazer.

72

Kilgor,

I KNEW you wrote somewhere on this thread what style you are. But as I wrote the last reply, I didn’t remember.

Still, my humble advice is still the same.

But if the weak links in forms is something that if repeated becomes exhausting (like spinning flying kicks or flips or something), then be sure to limit them to only a few per day…don’t exhaust yourself or you get sloppy. We all do. Just do a one, then review how you did…what can you improve? Then next time try to incorporate that into it. Repeat.

What are your weaknesses, Grasshopper?

Good Luck.
Trailblazer

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[quote]kligor wrote:
On what creed wrote:

Full contact doesn’t resemble self-defense that well, either. At best, it simulates the power used. However, in self-defense, there are no rules, as in full contact. On the street, you can use groin strikes, eye gouges, biting, etc. you can’t do that in full contact. Although you can’t do that in light contact either.
However, if you do point sparring in full contact, it does teach you to end the fight quickly, and at the same time, simulates the power that would be used in self-defense. Overall, I don’t think that sparring in general, regardless of the amount of contact will prepare you for self-defense. BUT, one way of sparring will prepare you MORE than another way of sparring. You’re right, after all. Thinking that because you can hit hard, you’ll be successful on the street is very naive. The things that make you good in the ring aren’t necessarily the things that make you good on the street.
If you want self-defence, you probably don’t want styles like Tae Kwon Do, or traditional karate. You’d probably want something like Krav Maga.[/quote]

We’ll have to agree to disagree then but my full contact skills have enabled me to sucessfully defend myself and people around me on more than one occasion. Full contact is most definitely about trying to end the fight ASAP.
On the street people will swing punches, shove you, grab you, headbutt you, try and kick you or attack you with a weapon but what they won’t do is stand still or attack in a preset manner. That is why freestyle sparring is vital because you are ready for any situation.

Full contact is necessary because you are practicing against an opponent who is trying their best to hurt you and resist/negate your techniques at full strength/speed.

74

[quote]chtdrmn wrote:
During those extra 30 minutes I would work solely on your forms. That way they are engraved in your mind. During martial arts class, get your instructor or master to watch your form for a few minutes to see if you are doing it right. That way you can spend the remaining part of the class on your sparring.[/quote]

I actually thought exactly the same: spend the 30 minutes on forms. Great minds think alike, eh? :wink:

75

[quote]Trailblazer wrote:
Kilgor,

Hmmmm…about your first question on how to practice forms: I think it depends on your specific style. What is your style?[/quote]

My style is Sikaran. It’s a Filipino style that uses primarily long range kicking techniques. It is very similar to Tae Kwon Do in sparring.
In forms, however, it is different. Sikaran forms are fluid. The stances are not as high as in Tae Kwon Do forms, but not as low as in traditional Okinawan styles. There will often be a jump kick in a sikaran form. Whereas, I find Tae Kwon Do forms to be a little choppier, and the moves divided more.
By the way, I’ve only seen Tae Kwon Do forms in tournaments, so forgive me if there’s something wrong with what I said.

[quote]
About your 30 minutes. Hard to say, I’ve never partaken in competitions…long and philosophical story there.

Anyway, I’d suggest either having someone(the teacher or sifu/sensei/master) observe you performing it full speed…looking for areas to correct. Find the weakest links in them. Then practice those parts (in groups of 3-5 specific moves) ONLY! Don’t go any further in the forms than that. Just practice the short pieces that are weak. Know what I mean?

After that, you can practice those small peices in just a few seconds at a time…slow and controlled, though (if that’s possible…aerial moves are impossible to do slowly…hehe).

Seeing as its only a few second per time, practice them out of class (alone in the elevator, walking down the street, in your home…ANYWHERE you can do them…it’s ONLY a few seconds, dude). Practice them WHENEVER you get the chance, but at a relaxed, calm and PERFECT pace…try to be as PERFECT with EVERYTHING as you can. It does not have to repetitive in this. After all, practice does NOT make perfect, PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

Seeing as you can do this OUT of class, this leaves only 10 minutes to review your progress with your teachers. The remaining 20 minutes can be spent on working your weaknesses in sparring. If you don’t know them, FIND OUT! Then work exclusively on them.

Working on our weaknesses makes us better. Especially if the weakness is a basic essential (footwork, guard, speed, telegraphing, distribution of weight,…whatever it is).

Oh yeah, take a day or 2 completely off before your competition. Have fun…see a movie…whatever, just relax. It takes the “edge” off.

Just my two cents…let us know how it goes.

Trailblazer.[/quote]

Thanks for the advice. I considered explaining my weaknesses, in the same place where I asked my question, but I still wanted to keep it slightly hypothetical.
But if you want to know anyways, I consider stamina to be a weakness. The rounds are 2 minutes or first to 5 points. Now, the first round, I can go with a very good intensity throughout, but the second round, I’m strong the first 30 seconds, and then, get tired. The break between rounds can be as little as 30 seconds, or as much as 10 minutes. Depends on the other fighters at the tournament. There can be as little as one round, and as many as 4.

Also, the way you told me to practice forms, by breaking them up, that’s exactly what I do :slight_smile:
I always break up a form (of about 25 moves) into 3-4 sections, and first practice it slowly, fixing every detail as I go along (toes pointing in right direction, alignment, etc.). The second time, I go through the form as fast as I can with little regard for technique. The third time, I put as much power as possible into EVERY move. Then, the fourth time, I put it all together, and adjust the form to fit myself.

The thing about practicing forms for 30 minutes is that my free 30 minutes are in the morning. Right after I wake up I go to my basement, and train. The problem with doing forms in the morning is it’s that I’m not prepared for it mentally. Whereas, an exercise routine, I don’t really have to use my brain. Just put it on paper, and get going.

However, usually, I’m able to sneak in an extra 30 minutes in the evening, as a “break” from studying. That’s when I do my forms. I’m able to do this usually 2-3 times a week. The rest of the time, I’m at the dojo or doing homework.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to come to the dojo as often as I’d like (external factors), so I have to start sneaking in more of these “breaks” so that I can train on my own.

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[quote]
We’ll have to agree to disagree then [/quote]

There’s something I can agree on.

77

If you guys haven’t noticed, check out the Suggestion to T-Staff thread. Might be of great interest to anyone in boxing or martial arts.