IMNSHO, there is no such thing as a bad martial arts style. There are, however, bad martial artists. The TKD guy was not rechambering his kicks. In addition, he had bad focus and missed on at least three techniques that he should have scored on, as well as relying on single techniques instead of combinations. In no uncertain terms, he was beaten by someone who was better in his chosen martial art than the TKD guy was in his.Originally posted by ivan astikov
Not recently. It's always nice to spar someone who thinks differently, and learn new tricks and techniques from them.
Do you treat martial arts for sport and self-defense as different disciplines then, Clothahump? I'd have thought the ability to do forms or katas as being more necessary for impressing a judge than defending an attack on the street.
To sleep, perchance to experience amygdalocortical activation and prefrontal deactivation.
My teaching style is very traditional. We do tournament sparring, we do forms, etc., but everything is taught on a foundation of self-defense. When I teach students a new one-step, for example, I'm teaching it in a manner that emphasizes focus/balance/power/timing/control/etc., but at the same time, I will also show them how the one-step has a practical application in terms of self-defense.
Forms are a good way to practice technique and attributes. They are also a good way to practice self-defense techniques as well. When I teach forms, I'll take segments of the form and show the practical application just like I do the one-steps. Yeah, there are some show-off segments; for example, I would never teach the use of a butterfly kick as a self-defense move. But I'll sure teach it in the forms, because learning to do a butterfly kick helps with focus/balance/power/timing/control/etc. and helps develop the student's self-confidence. And that confidence is a primary ingredient in self-defense.
No question this time, I just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed your article.
Thank you!
Yes, I enjoyed it, too. Thank you for providing this for us, Clothahump!
For those have may have missed it or come upon this thread later: A Hero's Journey: The making of a Taekwondo Black Belt.
I particularly enjoyed this metaphor:
As an instructor, the Black Belt student is somewhat like a candle, which consumes itself to illuminate the darkness; every once in a while, the Black Belt needs to refocus on their own training so that they do not burn out and lose sight of their own goals.
I know this thread has been cold a little while, so I hope you are still willing to answer some questions.
You've suggested people to go to classes, see what they offer and ask people how they feel about the class they are in. A wise suggestion. MY question is, what would you warn against attempting? Obviously anything outside of your physical ability is probably the first place to start, but also you said most instructors will work with you. Why wouldn't they? Money and the pleasure of helping others is motivation for anyone.
I've been interested in martial arts my whole life but costs and unfamiliarity with the various (and boy is there various) martial arts kept me from it. But as I've become more in control of my own destiny, I've pondered Aikido and Krav Maga. Having cross trained in Aikido, your opinion on that interests me. Don't know your stance on Krav Maga.
Thanks in advance
First, my apologies for the delay in responding - RL got in the way.
As you said, know what your physical limitations are going in. IMNSHO, the instructor should be willing to work with you, but I have heard of some instructors who will not train people who have physical limitations. Whether that is from some fear of potential future litigation or other reasons, I simply couldn't tell you.
If you've been sedentary for a while, I'd start slow and work up. One of the best things is to immediately develop the mindset that you *don't* have to test and promote at the rate others do. Testing is a combination of "I, the instructor, think you're ready" and "I, the student, think I'm ready".
I've seen Krav. It's a hodge-podge martial art, where elements were taken from several disciplines and merged into one cohesive concept. It's very strongly oriented toward purely self-defense and does not seem to stress the life skills that I associate with a traditional martial art. I'm certainly not knocking it, it's just a different viewpoint and philosophy.I've been interested in martial arts my whole life but costs and unfamiliarity with the various (and boy is there various) martial arts kept me from it. But as I've become more in control of my own destiny, I've pondered Aikido and Krav Maga. Having cross trained in Aikido, your opinion on that interests me. Don't know your stance on Krav Maga.
Aikido is nice. I've done a little cross-training on the joint manipulation aspects, but I haven't gotten deep into it. It's an interesting discipline.
If you are in reasonably good shape, I'd say go for either one if that is where your interests lie. Otherwise, you might consider Taekwondo or Karate to get in shape, then cross-train into Krav or Aikido.
Have you ever encountered bullying by students, and if so, how did you respond? Also, has there ever been people turn up who you have refused to teach or stopped teaching because you felt they might be thinking of abusing their skills?
To sleep, perchance to experience amygdalocortical activation and prefrontal deactivation.
Can a non-Clothahump post something here?
I've just started (I mean literally: my first class was last night) aikido classes. I'm not the least-fit person in the world, but I'm not super-fit either. I'm overweight and, though I do at least half an hour of physical activity each day, it's been a while since I've done anything like this. My knees are a bit stiff and I've got an ankle full of metal from breaking it a few years back which makes it fairly stiff as well. So I was a little nervous going into class last night.
It is physical - I worked up a decent sweat during class - but the instructor and senior student worked with me, and I got through class fine, even coping well with being thrown as uke (the attacker/throwee: the defender/thrower is called nage). That was part of what we worked on - how to fall as uke and, as nage, how to 'help' your uke fall.
I chose aikido for its emphasis on not doing any unnecessary harm. So many of the martial arts schools I've seen around here seem to advertise on a 'learn how to beat the tar out of your opponent', which I don't really want to learn: aikido focuses on immobilising your opponent without doing any unnecessary harm. I'm interested in the mental and physical training; self-defence is icing on the cake, not my primary purpose.
I'm a little stiff today, but some yoga stretches this morning and the next set I'm planning on doing this evening will help out with that, and I'm looking forward to my next lesson.
Not sure whether you mean are my students bullied, or do they do the bullying, so I'll answer both ways.
Do they bully? Not that I know of. I've been an instructor since 1991, and I have never had a parent tell me of their kid bullying or received a complaint about one of my students bullying.
Are they bullied? Not very much and not for long. We teach them how to handle bullying. The worst case was a young man who was somewhat small for his age (we'll call him Johnny, not his real name) who was picked on by a bigger kid on a regular basis. Johnny exercised admirable self-control and did not respond with violence, but attempted to defuse the situation in a variety of ways. The other kid was too stupid to get the message and the daycare center where it was happening was too incompetent to do anything about it. I told Johnny that the next time the kid hit him that he had my permission to knock the other kid on his butt. An incident happened the next day, and Johnny put the other kid in a wristlock and down on his knees crying in pain, and told him that the next time anything happened, there would be blood and a hospital visit involved. The kid never came near Johnny again.
Not really. I get my usual share of people who think in chop-socky movie terms and think that they are going to be Bruce Lee in 5 lessons. They usually wash out before the end of the basic program because they find there is actual work involved and they are not going to be able to kick ass in two weeks. Fortunately, they don't show up all that often. :smile:Also, has there ever been people turn up who you have refused to teach or stopped teaching because you felt they might be thinking of abusing their skills?
Good for you!
I'm glad you found a style that you think will work for you. Good luck in your training. Take it slow and sure, especially with that ankle; remember that you have the rest of your life to do this!
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