Author Topic: Martial arts!  (Read 19905 times)

Offline Crafeksterty

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Martial arts!
« on: November 02, 2014, 12:28:07 am »
Ok so im bored, and want to talk about something i really enjoy in a place im familiar with...
Here!

And also Martial arts!


Who has experience? Interrest?
Im not talking just Karate, Kung fu, Capoeira.
Kickboxing, boxing, wrestling and other forms of unarmed weaponary styles are also very much considered martial art.

What is yours? And which one do you admire? Care to share something? Stories? Anything?
Im starting this topic cus i have a small story, but recently ive started kickboxing which sparked my interrest back into martial arts.

In anycase, please do tell me anything of your knowledge. Few things to remember, everyone does the same style differently. One may even brake rules of said style to better express oneself.

Skip my story if you just want a quick read.

My Story
Quote
Ok here it goes. Ever since i was 10, i started training in karate. This was pretty standard. First few days were with other kids, but as days past ive noticed the number of other equal aged kids were vanishing til after a month. From there i was training with teens. Teens that were on the same grade level. Before i go further, you should know that my teacher was a short, bald, very polite and very good karate instructor. Altough short, he is incredibly fast. But i couldnt help but feel he was not exactly teaching us HIS karate. Because he consisted of having momentum, instead of locking your self into a stance. Just that detail gave me an idea of subtle meneuvers that the movement we are forcing ourselfs to do and how it actualy helps on our ability to throw a punch/kick. I was so invested in these subtle details ive noticed something very little people consider.

Karate has a very linear looking stance, which in turn if one knows how to use it, can make for an unpredictable dynamic stance. And that is because one stance can do many things, even transition to another stance.

So here are the subtleties related to Karate. Every punch, every kick, every counter/grab meneuver is excersized extensively. For those other people who trained karate, you should know how tedious it can be to train karate. But the idea is very simple. You can use one or two moves multiple times. Versus another experienced fighter, few moves gives false sense of linearity. Making you suddenly unpredictable when you change stance or do something very different like maybe that infamous falling dropkick/axekick. This is how i took karate, and greatly made me appriciate doing 50 times Oi-Zuki.

Another thing related to karate is how were trained to move forward, were always long ranged. There is no casual blocking for points like a sport. Blocking is a form of an offense. It is either punch the punches, or counter-punch. If you look at images of karate stances, they look like they make you spread your legs way too long, or impracticaly. In videos, you can see profesional karate users jump step into stances. even though the stance makes the user imobiles, his ability to jump a meter or 2 with a stance. This makes the user have to COMMIT to what he does. There is no second guessing. Which means when blocking, one has to commit to counter. So lets say, you the profesional karate user, wants to step forward and because of that step forward, you know he will defend himself, but this time you are sure he will throw a punch. So... Step forward, Ready counter punch. If nothing happened, nothing happened. Change the plans. If he threw a punch, your in luck. If he kicks your allready in defence for it. This is also something i took of karate. Commitment. Without it, the punches, kicks or whatever will only be half as powerfull.

Here are the subtleties ive noticed that can translate anywhere
Vision!!!
Ive noticed something i dislike highly of kickboxing. Kickboxing consists of Proper Boxing with the tought of kicks. Incredibly effective, because Boxing is allready an awesome martial arts, but combine it with kicks you are pretty much set. (There are some russian military CQC martial arts ide say proove to be most effective in modern day world IMHO) But their stance, i hate it. Not their legs, not their posture. But their hands. Its infront of their face. Its defencive reasons, but also for sport to not give any blow to their opponents. What this makes though, is it makes you blind.
You have probably seen boxing matches, MMA or just movies where they start blocking their stomach/head area with their arms to the sides over those areas. They ofcourse have to drop and lift to protect either the side of the head or stomach but it makes the person defending Incredibly blind. A kick can come in and they wont see it coming because of their own arm. One can just lightly make the person flinch his arm closer to block his own vision, giving you the opportunity to kick from where he cant see.

Im actualy glad i was tought to have my arms down. Ofcourse, defencively less effective, but reactivly more effective.


One more thing, and that is something i want most or ALL people to know.
Your punches comes from the very ground. It comes from your foot. Then your leg, then your hips, body, arm and then hand. I noticed this with Karates standard "Zenkutsu-Dachi" stance.

Mike tysons mentality was "To punch through my opponents". And it is a very agreable statement coming from a then after dirty fighter. But there is one thing wrong about it. It being a mentality.

It shoudlnt be. You can see alot of people using this in boxing also, but i dont know if people actualy feel its usefullness.

*When you throw a punch, with a stance where you have a leading leg, and a back leg. That Back leg should push you forward. The leading leg is simply support. Karates demo of this is pushing. When you push an object, you dont use both your legs. One is ahead, the other is back. That back leg is what you want when you throw a punch. That same effect of pushing should be in the punch. Just with support of the front leg.

What will this do? It will give you extra centimeters of reach, but most prominently 3 times stronger punch. Because you expect to punch whatever you want at where you feel it will connect. But because of that push, you will go few centimeters deeper than expected. Pushing yourself stronger than you image yourself to be. If you have a punching bag or something that reacts and can show the effect of punching like you used to, and punching with the pushing effect. Hard to explain in text...*

Anyways... Back to my Story
With all that in mind, my teacher actualy noticed my method. He gave me double grades, and then put me in adult sessions. This was so suprising to me. Yett very difficult. In these sessions, the teacher noticed another thing... Thats when things get very very sad...

In adult sessions, everything is very exhausting. That 1 hour of training is soo hard. It feels like 3 hours. And because of my exhaustion, revealing mistakes and weakneses. And he noticed something GRAVE that made me stop excersising Karate completely.

I was flat footed. How i liked to call it. My knees were a bit angled, which made my feet not straight whenever i walked. This was obviouse specialy in karate stances and in exhuastion.

We found out that excessive feet excersises like i did, or cycling and stuff like that. Was very harmful to my condition. I mean.... No wonder i was the only one who had burning knees after riding a bike. So, at the age of 14 i stopped Training Karate, which also made me stop excersizing anything really. Started becoming a whimp, just underweight and thin. Parents always begged me to excersize in gyms, you know with apparatus and stuff but never could do it. I needed something dynamic, something that prooves to be practical. Did tennis for a few months. Not as cool as Martial arts... In anycase, i had to wear something underneat my foot whenever i had shoes on which did help e straighten my legs and knees more.

But my condition isnt permanent. I can still feel it, still is pretty visible, not as much as before. But currently, at my age now ive taken up on kickboxing classes. I feel that same feeling ive had again. Just downright momentum and achieving self expression. By that i mean, being able to do 10 momentous high kicks in a quick and actual flurry. It looks stupid in your mind if you think about it, but it looks incredible when you see someone great at it. Just achieving that sense of control again is something im aching for.

My karate training is still in my habits and in my head from 7 years ago.
And I heard once that the teacher became norwegians Karate representative. (dont know if he is currently)

Basically, I really love karate. Alot of people underestimate it (even those who use it). But i see so much warfare/battle abuse it can do.

I really admire Capoeira. Its got an unpredictable flow that is very fun to try out.
The martial arts behind it is what is lacking to me. I mean, Karate and Capoeira are like super contrast to eachother.


This is also a reason why i love fighting games. For characters that have Karate training, usualy have this very stubborn looking move set and playstyle. Look at Jin from tekken 3 but most prominently 4. His Karate is very standard, not multiple stance heavy at all. Very relaxed, careless one may say. But that is to go with his personality.

Another Karate Character is Makoto from street fighter 4. Her personality relates her Karate style more torwards kyokushin karate. But her moves seem to look alot more like the Traditional karate. Alot of her attacks are very accurate to the actual protraiyal of karate attacks. The only reason this karate is a made up one is to suit the 2D nature. I mean... an UP PUNCH?!?! A litteral Axe kick from Mid air? ok... But makoto is probably the most prominent looking and playing karate character.

Another character with prominent looking karate, but doesnt exactly have too different of a gameplay from the rest of the characters (cus dead or alive) is Hitomi from Dead or Alive. Look up a video if you please. Just not beach volleyball.

Here is a fun thing to notice. Each of these characters are just fictional. Artists made them. And each of these characters i mentioned do something very similar. They like to do this motion with their arms. Its crossing them quickly and then back again. This is actualy a typical motion one can do in karate, and thats because... imho its like refreshing your momentum. If you ever tried weilding a sword, you cant stand to hold it in place, you feel like you need to move it. In most cases there is this unnecesary seeming spin most people do when holding a sword. Its just refreshing your momentum which i tought is a neat gesture and for karate, looks pretty unique. Most or many other fighting styles do the same.



Do you have anything to contribute? Cus ide love to hear something coming from a different experience.

Offline Indreams

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2014, 01:44:28 am »
Tae Kwon Do, that's the martial art that I've practiced.

I've done a handful of sparring, and got to the 1st kyup before AP exams and SAT studies crippled me...

Story?
Our gym has the youth-lightweight state champion. I've sparred with him since I was a beginner because he was the only one about my size (other than the instructors, and they don't often spar.)

Got a lot of kicks, to the head, to the chest, to the stomach... didn't hit him too many times.  :(
One memorable moment, I went in for a roundhouse (his left guard was down) and I got back-kicked to the stomach, flew four steps, and smashed into the wall.

The point is, I'm pretty shit when it comes to fights.


I also practiced staff forms and fighting. It's cool, kinda feels like RP, but I doubt I'll ever use it in real life. (Really, does anybody carry around a 2 meter stick?)

I used to do archery (when I was like, what, 8?). I'd like to get back to that.


Right now, I practice pencil-sharpning and essay-writing. The most exciting thing I do is Guns of Icarus.

I'd like to get back to martial arts. As soon as College Apps are done, I think I'll try fencing, or actually learn archery.


Ooo, and when it comes to my most admired martial art, the orb-fighting of Viola from Soul Caliber, but that's half magic...

Offline GeoRmr

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2014, 06:57:54 am »
Shin-Kicking, the most deadly martial art in history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin-kicking

Offline Replaceable

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2014, 07:33:22 am »
I did Japanese jiu-jitsu for a while.
I absolutely loved it, I just love how it's all counters to what they do.
Like they can be all like "Ayyy gonna punch you" and you can be like nope and suddenly they're on the floor in an arm lock.

Which is kinda funny because it's supposed to be a really defensive martial art, but they teach you so many ways to hurt people it's not even funny. Like there are so many locks (by that I mean ways you can hold a part of them that hurts a lot) and chokes and also pressure points (which are lil bits all over you someone can press to make it hurt a lot.)

I've never been in a fight though.. And it probably wouldn't help that much but hey I went for stress release more than anything. Pummelling someone into the mat, whilst also having the same done to you, kind of like balanced me I guess.

But sadly I stopped, I managed to roller skate myself into a wall at one of those roller skating rinks, my wrist took most of the impact. But it's okay I knocked over like 6 girls in the process. Just after that I couldn't break my fall properly after a throw and wrists locks hurt like hell (far more than it should.)

And yeah crafetersky, stance OP. My instructor was big on making up distance and stuff using stance whenever we did basic punching (the kind of thing you'd get at a beginners karate club I'd guess) I always thought it was so cool.

I'd love to get back into it one day. Maybe when/if I go to university.

But at the moment I'm doing rock climbing and that's awesome.
It's funny because I was like yeah let's do rock climbing! Only to find out I'm actually afraid of heights, but hey I still get to the top sometimes, and that's good enough for me xD

And yeah geo dem shin kickers. Don't mess with a guy who willingly lets people kick his shins.

Offline Crafeksterty

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2014, 08:27:07 am »
Quote
Which is kinda funny because it's supposed to be a really defensive martial art, but they teach you so many ways to hurt people it's not even funny. Like there are so many locks (by that I mean ways you can hold a part of them that hurts a lot) and chokes and also pressure points (which are lil bits all over you someone can press to make it hurt a lot.)

Yupp!! Thats what i really love about martial art is that there is science within each and every move in there.  Jujutsu is specificaly science on the opponent for the most part. Because you are using their force. But getting a person into a locked position is one thing, but when you feel how its like to get locked then you know how effective it really is so next time you lock a person, your going to do it more proper. Jujutsu needs an opponent, i bet when you trained you always intereacted with someone.

Quote
I'd like to get back to martial arts. As soon as College Apps are done, I think I'll try fencing
As much as fencing plays like a sport for points, it does seem incredibly interresting. Its one of those fighting sports that doesnt allow for cheating. Like in boxing, it may just HAPPEN to be that the person is gonna go down in one punch, despite anyones knowledge. But fencing doesnt exactly have that random element. Which makes it more a fair fight.
« Last Edit: November 02, 2014, 08:31:07 am by Crafeksterty »

Offline Replaceable

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #5 on: November 02, 2014, 09:11:44 am »
Quote
Which is kinda funny because it's supposed to be a really defensive martial art, but they teach you so many ways to hurt people it's not even funny. Like there are so many locks (by that I mean ways you can hold a part of them that hurts a lot) and chokes and also pressure points (which are lil bits all over you someone can press to make it hurt a lot.)

Yupp!! Thats what i really love about martial art is that there is science within each and every move in there.  Jujutsu is specificaly science on the opponent for the most part. Because you are using their force. But getting a person into a locked position is one thing, but when you feel how its like to get locked then you know how effective it really is so next time you lock a person, your going to do it more proper. Jujutsu needs an opponent, i bet when you trained you always intereacted with someone.

Yep, when i first started me and some friends sorta invaded this little club, so i was training with them initially. But as training with people of similar height is easier for initially learning a move, i eventually trained with someone just under 3 times my age which was really cool, and is great for self confidence and stuff.

But we had all sorts at our club. One of the best things was finally being able to throw 15+ stone over your shoulders in the form of your rugby playing friend ahaha.
« Last Edit: November 02, 2014, 09:24:29 am by Replaceable »

Offline Wolfprints

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #6 on: November 02, 2014, 05:33:34 pm »
I did Cuong Nhu (a Vietnamese style) for seven years.  I had to give it up when I started university because there's no school for it here, and because I just don't have the time for it right now.  Cuong Nhu incorporates elements Aikido, Judo, Wing Chun, Vovinam, Tai Chi Chuan, and Boxing.  So obviously we have some pretty diverse training.

We do a lot of sparring, grappling, and weapons training, which I personally love. I've trained with tonfa, ropedart, tambo, and bo (which is my personal favourite).

I'm currently not training, because of school, but I hope to get back into it once I finish university.  I miss it a lot, and I'm always happy to find people to talk about it with.

Offline Crafeksterty

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #7 on: November 02, 2014, 09:00:07 pm »
Looked it up, never heard of it but looks interresting. Very modern, but i cant help feeling that the creator simply incorporated and expressed things he found grate and made it into one.
Since, the obvious use of different styles. But! Its actualy good cause you get the feel of each and every different styles and see exactly what makes them good or not. Some may train whin chun during a class of Cuong Nhu, one will find it useless while the other will find it incredible.

So, Cuong Nhu at glance to me seems like a martial art that lets you develop yourself easier. Just seems like it :P

Offline Wolfprints

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #8 on: November 02, 2014, 11:46:33 pm »
Yeah, essentially it is. I don't know how much research you did, but Cuong Nhu was founded during the Vietnam War. The founder wanted to give the people both a way to defend themselves, but also something productive and healthy to do.  That's why Cuong Nhu is very self-defense oriented, and also incorporates a lot of philosophy.

But it's certainly not lacking in martial arts! We do drills, sparring, forms, etc, just like other styles. We have many forms and techniques that come from other styles, but also some of our own as well. It's really a blend of a lot of different things.

One of the things I really like about it is that Cuong Nhu was designed to be accessible to everyone. We're still small in the US, but all kinds of people train in it.  And because it's still small here, it's a very friendly community, which is awesome.  I've met many of the highest ranking people in Cuong Nhu at various conferences, including our Grandmaster and his family. I'm not trying to brag about that, anyone who's gone to a conference has probably met them.

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend check it out. It's a really great community. Plus you get to train martial arts, so what else could you want?

Offline DonTroopa

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2014, 02:37:48 am »
I have never practiced a martial art (one without weapon). But I might try Krav Maga just because it's available at our uni (but downside is it looks really agressive) and I love to try Kyūsho Jitsu (unfortunately not available in our country).

At the moment I just do archery and I have ordered my own blunt axe for show fights at medieval events. Do not underestimate the medieval european sword fighting;)

Offline Chmielewski

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #10 on: November 03, 2014, 03:08:09 am »
Funny how I started training carate when I was 10 - in the same age as you :) . But then there were troubles... Arter that I tried aikido. It was... well, after 7 years I decided that I didn't liked it. Whatever.
Now I'm training kickboxing and I just love it.

Offline Schwalbe

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #11 on: November 18, 2014, 08:27:21 am »
I had been training some styles of martial arts years ago. After I had my ribs and fingers broken by thugs I decided, that hammers, bottles, and motherfucking lead pipe are more efficient. They are. And despite looking skinny, I sowed terror in thugs from my neighbourhood and built legend of - that's a serious quote - "Diabła w ludzkiej skórze" [ Devil's Embodiment ].

...Nice.
...It's even better to see when a bunch of meat and muscles curls and suddenly choose to walk FAR away from me.

Offline RedRoach

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #12 on: November 18, 2014, 10:44:04 am »
Hope you've got a large enough platform Schwalbe, because here comes the salute train!

I've alwas dreamt of being in a situation where I could use martial arts. Never have been in a "life-threatening fight-requireing" scenario. I did a bit of tae-kwon-do, then ran out of free time for it. I mess around at home though, finding really useful ways to fight with things. It's hard to fight with a broom when the bristles keep tickling your elbow.

Although it sure as hell doesn't count as a martial art, I'd like to include "Street Fighting" as one of my skills, despite not ever being on the street.

Offline Schwalbe

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #13 on: November 18, 2014, 11:07:14 am »
No, you don't want to. There's no glory having shit beaten outta ya, no matter how skilled are you. Skill is shit when you are distracted and basterds have knives. I'm not a kid of the streets or anything like this, but one time they took one step too far and I had to make sure I can walk nearby streets without hesitation or fear, like normal people in normal neighbourhoods do. There's nothing to salute, cause in such case you are supporting extreme bestiality and primal instincts, fueled with misanthropy and detest. Is this a way? No.

Offline RedRoach

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Re: Martial arts!
« Reply #14 on: November 18, 2014, 11:41:58 am »
I guess. Hmm. It would be bad. I just feel... no.

I guess it could be offed. Hm.

Yeah. Thanks for letting me having something to think about.